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Why You Should Know About Your Windows Registry

What is Windows Registry?

Windows registry is basically a centralized, tree-like database in which your Windows operating system stores all its configuration information related to installed hardware and software, user preferences, and system settings. This information is stored in the registry in the form of keys, subkeys, and their values. There are five subtrees in the registry, each emerging from five root keys. These root keys are: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY-CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_USERS, and HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG.

Because all tasks performed by the registry occur behind the scene, Windows users usually do not pay a lot of attention to it. However, as registry holds all essential information that is required for your system to function, it is essential that you maintain a healthy and error free registry. In order to do so, you must first know the reasons behind registry errors.

What Causes Registry Errors?

Given below are some of the main causes:

Frequent installation of freeware and shareware programs downloaded from the Internet—these programs are known to come packaged with spyware that add several malicious entries to the registry.
Incorrect program removal that leaves behind several orphan keys within the registry.
System crashes that may corrupt the registry information being used by the system at the time of the crash.
Malware infections that add several malicious registry keys.
Hardware and software problems that may corrupt keys within the registry.
Incorrect program installation that may add incorrect and invalid entries within the registry.

All this unwanted information within the registry causes registry bloating. This brings down the data access speed of the registry and thus, causes computer slow problems. Additionally, a filled up registry gets damaged easily and generates several Windows errors.

How to Prevent Registry Problems?

To prevent registry problems, it is essential that you regularly scan and clean your registry to remove all unwanted information accumulated within it. Windows computers are shipped with the Windows Registry Editor tool that you can open by running the regedit command. However, registry cleanup using this tool is a bit difficult and if you are a new or not-so-technically-sound user, you may find it difficult to use. So, you may seek the help a reliable and efficient registry cleaner tool. These tools are developed taken care of both advanced and new computer users.

Many registry tweaks and optimization tasks can be easily performed using the registry cleaner tool. You can use these tools to scan and clean the registry in just a few mouse clicks. These tools help you speed up the registry by enabling you to defrag its broken files and by removing unnecessary empty registry keys that add to its growing size.

You can also use a good registry tool to perform regular registry backups. A good tool will enable you to make full and selective backups of the registry. Where full backups help you restore the entire registry in one go, selective backups restore only the part of the registry that was backed up.

Many registry tools also come packaged with a few advanced features such as Start Programs Manager, Browser Help Objects Manager, and Privacy Manager that further help you optimize your system and speed up its performance.