What is Windows Registry?

Windows Registry is an operating system’s database that stores your systems information, such as hardware, installed software, configurations, profile for each user, control panel settings, user preferences, property sheet settings for application icons and the ports that are being used. Problems with the registry are common cause of system crashes and other error messages. Registry is a group of keys, values, settings and configurations and without it Windows can’t run. The Windows registry consists of two files System.dat and User.dat.

The user.dat file contains the user specific information. System.data file contains the hardware related information in it. Customizing the windows registry require more expertise because a minor mis configurations can make your operating system unstable and it can be crashed. Windows is a hierarchical structure similar to the directory/tree on your computer.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna

Components of the Registry:

Hives:

Hives are the top most structure of the data tree and each hive contains certain category. One hive can contain the information about the user who logged on the computer and the other hive contains the information about the software installed on the computer.

Keys:

The organizational units in the registry are called Keys. Keys can contain values or further subkeys and sub keys can further contain sub keys.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna

Values:

Values contain the actual data that is stored in the key or sub key. A registry contains the different type of values. The most common type of values that you observer in the registry are Hives, Keys and Sub keys.

Registry Cleaner Software

Cleaning the Windows registry is important for removing the corrupted and unused keys. The registry keeps growing when you use Windows. As the computer usage increases, the registry stores unnecessary information and gradually it becomes fragmented, which results into the Pc crashes, error messages and slow system boot. There is large number of registry cleaner software and following is an overview of some of the best software.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna

Clean MyPC Registry Cleaner:

It scans the Windows registry and finds the incorrect entries, obsolete files, bugs and mis configurations. There is a back/restore function and through it you can backup your whole registry so you can restore it at the later time. Clean MyPC Registry Cleaner makes your system cleaner and faster.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna

CCleaner:

CCleaner is a freeway system optimization and cleaning tool. It makes the Windows to run faster by removing the unused files from your system and by freeing up the disk space. It removes the old entries for the files extension, uninstallers, DLL files, Icons, Help files, Application paths and invalid shortcuts.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna

Eusing Free Registry Cleaner 1.5:

It is free registry cleaner software that allows you to remove the Windows registry problems with few mouse clicks. The problems in the registry occurs due to many reasons such as incorrect removal of the software, missing hardware drives, orphaned files, missing application shortcuts and the references of the uninstallations. Eusing Free Registry Cleaner makes your system run faster by cleaning the registry entries. It improves the overall performance and stability of the operating system.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna

Registry Mechanic:

It is an award winning software that fixes the registry problems quickly and increases the overall performance of your computer. It fixes the broken links, cleans the registry and eliminates the windows errors. It automatically repairs the registry errors. Registry mechanic can fix the invalid paths, missing shared files, unused files extensions, obsolete start menu order and missing files and folders.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna

One suggestion - I would recommend against using registry cleaner software unless you are certain it supports your OS! In my work, we have had several people hose their registries using registry cleanup meant for XP under Vista.