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Is PC . Tools Registry Mechanic worth the cost ?

Andy Petro wrote:

> Is PC . Tools Registry Mechanic worth the cost ?

No.

--
-bts
-Friends don't let friends drive Windows

Andy Petro wrote:

> Is PC . Tools Registry Mechanic worth the cost ?

You feel compelled for something you can get for free?


Why the uneducated should never use registry cleaners

Do you have a backup & restore plan in place? When (and not if) the
registry cleaner corrupts your registry and when you can no longer boot
into Windows, just how are you going to restore that OS partition so it
is usable again? Even if you use a registry cleaner that provides for
backups of its changes so you can revert back to the prior state, how
are you going to perform that restore if you cannot boot the OS after
hosing over its registry? What about entries in the registry that look
to be orphaned under the current OS load instance but are used under a
different OS environment? You delete what looks orphaned only to find
out that they are required under a different environment.

Say there was an unusually high amount of orphaned entries in your
registry, like 4MB. By deleting the orphaned entries, you would speed
up how long it takes Windows to load the registry's files when it starts
up - by all of maybe 1 second. Oooh, aaah. All that risk of modifying
the registry to save maybe a second, or less, during the Windows
startup. Most folks that clean the registry end up deleting only 10KB,
or less. They are doing nothing to improve their Windows load time.
Since the registry is only read from the memory copy of it, and since
memory is random access, there is no difference to read one byte of the
registry (in memory) from the another byte in the registry (also in
memory). The extra data in memory for orphaned entries has no effect on
the time to retrieve items from the memory copy of the registry.

Cleaning the registry will NOT improve performance in reading from the
memory copy of the registry. The reduced size of the registry's .dat
files might reduce the load time of Windows by all of a second and
probably much less. And you want to risk the stability of your OS for
inconsequential changes to its registry? The same boobs that get
suckered into these registry cleanup "tools" are the same ones that get
suckered into the memory defragment "tools".

A registry cleaner should only be used if you yourself can correctly
cleanup the registry. The cleaner is just a tool to automate the same
process but you should know every change that it intends to make and
understand each of those changes. After all, and regardless of the
stagnant expertise coded into the utility, *YOU* are the final authority
in what registry changes are performed whether you do it manually or
with a utility. If YOU do not understand the proposed change (which
requires the product actually divulge the proposed change before
committing that change), how will you know whether or not to allow that
change?

VanguardLH <> wrote in
news:gtlhgl$3eb$:

> Andy Petro wrote:
>
>> Is PC . Tools Registry Mechanic worth the cost ?
>
> You feel compelled for something you can get for free?

I think you left out "to pay"...

> Why the uneducated should never use registry cleaners

<SNIP>

Actually that is probably the best argument against "registry
cleaners" that I have read.
Almost everyone says they will **** up your system or do nothing
at best, and that they are not worth the money. Well, there are
several free ones available, I have been using Joni Vuorio's old
one for about 8 years now. It has NEVER ****ed anything up, and
it cleans up things which anal-retentives like me do not like to
have left behind by programs' "uninstallers".

I also use Adv. Reg. Optimizer which claims to "defrag" the
registry. I am sure you will say that even if it DOES that, it
is practically irrelevant, and I will probably agree, but I
still like to do it.

Both programs have never caused any problems, and I usually
clean the registry manually (I have a list of keys to check)
before doing a C: image anyway.

OP: No. Get a free one, or learn to clean it yourself. I am NF
with RM, but I tried (out of boredom) System Mechanic, the 2004
35 MB version, whch wrote about

--
(Originally Posted by Ketxxx on forums.techpowerup.com)
I think you got it a bit backwards, spyware comes free with
Vista and is a "product feature".

Andy Petro wrote:

> Is PC . Tools Registry Mechanic worth the cost ?

No.

Registry 'Cleaners' cause more problems than they solve.

HTH.

Andy.

--
Registered Linux User #478766
Join the Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org/

Lookout wrote:
> On 04 May 2009 09:57:10 GMT, Andy <> wrote:
>
>> Andy Petro wrote:
>>
>>> Is PC . Tools Registry Mechanic worth the cost ?
>>
>> No.
>>
>> Registry 'Cleaners' cause more problems than they solve.
>>
>> HTH.
>>
>> Andy.
>
> Bullshit. Operators cause more problems than any program

Agreed

Lookout wrote:

> On Sun, 3 May 2009 20:48:42 -0500, VanguardLH <> wrote:
>
>>Andy Petro wrote:
>>
>>> Is PC . Tools Registry Mechanic worth the cost ?
>>
>>You feel compelled for something you can get for free?
>>
>>
>>Why the uneducated should never use registry cleaners
>>
>>Do you have a backup & restore plan in place? When (and not if) the
>>registry cleaner corrupts your registry and when you can no longer boot
>>into Windows, just how are you going to restore that OS partition so it
>>is usable again? Even if you use a registry cleaner that provides for
>>backups of its changes so you can revert back to the prior state, how
>>are you going to perform that restore if you cannot boot the OS after
>>hosing over its registry? What about entries in the registry that look
>>to be orphaned under the current OS load instance but are used under a
>>different OS environment? You delete what looks orphaned only to find
>>out that they are required under a different environment.
>>
>>Say there was an unusually high amount of orphaned entries in your
>>registry, like 4MB. By deleting the orphaned entries, you would speed
>>up how long it takes Windows to load the registry's files when it starts
>>up - by all of maybe 1 second. Oooh, aaah. All that risk of modifying
>>the registry to save maybe a second, or less, during the Windows
>>startup. Most folks that clean the registry end up deleting only 10KB,
>>or less. They are doing nothing to improve their Windows load time.
>>Since the registry is only read from the memory copy of it, and since
>>memory is random access, there is no difference to read one byte of the
>>registry (in memory) from the another byte in the registry (also in
>>memory). The extra data in memory for orphaned entries has no effect on
>>the time to retrieve items from the memory copy of the registry.
>>
>>Cleaning the registry will NOT improve performance in reading from the
>>memory copy of the registry. The reduced size of the registry's .dat
>>files might reduce the load time of Windows by all of a second and
>>probably much less. And you want to risk the stability of your OS for
>>inconsequential changes to its registry? The same boobs that get
>>suckered into these registry cleanup "tools" are the same ones that get
>>suckered into the memory defragment "tools".
>>
>>A registry cleaner should only be used if you yourself can correctly
>>cleanup the registry. The cleaner is just a tool to automate the same
>>process but you should know every change that it intends to make and
>>understand each of those changes. After all, and regardless of the
>>stagnant expertise coded into the utility, *YOU* are the final authority
>>in what registry changes are performed whether you do it manually or
>>with a utility. If YOU do not understand the proposed change (which
>>requires the product actually divulge the proposed change before
>>committing that change), how will you know whether or not to allow that
>>change?
>
> That's IF you don't know what you're doing.
> I use FixIt Utilities and it works wonders for cleaning up a screwed
> up registry.

Which is why the rant is prefaced with "Why the UNEDUCATED should never
use registry cleaners". However, no matter what level of claimed
expertise regarding the registry, you need a backup to restore the
partition to its state before you started mucking around in the
registry. I've seen (and had to recover) hosts that became unbootable
because programmers much more familiar with the registry screwed it up.

Lookout wrote:

> On Mon, 4 May 2009 15:19:03 -0500, VanguardLH <> wrote:
>
>>Lookout wrote:
>>
>>> On Sun, 3 May 2009 20:48:42 -0500, VanguardLH <> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Andy Petro wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Is PC . Tools Registry Mechanic worth the cost ?
>>>>
>>>>You feel compelled for something you can get for free?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Why the uneducated should never use registry cleaners
>>>>
>>>>Do you have a backup & restore plan in place? When (and not if) the
>>>>registry cleaner corrupts your registry and when you can no longer boot
>>>>into Windows, just how are you going to restore that OS partition so it
>>>>is usable again? Even if you use a registry cleaner that provides for
>>>>backups of its changes so you can revert back to the prior state, how
>>>>are you going to perform that restore if you cannot boot the OS after
>>>>hosing over its registry? What about entries in the registry that look
>>>>to be orphaned under the current OS load instance but are used under a
>>>>different OS environment? You delete what looks orphaned only to find
>>>>out that they are required under a different environment.
>>>>
>>>>Say there was an unusually high amount of orphaned entries in your
>>>>registry, like 4MB. By deleting the orphaned entries, you would speed
>>>>up how long it takes Windows to load the registry's files when it starts
>>>>up - by all of maybe 1 second. Oooh, aaah. All that risk of modifying
>>>>the registry to save maybe a second, or less, during the Windows
>>>>startup. Most folks that clean the registry end up deleting only 10KB,
>>>>or less. They are doing nothing to improve their Windows load time.
>>>>Since the registry is only read from the memory copy of it, and since
>>>>memory is random access, there is no difference to read one byte of the
>>>>registry (in memory) from the another byte in the registry (also in
>>>>memory). The extra data in memory for orphaned entries has no effect on
>>>>the time to retrieve items from the memory copy of the registry.
>>>>
>>>>Cleaning the registry will NOT improve performance in reading from the
>>>>memory copy of the registry. The reduced size of the registry's .dat
>>>>files might reduce the load time of Windows by all of a second and
>>>>probably much less. And you want to risk the stability of your OS for
>>>>inconsequential changes to its registry? The same boobs that get
>>>>suckered into these registry cleanup "tools" are the same ones that get
>>>>suckered into the memory defragment "tools".
>>>>
>>>>A registry cleaner should only be used if you yourself can correctly
>>>>cleanup the registry. The cleaner is just a tool to automate the same
>>>>process but you should know every change that it intends to make and
>>>>understand each of those changes. After all, and regardless of the
>>>>stagnant expertise coded into the utility, *YOU* are the final authority
>>>>in what registry changes are performed whether you do it manually or
>>>>with a utility. If YOU do not understand the proposed change (which
>>>>requires the product actually divulge the proposed change before
>>>>committing that change), how will you know whether or not to allow that
>>>>change?
>>>
>>> That's IF you don't know what you're doing.
>>> I use FixIt Utilities and it works wonders for cleaning up a screwed
>>> up registry.
>>
>>Which is why the rant is prefaced with "Why the UNEDUCATED should never
>>use registry cleaners". However, no matter what level of claimed
>>expertise regarding the registry, you need a backup to restore the
>>partition to its state before you started mucking around in the
>>registry. I've seen (and had to recover) hosts that became unbootable
>>because programmers much more familiar with the registry screwed it up.
>
> The first option on FixIt is a back up.

But is that "backup" only usable by the utility itself? If it is a
program-centric backup then just how are you going to run it when the OS
won't boot because the registry got screwed up? Do they provide a
bootable rescue disc that you can use to boot and then read whatever
file format is used on the OS partition to restore the registry (which
cannot be incremental because the OS isn't running so you have to
replace all the registry's .dat files)? From what I've seen of
utilities that provide "backups", they are worthless when the OS won't
boot.

Lookout wrote:

> On Mon, 4 May 2009 15:48:38 -0500, VanguardLH <> wrote:
>
>>Lookout wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 4 May 2009 15:19:03 -0500, VanguardLH <> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Lookout wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Sun, 3 May 2009 20:48:42 -0500, VanguardLH <> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>Andy Petro wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Is PC . Tools Registry Mechanic worth the cost ?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>You feel compelled for something you can get for free?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Why the uneducated should never use registry cleaners
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Do you have a backup & restore plan in place? When (and not if) the
>>>>>>registry cleaner corrupts your registry and when you can no longer boot
>>>>>>into Windows, just how are you going to restore that OS partition so it
>>>>>>is usable again? Even if you use a registry cleaner that provides for
>>>>>>backups of its changes so you can revert back to the prior state, how
>>>>>>are you going to perform that restore if you cannot boot the OS after
>>>>>>hosing over its registry? What about entries in the registry that look
>>>>>>to be orphaned under the current OS load instance but are used under a
>>>>>>different OS environment? You delete what looks orphaned only to find
>>>>>>out that they are required under a different environment.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Say there was an unusually high amount of orphaned entries in your
>>>>>>registry, like 4MB. By deleting the orphaned entries, you would speed
>>>>>>up how long it takes Windows to load the registry's files when it starts
>>>>>>up - by all of maybe 1 second. Oooh, aaah. All that risk of modifying
>>>>>>the registry to save maybe a second, or less, during the Windows
>>>>>>startup. Most folks that clean the registry end up deleting only 10KB,
>>>>>>or less. They are doing nothing to improve their Windows load time.
>>>>>>Since the registry is only read from the memory copy of it, and since
>>>>>>memory is random access, there is no difference to read one byte of the
>>>>>>registry (in memory) from the another byte in the registry (also in
>>>>>>memory). The extra data in memory for orphaned entries has no effect on
>>>>>>the time to retrieve items from the memory copy of the registry.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Cleaning the registry will NOT improve performance in reading from the
>>>>>>memory copy of the registry. The reduced size of the registry's .dat
>>>>>>files might reduce the load time of Windows by all of a second and
>>>>>>probably much less. And you want to risk the stability of your OS for
>>>>>>inconsequential changes to its registry? The same boobs that get
>>>>>>suckered into these registry cleanup "tools" are the same ones that get
>>>>>>suckered into the memory defragment "tools".
>>>>>>
>>>>>>A registry cleaner should only be used if you yourself can correctly
>>>>>>cleanup the registry. The cleaner is just a tool to automate the same
>>>>>>process but you should know every change that it intends to make and
>>>>>>understand each of those changes. After all, and regardless of the
>>>>>>stagnant expertise coded into the utility, *YOU* are the final authority
>>>>>>in what registry changes are performed whether you do it manually or
>>>>>>with a utility. If YOU do not understand the proposed change (which
>>>>>>requires the product actually divulge the proposed change before
>>>>>>committing that change), how will you know whether or not to allow that
>>>>>>change?
>>>>>
>>>>> That's IF you don't know what you're doing.
>>>>> I use FixIt Utilities and it works wonders for cleaning up a screwed
>>>>> up registry.
>>>>
>>>>Which is why the rant is prefaced with "Why the UNEDUCATED should never
>>>>use registry cleaners". However, no matter what level of claimed
>>>>expertise regarding the registry, you need a backup to restore the
>>>>partition to its state before you started mucking around in the
>>>>registry. I've seen (and had to recover) hosts that became unbootable
>>>>because programmers much more familiar with the registry screwed it up.
>>>
>>> The first option on FixIt is a back up.
>>
>>But is that "backup" only usable by the utility itself? If it is a
>>program-centric backup then just how are you going to run it when the OS
>>won't boot because the registry got screwed up? Do they provide a
>>bootable rescue disc that you can use to boot and then read whatever
>>file format is used on the OS partition to restore the registry (which
>>cannot be incremental because the OS isn't running so you have to
>>replace all the registry's .dat files)?
>
> Yes.
> The way you're talking Windows has been erased. Stop being so
> melodramatic. 99% of the time it's a minor problem that a back up can
> fix.
>
>>From what I've seen of
>>utilities that provide "backups", they are worthless when the OS won't
>>boot.

No, nothing to do with "Windows being erased". Everything to do with
corrupting the registry so that Windows won't even boot. It's there
(and NOT erased) but won't load. Sometimes the "Last known good config"
will work on a reboot but not always. You obviously haven't had to deal
with many users that believe they know how to edit the registry and then
call to have their host reimaged because Windows won't load anymore and
no expert can figure out how to resuscitate it.

If you perform backups before editing the registry, they should be of
the type where you can use bootable media to restore the registry's .dat
files or restore an image of the partition. If Windows won't load (and,
again, nothing to do with it being "erased"), you won't be able to run
that registry cleaner to restore its special backup. Instead of
thinking of it as a backup, think more of it being an Undo function -
and Undo doesn't always work to get you back to the same prior state.

Andy Petro wrote:
> Is PC . Tools Registry Mechanic worth the cost ?

Unless you install and remove a lot of programs the system should stay
stable and registry should stay working right.
People tend to overuse helper apps. Registry cleaners, I call them
registry mutialtors.

CCleaner has a registry cleaner I think, and it's free. Made my system
unusable but that was some years ago.

The best move any user could make is learning to reinstall windows, an
hour of time all updates and programs will be reinstalled. That and
have a partition for data that won't be touched in the even of a need
for a reinstall.