Well pat!! ...being as you say..
..very naive
is a common thing where the registry is involved..and can be a good thing in some cases.. over the years I've learned the massively powerful utilities can be more of a headache than doing the user any real good.
When I noted that you had a "crash" at startup... this in most cases can be an indication that your MBR which discerns where things go next is struggling. Windows will always take the easy way out and just stall..or error out..or both. The old adage that any excuse is a good excuse works well in this situation.
So on this premise ..this is how I work my "cleaning" routines.. some folks may have even better procedures, but this works for me, and I think everyone can figure out how to manage these tasks according to their style of PC use.
So to prevent encouraging any readers of this thread to rush out and "sterilize" their registry thus prompting as many problems created by registry cleaners as problems solved.. I suggest using a conservative cleaner.. with Options to recall your previous entries setting (sort of like a "backup").
In my routine I run Spyware detection
FIRST. I use AD-Aware by LavaSoft If it finds anything, and I have these items removed
THEN I run a registry check for those possible "
DEAD" entries. If Ad Aware hasn't found any thing..I run Spybot Search and Destroy as a double-checker..since definition updates can vary. You really need to be careful with Spybot.. you need to be able to recognized the difference between what's OK and what is NOT.
Again if I see that Spy-or Malware has been removed..
THEN I run the registry cleaner and
NOTE whether any dead entries have been removed.
The other situation is where you may be uninstalling old apps ..and generally clearing your PC of items that have a proper Program File listing..which will in turn have registry entries related to them. Here again you need to make sure these old reg and now orphaned entries are removed. The Same goes with
RE-Installs..where possible
DOUBLE reg entries can be made. I use to have to check for these manually..but some cleaner do detect these and allow the most current entry to remain, and remove the redundant one.
This is a link to the Reg Cleaner I use currently..
Reg CleanerI have the Pro version.. but there's is a
FREE standard edition to try.
This is an ON-line reg cleaning site.. I've never used it..so maybe check first to see what others have to say about it might be the best approach.
Online Reg CleanerThis site is suppose to Rate Reg Cleaners..for what it worth, look it over to see if any of these Utilities do what I have suggested..when performing their duties.
Reg Cleaner Comparison SiteMmm? Well I never purposely intended this to be a Tech E-File.. Hope this gives some insight on a few routine procedures that may prevent those dreaded BSOD's and such. Hope this is sort of what you needed to know for the time being pat!!
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