Registry Cleaners - Are They Necessary?

[Hamida Harland]

Seeing as registry cleaners are such a popular niche I was thinking of promoting one, so I downloaded Regcure with a view to buying and reviewing it.

I hadn't noticed any problems on my computer, but the scan brought up 2473 'problems'. Are these actually real problems that could cause damage or are they more of a scare tactic to encourage people to buy? How necessary are registry cleaners really?

[WilsonA]

Originally Posted by Hamida Pall

Seeing as registry cleaners are such a popular niche I was thinking of promoting one, so I downloaded Regcure with a view to buying and reviewing it.

I hadn't noticed any problems on my computer, but the scan brought up 2473 'problems'. Are these actually real problems that could cause damage or are they more of a scare tactic to encourage people to buy? How necessary are registry cleaners really?

2473 problems, Hamida I think you should buy it there are some problems your computer might have
and you won't even know.
Just kidding
I once read on a computer forum that some guys ran one of these software on a new
computer and it found several problems ummm.
I have never used anyone but the refunds on them are some of the lowest of all the
products I promote so I don't really know

[KimW]

The windows registry is a critical part of the operating system. If you don't know what your doing you can end up with a computer that won't start up.
I personally don't recommend this type of software even though most,but not all errs on the safe side. I would go download CCleaner that can be found here:CCleaner - Home It's free,which might be defeating your idea of making money from promoting in that niche, but then, you could always send the links to your readers/list giving them a free bonus.

[Steven Fullman]

I'd say that back in the days of Windows 95/98, they were pretty handy.

Windows didn't really have a proper uninstallation procedure, and you'd end up with tons of orphan registry settings all over the place.

This was especially bad considering the comparitively low amounts of processor power and RAM available back then. The performance gain from cleaning your registry was noticeable.

Nowadays, I'd doubt you'd gain much benefit. The speed of PC's is such that they can load the entire registry into RAM at boot time without touching the sides.

Also, msi installer packages are far more common (especially in the larger software suites), which track and control any registry settings altered during installation - and reverses them if you uninstall the software.

This type of software will always have an appeal among the less savvy computer crowd, because of the perceived benefits (yes - and the 'scare tactics')

I've been an IT professional for 10 years now, and have yet to see any of my peers, or any IT department for that matter, use or endorse a Registry Cleaner.

Steve

Originally Posted by Hamida Pall

Seeing as registry cleaners are such a popular niche I was thinking of promoting one, so I downloaded Regcure with a view to buying and reviewing it.

I hadn't noticed any problems on my computer, but the scan brought up 2473 'problems'. Are these actually real problems that could cause damage or are they more of a scare tactic to encourage people to buy? How necessary are registry cleaners really?

[woah316]

they can actually help your computer run faster, and get rid of a lot of invalid shortcuts and old program installs... "necessary" is a very undefined work, i dont think your computer will die if you dont use one

[Scott Ames]

Originally Posted by Hamida Pall

Seeing as registry cleaners are such a popular niche I was thinking of promoting one, so I downloaded Regcure with a view to buying and reviewing it.

I hadn't noticed any problems on my computer, but the scan brought up 2473 'problems'. Are these actually real problems that could cause damage or are they more of a scare tactic to encourage people to buy? How necessary are registry cleaners really?

What they are calling "problems" are often just cookies on your computer. I think that is more of a sales gimic.

There are free and paid reg cleaners. I've found that each of them clean a little differently. In other words if you clean with one, then clean with a second one, chances are the second one will find stuff the first one did not.

Money can be made promoting those even with the free competition such as CCleaner.

[Jelasco]

Scott, what do cookies have to do with the registry?

[Steven Fullman]

Originally Posted by Jelasco

Scott, what do cookies have to do with the registry?

Quite a few reg-cleaners also scan for & remove temp files, cookies, all that jazz.

It's a 'value-add'...apparently.

[Scott Ames]

Originally Posted by Steven Fullman

Quite a few reg-cleaners also scan for & remove temp files, cookies, all that jazz.

It's a 'value-add'...apparently.

Yes... that's what I am referring to. It ramps up the problem count and people freak out "OH MY GOSH MY COMPUTER IS TOAST, I had better buy this program"

[jjpmarketing]

A free anti-spyware program such as Ad-Aware or SpyBot Search and Destroy in combination with the popular program, HiJack This, will rid most Windows 2000 or later computers of any problems that arise.

What these programs don't eliminate, a good PAID Anti-Virus program will. Although some viruses are so nasty that backing up the system, formatting the hard drive and re-installing everything is the best option. As long as you pinpoint where the virus originated from in the first place.

But what was being said about those programs finding cookies on your computer and labeling them as problems is very true. Most free anti-virus programs are like taking a bb-gun to kill a grizzly bear.

Most problems originate from careless user habits. If you just visit normal websites... as in no adult sites or warez sites or free screensaver/graphics/whatever... sites... then you will be fine and rarely have a problem.

This is however not the case for the typical family's computer. You have teenagers in the house who will find those adult sites and download mp3's from P2P software that is most often loaded with ad serving spyware. Females tend to go after more of the "free screensaver" type of stuff.

This does a number of things. Once the P2P puts spyware on the computer. It starts serving up pop-ups for this, that, and something else. They start out harmless... but I can't stress this enough... It never fails it always... and I do mean always eventually serves up the popup that says "download me now. threats have benn found on your computer." This is the worst problem to get rid of as well. Even with good anti-virus programs.

It then loads this fake anti-virus program. It will repeatedly popup things like update your software... and blah blah blah... just as a means to get you to download the premium/paid version of their software, which still won't get rid of the problem. So then you get even more of these "download me now" type of popups for different programs like that.

No in order to rid your computer of something like this it can be very costly, because of the typical rate for computer repair which can range from $40 to $100 per hour depending on what part of the country you live in.

Oh and don't bother using that kid down the street, because I can almost guarantee you he won't know how to backup your data properly so you don't lose anything. This can take at least a few hours to resolve. So your bill will fall somewhere in the $120 to $300 range... and more than likely the tech will upsell you to the anti-virus program that you probably didn't have on your computer to begin with. So add that to the total bill.

So in the end, if you want to promote something like this, it might make you a few dollars... but it isn't a good program to promote. Your better option would be to pay someone to write you techical articles for the computer illiterate on how to eliminate viruses, spyware, etc. and try to make money off of advertising and adsense.

I don't know if Norton's or McAffee or Trend Micro have affiliate programs... but I know that Amazon.com does... and eBay does... at least for now. You could use these programs to promote the major anti-virus applications.

If you have an article on the site saying this is what you need to fix this problem... and Norton's happens to be mentioned... then most users will click through to the advertisement... some may even buy. Add that on top of potential adsense revenue... and it could be a profitable niche... all without promoting a program that isn't that useful anymore.

Do a google search for different virus names, and you will find a lot of different forums that offer this kind of knowledge base and support. They do exactly that. They monetize it with adsense and affiliate programs for these types of programs. And the users on these forums probably won't be as apprehensive of affiliate links as someone in the IM niche.

I'm sure that was way too much information... but hope that helps.

Relevant Links:

Ad-Aware --- http://www.lavasoft.com
SpyBot --- http://www.safer-networking.org
HiJack This! --- http://www.trendsecure.com

***Trend Micro bought them... I guess. They also have a good Anti-Virus... PC Cillin.

PC Cillin - http://www.trendmicro.com


CNet Download Site --- http://www.download.com

*** Great site for researching good programs to promote for the computer software niche.

[KimW]

Very good post jjpmarketing. Your dead on with that information. I had a brick and mortar repair shop until May of this year and let me say that most of my income came from adware/spyware and virus removal.
Most of it also came due to people using filesharing programs like limewire,bearshare,grockster,etc,etc.
I had one computer brought in to me that had (and I'm serious) over 150K viruses on it. It was amazing it even would boot.

[Darrell Hagan]

I run first-generation XP and I occassionally use MS Regclean here to clear out unneeded ActiveX control registry entries, etc.

So I'd say that the good ones do have their uses......

- Darrell

[jjpmarketing]

Wow! That sounds about like a laptop I worked on. I think the virus had already done its damage though. I think it was working the laptop so hard for so long... it did hardware damage. CPU kept overheating. I can only imagine why.

Or the one where Symantec was detecting an instance of a virus every couple of seconds.

Thanks for the comment. I was actually waiting for the AVG lovers to tear my post apart. Kind of like the linux faithful.

[Tiger]

I watch my registry countless times per day. It has set number of
programs on it at any one time. If you would like to watch yours
also, ( on Windoze boxes ) use CTRL+ALT+DELETE and select "Task
Manager" . You have many things listed there that are currently
running on your machine.

The things that are "not" listed there, that are running in the
background are things I would be concerned with.

Go with what Dennis said about Spybot Search and Destroy,
Hijack this, etc.


Spybot S&D is free: LINK


Also, the unpopular thing I have to say is that using a computer
to view porno and visit gaming ( card games, casino, etc ) sites
is more likely to get your machine infected than on "regular" sites.

[elevatingyourbusiness]

I can play with DOS, fix my own computer and hand code websites. BUT ONE THING I WILL NEVER TOUCH.... is anything to do with a registry w/o having someone who really knows what they heck they're doing help me.

Don't play around with the registry. YOu can really screw up your puter.

[Stephen Saha]

Whatever software you try make sure you take a BACKUP of your existing registry file.
Read the rgistry editor -> best practice.

Stephen

[Eric Johnson]

I personally stay away from all those. If there is a change in the registry that needs to be make or will benefit my computer I make it...Never happens though.

I am a uber geek power user though so sometimes I want to make something cool happen, and will play with it but not very often and only if someone reputable backs up that this change won't destroy my system, I so lovingly built and maintain.

Like Steven said, computers are so powerful now. Memory and hard drive space is so high...who cares that there are orphan registry entries around in your system. They don't really affect you, except for extreme cases.

[jjpmarketing]

Software applications with Memory Leaks and bad drivers are the only problems now. You can't protect yourself from bad programming.

[china]

I use ccleaner as a good registry cleaner and i helped my system .So I think regcure ia still a good product that will not harm your computer if used on it.

[bgmacaw]

Microsoft has been trying to push application programmers away from using the registry for about 5 years or so, recommending that they instead use application data area. Programmers have been slow to move to it though since it wasn't pushed heavily until Vista hit the market and its default partially locked down mode broke many applications.

Not using the registry for applications has become even more important when writing corporate applications since most of them have the registry locked down these days. Home users, especially XP users, tend to run their systems wide open to anything and everything. So, I see these cleaners as being necessary for typical home users for at least 2-3 years.

[Spike SpiegelIM]

I regularly scan my PC for invalid shortcuts and other registry problems. I use Tuneup Utilities to take care of that. Tons of registry problems can slow your PC to a crawl.

[PaulGee]

I use a registry cleaner regularly and do notice a difference in speed. The first time I used this everything was running dead slow but after the 'fix' my laptop was back at speed again. I wouldn't be without a reg cleaner although some are better than others. I use the paid version of Free Registry Fix.

[Chris Lockwood]

Originally Posted by Tiger

I watch my registry countless times per day. It has set number of
programs on it at any one time. If you would like to watch yours
also, ( on Windoze boxes ) use CTRL+ALT+DELETE and select "Task
Manager" . You have many things listed there that are currently
running on your machine.

What does any of that have to do with the registry?

The registry is not a list of programs that are currently running.

[Fuad Tolieb]

I just bought the Mac Pro and I was wondering if a software like Registry Cleaners also run on a Mac osx. I heard that mac computers scan automaticly but still, I want to know how much problems will it say on a brand new Mac.

[balara]

Hi,
I have been using Registry Fix for a few years now. Sometimes I forget to reboot when I add or delete software, or I have a tidy up of My Documents. The cleaner gets rid of my most common probs which are invalid shortcuts, ActiveX problems, and Registry errors. So, whenever my PC is slow I run Reg Fix and the difference in PC performance is huge.
I love it!
balara

[bobsstuff]

Today Giveaway of the Day - free licensed software daily. Today: WinUtilities - WinUtilities is an award winning collection of tools to optimize and speedup your system performance. this suite contains utilities to ... has a multipurpose Windoze maintenance program that includes a Registry Cleaner.

If you go to the site then go to the download page and scroll down and read the comments, MANY who seem to know what they are talking about recommend NOT messing with your registry.

I have used CCleaner and never had a problem. BUT..........HMMmmm??? I am rethinking their use. The registry is a really dark and mysterious place.

[Matt Johnson]

In my opinion any registry cleaner that is listed on Clickbank is a piece of garbage....I know, I've tried promoting them like everyone else!

As mentioned several times above, CCleaner is really the only thing you need and it's free.

I've been using it for years on my own computers, work computers, friends computers, clients computers, my parents computer, and I've never had one problem or issue. It's fantastic!

[howudoin]

HI Hamida,

The "problems" which were found after the registry scan can be a combination of lot many things such as :

1. Broken/missing links.

2. Broken/missing registry keys.

3. Invalid Fonts (This type of problems occur when you have downloaded certain fonts especially for some graphic program).

4. Other malware/ third party software (This happens when you have installed some software which also installs some third party adware/spyware.)

5. Invalid/expired cookies.(In case you have set your settings to not delete the cookies then the registry scan will also show them as "Problems".)

6. There are certain files which are not deleted after uninstallation of some program. Such files are usually shown as clutter in a registry cleaner and hence labeled as "problems". This may be responsible for the huge count of 2473 "problems" since every single file is counted as a separate problem.

7. Dll errors, system 32 errors, Kernel 32 errors, runtime errors, javascript errors, Lsass.exe , SVChost.exe & other application errors are also labelled as "problems".

Such errors usually show at system startup and in case you don't get a pop up at startup then slow speed of your computer is definately a symptom of one or more of these errors.

On a side note, since you're interested in entering this niche, I have a WSO running where I provide a complete CB "Registry review" site. Its in the sig.

Bhupinder

[koolphoto]

I use Registry Mechanic. It has never hurt my computer and it sped up the computer when it once slowed down. I tried a free one once and I crashed my computer and somehow was able to use an earlier restore point to fix. After that I stay with Registry Mechanic and nothing else.