Registry Cleaners

[Maiandra]

Does anyone here use a reliable registry cleaner? This isn't actually for me, but someone else. However, I don't use them (except for the feature that is built into my virus/spyware software), so I thought I'd see if anyone here was familiar them. I know that they can be risky to use (as can anything that messes with the registry), so that was my main concern about advising anyone about them.

Has anyone here found any particular registry cleaners to be consistently low-risk (is there even such a thing as "risk free"?) and reliable?

[DeadPoolX]

Unfortunately, the last registry cleaner that I found effective and safe was one that only worked on Windows 98SE and ME. I've tried it numerous times on 2K and XP, all of which failed. I assume the program was developed for the 9x kernel but for use on the NT kernel.

That's a real shame, too. It was a fantastic registry cleaner. Maybe they've made an update. I don't know, but I'm certain I could find out.

[Collector]

I do everything manually, so I can't say anything about what is currently available, off hand. What is the need? If it is because of spyware, many of the anti-spyware programs remove the keys and or strings written by spyware. If it is because of a lot of installs/uninstalls of programs, especially shareware, it may be time for a fresh install of Windows, anyway.

[DeadPoolX]

If it is because of a lot of installs/uninstalls of programs, especially shareware, it may be time for a fresh install of Windows, anyway.

Perhaps, but that's a real pain to do. Unless you have a whole weekend free for nothing else, formatting and doing a fresh install quickly becomes a huge inconvenience.

That's why I like Alien Respawn. It basically formats and reinstalls the OS back to the factory defaults. That means you don't need to set anything or reinstall the drivers (or at least, the basic drivers).

[Collector]

Redoing everything is a pain. Ghosting the drive after installing everything and getting it all setup just the way you like is about the best way to make it as painless as possible the next time around.

[misslilo]

I've gotten used to CCleaner - and it does a pretty good job for me.
Not that I need it much, but I use it everytime I have uninstalled something to make sure everything is gone