If I Clean My PC Registry
Could I Damage My PC?
Will a Registry Cleaner Fix Registry Errors?
Yes it is possible (but unlikely) that if you clean your PC registry to fix registry errors the Registry Cleaner might damage your PC but that should not stop you trying one. If you are having problems such as:
- Slow Startup and Shutdown
- Slow Performance
- Freezing
- Crashing
- Windows Errors
- Cannot add/remove a program normally
a Registry Cleaner should fix registry errors and significantly improve the performance of your PC.
You may have been reading comments on forums etc. where people have said that Registry Cleaners “trashed” their PC whilst they were trying to clean my PC registry or that one or more programs would not run after using a Registry Cleaner. This may be true but given the size of the market the number complaining is a very small proportion. There are numerous registry products out there and you will see more negative comments about popular products but this is inevitable given the very fact that they are popular.
So how can a popular product damage one PC whilst trying to clean my PC registry but fix registry errors and greatly improve the performance of another? Basically it depends on the state of your registry in the first place. When tiding the registry there is no way that a Registry Cleaner can know for certain what is required and what is “junk”. Each product is setup differently in terms of how “aggressive” it is in cleaning the registry. If it is too aggressive it may well delete something it shouldn’t and thereby damage the PC. On the other hand if it is not aggressive enough it may not clean my PC registry properly.
Most Registry Cleaners will present the user with a report after scanning the registry and offer the option to change its suggestions. If these options mean nothing to you it is best to just go with the tool’s suggestions but make doubly sure that you backup the registry first. This will ensure that you can reverse any changes if there are problems afterwards.
All good registry cleaners have a backup facility and will automatically backup before running a repair to fix registry errors. They will also allow a restore from this or an earlier backup if necessary. However to be doubly sure it is also worth creating a windows System Restore point before running a repair or using a utility like ERUNT (a great little free program but Vista and Win 7 users should read the Readme file).
Having made the backup proceed with the repair and let the registry cleaner fix registry errors. Once complete check that all seems well and that programs run as before. Continue to look for any issues over the next few days.
If you are careful you can “clean my PC registry” without any need to worry about damage to your PC.
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