Why You Should Use A Windows Registry Checker
Maintaining your Windows registry forms an important part of any effective computer care regimen. A Windows registry checker was present as a default inbuilt tool with older operating systems, however, it is not present in Vista or Windows 7. In Windows 98 and Windows Millennium, it was used to scan and fix registry errors before any updates.
Nowadays, you can find many efficient Windows registry checking tools that do a good job. Modern third party Windows registry checkers offer far more advanced features than the obsolete default Windows registry checker which had many limitations.
A professional Windows registry checker is an essential tool that all PC users should consider.
An ideal Windows registry checker should
- Scan the Windows registry for invalid data and faulty registry entries.
- Remove outdated, obsolete entries.
- Compress and shrink bloated registries.
- Fix fix orphan links and invalid shortcuts.
- Keep a check on temporary internet files.
- Maintain start-up items.
- Optimize the PC for fast performance.
Fixing Windows registries can be risky, as it only takes one wrong entry to render the PC useless. Hence, backup and restoration functions are equally important and almost all the good registry checking tools offer a backup and restoring option.
This is a good time to talk about the registry editing tools within Windows. Before we delve deeper into the Windows registry processes, let us attempt to understand the parameters and structure associated with the Windows registry.
Various keys constitute the registry. Consider the registry to be akin to a tree where-in the keys are like branches. Each registry key has a parent key and might also contain child key. Just like branches have leaves, the keys have values.
The registry contains 6 main keys:
- HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT: Stores file types information. Also includes information pertaining to application launching.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER: Stores user settings that's stored during the login process.
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE: This contains all the computer specific generalized information with regards to hardware and software.
- HKEY_USERS: This key stores information of all the users who log in to the computer. The login specific setting for each user is represented as sub-keys within HKEY_USERS.
- HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG: Contains detailed information pertaining to hardware configuration and connected devices.
- HKEY_DYN_DATA: Monitors performance parameters of hardware.
Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 don't allow direct manipulation of the registry. The only way to perform a registry backup is by running the bundled Backup Utility. To launch this backup process simply go to start ? Run, type in 'ntbackup.exe' and press ENTER key.
If you want to edit the registry manually, go to Start-> Run, type in 'regedit' and hit ENTER key. A window pops up with many keys and sub-keys on the left and its pertaining values on the right. Refer to the Windows manual for a more detailed explanation of the registry keys.
But try not to mess around the registry space, and always make a registry backup before you attempt to change anything within the registry.
In this article I have provided you with a basic primer on some Windows registry parameters. But I would like to point out that an automatic Windows registry checker is the wiser option, as manual Windows checking and editing process can result in serious OS issues if not done properly.
