Easy Registry Question

Is it good to compact the registry or not?

What effect does compacting the registry have on computer performance?

 

Deloris,
It really depends on what you do with your computer.
If you install and then uninstall a lot of apps, their registry enties will will be removed, but the space the entries occupied in the registry will remain as unused, wasted storage.
The registry is not a very well designed "database" and these spaces will slow down the PC slightly.
If you install / uninstall a lot and have a quick, reliable registry compacter, run it once a month or so or when you notice things are not runnung as well as they did.
Otherwise, apart from making sure you have a backup of system files :
SYSTEM.DAT
USER.DAT
WIN.INI
SYSTEM.INI
PROTOCOL.INI
control.ini
MSDOS.SYS
IO.SYS

I would only compact twice a year or so.

It is not only important to have copies of these files but also to be
in a position to resore them - even if Windows will not boot properly.
regards

 

Good morning Deloris and Merlin

To expand on Merlin's post see my post #15 here:

http://windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12660&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

This will give you I hope a laymans view of what the Registry is and how it works.

Do not confuse compacting and cleaning of the registry.

Compacting the registy is similar to disk defragmentation it removes nothing only closes up empty space.

Cleaning the Registy removes bad and erroneous info. So in addition to the dead space already there from normal use over a period of time, a registry cleaner opens even more dead space. So compacting after a good reg cleaning is most effective.

Compacting an uncleaned registy will not help much.

But after Cleaning with a Regcleaner or two then it can be effective.

Mike

 

Good morning to you also, Mike.
(Altho' its 2110 here)

Here is a Q for you on this subject ...
I wonder if a DOS

scanreg \fix

does a clean AND a compact ?
I have no clear proof, but I think "Yes "

What do you think ?
regards

David

 

It is supposed to.

But I always do the scanreg /opt after a fix to be sure!

I think that it does because I have documented the size before and after a /fix of the registry, it is allways smaller after a /fix but running /opt always reduces it again by a much smaller amount. A second run of /opt does not produce a change in size.

Leads me to believe that as the /fix processes it leaves just a few things and since the /opt is more dedicated and is not trying to do a fix it finishes what /fix left.

Mike

 

Mike,
Thanks for the suggestion - will have a look and post again -
cannot remember what /opt does.
regards
David

 

Info but no conclusions ..

system.dat/user.dat before 6'565'920 1'257'504
After run scanreg /fix 6'537'248 1'239'928
After run scanreg /opt 6'537'248 1'216'544

Nothing done at all inbetween reboots to DOS ...

So what do the /opt and /fix options do, I wonder
regards

 

"does a clean AND a compact ?
I have no clear proof, but I think "Yes" "

merlin:

The FIX does not do any traditional "cleaning ". It is going to detect and fix registry structural problems, but it is not going to delete, for example, pieces left behind by some uninstall app, which is what a Cleaner is going to do.

The OPT option "compacts" the registry. Returns all space assigned but not used (mostly from things being deleted in the registry). This is done automatically by the scanreg that runs at boot time. The difference is that the OPT at boot time is only done if the "empty" space, exceeds 500K.

 

Sorry I'm late getting back to everyone.

Now that I have a multiple boot system, I am a bit braver about tinkering with one OS.

I just wondered about all of it, since one of the Registry cleaners I have, always asks me if I want to compact the registry after cleaning out a bunch of invalid entries. I had little knowledge of what use compacting was.

It has taken me years to learn a lot of the little ends & outs about Windows, & I am sure that what I have learned is just a drop in the bucket of how much there really is.

Thanks guys for the responses. I think now, I can safely assume that compaction serves a good purpose, but isn't necessary to do all that frequently.

 

Just re-read one of merlin's posts.

What is the significance of having backups of the aforementioned files.

 

Lets put it like this!

The System and User.dat are the registry, along with the rest they relate to the computers "Central Nervous System ".

They can be restored to cure computer Alzhimers and in some cases bring the computer back to life from brain death! Smile!

Mike

Mike

 

OK,

Now I get it. We don't need Alzhimers, or brain death either one, or a wacked out nervous system.

I just didn't know what purpose those files served.

I've learned a lot over the years, but I know that as far as being a Techy, or a Geek, I am far from perfected.

Thanks guys. You all have been a big help as usual. Appreciate it much.

 

mflynn

I think my husband does just that.

He's been wrangling with his comp for days now. Something went wrong. I don't know what caused it, but could have been a program he tried out, & it seems that Symantic got garbled, and un-installing & re-installing several times did not help. After several days of trying that, he gave up on Symantic & is trying other AV's. It seems to be working better, but not like it should. I don't know what to tell him to try. So far this has not happened on mine, so I have no idea what to try to do to help him. Guess he'll just have to figure it out.

 

I didn't use the removal tool referenced in the following link. But I did use the manual instructions to successfull remove and reinstall NAV.

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nav.nsf/docid/2001092114452606

 

I don't care for Norton either.


Try AVG antivirus.

Additionally to finish removing norton to clear things for AVG or other virus scanner or even to reinstall norton itself do the below.


Norton removal
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nav.nsf/docid/2001092114452606

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nsw.nsf/docid/2001101612274407

Run both of the above. Dowload but do not run. Shut down and run them in safe mode. Run for all versions shown even if not your version. Don't let it make you reboot untill you run all versions then reboot.

This should clean it enough that Norton will reinstall properly.

BTW: If you want to look at AVG:


Mike

 

Deloris

Opps forgot link to AVG!

http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.htm

Mike

 

Seems to me Windows automatically compacts the registry after a relatively few days. In fact, if you don't add or remove anything for a few days, and check the rb****.cab files in C:\windows\sysbckup, you will see a periodic reduction in size.

 

Thanks guys. I will pass this on to him.

He tried the Norton Removal tool & then re-installing Norton, but that did no good. I think he tried several tools, but am not sure which ones, so I will pass these links along to him & see if that helps. Even if he doesn't re-install Norton, it may help get rid of stuff left behind that what he's already tried didn't get rid of.

He tried AVG & for some reason, it kept telling him to update even right after he'd updated. Strange! He has at this point installed FSecure, I think it is. FSecure seems to be working, but he probably still needs to make sure all of Norton is gone. Norton strews **** all over the comp. Even just the AV program does, and if you use the System tools package, it really strews stuff. I had the System works once. Hated it. Will never have it again.

Thanks again, fellers.

 

Addendum to the above.

He didn't have System Works on there. Just the AV.

Ok, here is a bit more info.

When this all happened, he had just updated the Virus Defs. Within a couple of days, Norton popped up & said his subscription had expired, but he knows it hadn't, because it wasn't due to until October. And eveytime he'd boot the computer up before it was fully loaded, the connect window would pop up to connect & he couldn't get rid of it very easily. Also the Norton Icon would never load in the task bar anymore, and you couldn't open Norton at all anymore. And if you managed to get the connect window to shut down by clicking on cancel enough times, if you tried to open anything like C drive or another window the connect window would pop up again. Anything he had the computer to do would take a long time to execute the command, if it did it at all.

Maybe this will help to explain what happened a little better, since he is standing here telling me what to say.

He says he went to the Symantic site & tried everything they had & nothing of theirs worked.

He used as many file & registry removal tools as he could to remove excess stuff as well. Still not sure that it is all gone though.

He even restored the OS with an image file he'd made, a few days earlier, & after getting the Virus updates, & it did the same thing as soon as it was restored. After that, he un-installed Norton again & tried all the stuff again. Removed every bit & peice he could find, and says Norton wouldn't even re-install properly. Immediately the connect window would pop up, but couldn't open Norton to get to the Update thing, or anything. It just refused to cooperate.

So there must have been a gremlin in there somewhere, that I didn't get when I updated at the same time that he did, and a remnant still left even after restoration & removal of Norton once again, that mucked up the works. A remnant that can't be found.

I think he's about decided to chuck Norton altogether.