Corrine Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Microsoft KB 2563254, review date 24 May 2014, Microsoft support policy for the use of registry cleaning utilities: Summary This article describes the Microsoft support policy for customers who use registry cleaning utilities that rely on unsupported methods to extract or modify the contents of a Windows Registry. The Windows registry is a database of settings for all hardware, software, and user preferences on your computer that controls how Windows interacts with your hardware and applications. Windows continually references the registry in the background and it is not designed to be accessed or edited. Some products such as registry cleaning utilities suggest that the registry needs regular maintenance or cleaning. However, serious issues can occur when you modify the registry incorrectly using these types of utilities. These issues might require users to reinstall the operating system due to instability. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved without a reinstallation of the Operating System as the extent of the changes made by registry cleaning utilities varies from application to application. Additional information in the referenced KB Article, including the leading sentence in the bullet points: "Microsoft does not support the use of registry cleaners." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amenditman Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Maybe they should provide a MS supported Registry Maintenance utility themselves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frapper Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Maybe they should provide a MS supported Registry Maintenance utility themselves. They have in the past. http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/microsoft_regclean.html Microsoft RegClean 4.1a Build 7364.1 Limitations: The RegClean utility is no longer supported and has been removed from all Microsoft download sites. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 (edited) I can totally understand the frustration with registry cleaning software. There was one lady that totally screwed up her Windows XP Home install through the repeated and excessive use of one of these pieces of crap software that try to foist themselves on users when something goes wrong and they get hit with something or on searches trying to find a fix for something. Of course, surgical use of adding/modifying/deleting of individual registry keys is often needed for a specific purpose; as in cleaning malware, removing remnants of a software uninstall gone wrong, etc. I do not think this is what is concerning Microsoft. Often, this type of thing is required to fix the system. And is actually included in many of the FixIt items that Microsoft themselves use. Edited May 24, 2014 by LilBambi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Hello, It's been my experience that Microsoft Windows Vista and newer versions of Windows are largely self-regulating when it comes to maintaining the registry. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amenditman Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Hello, It's been my experience that Microsoft Windows Vista and newer versions of Windows are largely self-regulating when it comes to maintaining the registry. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky That is interesting.My experience with anything newer than XP is limited, as a dedicated full-time Linux user. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Yes, I totally agree Aryeh, unless the more modern OS ends up with a bunged install or uninstall, or gets infected with malware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Hello, You've piqued my curiosity! What sort of registry problems have you have under Windows Vista, 7 or 8 that didn't happen under XP? Regards, Aryeh Goretsky That is interesting. My experience with anything newer than XP is limited, as a dedicated full-time Linux user. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 (edited) Not saying there are ones that don't also happen in Windows XP, just saying there are ones that happen. Particularly with malware cocktails being inserted on all versions of Windows computers. But also, I have had problems and had to use a specific uninstaller software (and surgical registry changes), for antivirus software that got bunged and wouldn't uninstall. Cases in point, AVG, Avast!, Norton, McAfee. Not sure if it was entirely the antivirus software's fault exactly, most of these computers had other malware problems as well so that could be related. Edited May 26, 2014 by LilBambi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amenditman Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 (edited) Could it be that Microsoft including the registry as part of sfc is actually working out? Is that what Aryeh is referring to. It looks like the registry was added to sfc's duties in Vista and it has been expanded in Win 7/8 releases. I could have used that in a couple of nightmare XP experiences. Edited May 26, 2014 by amenditman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Which works great with computers that have real installer disks, not as much for OEM manufacturer's computers, which I think is why Microsoft started including suggesting running Windows Update after sfc on the modern supported Windows versions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amenditman Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 (edited) Temmu sfc is run from the commandline to confirm, and possibly repair, system files of the installed Windows. Edited May 27, 2014 by amenditman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amenditman Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 (edited) You can run it in Windows RE from a restore disk (I think). You can also run it in the console from the install if it boots. Edited May 28, 2014 by amenditman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 However, with Windows XP it does not work with Restore disks or Recovery disks. Maybe this has changed since Windows 7 and Windows 8 depending on what manufacturer you purchased from. Even if that's not the case, with modern still supported OSes, they are apparently directed to go to get Windows Updates that might be able to take care of the problem? Not sure... Can anyone confirm this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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