beware of the updates you install

[Frank Stearns]

Nil <rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> writes:

On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor" <trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:

"Les Cargill" <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:l6o6u0$eos$1@dont-email.me...

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

There are far easier ways to clean the registry.

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have some
specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time and at
worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady industry that
sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but what they're really
selling is snake oil.

In general, I would tend to agree with you.

However, the entire registry concept has, over the past 20+ years, morphed into
something a little more "grand" than perhaps originally intended. Lazy or
inexperienced programmers tend to put a lot of crap in there from their app that
might arguably be put somewhere else better. (Things like making the reg a place for
stuff that really ought to be in a temp file -- and we know how well apps clean up
after themselves in terms of temp usage.)

So the concept of a reg cleaner might not be bad, but there is indeed a LOT of snake
oil junk floating around out there (and dangerous junk at that -- both malware and
system breaking).

I am curious if anyone has used a reg cleaner that made a positive improvement and
didn't break anything.

Frank
Mobile Audio



--
.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

the way I put it to people who want to edit their registry manually is this -
I can do this. I know how to do this. there are tools to do this, like control
panel for one. Every setting almost, is in that registry and programs do it
cleanly and nicely without error most of the time. I do not WANT to use
regedit.exe, it is a last resort.

So I am not afraid of it, but I know to stay away from it unless there is good
reason. Think of it as exploratory surgery.


Generally true.

You're usually safe yanking out stuff clearly related to a specific piece of
software. Other than that, you might be taking a chance.

 

[Maynard A. Philbrook Jr.]

In article <l6q5pj$ph2$1@dont-email.me>, grizzledgeezer@comcast.net
says...

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
news:KrCdnXhYy-hc5Q3PnZ2dnUVZ_gydnZ2d@earthlink.com...

If you use the right tools to uninstall crap programs, you don't
have problems with the registry. Revo Uninstaller lets you use
the program's built in uninstaller, then will clean the remainder
of the registry entries and leftover folders. Prior to this, I edited
the registry by hand. The pro version is supposed to clean out
trash left from sloppy uninstalls.

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

Thanks for the recommendation.

I've edited the Registry many times by hand, once to remove all references to
a piece of software I didn't want hanging around. "It's perfectly safe" if you
pay attention to what you're doing. I've never damaged anything.

I've never used a Registry cleaner. If I were going to use one, it would be
the one in Piriform's CCleaner (nee, Crap Cleaner). Piriforms makes good free
software (which is underwritten by the fancier versions other people pay for).

it's an absolute blast!

When I got my W7-64 bit machine, I had and old version of a program
that the installer was written in 16 bit mode, but the tool and all it's
goodies are in 32 bit mode.
So there was no option out there as for updated installers etc..

SO, the CD image has all of the files in-tacked as they would be
installed. I did a file copy of the complete image to the HD and created
the desktop icons etc.. also moved all the DLL's needed on the system
folder. Then I took a copy of the register keys for this app from my old
W2k machine and made that same key in the W7-64 for the 32 bit apps.
with some tweaks with paths, I now have it up and running in W7..

The reg is wonderful, as long as you know what to do!
Jamie

 

[Sjouke Burry]

On 23.11.13 21:51, Frank Stearns wrote:

Nil<rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> writes:

On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor"<trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:

"Les Cargill"<lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:l6o6u0$eos$1@dont-email.me...

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

There are far easier ways to clean the registry.

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have some
specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time and at
worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady industry that
sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but what they're really
selling is snake oil.

In general, I would tend to agree with you.

However, the entire registry concept has, over the past 20+ years, morphed into
something a little more "grand" than perhaps originally intended. Lazy or
inexperienced programmers tend to put a lot of crap in there from their app that
might arguably be put somewhere else better. (Things like making the reg a place for
stuff that really ought to be in a temp file -- and we know how well apps clean up
after themselves in terms of temp usage.)

So the concept of a reg cleaner might not be bad, but there is indeed a LOT of snake
oil junk floating around out there (and dangerous junk at that -- both malware and
system breaking).

I am curious if anyone has used a reg cleaner that made a positive improvement and
didn't break anything.

Frank
Mobile Audio

Ccleaner.exe.
Used it several times, and it cleanly removes the remnants of
uninstalled software.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Les Cargill wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Les Cargill wrote:

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.


If you use the right tools to uninstall crap programs, you don't have
problems with the registry. Revo Uninstaller lets you use the program's
built in uninstaller, then will clean the remainder of the registry
entries and leftover folders.

That's the main thing I use; yes.

Prior to this, I edited the registry by
hand. The pro version is supposed to clean ot trash left from sloppy
uninstalls.


So does the free version.

Only for programs uninstalled with Revo Uninstaller, not for
previously removed programs.


--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

William Sommerwerck wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
news:KrCdnXhYy-hc5Q3PnZ2dnUVZ_gydnZ2d@earthlink.com...

If you use the right tools to uninstall crap programs, you don't
have problems with the registry. Revo Uninstaller lets you use
the program's built in uninstaller, then will clean the remainder
of the registry entries and leftover folders. Prior to this, I edited
the registry by hand. The pro version is supposed to clean out
trash left from sloppy uninstalls.

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

Thanks for the recommendation.

You're welcome. It has saved me many hours of labor, when cleaning up
donated computers.

I've edited the Registry many times by hand, once to remove all references to
a piece of software I didn't want hanging around. "It's perfectly safe" if you
pay attention to what you're doing. I've never damaged anything.

I've never used a Registry cleaner. If I were going to use one, it would be
the one in Piriform's CCleaner (nee, Crap Cleaner). Piriforms makes good free
software (which is underwritten by the fancier versions other people pay for).

--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

 

[Peter Larsen]

Nil wrote:

On 23 Nov 2013, Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in
rec.audio.pro:

Then it was done to clean up whatever. All I know is that unless I
rebuilt the machine once a year, it would degrade slowly in
performance.

I've owned and taken care of hundreds of Windows systems. That used to
sometimes happen in the bad old days of Windows 95 and earlier. Not
since Windows XP in my experience. If the system slows down, it's due
to some specific problems. Not from general "dirty registry" problems.
Leftover registry entries and disk files don't impact performance to
any significant degree unless there are other issues.

+1

Kind regards

Peter Larsen

 

[Jason]

On Sat, 23 Nov 2013 04:43:24 -0500 "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in article <KrCdnXhYy-
hc5Q3PnZ2dnUVZ_gydnZ2d@earthlink.com>

Les Cargill wrote:

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.


If you use the right tools to uninstall crap programs, you don't have
problems with the registry. Revo Uninstaller lets you use the program's
built in uninstaller, then will clean the remainder of the registry
entries and leftover folders. Prior to this, I edited the registry by
hand. The pro version is supposed to clean ot trash left from sloppy
uninstalls.

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

I endorse Revo, too. You have to be a little careful about its registry
cleanup if you choose the more "aggressive" post-uninstall scanning
options; it can propose to delete stuff that shouldn't be. For instance,
I have an Adobe CC subscription and created a CC folder. If I uninstall
an app and let Revo do it's aggressive thing, it'll try to zap entries to
other CC apps. It does warn you that the folder contains other apps, but
picking your way through all the possibilities is hopeless.

 

[Jason]

On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 01:16:27 +0100 "Sjouke Burry"
<burrynulnulfour@ppllaanneett.nnll> wrote in article <5291455e$0$6876
$703f8584@textnews.kpn.nl>

On 23.11.13 21:51, Frank Stearns wrote:
Nil<rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> writes:

On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor"<trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:

"Les Cargill"<lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:l6o6u0$eos$1@dont-email.me...

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

There are far easier ways to clean the registry.

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have some
specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time and at
worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady industry that
sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but what they're really
selling is snake oil.

In general, I would tend to agree with you.

However, the entire registry concept has, over the past 20+ years, morphed into
something a little more "grand" than perhaps originally intended. Lazy or
inexperienced programmers tend to put a lot of crap in there from their app that
might arguably be put somewhere else better. (Things like making the reg a place for
stuff that really ought to be in a temp file -- and we know how well apps clean up
after themselves in terms of temp usage.)

So the concept of a reg cleaner might not be bad, but there is indeed a LOT of snake
oil junk floating around out there (and dangerous junk at that -- both malware and
system breaking).

I am curious if anyone has used a reg cleaner that made a positive improvement and
didn't break anything.

Frank
Mobile Audio



Ccleaner.exe.
Used it several times, and it cleanly removes the remnants of
uninstalled software.

+1

 

[William Sommerwerck]

"Sjouke Burry" wrote in message
news:5291455e$0$6876$703f8584@textnews.kpn.nl...

Ccleaner.exe.
Used it several times, and it cleanly removes the remnants of
uninstalled software.

It also lets you choose what you want to look for.

 

[Jeff Henig]

Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote:

Frank Stearns wrote:
Nil <rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> writes:
snip

I am curious if anyone has used a reg cleaner that made a positive improvement and
didn't break anything.



I've used Eusing for a year or two ( or four ) now, with no
deleterious side effects.

Frank
Mobile Audio



--
Les Cargill

"No deleterious side effects" due to deleting items that have been deleted.

-_-

Nice.

There's a joke in there somewhere...

--
---Jeff

 

[dave]

On 11/23/2013 11:11 AM, Nil wrote:

On 23 Nov 2013, Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in
rec.audio.pro:

Then it was done to clean up whatever. All I know is that unless I
rebuilt the machine once a year, it would degrade slowly in
performance.

I've owned and taken care of hundreds of Windows systems. That used to
sometimes happen in the bad old days of Windows 95 and earlier. Not
since Windows XP in my experience. If the system slows down, it's due
to some specific problems. Not from general "dirty registry" problems.
Leftover registry entries and disk files don't impact performance to
any significant degree unless there are other issues.

My Windows box gets cranky when Updates are Waiting. It reminds me every
minute that the wireless is now connected. It only has one workspace. It
tells me the Paging File is too small but nothing more. If I didn't have
an iPod I wouldn't have Windows.

 

[Jeff Henig]

Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote:

Jeff Henig wrote:
Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote:
Frank Stearns wrote:
Nil <rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> writes:
snip

I am curious if anyone has used a reg cleaner that made a positive improvement and
didn't break anything.



I've used Eusing for a year or two ( or four ) now, with no
deleterious side effects.

Frank
Mobile Audio



--
Les Cargill

"No deleterious side effects" due to deleting items that have been deleted.

-_-

Nice.

There's a joke in there somewhere...



The joke is on us, I am afraid.

Better that than the yolk--I'm tired of having egg on my face.

--
---Jeff

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

dave wrote:

On 11/23/2013 11:11 AM, Nil wrote:
On 23 Nov 2013, Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in
rec.audio.pro:

Then it was done to clean up whatever. All I know is that unless I
rebuilt the machine once a year, it would degrade slowly in
performance.

I've owned and taken care of hundreds of Windows systems. That used to
sometimes happen in the bad old days of Windows 95 and earlier. Not
since Windows XP in my experience. If the system slows down, it's due
to some specific problems. Not from general "dirty registry" problems.
Leftover registry entries and disk files don't impact performance to
any significant degree unless there are other issues.


My Windows box gets cranky when Updates are Waiting. It reminds me every
minute that the wireless is now connected. It only has one workspace. It
tells me the Paging File is too small but nothing more. If I didn't have
an iPod I wouldn't have Windows.

You need more RAM. As much as the motherboard and OS will support.


--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

 

[Les Cargill]

Frank Stearns wrote:

Nil <rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> writes:
snip

I am curious if anyone has used a reg cleaner that made a positive improvement and
didn't break anything.

I've used Eusing for a year or two ( or four ) now, with no
deleterious side effects.

Frank
Mobile Audio

--
Les Cargill

 

[Les Cargill]

Sjouke Burry wrote:

On 23.11.13 21:51, Frank Stearns wrote:
Nil<rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> writes:

On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor"<trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:

"Les Cargill"<lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:l6o6u0$eos$1@dont-email.me...

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

There are far easier ways to clean the registry.

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have some
specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time and at
worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady industry that
sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but what they're really
selling is snake oil.

In general, I would tend to agree with you.

However, the entire registry concept has, over the past 20+ years,
morphed into
something a little more "grand" than perhaps originally intended. Lazy or
inexperienced programmers tend to put a lot of crap in there from
their app that
might arguably be put somewhere else better. (Things like making the
reg a place for
stuff that really ought to be in a temp file -- and we know how well
apps clean up
after themselves in terms of temp usage.)

So the concept of a reg cleaner might not be bad, but there is indeed
a LOT of snake
oil junk floating around out there (and dangerous junk at that -- both
malware and
system breaking).

I am curious if anyone has used a reg cleaner that made a positive
improvement and
didn't break anything.

Frank
Mobile Audio



Ccleaner.exe.
Used it several times, and it cleanly removes the remnants of
uninstalled software.

ccleaner might be more of an uninstaller. That's not strictly the same
as a registry cleaner; but it's related. I mighta shoulda made a
clearer distinction between those.

To repeat: I use both Revo Uninstaller and Eusing Registry Cleaner,
and have had good results from both. But I have not ... measurements
to support that other than "nothing seemed to stop working".


--
Les Cargill

 

[Les Cargill]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Les Cargill wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Les Cargill wrote:

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.


If you use the right tools to uninstall crap programs, you don't have
problems with the registry. Revo Uninstaller lets you use the program's
built in uninstaller, then will clean the remainder of the registry
entries and leftover folders.

That's the main thing I use; yes.

Prior to this, I edited the registry by
hand. The pro version is supposed to clean ot trash left from sloppy
uninstalls.


So does the free version.


Only for programs uninstalled with Revo Uninstaller, not for
previously removed programs.

Ah! Hadn't considered that that might be something it even did.

--
Les Cargill

 

[Les Cargill]

Scott Dorsey wrote:

Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote:

Then it was done to clean up whatever. All I know is that unless I
rebuilt the machine once a year, it would degrade slowly in performance.

I don't really know very much about Windows systems.

Frankly, I don't either.

Part of the problem
with Windows systems is that you can't see inside the box, so conventional
diagnostics become impossible. This means most diagnosis is performed by
having a matrix of individual symptoms and solutions in your head, or on
google. People who work on Windows systems day in and day out develop
that.

So, when I have Windows issues, I go to someone whom I know is an expert
and who has a large matrix like that in his head. And when I mentioned
trying to help someone with a problem, he said the following:

"If you don't know what is going on, tell them that they have registry
corruption. Because they always do, and it sounds good, and for all you
know it might actually have some bearing on the problem."
--scott

--
Les Cargill

 

[Les Cargill]

Nil wrote:

On 23 Nov 2013, Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in
rec.audio.pro:

Then it was done to clean up whatever. All I know is that unless I
rebuilt the machine once a year, it would degrade slowly in
performance.

I've owned and taken care of hundreds of Windows systems. That used
to sometimes happen in the bad old days of Windows 95 and earlier.
Not since Windows XP in my experience. If the system slows down, it's
due to some specific problems. Not from general "dirty registry"
problems.

I may or may not be actually talking about "dirty registry" problems.
I have no data to support or deny that.

I know two things:

1) In order to improve performance of a Windows machine, I would to
an annual rebuild.

2) Using Revo Uninstaller and Eusing Registry Cleaner, that "annual"
at least became a longer period - longer than the machine remained
in active service - call it three years.

Leftover registry entries and disk files don't impact performance to
any significant degree unless there are other issues.

What you say is doubtless true; nonetheless...

What I did "worked". That is all I can really say about it; I don't
have an identified cause, and only a partially perceptible
effect. I don't believe it was a placebo effect. If I had to
characterize the result, it was that general ... latency improved - a
lot - after these operations.

I am nobody's Windows admin except my own. I don't "do" Windows
internals; I don't have any professional relationship *with* Windows
other than as a user.

I've managed to find other ways to entertain myself

--
Les Cargill

 

[Les Cargill]

Jeff Henig wrote:

Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote:
Frank Stearns wrote:
Nil <rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> writes:
snip

I am curious if anyone has used a reg cleaner that made a positive improvement and
didn't break anything.



I've used Eusing for a year or two ( or four ) now, with no
deleterious side effects.

Frank
Mobile Audio



--
Les Cargill

"No deleterious side effects" due to deleting items that have been deleted.

-_-

Nice.

There's a joke in there somewhere...

The joke is on us, I am afraid.

--
Les Cargill