Clean PC Registry

A clean PC registry can make a difference. Does your computer ever give you strange error messages? Have you noticed your PC slowing down and making more hard disk noise as it grows older? There are several factors that contribute to this drop in performance.

The Windows registry is a database. Every time a program accesses the registry, Windows must search through this database to find the correct information. With a clean PC registry, searching is fast. Don’t you think that unnecessary junk accumulating in the registry would slow down these searches?

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What’s in the Registry?

What is Windows storing in the Registry? Lots of stuff!
- A list of the Most Recently Used (MRU) programs.
- History about every program installed.
- Information about the users and their preferences.
- Information about the computer hardware and software.
- Data placed there by running applications, for safe-keeping or for convenience.
- A bunch of “broken” registry keys and data.

Broken Registry Keys

Broken registry keys are trash that some programs leave behind in the registry. They may be the mess created when a new software installation fails. They may be left-over references to files and information that should have been deleted when an application was uninstalled. Many applications do not leave you with a clean PC registry when they are uninstalled. Instead they just leave these unwanted registry keys and associated data behind. Broken registry keys are like false leads in a scavenger hunt. They slow your computer down.

Sometimes the uninstall process is not complete. The computer retains an unofficial partial record of its history, including the undeleted files, broken registry keys, and unnecessary data.

But what good is this record of the computer’s history? What could somebody do with this information? Well…

Just imagine. Auditors sometimes follow the “paper trail” to reconstruct a history, when they are auditing a company. Similarly, the registry contains traces or “data trails.” Much as a credit card thief finds useful information by sifting through the trash, a rogue or malware program may find these data trails useful when searching for weaknesses in the computer’s defenses.

How would somebody access these records left in the registry? Reading the registry is quite simple, actually. Windows provides information from the registry in response to a request from a running process, as a “system service.”

But surely nobody is going to look in your registry for information about your business (and other) activities. Are they?

To perform market research, a curious person need not ask the owner of the computer which programs have been installed. Instead, they can just look in the registry! Brilliant, isn’t it? There may be reasons why so much information is left behind in the registry during the uninstall process.

But who can access the registry, besides the owner of the computer? Spyware, trojans, and computer viruses (as well as any other program that makes a request).

If neglected, the registry can become polluted by an unwanted collection of broken links and long-forgotten data, along with the other remains of partially-removed software that clutters up your hard disk. As rats and roaches live among garbage, this seems like the perfect environment for viruses, trojans, and spyware. Why would you want to keep all that stuff in your computer? Wouldn’t it be better to tidy up your hard disk regularly and maintain a clean PC registry?

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tools for registry cleaning and maintenance