The Windows Registry is both the boon and bane of the PC world, a world that almost exclusively belongs to Microsoft. The registry is the core of any Windows PC. It hides in the background and is deliberately difficult to access manually due to the dangers involve. One wrong move and your computer becomes a very expensive paperweight.

The registry literally controls every aspect of the computer, an Orwellian Big Brother of the PC. You might think you control your computer, but no. That is the job of the registry. If you are nice, it will allow you to make suggestions from time to time, but never directly.

Of course, if you are very brave, you can attempt to speak to the great and powerful Oz, but it is not advised. That is why several software companies have created registry cleaners to help optimize the registry for you. You tell the software what you want to accomplish and how to accomplish it, and the software searches the thousand of keys and values within the Registry with an efficiency that no human being could hope to match. Of course, even supercomputers are not perfect, so you should always back up or ghost your PC before beginning such an operation. Of course, you back up all your important data already, don’t you?

Some of the more popular registry cleaning software packages are RegCure, Registry Mechanic, and Registry Easy, all of which can be downloaded from Answer Registry Reviews, where you can also find software reviews and relevant articles on the Windows Registry. RegCure from ParetoLogic has the highest review, although the three each have their pros and cons and are rather evenly matched (each receiving at least 4 out of five stars). Registry Mechanic came in second, but it comes from PC Tools, a highly respected company that offers a number of software tools and free support. Registry Easy offers free technical support and a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee and it is, well…easy!

It’s important to keep you registry clean as it can become quite bloated after weeks or months of usage storing Internet histories, temporary file information, and a ton of other information that is no longer relevant or useful. A bloated registry can slow your computer considerably, and may even harbor pernicious viruses that have hidden activation triggers deep inside where they cannot easily be found. Computer “best practices” include regularly backing up all your important data, running a defragmentation utility and cleaning your registry. Failing to do any of these things is like driving your car without checking the oil – ever. Eventually the engine seizes up into a solid mass. There never seems to be a “good time” for a computer crash, so proper maintenance is essential.

For more discussion on the Windows Registry, check out the reviews and articles at Answer Registry Reviews . If you find a solution that you like, you can use links on the site to download and purchase the software as well.

One of the most important parts of your Windows operating system (OS) is hidden from view: the System Registry. Microsoft deliberately keeps the registry out of sight and out of mind because unauthorized changes to it can be devastating to the health of your computer. Unfortunately, even authorized changes – such as those made by various software programs and even by Windows itself – can be just as devastating if done incorrectly or if one change conflicts with configuration information that is already in the registry. Many people know to back up their data, but few know to backup the registry itself.

Most versions of Windows will allow you to back up your registry or set a “system restore point.” Much of this is done automatically for you. Unfortunately, if the OS itself stops working for some reason, you may not be able to get to the restore service for your particular flavor of Windows. And a backup without the ability to restore is useless.

For Windows Vista, you begin by typing “systempropertiesprotection” (without the quotes) in the Start Search box then press ENTER. You may be asked for an Administration password. Once you click Allow, Windows will search all hard disks for the most recently saved system restore points. Windows should create on every time it detects a major change to the system. For example, when installing new software, Windows will create a system restore point before the installation and any changes take place. This way, if something goes wrong Windows can reboot safely as if the errant installation never happened.

To backup the system in its current configuration, click on the System Protection tab in the System Properties dialog box, then click Create. Enter a name for the new restore point you are creating and click Create again. Once the restore point has been created, click OK twice to return to the desktop.

To restore the system to a previous restore point, follow the same procedures as above, but this time choose System Restore under the System Protection tab. Select the “Choose a different restore point” option and then choose the restore point you wish to revert to. Generally speaking, you should try to restore using the most recent restore point to ensure that most of the functionality remains intact. Unfortunately, Windows has a nasty habit of going through what seems like the entire restore process only to give a message that the restore failed. If that happens, work your way back until you come to one that works.

There are other options available as well. Third party software can backup and restore your Window Registry, in many cases even if your Windows OS stops functioning completely. Such programs often can prevent problems by properly maintaining and optimizing the registry by removing unused keys that clog your system. Removing these keys can significantly improve performance.

For more information on the Windows Registry, check out the articles at Answer Registry Reviews. There are reviews of popular registry cleaning, backup and restore  software products and you can even use links on the site to download and purchase software online

]]> http://www.answer-registryreviews.com/blog/how-to-backup-and-restore-the-windows-registry-in-vista.html/feed 0 http://www.answer-registryreviews.com/blog/the-key-to-the-windows-registry.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-key-to-the-windows-registry http://www.answer-registryreviews.com/blog/the-key-to-the-windows-registry.html#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:51:42 +0000 John Russell http://www.answer-registryreviews.com/blog/?p=440 What’s Key to the Window Registry?

The System Registry has been called the most important part of any Windows PC operating system (OS), but you probably didn’t even know it exists. There is a good reason for that. Microsoft doesn’t want you messing with it. Like so many other features in Windows, Microsoft chose to hide information considered too powerful to be left in the hands of mere mortals. Only the wisest of gurus can be entrusted with such knowledge.

Unlike silly decisions like automatically hiding the 3-character extension of filenames, however, this is one area where Microsoft had a good reason to keep the registry on the top shelf out of reach. The registry controls everything and a single mistake can have devastating consequences on the entire OS. Installed programs and applications will write important data into the registry. User defined data and configurations are also stored.

The data is tracked through a tree of folders called “keys” that branch off the registry nodes. Each key can have subkeys nested in multiple levels. Critical pieces of data known as “values” are stored in the keys and subkeys. Groups of related keys, subkeys and values are known as hives.

Applications can modify the keys by changing the values, adding new keys or deleting existing ones. More recent versions of  Windows will back up the registry and in the event of a problem, will ask you if you want to use the “Last known good configuration.” This was an option that began in the old Windows NT days. If you ever see this option, the correct proper response will most likely be yes, but that may also mean that recently installed programs will no longer operate unless reinstalled.

The good news is that such configuration issues related to the registry will not affect your important data: documents, photos, etc. The bad news is that many times the problem that caused the crash in the first place may also be saved in the backup versions of the registry. More than one person has been in the unfortunate position of having to completely reinstall their Windows OS, with many a prayer to the computer gods that the file and data associations will be restored as well. It is not a bad idea to make your own back up onto a flash drive or make copies on the C: drive. Of course, if you backup your registry to the C: drive and your disk fails the backup will be unavailable. If you backup to a flash drive but your computer fails to recognize the drive upon boot without the OS running, that won’t help either. Be sure to consult the documentation of your computer and OS. Or, just be sure to actually backup your computer regularly and have the backups always handy. With the size and speed of USB flash drives, you might want to consider saving all your data to a removable disk.

Before you have an issue, you should consider all your options. The best suggestion is to try to prevent such problems with proper maintenance of your Windows Registry. Many software programs exist to examine registry the keys and make any necessary repairs. These programs can even check your registry for unused keys that clog your system. Removing these keys can significantly improve performance.

For more information on the Windows Registry, check out the articles at Answer Registry Reviews.  There are reviews of popular registry cleaning software products and you can even use links on the site to download and purchase highly effective registry cleaning software.

]]> http://www.answer-registryreviews.com/blog/the-key-to-the-windows-registry.html/feed 0 http://www.answer-registryreviews.com/blog/fine-tune-your-pc.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fine-tune-your-pc http://www.answer-registryreviews.com/blog/fine-tune-your-pc.html#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:40:06 +0000 John Russell http://www.answer-registryreviews.com/blog/?p=430 How to Maintain your Computer? Make your Computer Runs like New

The next time your change the oil in your car, think of your personal computer. You flush the oil in your car to get rid of the gunk and sediments that have slowly been deposited over time. Your computer tends to have a lot of deposits that come from a variety of sources.

Each time a file is modified it may be moved or become fragmented (spread across different areas of the hard disk instead of remaining one intact whole). “Temporary” files are created that remain in the system, potentially forever. Keys and entries are added to the Windows Registry that are never removed. It all adds up to one slow computer, but there are several things you can do to fine tune your PC into top performance.

The quickest and easiest thing to do is defrag your hard drive. All Windows systems come equipped with Defrag.exe, a powerful little tool that rearranges the files on your hard drive for optimal performance. To “defrag” your drive, open up Windows Explorer (not to be confused with Internet Explorer) and right click on the drive you want to defragment (usually the C: drive). Click on Properties at the bottom of the drop down menu and then click the Tools tab at the top. Click the middle button that says “Defragment Now…” to run defrag.exe.Click the Defragment button and your off and running. Close all programs before doing this and don’t plan to do any work on your compute for a while. Running defrag could take up to a few hours or even overnight.

You should also open the Start Menu and click “Run…” Enter “msconfig” (do not use the quotes) and click OK to run the System Configuration Utility. Click the Startup tab and you will see a list of all the services and programs that load automatically every time you start Windows. Keep your antivirus program and any programs you use regularly, but if you see programs you don’t use, simply uncheck the box. When you restart Windows, you will be asked if you want to run the utility again, so you can undo any changes if you made a mistake.

It’s also important to clean the Windows Registry. This is not something you want to try one your own, since one mistake could prevent your computer from booting or functioning properly. Several software companies offer programs to do this for you, each with its own strengths and capabilities.

Website that reviews and compares registry cleaning software is Answer Registry Reviews. The site offers relevant articles on the Windows Registry and compares various registry cleaning software products. The website even offers links to directly download and purchase products such as RegCure, Registry Mechanic and Registry Easy (among others) online. If your Windows system is running slowly or you suspect a virus, Answer Registry Reviews should be the first stop for information on what might be causing the problem and to download a product that would meet your needs to correct it.