How to Clean Old Data From the Registry
October 30th, 2009
The system registry is an integral part of any windows operating system. It is the central database of the operating system and is constantly referred to in order to efficiently run the computer. As the system is used and programs are added and deleted from the computer the entries are made in the corresponding sections of the registry. The programs and files or shortcuts may be uninstalled or deleted from the system but they remain in the registry. This clutters up the registry, which grows the system down, and need to be removed with special utility tools known as the system registry cleaner software.
Where Can I Find This Registry Cleaner Software?
Registry Cleaner software is abundantly available on the Internet and many of these tools are available for free downloads. The download process does not take more than a few minutes at the most and is even faster to install. The registry cleaner software, such as, windows registry cleaner, PC registry cleaner and hundreds in their creed. The registry cleaner software is very reliable and all have a registry backup program. This backup must be done with all the registry cleaner software that is used no matter if it is a freeware or a premium pack. Anything can go wrong at any time and not only with registry cleaning software.
Since the registry is the backbone of the system it must be maintained in top order. The registry, if damaged or corrupted in any way, may stall a program or even the entire system. It is possible to delve into the registry and clean out the redundant files and folders manually however; even the gurus of the registry never advise this. It is always better to use a utility such as windows PC registry cleaner to clean old data from the registry and compress the registry to make it more efficient.
Search the Internet and find the registry cleaning software that most suits your requirement. All the registry cleaners have some thing in common. This is scanning the registry for old and useless data, repairing the registry by removing the redundant data and compressing the registry and backing up the old registry in case it needs to be reinstalled. The ActiveX controls that downloads bring with them do the most damage. Once the download is uninstalled the entry in the registry remains and needs to be removed with the special registry cleaner software. The use of which will only enhance the performance of the PC.
Arvind
http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/how-to-clean-old-data-from-the-registry-69471.html
October 30th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Is overwriting the data on your computer the only way to really wipe deleted documents on it forever?
I recently downloaded a registry cleaner from download.com to help deleting the programs to be uninstalled for good. My computer is not running slow or anything like that but I have been installing and unistalling lots of software. After I finished my mother in law asked me about what I was doing and after I answered she told me that it doesn’t matter because the only way to really delete data is by overwriting.
Is that true?
October 30th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
yes its true. Uninstalled or deleted data is only marked as deleted, it’s easy to recover it, even if drive is formatted. Only overwriting can wipe the information. Forget it)
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October 30th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
There’s bleaching programs out there that will clean all your free space.
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October 30th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
If you’re interested in stopping anyone else reading the contents of an old disk that you don’t want to use anymore, then get a free data deletion program and then either keep the disk in a safe place or get someone to destroy it in front of your eyes with a large blunt instrument. And then dispose of the remains safely.
If you’re interested in software install/uninstalls having a negative impact on your computer performance, then you may be wise to figure out how to reinstall Windows – reinstalling is the *best* way to clean the registry. Of course, you will have to reinstall your software and data.
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October 30th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
If you are considering selling a PC, as an example, you should use KILLDISK to do a 7-9 or more times over-write of the Hard-drive, that meets and exceeds the DoD standards. If you want to delete specific files or programs, you can do it, it will just cost; they use a technique similar to the overwrite, it is just a little more focused.
As an example of how long your data can persist, I know that when doing data recovery for accidental deletions, you can go back ten "generations" ( ten overwrites) before things start to decay too severely for restoration of files.
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October 30th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
You’re mother is partly correct. But even overwriting these files a skilled technician can read the old info. The FBI, CIA, MI5 and agencies such as this have great skills in retrieving "erased information"
For my understanding of what you are doing you’re mother’s information is completely irrelevant (A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing). As you don’t need to completely remove all possible traces of these files being on your computer from them accessing your registry.
I assume you are trying to speed up your computer by clearing cluttered registry entries.
There has been some debate on just how effective those registry cleaners are, but yes removing residual items from the registry should in theory make your computer run faster.
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October 30th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Killdisk, or a really big shredder ;P
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October 30th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Depends on what you are trying to do. Un-installing software, deleting files, dragging files to the trash all make the space that was occupied by those file available for re-use the next time you save something.
Those actions remove the information about the file locations from the internal directory data maintained by the operating system on your hard drive, but they do not physically remove the data that is in all of those files. When the operating system needs space to save a new file, or to accommodate an existing file that has become larger, then it may overwrite some places where the data in deleted files had been written.
For all normal operations, that is all that you need to do.
If, however, you have something sensitive on your hard drive, then the data that was in that document or spreadsheet, or whatever, is still physically present on the drive. It is invisible to you and the operating system because the drive location information has been removed. this data can be recovered by using a program designed to find files that are still present even when they have been deleted by the operating system – which is sometimes a VERY good thing.
The only way to get rid of the physical remnants of the data is, as your mother says, to overwrite those locations with new data, or by using a program that specifically does that. There are many programs available for that purpose. I use a program called "eraser" (see source link). It is free and can be used to either erase a specific file (ie do the usual operating system delete, then to overwrite the physical location with multiple passes of random data – you can select the thoroughness of the overwrite).
You can also use it to erase all of the unused space on your drive. In that case, it will overwrite all of the presently unused space in a way that makes the data unrecoverable.
Keep in mind, though, that wiping the drive with a program like eraser is not necessary for ordinary operation. Deleting files in the usual way is perfectly good. In addition, using a product like eraser will make it impossible for you to recover any accidentally deleted files that you have purged from the trash.
References :
http://www.heidi.ie/