With all the trouble your computers registry tends to give you, you may have asked yourself whether this whole registry thing is actually worth having in the first place. How important could this registry be to the daily operation of the computer anyway? It just seems like a overly complicated data filing system that can easily get overrun and clogged up with junk. Well, unfortunately for you, the registry  happens to be an integral part of your computers operating system which you cannot merely get rid of as if it were a appendix or gall bladder. The best thing you can do is performance regular maintenance on you registry and hope for the best.

The registry defined

A registry is a list of gifts a couple who is about to get married gives to a specific store so that their family and friends… oh wait, that does not seem to be what we are talking about, dang nab wikipedia.

The registry we are talking about is actually database used by windows to store system configuration information. Information that is typically stored on the registry are things like…

• file associations and object linking and embedding (OLE) information
• current user preferences
• information for each user
• Your machine’s hardware, installed application and operating system settings
• Display and Printer settings
• Performance data

All window apps tend to write something into the registry at some time, especially during installation. If you happen to download a lot of different applications or constantly change your preferences and setting, your registry  is most likely in a constant state of flux with data always being added and subtracted from it (well, added anyway).

What does the registry look like?

Your registry is configured in a tree structure breaking down to specific nodes and keys, sub keys and data entries (that are called values).  If you open it up by running regedit.exe at the command prompt you will notice that it looks very similar to your Windows explorer menu.

When you run an application, it will most likely either need a  associated key, a specific data value from a key or a group of related data keys  in order to run. Upon boot up your system automatically retrieves specific data sets (called hives) which are a group of keys, sub keys and values which  contain back up system data.

What causes registry problems?

Missing or invalid keys within the registry will cause your PC to crash repeatedly, stall, or just plain slow down. Most of these problems occur during the program instillation and removal process. If you are constantly deleting and installing programs, improperly installing software, deleting start up programs, or running programs with suspected spyware, chances are you have a large number of registry problems.

How to fix registry problems

If you know exactly what you are doing and read through all the help files in windows, you could attempt to fix the registry on your own by  running the regedit program. Going this route however, can be extremely precarious if you do not know exactly what  you are doing, and what data values can be erased. It is a good idea to make a back up before you proceed and only then proceed with the utmost caution. If computer brain surgery is not your thing, you might want to look into getting a good registry fixer to do all the thinking  for you. Registry fixers are found everywhere on the web and are either free or are priced quite reasonably, especially when compared to the price of a new pc if you cannot get yours to boot after monkeying around with it. The good registry fixers on the market will allow you to make a data backup in case the changes lead to undesired results and will take you through the process point by point.