More than 90% of all PC problems are due to errors in the Windows registry. The registry is one of the most crucial components of a Windows operating system, such as Windows XP. It is actually a central hierarchal database repository of all system settings, hardware, software, and user profiles on your PC. Therefore, whenever you change a system configuration, access an application, or even type on your word processor you are accessing information from and adding information to the registry.
Windows registry was first introduced with Windows 95 to make Windows more organized and increase data access speed. This, in turn, helped in improving the system performance. However, nothing is perfect. The registry has its own problems. Over time, the registry gets clogged up with a large number of invalid, obsolete, and incorrect information. Many times, when a registry key is removed, it leaves vacant spaces, commonly known as registry holes, within the registry. To make matters worse, malicious and embedded registry keys may creep into the registry through virus and spyware infestation. Altogether, these errors make your registry nothing but a digital dump yard and increase its size at an uncontrollable rate. These factors eventually corrupt and damage the registry. A corrupt registry makes your system unstable and generates frequent system errors. If uncontrolled, registry errors may render your system unusable.
Performing Windows Registry Fix
So what do you do? Well it is simple, to have a healthy Windows registry, fix all the errors. And how do we do it? There are quite a few methods that you can use to clean and repair an unhealthy registry. One of the methods is to manually edit the registry using the Registry Editor (regedit). Registry Editor displays the hierarchal structure of the registry in the same way as the folder structure displayed in Windows Explorer. This utility provides you with options to search the registry for a particular type of entry and delete it. However, this process is quite tedious and requires you to be a pro at handling registry problems. Whereas, the truth is that even the best of computer technicians are scared to touch the registry. Therefore, the best way to perform a Windows registry fix is to use a registry cleaner.
Registry cleaners are actually third-party tools developed to make it easy, even for novice users, to repair the Windows registry. Using an efficient registry cleaner, you can search the registry for all types of errors or customize your search to look for one particular type of error. Some of the errors that you can scan for are invalid, obsolete, and redundant entries, DLL errors, ActiveX/COM problems, and incorrect path settings.
Using a registry cleaner, it is easier for you to create registry backups and restore them in case of a problem. Many registry cleaners include a defragment tool that makes it possible for you to remove registry holes from the registry, make it contiguous, and re-index registry files to improve data access. Registry cleaners also help you perform a number of system maintenance activities, such as managing Internet Explorer files and Browser Help Objects (BHOs), startup programs, orphan files, and program shortcuts.
To maintain your PC at optimal performance, it is important to regularly perform a Windows registry fix. The best way to clean and repair the registry is to use a registry cleaner software. A reliable registry cleaner makes it very simple for users to scan the registry for errors and fix them. Users can also perform many other system maintenance activities to keep all registry and system errors at bay.