Guest Daave Posted August 9, 2008 Posted August 9, 2008 "Roger Daniels" <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote in message news:ujrlAQn%23IHA.1452@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading >several posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it >several months ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before >uninstalling the program ? Without knowing what it "fixed," it's hard to know. For all you know, you have lucked out and haven't done any real damage yet. Just because registry "fixing" programs aren't beneficial doesn't mean they always hose up systems. And I don't believe Free Registry Fix is a rogue program (although it is certainly a ripoff), so you might be alright. It's possible your system is still fine. Personally, I would just uninstall it (and avoid all similar programs in the future) and cut my losses. For all you know, running its undo function may screw up your system. Do you have any actual problems other than worrying about what this particular program may have done?
Guest BillW50 Posted August 9, 2008 Posted August 9, 2008 Re: registry cleaning undo ? In news:ujrlAQn%23IHA.1452@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl, Roger Daniels <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> typed: > I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading > several posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it > several months ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before > uninstalling the program ? > RH Daniels Most of the people here are dead set against registry cleaners. Some are okay and virtually all of them are okay if you know what you are doing. Most of the time, they don't help anything. Once in awhile, they break something. And then again, sometimes they actually fix something. Now if you can't find anything broken in a couple of months, I wouldn't worry about it. The only worry is something you haven't used in a couple of months. Like the recovery partition or something important. Then undo all of the fixes in that case. ;-) -- Bill Gateway Celeron M 370 (1.5GHZ) MX6124 (laptop) w/2GB Windows XP Home SP2 (120GB HD) Intel® 910GML (64MB shared)
Guest Roger Daniels Posted August 10, 2008 Posted August 10, 2008 registry cleaning undo ? I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading several posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it several months ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before uninstalling the program ? RH Daniels
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted August 10, 2008 Posted August 10, 2008 Re: registry cleaning undo ? On Sat, 9 Aug 2008 19:06:06 -0500, "Roger Daniels" <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote: > I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading several > posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it several months > ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before uninstalling the program ? It's hard to be sure without knowing what the "fixes" were, but if the fixes it made several months ago haven't caused a problem yet, it's unlikely that they will. I wouldn't undo anything. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest JS Posted August 10, 2008 Posted August 10, 2008 Re: registry cleaning undo ? I second Ken's advice but also add that since this tool apparently has an undo feature, I'd leave it installed but unused for a while longer as a just in case. Also take note that any bug that does crop up after this period of time could not be caused by using the reg fix tool, so if you do choose to undo in an attempt to fix the bug, I would create a new System Restore Point just prior to using the undo feature (which could conceivably make things worse) as you may just need that restore point. JS "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message news:lids94hs5a9jmmsmcfspehjkasq2jb08sh@4ax.com... > On Sat, 9 Aug 2008 19:06:06 -0500, "Roger Daniels" > <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote: > >> I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading >> several >> posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it several months >> ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before uninstalling the program ? > > > It's hard to be sure without knowing what the "fixes" were, but if the > fixes it made several months ago haven't caused a problem yet, it's > unlikely that they will. I wouldn't undo anything. > > -- > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience > Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest Roger Daniels Posted August 10, 2008 Posted August 10, 2008 Re: registry cleaning undo ? "Daave" <dcwashNOSPAM@myrealboxXYZ.invalid> wrote in message news:O54Lugn%23IHA.2352@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... > "Roger Daniels" <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote in message > news:ujrlAQn%23IHA.1452@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >>I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading several >>posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it several months >>ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before uninstalling the program ? > > Without knowing what it "fixed," it's hard to know. For all you know, you > have lucked out and haven't done any real damage yet. Just because > registry "fixing" programs aren't beneficial doesn't mean they always hose > up systems. And I don't believe Free Registry Fix is a rogue program > (although it is certainly a ripoff), so you might be alright. > > It's possible your system is still fine. Personally, I would just > uninstall it (and avoid all similar programs in the future) and cut my > losses. For all you know, running its undo function may screw up your > system. > > Do you have any actual problems other than worrying about what this > particular program may have done? > Thanks for the advice. I don't think the reg cleaner caused any problem that I am aware of. My main concern is that my PC seems to run very slow. This seemed to get worse after installing Spyware Docter W/antivirus. I suspect this may be due to lack af memory. I am running XP Home SP2 on an X86, 2003Mhz with 256MB and 2 GB virtual mem. I am considering purchasing 2GB of mem. to replace exist. 256MB. Any advice would be appreciated.
Guest Daave Posted August 10, 2008 Posted August 10, 2008 Re: registry cleaning undo ? "Roger Daniels" <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote in message news:u962sKv%23IHA.2060@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > > "Daave" <dcwashNOSPAM@myrealboxXYZ.invalid> wrote in message > news:O54Lugn%23IHA.2352@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >> "Roger Daniels" <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote in message >> news:ujrlAQn%23IHA.1452@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >>>I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading >>>several posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it >>>several months ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before >>>uninstalling the program ? >> >> Without knowing what it "fixed," it's hard to know. For all you know, >> you have lucked out and haven't done any real damage yet. Just >> because registry "fixing" programs aren't beneficial doesn't mean >> they always hose up systems. And I don't believe Free Registry Fix is >> a rogue program (although it is certainly a ripoff), so you might be >> alright. >> >> It's possible your system is still fine. Personally, I would just >> uninstall it (and avoid all similar programs in the future) and cut >> my losses. For all you know, running its undo function may screw up >> your system. >> >> Do you have any actual problems other than worrying about what this >> particular program may have done? >> > Thanks for the advice. I don't think the reg cleaner caused any > problem that I am aware of. My main concern is that my PC seems to run > very slow. This seemed to get worse after installing Spyware Docter > W/antivirus. I suspect this may be due to lack af memory. I am running > XP Home SP2 on an X86, 2003Mhz with 256MB and 2 GB virtual mem. I am > considering purchasing 2GB of mem. to replace exist. 256MB. Any advice > would be appreciated. You're on the right track. 256MB is not enough RAM (more than likely). Then again, 2GB is probably going overboard. As long as you don't do ant memory-intensive work on your PC (e.g., graphics and video editing, enormous databases, etc.), I'm sure that 1GB will suffice. There's actually chance that 512MB would be more than enough, but since memory is so cheap, you should bump it up to 1GB. But if you ever plan on upgrading to Vista (shudder ;-) ), then 2GB would be the way to go. The trick is to not rely on the pagefile (virtual memory) for your memory needs, because it is slower than RAM. Here are the three most common causes for PC slowness: 1. Malicious software (malware) 2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton, McAfee, and perhaps Spyware Doctor -- don't know, not too familiar with that one). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply use way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other things in your system. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive each time you boot up. 3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the background -- with or without your knowledge. 4. Not enough RAM because again over-relying on the pagefile slows everything down. Everything you need to know to address the above four issues and more can be found at these links: http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted August 10, 2008 Posted August 10, 2008 Re: registry cleaning undo ? On Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:12:48 -0500, "Roger Daniels" <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote: > Thanks for the advice. I don't think the reg cleaner caused any problem that > I am aware of. My main concern is that my PC seems to run very slow. This > seemed to get worse after installing Spyware Docter W/antivirus. I suspect > this may be due to lack af memory. I am running XP Home SP2 on an X86, > 2003Mhz with 256MB and 2 GB virtual mem. I am considering purchasing 2GB of > mem. to replace exist. 256MB. Any advice would be appreciated. If it's truly *very* slow, my guess is that, although more memory may help, I doubt that that's your primary problem. The two most likely causes of poor performance are 1. performance-robbing programs that start automatically and run in the background. 2. Malware infestation. 2GB is very likely significantly more than you need, and will probably show no improvement over 1GB or even 512MB. Read my standard message on this subject below, and run the utility I mention in the last paragraph. How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most people running XP with a typical range of business applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less than 256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than 512MB--sometimes much more. If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance. If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do nothing for you. Go to http://billsway.com/notes%5Fpublic/winxp%5Ftweaks/ and download WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how much more. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest Daave Posted August 10, 2008 Posted August 10, 2008 Re: registry cleaning undo ? "Roger Daniels" <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote in message news:OciFUhw%23IHA.1040@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > Daave, > Thanks a bunch! very helpful info.I do not plan on going to Vista and > dont do mem. intensive work. I believe the biggest problem is Spyware > Dr. eating up the mem. Every time I start the PC it takes approx. 8 > min. to get going and often loading a program takes 1-2 min. I think I > will try the 1GB upgrade. I am curious if you could recomend any other > virus & malware protection that would be suffecient for a novice comp. > user and doesn't eat up a lot of mem.and is free or cheap? You're welcome. I like both AVG and Avast. There are free versions available for both. SpywareBlaster (also free) is useful to prevent malware entering your PC via IE or Firefox. Spybot Search & Destroy is an excellent scanner. I'd hold off on its Immunization feature because it may conflict with with SpywareBlaster. I used to like AdAware, but the last time I used it, I noticed too much memory hogging. I also like SUPERAntiSpyware Free. There are free versions of all of these: http://free.avg.com/ww.download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition (choose the AVG Free column) Do a custom install. No need to enable e-mail or SafeSearch/SafeSurf web link scanning. This will still give you enough protection and should be lighter on resources. http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html Again, configure lightly. http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html Be careful not to also install unwanted toolbars, etc. http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html I also like the free Cleaner to quickly delete different types of temp files: http://www.ccleaner.com/ Again, make sure you also don't install any piggy-backed programs like browser toolbars, etc. And when you run it, avoid the registry scanning/cleaning function. Although it is normally benign, there is probably no benefit to using it and there's no good reason to chance something going wrong. Once all your temp files are deleted and your Recylce Bin is empty, you should defrag your hard drive periodically. Good luck!
Guest Roger Daniels Posted August 10, 2008 Posted August 10, 2008 Re: registry cleaning undo ? "Daave" <dcwashNOSPAM@myrealboxXYZ.invalid> wrote in message news:%23TV2G1v%23IHA.4788@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... > "Roger Daniels" <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote in message > news:u962sKv%23IHA.2060@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... >> >> "Daave" <dcwashNOSPAM@myrealboxXYZ.invalid> wrote in message >> news:O54Lugn%23IHA.2352@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >>> "Roger Daniels" <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote in message >>> news:ujrlAQn%23IHA.1452@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >>>>I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading >>>>several posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it >>>>several months ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before uninstalling >>>>the program ? >>> >>> Without knowing what it "fixed," it's hard to know. For all you know, >>> you have lucked out and haven't done any real damage yet. Just because >>> registry "fixing" programs aren't beneficial doesn't mean they always >>> hose up systems. And I don't believe Free Registry Fix is a rogue >>> program (although it is certainly a ripoff), so you might be alright. >>> >>> It's possible your system is still fine. Personally, I would just >>> uninstall it (and avoid all similar programs in the future) and cut my >>> losses. For all you know, running its undo function may screw up your >>> system. >>> >>> Do you have any actual problems other than worrying about what this >>> particular program may have done? >>> >> Thanks for the advice. I don't think the reg cleaner caused any problem >> that I am aware of. My main concern is that my PC seems to run very slow. >> This seemed to get worse after installing Spyware Docter W/antivirus. I >> suspect this may be due to lack af memory. I am running XP Home SP2 on an >> X86, 2003Mhz with 256MB and 2 GB virtual mem. I am considering purchasing >> 2GB of mem. to replace exist. 256MB. Any advice would be appreciated. > > You're on the right track. 256MB is not enough RAM (more than likely). > Then again, 2GB is probably going overboard. As long as you don't do ant > memory-intensive work on your PC (e.g., graphics and video editing, > enormous databases, etc.), I'm sure that 1GB will suffice. There's > actually chance that 512MB would be more than enough, but since memory is > so cheap, you should bump it up to 1GB. > > But if you ever plan on upgrading to Vista (shudder ;-) ), then 2GB would > be the way to go. > > The trick is to not rely on the pagefile (virtual memory) for your memory > needs, because it is slower than RAM. > > Here are the three most common causes for PC slowness: > > 1. Malicious software (malware) > > 2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton, > McAfee, and perhaps Spyware Doctor -- don't know, not too familiar with > that one). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply use > way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other things in > your system. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive each > time you boot up. > > 3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the > background -- with or without your knowledge. > > 4. Not enough RAM because again over-relying on the pagefile slows > everything down. > > Everything you need to know to address the above four issues and more can > be found at these links: > > http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm > > http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware > Daave, Thanks a bunch! very helpful info.I do not plan on going to Vista and dont do mem. intensive work. I believe the biggest problem is Spyware Dr. eating up the mem. Every time I start the PC it takes approx. 8 min. to get going and often loading a program takes 1-2 min. I think I will try the 1GB upgrade. I am curious if you could recomend any other virus & malware protection that would be suffecient for a novice comp. user and doesn't eat up a lot of mem.and is free or cheap?
Guest Gerry Posted August 10, 2008 Posted August 10, 2008 Re: registry cleaning undo ? Roger How you can improve system performance is about determining where the bottleneck is. RAM memory is just one aspect. CPU processing capacity, disk read / write speeds etc are others. It can even get down to avoiding multi-tasking and timing automatic scans at more convenient time. In essence it is the balancing of supply and demand. Cutting out wasteful use of memory is as important as ensuring you have enough RAM to carry the tasks you require your computer to perform. To determine how much RAM is needed you should not look at what RAM is being used but what use is being made of virtual memory (the pagefile). In simple terms you can look in Task Manager at the Commit Charge figure on the Performance tab. Deduct the amount of installed RAM from the Total and you get a rough idea of how much the pagefile is being used. If the figure is negative then very little use of the pagefile is currently is occurring (the system and some programs make some use of the pagefile notwithstanding the existence of available RAM memory). Do the the same exercise with the Peak to see what has been the situation previously. Normally you need to think of adding RAM if you are seeing pagefile usage above 10% to 20% of the installed RAM. http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm You can get more accurate information on pagefile usage using pagefilemon, a small freeware utility. Use page file monitor to observe what is the peak usage. Start it to run immediately after start-up and look at the log. Pagefilemon takes snapshots. You need to run it at the beginning of the session at then run it again at intervals throughout the sessions. The log is Pagefile log.txt. If you right click on the file in Windows Explorer and select Send to, Desktop (Create Shortcut). The same applies to XP_PageFileMon.exe. A small utility to monitor pagefile usage: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm Note that programs using undo features, particularly those associated with graphics and photo editing, require large amounts of memory so if you use this type of programme check these first observing how the page usage increases when they start and whether the usage decreases when you close the programme. -- Hope this helps. Gerry ~~~~ FCA Stourport, England Enquire, plan and execute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Roger Daniels wrote: > "Daave" <dcwashNOSPAM@myrealboxXYZ.invalid> wrote in message > news:O54Lugn%23IHA.2352@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >> "Roger Daniels" <rhdaniels@bluemarble.net> wrote in message >> news:ujrlAQn%23IHA.1452@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >>> I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading >>> several posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it >>> several months ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before >>> uninstalling the program ? >> >> Without knowing what it "fixed," it's hard to know. For all you >> know, you have lucked out and haven't done any real damage yet. Just >> because registry "fixing" programs aren't beneficial doesn't mean >> they always hose up systems. And I don't believe Free Registry Fix >> is a rogue program (although it is certainly a ripoff), so you might >> be alright. It's possible your system is still fine. Personally, I >> would just >> uninstall it (and avoid all similar programs in the future) and cut >> my losses. For all you know, running its undo function may screw up >> your system. >> >> Do you have any actual problems other than worrying about what this >> particular program may have done? >> > Thanks for the advice. I don't think the reg cleaner caused any > problem that I am aware of. My main concern is that my PC seems to > run very slow. This seemed to get worse after installing Spyware > Docter W/antivirus. I suspect this may be due to lack af memory. I am > running XP Home SP2 on an X86, 2003Mhz with 256MB and 2 GB virtual > mem. I am considering purchasing 2GB of mem. to replace exist. 256MB. > Any advice would be appreciated.
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