I have a lot of references to programs I have removed, and keys with no value(end keys). I use C-Cleaner but the registry still shows a lot of program references and paths to nowhere. I've seen a lot of information on the "auto" cleaners out there and I don't think any are recommended. I'd be too apprehensive to let one loose in my registry other than C-Cleaner which I do use. I've always used proper procedure to remove programs, and then looked for and deleted references to those removed programs where I found them. I still see registry references to those programs. I regularly clean up the disk space and defrag, and I have good AV software and even use the safety scanner periodically (have clean bill of health), but slow starts and action are still a plague. my computer has limited space and I'd like to maximize where I can with what I have. Then I ran just an inquiry using some of these auto-cleaners (Quad and several others), and the shear amount of problems they find is unbelieveable; and yet, in the case of Quad Registry Cleaner, I still see references to and Lib problems with removed programing and can trace to the registry keys. Is this reliable way to see what is not needed in the registry and rid the slow-down? I see references to removed Programs, for instance I removed all MS Search Enhancement Pack Programming and still see: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{E8A9D7BA-D10E-42e3-AA03-BD9E367A1535}\1.0\0\win32, showing a default reference to C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Search Enhancement Pack\Search Helper\SEPsearchhelperie.dll . Also I've removed all Sunstorm Games, 1602AD game, and Money program and more; also to load the current Adobe 9, all previous programming had to be removed, and yet Adobe 4 programming still shows in the registry along with varied references to the others. I'm talking about hundreds of references to "gone" programs that were removed correctly. Can these instances be right clicked and deleted or is this the wrong track? Is there a 101 instruction on registry key and reference removal? Any ideas? Check out the results put out by Quad Registry Cleaner and double-click a specific line entry. It takes you to the exact registry key. 1 person got this answerI do too

No. Having extra registry keys in Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 will have zero impact on your system's speed. Registry cleaners are snake oil at best. At worst they will do irrevocable damage to programs like MS Office and Windows itself. Details: http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 - registry cleaner thread I like CCleaner but caution people to only use the cleaning part and to stay away from the registry tools. I will give you my usual "slow computer" troubleshooting steps at the end of this reply. Frankly, your post was extremely dense and hard to read. I can't make out exactly what problems you are having aside from the extra registry entries. If you do have further questions, please post back and list them with numbers or bulleted points and use white space. I'm not saying this to hurt your feelings, just trying to help you get answers. How to Post in the Forums: http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Usenet (you can ignore the references to Usenet/newsgroups since you are posting on a web forum but the suggestions about how to write the post are applicable here too) http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375 - How to Ask a Question Some reasons for computer slowness: 1. Computer hasn't been maintained - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Maintenance 2. Computer is infected with malware - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware 3. Hard drive is too full. Remove unnecessary stuff, uninstall unused programs. Don't forget to back up! http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Backing_Up 4. Flaky third-party software. Toolbars and add-ons are particular culprits in this area. Uninstall toolbars (Google, Yahoo, ISP-branded, etc.) and look carefully at what add-ons are in use in your browser(s). 5. Computer has too many unnecessary programs/processes running in the background. Manage your Startup: For XP - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560 The free Autoruns program is very useful for managing your Startup - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx For Vista/Windows7 - Start Orb>Search box>type: msconfig and when it appears in the Results box above, right-click and choose "Run as Administrator". Autoruns is also very useful. 6. User is running a bloated/invasive antivirus program such as ones from Norton and McAfee. Replace with a better program. I recommend either NOD32 (commercial) or Avast (free). Avira is also good but the free version has an unpleasant nag screen (Google for instructions as to how to disable this). User may also be running more than one real-time antivirus/firewall/security program. 7. User has installed new programs that are processor and/or memory-intensive (Photoshop, AutoCAD, Mathmatica or the like) and doesn't have the necessary hardware power. 8. Hard drive is failing and is in PIO Mode. This is very dramatically slow (like being back in 1985). See Hans-Georg Michna's information here - http://winhlp.com/?q=node/10 In addition to the above, also see http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-my-computer-is-slow.html MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

Thank you. I'd hoped I would find someone to answer some of the questions I had. You did. This is a lot to go over.May I ask 2 questions:I have a Dell Dimension 8100. I started with Windows ME and upgraded to XP Home Edition SP2 and let the SP3 update install when it came. Another user with the Same exact computer, hardware and upgrades to SP2 isn't letting SP3 load. Each time I look for answers, it's hard to find mention of SP3. I see references to SP2 more, and I wonder if it was a mistake to take it. Is there any reasons not to have SP3? I have only about 6.0 gb left in my C: drive and a 500 gb external hard drive (F:). I've removed what I felt I could, and I guess to go for more memory/faster equipment is a real answer; but till I can, to help free it up a little, I'm removing some of the less used (but needed off and on) programs and reloading them using the external F:drive as the base for the program. I seem to gain a little. I'm also putting documents, reports, image files, anything I can, I'm resaving into F: drive and deleting from C:. I'm probably not going to get too far, but can this help?

1. If you are running XP, you should have SP3. It is important to keep your operating system updated. I have installed SP3 on hundreds of computers with no ill effects. Installing a Service Pack on a computer that is infected and/or not well-maintained is why people have problems. 2. You forgot to tell me how large your C:\ drive is. While I normally would suggest just buying a larger hard drive, I question whether spending any time or money on such an old machine is cost-effective. You are definitely way beyond shelf-life on that machine. It's time to start thinking about replacing it. If you decide to buy a larger hard drive, you'll have to do some research to see how big a drive that machine will support. You don't want to run programs off an external hard drive. They will be too slow.MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

best advice is to stay away from automated registry cleaners. I've had to rebuild about 30 machines that have had their registry 'cleaned' by automation. Only time the registry should be mucked with is manually by someone who knows what they are doing. That said, I do use one registry app, ntregopt, that compresses the registry, but does NOT touch any keys or strings. It will decrease boot time, sometimes quite dramatically. It's small, bulletproof, and can't hose your rig. In addition to what Malkeleah said about external drives, one thing you CAN do is keep all your apps on your internal drive and store your data externally. Ideally, you'd have a second hd in the machine for your data and synch it with the external drive, as data that isn't backed up is data you don't want, but I understand how finances go. With the low cost of hard drives today, you could easily get two 500 gb hd's and an enclosure for under $150, I'd estimate. hth, vM.V.P. - Desktop Experience | M.C.S.A. | M.C.P. - MS Server 2k3, Network Architecture

My registry has grown to a little more than twice its size in the last few years. I uninstalled the programs that I don't use frequently but the amount of disk space used by the registry has not decreased. What do you suggest I do so that it doesn't continue to grow and take up more and more of my hard disk space. I've noticed that my registry is not the only microsoft related element that grows larger and larger over time, but that's another post.How can I reduce the size of my registry so that it takes up less space on my hard drive? And just so I"m clear on the issue . . . does the size of the registry have no bearing on how fast one's machine can load windows?YatesNYCNew York, NY

Hi, Not sure if the helps. But I read this article from Mike Arrowsith's blog on how to speed up my PC . Some useful tips.Free software Downloads at: http://www.yadasoftware.com

Ok. It's been a while and I think I have a lot of answers. Remember I said I didn't like the idea of an automated registry checker? I took it you agreed when you fired back the registry and cleaner speeches. Thanks, you motivated me to learn a little about manual control. I still believe that, though I pittled with the complete scan feature of Quad(only to get a visual of what was out there). I used MS support and other study and conclude the same as most about the registry with some reservations. Study proved a good thing as I was able to rid myself of some problems (manually, and backing up the registry first). And it proved a good thing when I was asked to help remove some hung programming for another's. They'd removed programs (using Add & Remove Programs) but it left the names in add and remove programs, and other removals had left some of the programming in the files, and further attempts to remove were futile and/or deletion rejected. After all else fails and the MS Installed Programs tool won't pick it up, this was one solution> http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal/FindSolutions/1173/819885547/kb/2001949858. There can always be a good reason to learn.Where you again helped is I hemmed and hawed and finally tossed McAfee. My computer having so few resources, McAfee was a nightmare. Dropping them gave me another big boost. Even with only 5.6 free out of a 18.6 gb hd, I think it's fast enough.And about the Antiviral software, I know only one should be used at a time. I wonder what anyone thinks of Microsoft Security Essentials? 100% free with real-time protection for any authentic MS system? It doesn't seem to slow me and it's caught some things. I don't know of any other free one performing real-time protection. Did I hear someone say something bad about Windows Defender? I do have a lot of anti malware in reserve. I find not any one single will get all malware, but only one is on real time protection so I'm not slowed. I can choose from a lot of great free versions as a back-up arsenal along with various other tools for rooting. And the Malicious Software Removal Tool downloads in MS automatic updates once a month and cleans the system. All have proven useful over and over on multiple computers. I went ahead and loaded a lot of lesser used programming and all my files, pictures, music, and what-not to "f:" (the 500 gb external drive). The main things are still in "C:". The effect of clearing all that from "C:" was like oiling the machine. Speed reduction for those programs now in "F:" is minimal and compared to the gains, perfectly acceptable. It's a computer again! XDon't ripp me for being too long winded again, if anyone's even looking here anymore!

Glad things are working for you. Both Avira and Avast have free versions which provide real-time protection. Of the two, I prefer Avast and that's the one I put on clients' machines when they don't want to purchase an antivirus solution. MS Essentials has gotten good reviews but I don't care for the way it updates (uses Windows Update) among other things so it isn't on my "list". But I wouldn't counsel anyone to dump it if it works for them.Thanks for taking the time to post back.MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!