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Jeff
September 11th, 2005, 01:41 PM
Recommendations for a good, *safe*, Registry cleaner for XP Pro SP2? HAL should be running faster than it is, and I'm suspicious.

- Jeff

Judy G. Russell
September 11th, 2005, 02:01 PM
Recommendations for a good, *safe*, Registry cleaner for XP Pro SP2? HAL should be running faster than it is, and I'm suspicious.Some of the real experts will undoubtedly chime in, but there's a side-by-side review here (http://registry-repair-software-review.toptenreviews.com/?ttreng=1&ttrkey=xp+registry+cleaner) that may help.

davidh
September 11th, 2005, 03:57 PM
Recommendations for a good, *safe*, Registry cleaner for XP Pro SP2? HAL should be running faster than it is, and I'm suspicious.

- Jeff Perhaps this is an oxymoron? I'm involved in a related discussion in the "XP Home" section of "Windows Support" forum. Somebody suggested "regshot" for before and after comparisons of the registry state when installing software. Of course this is NOT a cleaner.

Perhaps the only long term solution to such problems is LINUX or MS-DOS for example ;-)

David H.

fhaber
September 11th, 2005, 06:19 PM
Nothing is really good. Slowdowns are mostly due to spyware or factory loads of things you may not need. In the case of an IBM/Lenovo, there's lots that maintains the update, backup and restore sytems than you MIGHT need.

The closest to a benign for a moderately sensible user is probably CCleaner (crap cleaner). Free. Google same. Select all backup options, so you can back out, and may G_d have mercy on your soul, courage, courage, etc.

Jeff
September 12th, 2005, 01:25 PM
Nothing is really good. Slowdowns are mostly due to spyware or factory loads of things you may not need. In the case of an IBM/Lenovo, there's lots that maintains the update, backup and restore systems than you MIGHT need.

The closest to a benign for a moderately sensible user is probably CCleaner (crap cleaner). Free. Google same. Select all backup options, so you can back out, and may G_d have mercy on your soul, courage, courage, etc.

Thanks folks. Somehow that's what I was afraid of. No spyware, no virus, and hiding behind a router with a firewall also in play. So much for that. So to Plan B. When HAL becomes unbearably slow it's out the window with it, so to start over once again. Or there's always the factory image available, I guess. But that may be part of the problem. I want my DOS back!

Ah Frank, are you familiar with the 'Lenovo' IBM Software Installer? Is it safe?

- Jeff

Gary Maltzen
September 12th, 2005, 05:47 PM
Recommendations for a good, *safe*, Registry cleaner for XP Pro SP2? HAL should be running faster than it is, and I'm suspicious.

I don't know if the registry can be defragged while in use (i.e., always) - so I generally install a second minimal copy of Win2K/XP on D: and boot into that when I want to defrag C:

The problem is all the 'ripe' stuff bloating the registry, not to mention the (unused?) space it seems to accumulate over time with deletions and insertions. I just re-installed Win2K about a month ago and already my 'software' registry (WIN***\SYSTEM32\config\software) is at 19MB.

davidh
September 12th, 2005, 05:52 PM
I used to use the OnTrack Fix-It Utilities registry cleaner on Win 98 but it doesn't do much more than just offer to delete references in the registry to files that no longer exist.

But it does have other features perhaps worthwhile such as:

registry defragmenter

disk defragmenter

virus checker

HW diagnostics

Somebody else bought rights to the product and I have not kept up with the latest version. If the new product still has free virus updates it might be worth looking at if it works good on XP and if one does not already have good software to do its various functions.

I lost the right to update my virus defs when the product rights changed hands. But I was getting free virus updates for a couple years , I think.

David H.

P.S. I'm still thinking about making DOS the default boot on my PC and just using Windows for multimedia apps once in a while.

fhaber
September 13th, 2005, 10:31 AM
>'Lenovo' IBM Software Installer?

Not under that name. I've used the IBM versions a bit. In 2004, IBM revamped the whole auto-update thing to use Java. From light use, it got slower, but lots better.

It *still* imperfectly recognized updates done the other two (sheesh) ways IBM offered - a sort of 'scan me' thing, and manual knowledgebase search. It errored out with a "huh?" sort of msg. Of course, being Haber, I'd tried the manual way first.

Net net? OK.

(Pray you don't need parts soon. Lenovo seems to be revamping the order/stocking database. They seem to have "lost" a couple of parts to entopy.

Jeff
September 13th, 2005, 01:51 PM
>'Lenovo' IBM Software Installer?

Not under that name. I've used the IBM versions a bit.

Please, we've both been led down the path. The correct name is China. And that's why I asked. It appears to be brain dead. Unlike MS's update operation China does not seem to know or care what updates you already have. And it's far from clear how the "update" operation works.

If anyone has wondered, part of IBM is now and is definitely a subsidiary of China.

Ummm, I just realized that you said 'auto-update'. What auto update? I think you need to spend some time with a Chinese product, before your clients do.

heinz57g
September 14th, 2005, 11:30 AM
jeff, its not '' a subsidary of china'', at all.

it is china. fullstop.

before you give up, try (a) a really good defragmenter, like O&O (30 day test) or MST DEFRAG (full version US$ 11). ontop and additional of this, use (b) PAGEDEFRAG (free) to get your HHD into shape.

continue with (c) REGCLEANER 4.3 (still freeware but perfect, forget the newer one), and end up with (d) WINSYSCLEAN 2005 TRIAL (shareware, but continues with a little nag).

i know many of these are not 'famous', specially in the USA (no fancy boxes), but just find out ...

everybody who uses them sweares they are the best.

and it will HAL make run faster, and safer. promise.

greetings - heinz -

PS: no joke: have just (in may) converted some of our single-purpose office computers back to DOS, together with 4DOS (now also freeware, unbeatable).

now people (young ones) who never even heard of DOS stand before them, scratch their head and wonder if they should go back to college. none of those boxes had a single hiccup since may. neither hard- nor software.

PPS: doesnt all this fit nicely into the TAPCIS discussion? so not only DOS should come back.