What registry cleaner should i use

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft doesn't offer RegClean anymore. It hasn't been supported since Windows 98, as it caused so many problems. There's even an official Microsoft support page stating that the company does not support the use of registry cleaners. Consider how many utilities Microsoft has rolled into Windows over time: Windows 10 includes a built-in firewall, antivirus, file cleaner, disk defragmenter, and more. If Microsoft thought that registry cleaning was helpful, it would include a tool for this in Windows.

We should also mention CCleaner, which we once recommended as an OK option if you felt you really had to run a registry cleaner. Nowadays, you don't need CCleaner , and that includes its registry cleaner. Computer geeks love to squeeze every bit of possible performance out of their systems. There are all kinds of benchmark tests when a new CPU or graphics card launches, and people will tweak settings just to make a game run a little bit better. There are no serious, legitimate performance tests showing that running registry cleaners improve performance.

If they really worked, PC gaming enthusiasts would recommend running them for better game performance. If you see registry cleaner performance tests, they are probably phony and either made up by the company or someone getting paid to sell one.

The same goes for the "reviews" on registry cleaner sites. Instead of running a registry cleaner, what can you do to actually speed up your PC if it feels slow? Thankfully, you have lots of options that bring a noticeable effect. You should start by following our guide to cleaning up your computer.

This will walk you through cleaning up large files, deleting old junk you don't need, and uninstalling bloatware. Doing all this will free up far more room than the scrap of space that running a registry cleaner reclaims. Next, look into ways to make your computer run faster. These include steps that will actually have an effect, such as disabling unnecessary startup programs and turning off visual effects.

You might even consider upgrading your PC's hardware for better performance , if you're able. Don't waste money on registry cleaners that do nothing—that money is much better spent on actual hardware boosts. In the end, running a registry cleaner does not bring any perceptible benefit in performance. When running any registry cleaner, we always suggest using the utilities backup registry feature first in case issues arise after the clean. These utilities should be deleting keys that are not in use and therefore should not encounter issues if ran in Normal mode.

However, if you are encountering problems that prevents you from getting into Normal mode or you get errors while in Normal mode, we suggest running them from Safe Mode. After registry keys or other system settings are found, use the utility to delete or clean those keys.

Often you need to select all found items and click a clean or delete button. If you are encountering new problems after running a registry cleaner, boot the computer into Safe Mode if Normal mode does not work and run the utility to restore the backup made.

If you did not make a backup of the registry, try using the Windows System Restore feature. Do I need a Windows registry cleaner? Note When running any registry cleaner, we always suggest using the utilities backup registry feature first in case issues arise after the clean. Quite honestly, no. You see, Microsoft has refused to release their own registry cleaner tool, or endorse any third party registry cleaner. And this is within reason. Microsoft's stance is that they don't want users messing with the registry since it probably brings attention to the most bloated part of Windows.

Simply put, messing with your Windows registry without knowing what you are doing can trigger serious errors that can render Windows inoperable. Piriform now owned by Avast is run by smart individuals who get marketing. Do not let them fool you.

They want you to believe that their Windows registry cleaner is the 2nd coming. Piriform has cashed in on our eagerness to increase PC performance and fed into our undying euphoria of deleting things on our computer that we believe are useless. Piriform and CCleaner aren't the only ones out there. We are so blinded by our own actions that we drive ourselves to false conclusions that a tool like a Windows registry cleaner, or any free registry cleaning tool, shows a perceived performance boost.

Sorry to break the news, cleaning your Windows registry does not speed up your computer. In fact, it might actually even have the opposite effect. The problem is that you are putting all your trust in an automated tool that is most likely only doing a registry scan and removing useless registries. However, at some point it may make a mistake, without you noticing, and delete a registry file that was actually important.

Who knows what the implications could be? Regardless, there are some stories out there of CCleaner breaking Windows. The point is, why bother messing with the registry if those useless registry files do nothing to harm your PC performance in the first place? Running a registry cleaner is essentially a waste of time and runs the risk of only causing more problems. Windows is designed to deal with the registry and any potential registry errors.

If Microsoft felt that cleaning the registry would help your computer, they probably would have built it into Windows by now. They haven't because the registry doesn't need to be cleaned, despite what others may have told you. Registry keys do not take up enough space for us to even notice them nowadays.

I actually have doubts about whether or not there was a computer performance boost from cleaning your registry 10 years ago.