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Windows 10 - How do I keep Windows 10 registry clean and other items

Anonymous
2018-02-09T20:22:48+00:00

Good day,

I have been searching for 2 hours for an answer first on MSDN and now here so please, be somewhat kind as my brain is numb.

I have Windows 10, latest version and I allow updates with zero update failures to date.  Just as an FYI, I have worked at many levels with Windows since the first version came out.

I took a look at my registry and I see many old registry entries from programs that I used the Windows Uninstall feature for removal.  I should have checked a couple of weeks ago but RL intervened.

I had been using the MS Windows defense programs for virus, malware etc. but had added McAfee because it was catching some things that were getting by Defender et al.  I received an email from them today tempting me with a registry clean utility "for free" which caused me to 1) immediately uninstall McAfee and 2) take a look at my registry, hence this question.

There used to be a regclean utility for download but it does not seem to exist anymore.  A very nice young lady at MS told me to create a new account and delete my old and that would take care of my registry problems.  I have not tried this yet but I plan to do a complete drive backup and create a restore point before I create a new account, make sure I have access to all my software and take a couple of days to ensure that nothing breaks or shows up missing that I bypassed.

If anyone has information other than the "how to speed up windows" page https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4002019/windows-10-improve-pc-performance, it would be greatly appreciated.

I did see the install a fresh version of Windows 10 which would undoubtedly solve the registry problem but then I have to put MS Office back on etc. etc. etc.  I would really like to avoid the pain if possible.

I have been married 37 years so ill intentioned responses will not be an issue.  Helpful responses will be very welcome even if it is to tell me to post elsewhere as long as the link is included.

Performance and system failures seem as close to my issues as I could find; apologies if that is incorrect.

Regards,

Nat

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

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  1. @CmdrKeene 90,626 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-02-09T21:00:29+00:00

    Registry cleaning is never required.  The registry is just a dead simple database of key/value pairs, and even if you had trillions upon trillions upon trillions upon trillions of extra items there, unless some program asked to query those all at once, it would never slow down your computer.  That's like saying "my library is so big, I can't walk in the front door".  Well as long as you aren't trying to carry all the books at once, it doesn't matter how big the library is.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-02-09T22:32:10+00:00

    The Windows registry doesn't need to be cleaned. Don't fall for that.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-02-09T21:23:41+00:00

    That is very interesting Shawn and I appreciate the reply and perhaps the analogy.  :-)

    I was going to add more but will defer to your MVP experience.

    Regards,

    Nat

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  4. @CmdrKeene 90,626 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-02-09T22:35:56+00:00

    For the most part, all modern systems are designed to do the "housekeeping" work themselves.  There's some built-in utilities, but generally you can just use it like an appliance.

    If your computer isn't performing well, and it's not due to something malicious like a virus, you can usually figure out what it is by just checking task manager.  I wrote a pretty generic guide on how to Fix a sluggish, slow PC without buying anything.  There's similar guides online, but be wary of those that say you should buy their stupid cleaning product to "fix" your computer.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-02-09T22:47:00+00:00

    I have your Blog bookmarked along with

    https://www.groovypost.com/howto/author/andre/

    Both are great reads as well as highly useful.

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