Delete files from the win 8 registry. Is it worth cleaning the Windows registry? Cluttering an important Windows work area

To date, there are a large number of different programs for cleaning the hard drive and registry, alternative uninstallers and defragmenters, tweakers and other various programs that, according to their manufacturers, can significantly speed up and optimize the operation of the OS. There are hundreds of articles on the Internet that test and compare these software products, praising some of them, and skeptical about others. Dozens, if not hundreds of thousands of pages of reviews about various optimizer programs are written on the forums. And among them you can find both rave reviews from users who claim that after cleaning the registry, the system began to work “tens of times faster”, and requests for help from other users who “something broke”.

Numerous disputes and holivars about which of the many “optimizer programs” cleans the registry and speeds up the system best do not help users understand this issue at all. Therefore, in this article we will consider in detail the appropriateness and correctness of performing such actions.

To be honest, I have not been able to get an intelligible answer from any fan of “cleaners” to the question “why, in fact, clean the registry?”. Most of the answers boil down to the fact that since there is “garbage” in the registry, it means that it needs to be cleaned. Some, however, argue that this increases the overall performance of the system. But no one has yet been able to provide proof of this. Therefore, most often, users argue their position only with “personal observations”. Of course, it is quite naive to rely on your feelings in such a performance assessment. However, I'm willing to admit that some users subconsciously "feel" a performance boost because they expect it. If someone can correctly argue the advisability of cleaning the registry with cleaner programs, please comment.

In fact, the presence of unused registry settings cannot affect the performance and, moreover, the stability of the operating system. Windows simply does not address them. The speed of work does not increase, despite the advertising of the manufacturers of such “cleaners” and the agitation from their users. And stability can even deteriorate significantly. The only useful effect of such a procedure is to free up a few kilobytes of hard disk space by deleting registry settings. But, you must admit that in this case, the need for it immediately disappears.

However, the registry cleaning procedure itself is potentially dangerous. Often this can lead to failures in the operation of both the operating system and the set of application programs. Moreover, such problems may not be detected immediately, but after a few months. In such cases, it is already very difficult to establish the root cause, and this entails a considerable loss of time for diagnostics and attempts to restore the normal operation of the system, and sometimes even reinstallation. And, worst of all, in this case, the user does not associate such problems with the procedure for cleaning the registry a month ago, so he will continue to step on the same rake, and, which often happens, advise this utility to other users.

Why is registry cleaning potentially dangerous? I will quote Igor Leiko, a well-known expert in the field of Windows OS, who has written 6 books about Windows and Office and has the status of the Most Valuable Microsoft Specialist (Microsoft MVP) in the nomination Windows Expert - IT Pro:

Cleaning the registry is, by definition, a potentially dangerous operation, because cleaner developers do not and cannot have complete information about all possible entries in the registry. Therefore, they cannot reliably know which record is correct and which is not, and operate by semi-empirical methods or, even worse, by trial and error. There is little consolation for a person who will be the victim of a mistake that other problems have not yet arisen.

Cleaner developers cannot know the correctness of different entries, for the reason that the registry is just a database into which any software developer can add anything. Collecting information about all possible parameters and all possible entries from all software developers is unrealistic.

In some cases, a situation may indeed arise when it is possible and necessary to clean the registry. But only when there is a practical need for it. And only if you know exactly what you are deleting. I'll give an example:

The antivirus program removed a malicious file that tried to infiltrate the system folder. But the registry entry for running this file remains, and when you start the computer, it bothers you with the error message “file not found”.

This entry in the registry can, and even needs to be deleted. For these purposes, you can use the utility built into Windows OS. regedit or program RegWorks .

As a conclusion, I want to say: leave your registry alone, and stop doing stupid things. If you really want to speed up your work, at least boot up, Windows can recommend the book Vadim Sterkin “Windows Boot Boost”, which can get it for free on his blog .

And what actions do you perform on your PC to optimize Windows? Do you use built-in tools, or third-party tools? Write your answer in the comments.

The longer the registry, the slower the performance of the operating system. And not always special programs will be able to perfectly clean it, since the utilities contain a certain sequence of actions that may not be suitable for your particular case. This is where the need for manual cleaning appears: eliminate unnecessary sections of programs, disable autorun, and so on.

It is worth noting that if you are not a qualified Windows user, then it is better to transfer this matter to professionals, otherwise your mistake could potentially cause a malfunction and even a complete failure of the system.

Cleaning up in the Registry Editor

First you need to open the editor. Press the key combination + R on the keyboard and in the "Run" line enter the name of the registry utility regedit. The editor will open. Be sure to make a backup (backup copy) before you start cleaning. Then, in which case, you can return the data to its original state.

To do this, click File in the top menu and select Export from the drop-down list. Next, in the "Registry range" section, specify the entire registry and save.

Now you can start cleaning. The editor form is divided into two areas. On the left is the tree, on the right is the record of the current node of the tree. In order to clear the entries of erased programs in Windows, open the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry key, followed by the "Software" section. Go through the list, find the partitions of the uninstalled programs and erase them.

If you need to find data for a specific Windows program, you can use the search. It is opened with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + F . Enter the name in the line, and if the files are present, they will be highlighted in the folder tree.

If an error occurred

If you are not familiar with the computer or do not know the registry device, then it is better not to meddle there and do not try to do anything yourself. And if you still really need to use it, then do not forget to create backup copies or use a special program where all the steps are described in detail. If in doubt, it is best to consult a specialist.

Using the built-in utility of the Windows Registry Editor, it is very dangerous to make any changes, because it does not have such a function as "Undo". If any error occurs as a result of making changes, restore the registry using a previously created backup. To do this, double-click on the backup file, or select File in the top menu of the program, click on import in the list, specify the path to the backup file.

), at best, only the "body" of the program was removed, and much of it remained in the bowels of your computer. Most beginners can’t even think about it, and remember only when, under the weight of rubbish from various software garbage, your system begins not only to bend, but to burst at the seams, giving out, for example, all kinds of “blue screens”.

TO cleaning the Windows registry must be approached very competently and carefully. At least it's not for beginners. Moreover, they are not advised to entrust work with the Windows registry to all sorts of programs, even if they are super-cool

ATTENTION: If you decide to clean the Windows registry, be aware that you will have to work not with anything, but with the Windows registry - the holy of holies of the system, and careless handling of this same registry is like a waltz in a minefield. If the registry is neglected, problems may arise. . You can only delete files that you know

Aha! Now I’m going to teach here how most of my fellow admins on similar sites, they say, run the registry editor, delete this and that there ... Oh no: o) First of all, backup, backup and backup again. For those who are not in the know and do not know what backup is, this is the creation of a backup copy of data in case something goes wrong. This is why a computer magically differs from a vacuum cleaner, which allows you to almost always “roll back” to an earlier, working state if you manage to “cheat” something with your system, including reading this lesson inattentively.

Step one: Back up your system...

So, it means that we make a backup of the system and the registry: and we do all this with standard Windows tools. And the last "Chinese" warning:

If you have a non-original Windows (assembly) installed, it is better to refrain from using any of the recommendations outlined in this article, since cleaning the registry on a broken Windows is a triple risky business!

Further, so that there are no questions, I will describe the procedure for each version of Windows, separately for XP and separately for Windows Vista, Windows 7. Please do not confuse anything, be careful. If you doubt your abilities - better refrain from experimenting!

If for some reason System Restore was disabled on your computer, you must enable it, then make a restore point. In Windows XP, this is done like this: On the menu Start right click on the icon My computer and choose the item Properties. In the opened window Properties of the system find and click on the tab System Restore. Check the box Enable System Restore. Now you can safely "click" the button OK.

But that's not all: now we need to create the system restore point itself. To do this, you need to perform the following sequence of actions (let me remind you - this is for XP): Start — Programs — Standard — Service — System Restore and there click on Create point. It is also possible in another way: Start — Run, enter there rstrui and press Enter and further as in the first method.

Now I will describe how to enable System Restore and create a checkpoint in Windows Vista, Windows 7. Due to the similarity of these two systems, the steps below will be valid for both versions: To do this, you need to log into the system with an account with administrator rights. Next click Start, right click on Computer and select from the context menu Properties. In the untitled window that appears, on the panel on the left, click System protection. If you are prompted for administrator rights or confirmation of consent, enter the password (again, if necessary) or confirm. In field System Settings select drive C (or the drive on which you have Windows 7 installed) and click on the button Tune. Next, you need to click on Restore system settings and previous versions of files- this is important, because God forbid, of course, but we may have to restore system settings and previous versions of files. And now, without leaving this window, you need to press the button Create. Enter a name for this checkpoint and click Create. Windows drives the green bar a little and gives you a congratulation - they say it was created successfully! Now click OK, once again OK. At this preparatory stage can be considered completed.

Action two: looking for what we need to clean ...

And again, I won’t talk about how to dig into the registry yet, because it’s a little early ... First, we need to decide thoroughly what exactly to clear in the registry, and only then we will start cleaning the registry directly. In other words, measure seven times and clean once!

Before removing any program, ask who its developer is. This will be useful to you in the future in order to properly clean the registry from this program. The fact is that when installing their program on a computer, software developers like to create entries in the Windows registry with the name of their company. Moreover, sometimes it happens that when a company changes its name, the corresponding registry entries that are created when installing their program have exactly the old name of the developer (probably this was done for compatibility).

For example, if we take the famous Nero disc burning program, we find that the Nero program has a developer company of the same name that focuses on one of its successful products. Nevertheless, more experienced comrades will not let me lie that Nero used to have a different name - Ahead. Therefore, in the Windows registry, and in the names of the folders where the program is installed, the name Ahead is also found, as it now turns out, associated with the Nero program. Yes Yes! It turns out that it is not so easy to clean the registry, you need to learn a lot before doing it. And how do you now entrust the cleaning of the registry to some stupid cleaner program?

Action three: Correctly delete a program that we no longer need ...

Perhaps on Nero and practice. Moreover, we all know the two magic words Nero and Ahead. We remove this wonderful program from our computer. We go to Start — Control Panel and for Windows XP Install Remove Programs, and for Windows 7 (Vista) in Programs and components. But even here it is not so simple. It turns out that Nero is a whole range of programs, and you also need to know this. For example, if you suddenly do not need Microsoft Word, most likely you will not find it in the list of installed programs. Because Microsoft Word is part of the Microsoft Office software package, so you are unlikely to be able to remove Word separately from Office (although you can).

Therefore, we remove in turn all the programs included in Nero. To do this, double-click with the left mouse button on each program: Nero Burning Rom, Nero Express, and so on, until all programs with the inscription Nero disappear from the list.

When the uninstallation of programs is finished, go to My computer - Drive C - Program Files and look for folders there with names containing our two cherished words: Nero and / or Ahead. Very often, such folders remain, although the program itself no longer exists. Delete these folders shopping cart. For Windows Vista and 7 we need to check in one more folder − Program Data. To do this, show hidden files must be enabled. I don’t want to repeat how this is done - you can read. Do not be upset and do not be surprised if in folders Program Files And Program Data, you will not find the specified folders - some programs behave correctly and completely remove themselves during uninstallation, but still it never hurts to check.

And that's not all - do not be lazy and look (if in Windows XP) in the folder C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data, and C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Local Settings\Application Data, and even easier to use search and find all folders with names containing Nero and Ahead. In Windows 7, thanks to its improved search, this will be even easier, and we also delete these daddies (Nero and Ahead) in the Recycle Bin.

When the correct removal of the program is finally over, we move on to the most important and crucial part of our whole undertaking with you ...

Step Four: Cleaning the Windows Registry...

Click Win+R and enter in the launch line regedit and click on OK by launching the Windows Registry Editor in such a simple way. On the left side you will see the section K computer, expanding it by clicking on the triangle you will see the sections

*HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT*,

*HKEY_CURRENT_USER*,

*HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE*,

*HKEY_USERS*

*HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG*.

We will skip *HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT*, there is nothing for us there.

Method 1. We clean the registry

Now… No-o-o! We don’t clean anything yet, but again we make a backup copy, now of the registry itself. To do this, left-click on File - Export... and save the Windows registry in a file with the extension .reg, preferably on another drive, not on C . Now, with peace of mind, you can finally start editing and cleaning the registry. In the registry editor, click once on the inscription Computer(or My computer in Windows XP), and then press the keyboard shortcut ctrl+f a search box will appear. Enter the word Nero there first and click OK. The computer will “think” a little and give you a registry branch in which you will see the search word. We carefully look at what is written there, if the path to the program is written, for example, C: \ Program Files \ Nero \ ... etc. - it is obvious that this path belonged to the program we deleted. Remove this entry from the registry. Then press the key F3, and the search finds us the next value that contains Nero. Or we will see a whole section with the name Nero in the Software section, we also delete it. And so we repeat our actions cyclically until the registry editor gives us the phrase Registry search completed- it means we have reached the end of the registry and the program will not find anything for us.

We repeat the same with Ahead. And so we clean the registry from the program. After that, close the registry editor and restart the computer. If the computer boots up normally, then everything worked out for us, and you can run to show off to your friends and acquaintances that you manually cleaned the Windows registry yourself!

This is how you can correctly and without a trace remove programs from your computer and clean the Windows registry from a no longer needed remote program, and having become more adept in this matter, you can even manually remove some viruses, without an antivirus! Do not forget about caution and care! And also, remember! No even the most vaunted cycleliner will ever replace your mind and hands. For lovers of portable programs, I’ll make one more parting word - keep in mind that it’s not always of course, but quite often your favorite “portables” also litter the registry with their entries. It all depends on the kulibin that this portable made.

Method 2. We clean the registry manually from programs.

Expand * HKEY_CURRENT_USER*, open the section *Software*. Now we read the entire list of folders, there will be many programs that you deleted a long time ago, but a record of them remains. And these records clog and slow down the computer.
And, unfortunately, not all programs see and delete them. Therefore, when we see such an entry, we click on it with the second mouse button and select *delete*, or simply select this folder and press the Del button on the keyboard. Please note that all (or many, depending on the situation) settings of this program will be erased, and at the next installation they will have to be set again. But it's not that hard.

Now collapse *HKEY_CURRENT_USER*, open *HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE*, it has a section *SOFTWARE*. And also we look for and delete unnecessary entries. Delete records only about those programs that are removed. Otherwise, the program may stop working. When you clear this section as well, close *Registry Editor*. Restart your computer. All.
Courtesy of luxhard.com

The registry of the Windows operating system is a large database that stores all information about the PC configuration, OS settings, information about installed programs and their paths. Over time, this database is filled with outdated and incorrect entries (keys), which appear in Russian speaking due to the crooked hands of the program creators and the operating system itself. For example, you decide to delete an already boring game. We launched the uninstaller, waited for the end of the process, and, it seems, that's all, but there could be entries about this game in the registry, which are now dead weight there. And the longer you use your computer, the more garbage accumulates in the registry. This slows down the overall performance of the computer. and slows down the launch of programs, so you need to periodically clean the registry.

Step-by-step instructions for cleaning the Windows registry

Theoretically, it is possible to clean the registry manually, but firstly, it is very long, and secondly, it is not safe, especially for non-computer craft professionals. Therefore, CCleaner will come to our aid - a free, powerful and absolutely safe system cleaning tool. CCleaner will help you find all the garbage from third-party applications, and destroy it in just a couple of minutes.

After you have installed ccleaner, run the application, go to the left menu in the section " Registry", and select the function " Troubleshooting«:

CCleaner will start checking your operating system's registry for errors. This process takes from one to three minutes (depending on the size of the database itself). At the end of the process, press "To correct…" in the lower right corner of the program.

Here ccleaner will prompt you to back up the current state of the registry. Be sure to agree - if something goes wrong, you can simply restore the saved copy.

After you save the backup, a window will appear with a description of the problems found. Here you can either fix each error individually (recommended for advanced users only) or click« Fix marked« , and ccleaner will automatically fix all found errors and issues.

At the end of the process, you will see a window like this, informing you that the registry cleaning is completed. For your own interest, you can click on the links and see what specific problems have been solved.

That's all, ccleaner has finished cleaning the registry and now your computer will run a little faster. Repeat this procedure once a month to keep the windows registry clean and tidy.