Learn How to Perform Windows Registry Repair and Fix Errors, and See the Best Free Registry Cleaners

 The Windows registry is a database containing important, machine-specific settings and information regarding almost everything in your computer — preferences, applications, users, attached devices and so on. The registry contains two basic elements: keys and values. The Windows operating system constantly refers to the registry; for example, to open a program, install new software or change your hardware, Windows must check the values of certain keys. You can change registry key values manually using the built-in Windows Registry Editor (regedit) in order to improve performance or make Windows work the way you want, but you need to know what you’re doing or you can seriously damage your OS.



Common registry errors

There are several common causes of registry errors. Some are worth worrying about, and others are not.

  • Orphaned entries. Orphaned entries occur when you uninstall software and small fragments of registry entries are left behind. Registry cleaner software will often claim these are an immediate issue, but in reality, they will just use up a few kilobytes of free space on your disk.
  • Duplicate keys. Duplicate keys are made when you reinstall, upgrade or update software on your machine, including the operating system. Registry cleaner software will state that your programs will be confused by the duplicate entries, slowing your machines performance, but that is not true.
  • Fragmented registry. The registry can also fragment when software is uninstalled, upgraded or updated.
  • System shutdown errors. Each time your computer shuts down, a copy of the registry is saved to system memory. If your computer is turned off, crashes or dies without going through the normal shutdown routine, it could cause an issue in the future, but this is unlikely.
  • Malware. Many types of malware attack and modify the registry. In particular, malware is regularly designed to change the values of startup keys so it will be activated each time you restart the PC. Changes to the registry by malware require immediate attention.

Why clean the registry?

Once you’ve been running the Windows OS for some time — installing and uninstalling programs, and swapping in different keyboard and mice — you end up with hundreds or thousands of registry entries that are completely useless. Each one uses very little hard drive space, but the operating system still has to filters through all of them, which slows it down a bit. By cleaning the registry, you can get rid of those unwanted entries and make your system run a little bit faster.

Sometimes, however, it is really necessary to fix registry issues. For example, if you have ever encountered a piece of malware, you know that it can completely mess up your registry. So, how to fix broken registry items? When the time comes to fix registry errors, it is important to know what you are doing — and to always start by making a registry backup.

Windows registry backup and restore

Backing up the Windows registry

As with any other critical system settings, it is highly recommended to make a backup before you attempt to change, create or remove registry records, so you can revert to the old version if something goes wrong.

There are several methods for backing up your Windows records:

Restoring the Windows registry

There are several different ways to repair the Windows registry. The most common methods for fixing corrupt records are:

Handpicked related content:

Editing the registry

To edit the value of a registry key, take these steps:

1. First, find the key you want to edit. Press the Ctrl and F keys simultaneously open the Find dialog.

2. Type the name of the key and click Find Next.

3. Double-click the key you want in the list.

4. Edit the key’s value data.

5. Click OK to save your settings. Some edits require a Windows restart to take effect.

You can also edit the registry with PowerShell.

Cleaning the Windows registry with the Registry Editor

You can perform registry cleanup manually using the Windows Registry Editor. Follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button and then select Run ...

2. Type “regedit” in the text box and press Enter.

3. Locate any applications that have already been uninstalled and delete them:

a. Expand the HKEY_CURRENT_USER section and then expand the Software

b. Look for keys based on the name of the uninstalled applications or the vendor and delete them.

4. Next, find and remove any duplicate keys that the uninstalled applications might have left behind:

a. Press Ctrl+F to open the Find dialog box.

b. Enter the name of the uninstalled application and click OK to search. Each matching key or value will be highlighted.

c. Remove the highlighted key.

d. Press F3 to find the next match and delete it. Repeat this step until you have reviewed all highlighted items.

5. Remove unwanted start-up items from the registry:

a. Navigate to the following location: My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version

b. Click Run to list shortcuts to all the executable files that run at startup.

c. Delete any applications that you don’t want to run at Windows startup. Do an online search to investigate any that are unfamiliar.

d. Repeat the same task for the following key paths as well:

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Run

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components


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