What Is All The Fuss About Cleaning Windows XP Registry?

Many users are confused about the need to clean and repair Windows XP registry, this articles outlines the reasons and main remedies

Introduction to Windows XP registry -Windows XP registry is a core component of PCs. PC user should clean Windows XP registry regularly. Many refer to the registry as the heart soul and mind of Windows. The registry is used by Windows XP to store the devices and file associations of the computer. Registry is also used to store critical information on directories, drivers, Windows applications and much more. Unless you are very familiar with Windows XP operating system, you should use a registry cleaner software instead of cleaning the registry manually.

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Are you sufficiently familiar with Windows XP registry? - If so, Read on
 
Taking a backup - When completing any repair process of Windows XP registry, mistakes can be made easily and damage your system further. Hence, taking a backup of your file is necessary. Fortunately there are now many proven registry cleaning software available. These tools can find the potentially questionable or unused references, and they prompt the user to review any entry that may cause a problem once removed.
 
Start menu - To begin cleaning Windows XP Registry manually, go to the start menu, and click on run. Type “regedit” in the text field, and press enter.
 
HKEY sections - Windows XP registry has many different entries separated in sections namely HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_USERS, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and HKEY_CURRENT CONFIG. There are different entries in each section, which are related to various aspects of Windows XP operation. Click on the plus sign to clean windows XP registry. You should notice a + symbol next to the root directory. This will open the more detailed list, more directories to choose from in this section will then be available and will make it easier to find the entries needed to clean up the registry.
 
Entries causing conflicts - Next step to clean Windows XP registry is to erase the entries which are causing conflicts or are no longer required, such as redundant ActiveX components for example (click on repair activex for more information)
 
Clean boot records - It is also advisable to clean the boot records. This can be done easily by changing the list of programs that load when the system starts up. Click on the CURRENT_USER and LOCAL_MACHINE directories until you reach the “Run” and “Run Once” option. This enables cleaning the registry entries which trigger programs at startup.
 
Clean twice a year - Ideally you should clean windows XP registry once every six months. This removes items which are no longer needed. Machines which are extremely slow usually have a large number of software, or those where drivers are constantly being installed and uninstalled, require more frequent cleanups (click on computer extremely slow for more information).
 
However tempting a manual clean or repair may be, remember that, using the appropriate registry cleaner to repair windows XP registry is usually a superior solution than attempting this manually . Many proven software will also optimise your Windows XP operating system response time (i.e. speed), and also include backup facilities to prevent accidental loss of data.