In the world of computer languages and jargon, you will come across a term known as the ‘system registry’. This is a central database that the system uses to efficiently run the operating system without hang-ups and hitches. This is a database, which stores information such as the data pertaining to the settings of all the hardware and the software that is installed on the system. It also stores the various users’ preferences such as the desktop settings and what programs the user wants to startup with the operating system during boot up. This registry is constantly changing along with the use of the system. These changes are a stumbling block for the system as the registry continues to grow and expand. Eventually the system will slow down so much that the use of a registry cleaner will be inevitable to fine tune and cleanup the system.

The Registry Grows With Indexing

There are six sub sections of the registry and they are all changed every time some user makes a change in the system through the control panel. Windows indexing service is another culprit that contributes greatly to the registry constantly changing and expanding. The Indexing service records in the registry the location of all the files and programs. This expands the registry everyday slowing down the system and making it sluggish. Thankfully there are tools such as windows registry cleaner that can rectify this problem. When a user uninstalls a program or deletes a file the indexing service does not remove all the entries from the registry service completely. This is where powerful registry cleaner services are required.

Download A Free Registry Cleaner

These registry cleaners are available free on the Internet. A search with the keywords ‘registry shareware cleaner’, ‘free Microsoft registry cleaner’, ‘download free registry ware’ and ‘free registry cleaner software download’ will produce rich results and you can make your choice which registry cleaner you would like to install and use to clean the registry of your system. All are good cleaners some are trial registry cleaner downloads and some are premium packs. The free registry cleaners are just as good as the premium or any registry cleaner available on the Internet.

It is advisable to give the registry cleaners that are available on the Internet a try if you feel that your system has slowed down and that the startup and shut down processes take more time than when the system was first installed. Installing a free registry cleaner is not a big deal and takes just a couple of minutes. It costs nothing except a few minutes of your time and you get a faster and more efficient system at the end for all your trouble.

Arvind
http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/indexing-and-the-registry-56733.html

We wanted to run a series of tests on the new RegCure 2007 Registry Cleaner to see how effective it was at removing registry errors and improving PC performance.

Our test system was an athlon based system running windows XP professional SP2, which conveniently enough had never had a registry scan performed on it before…

RegCure Successfully scanned and found problems in the following registry categories: COM/ActiveX Entries, Uninstall Entries, Font Entries, Shared DLLs, Application Paths, Help Files Information, Windows Startup Items, File/Path References, Program Shortcuts, Empty Registry Keys and File Associations.
See Registry Terminology

RegCure completed its registry scan on our test system in just under 3 minutes, and found a total of 822 errors. It also the speed and efficiency of our computer by a measurable 15% (test video of RegCure can be seen on our website link below), the results were very noticeable.

Removal of detected items was simple, and you had the option of going down the list manually and only checking those Registry items for removal that you wanted. RegCure also featured an Ignore List: After a scan you can add detected items to the Ignore list. In these instances, RegCure does not remove the item and it will be ignored during upcoming scans.

RegCure also came equipped with scheduling functionality so that your windows registry is scanned automatically on a regular basis. Once certain of your scan settings you can set up one or more schedules to automate the scanning and removal process. We found this feature particulalry useful during our review of RegCure.

What RegCure Did For Our Computer

-Eliminated Annoying Registry Errors

-No More “Blue Screen of Death!”

-Increased Our PC Performance By a substantial 15%!

-Allowed us to Manage Our Windows Startup Programs

-Ran automatically and silently in the background with the Built in scheduler

-Automatically Backed-up Registry settings before fixing or removing errors

-Compressed and Defraged our Registry

Gary Bracken
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/regcure-registry-cleaner-review-114026.html

Before we understand the need of registry cleaner, let us understand what registry is and why you need a registry cleaner to enhance PC performance. Just as you would store your documents in a file, the Windows stores all information about your computer in a Registry, such as all the software and hardware settings, and everything about the system configuration. It is the most critical aspect of the operating system, and needs to be cleaned periodically. A Registry Cleaner is a program that looks for and deletes outdated entries.

Using a registry cleaner periodically will make your computer run better. Registry was first introduced by Microsoft in Windows 95. Before this, configuration settings were all stored in INI (Initialization) files scattered all over the hard drive. Due to this, it was quite difficult to keep a track of them. A registry consolidated all information in a central location. It is a central cache of all settings, options, and preferences of the PC, manages the start up options, and keeps a track of the various software installed in the system.

Removing The Build Up

Over time, the registry in a computer builds up and this can make the computer unstable and have a slow start up. As you keep on using your computer, the registry keeps on building up with obsolete and unnecessary information. These need to be cleaned up using a registry cleaner.

This is especially true for Windows 95 and 98. However, Windows NT, XP and 200x also have a lot of entries that are not necessary, and are created when programs are installed or removed. It is always advisable to use a registry cleaner to remove these unwanted entries to make your computer run faster.

The registry cleaner scans the registry to trace the obsolete data, deletes it to enable your computer to run error free and enhance the performance of your PC. Most cleaners have a backup function to help you backup your registry before cleaning it, in case you encounter a system failure, and some files get deleted inadvertently. You can get a free registry cleaner or trial version. But the free or trial versions have their limitations therefore it is better if you select a licensed registry cleaning software for this purpose.

A damaged windows registry in your computer can corrupt your whole system, rendering it unusable. To keep this vital part of your computer in a good working and an un-bloated condition, a good registry cleaner should have the following features:

• Automatic scanning of the registry and its cleanup

• Backup and restoration of the full registry

• A startup organizer

• Removing Trojan, which utilizes startup files

One particular registry cleaner may not be compatible for all types of computer systems. They have their own minimum system requirements, such as:

• Some that are compatible with Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP may not be suitable for other versions of Windows.

• Some require a particular class of processor with a certain amount of RAM

• You may need a certain amount of empty hard disc space.

Now decide, do you need a registry cleaner or not?

Arvind
http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/why-do-you-need-a-registry-cleaner-54840.html

COM is an acronym for Component Object Model. This is a software architecture developed by Microsoft Corporation and is used to define a certain structure used to build program routines, known as ‘objects’ that can be called up for execution in a windows based environment. COM was first built into Windows 95 and Windows NT.4.0. many parts of Windows operating system and some applications developed by Microsoft’s developers have built in COM objects. Com Objects are stored in the registry of a system and are one of the things that need to be cleaned with registry cleaner.

So What Exactly Does COM Do?

Com is that part of a program that provides an interface between objects. A counterpart DCOM or Distributed COM allows the objects to run remotely. COM is implemented in different ways. Objects can be large small or medium and are written in different programming languages to perform any kind of processing of a file or code. Programs call on objects whenever the program needs the services of the object and the Common Object Model acts as the interface between the program and the object. COM will link common objects to different programs that need them. That is why even though the program may be uninstalled the common object will not be removed. This fills up the registry and slows down a PC. A computer registry cleaner will remove all unwanted entries from a registry and speed up the system.

COM and ActiveX

ActiveX controls can call up COM objects called ‘controls’. These ‘controls’ just blend into the program and become part of the program when called up by COM. OLE also uses COM services in the windows environment. Standard applications, such as word processors and spreadsheets, can be written to expose their internal functions as COM objects, allowing them to be “automated” instead of manually selected from a menu. Microsoft’s OLE compound documents are based on COM, which lets one document be embedded within or linked to another (see OLE). ActiveX Documents are extensions to OLE that allow a Web browser, for example, to view not only Web pages, but any kind of document.

Microsoft Corporation is increasingly making its standard programming interfaces conform to the COM object model so that there is continuity between all interfaces in the Windows working environment. In the beginning Microsoft Corporation decided to use the term ‘OLE’ to refer to its COM-based architecture, then later decided to drop that designation in favor of ActiveX. Now since both OLE and ActiveX are based on COM, the term COM is also used. As a result, any combination of the words COM, OLE and ActiveX followed by the words control, object and component may mean the same thing, or they may not, depending on the context they are referred to.

So in the end we are given to understand that Common Object Model is ActiveX and vice versa in relation to the environment they are working in. All this automatic activity only feeds the registry with information it may not have to retain. But there is no way to rid the registry of this data except with the help of a windows registry cleaner. A PC registry cleaner will remover from the registry all unwanted information thus making the system more efficient.

Arvind
http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/what-is-com-and-how-its-related-to-registry-cleaner-56760.html

You would be surprised to know that fonts and

registry cleaner have an association. A font is a set of characters of the alphabet in a single typeface. This means that all the letters of the alphabet as well as the numbers will have the same basic design even though the size may change. In the beginning there were the bitmap fonts that were used on windows and Macs. These fonts had a drawback, they could not be enlarged because they would break up and look horrible when printed. Then Apple and Microsoft came up with the ‘True Font’ type that we use today. These fonts and their type can be reduced and enlarged a great deal and still appear normal without getting the jagged edges the bitmap fonts would produce. There are the ‘bitmap’ font type, the ‘true’ font type and ‘true type rasterizer’ font type that are largely used today. All the fonts are entered into the registry of a system and from here they are linked to the documents that are using them.

When we download fonts and storm them on the system for future use the registry makes an entry of where the fonts are located. One font will be related to one type. There are thousands of fonts such as times new roman, trebuchet. Let us understand the difference of font and type. While ‘Times New Roman’ will be the font the type will be the size of the font, which may be any number. The basic rule is the larger the number the larger is the size of the font. When the user formats the text the program refers to the registry to understand what type to apply to the font that has been chosen. The end result can be a great looking document.

Many fonts are downloaded from the Internet. These fonts are constantly changed and their links are disrupted. These disrupted links need to be cleaned or removed from the registry as and when they get redundant. A good windows registry cleaner will do a great job on registry cleaning. Windows XP registry cleaner is a free registry cleaner and can be downloaded from the Internet directly to your system. Many registry cleaners such as PC Mantra’s registry cleaner are tried and tested to be great registry cleaners. They check the system thoroughly and do not remove any links that may in any way have some utility on the system. Many times users download trial versions of fonts. These fonts may be useful for some time and they store links to the site they were downloaded from. This clutters up the registry and slows down the system drastically.

A

free windows registry cleaner will scan the registry for such links and fonts and remove them if they are present after the designated date. In this way the free registry cleaner will clean the registry and make the operating system more efficient and fast.

Arvind
http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/what-are-fonts-and-their-type-with-relation-to-the-registry-69465.html

Yeah, you heard me! Big Brother does not like registry cleaners. But he is not alone. Everyone who works in software knows that Windows has been gradually turned into one big memory dump. Now, this is an ideal feature to help your computer keep track of the kinds of programs you use, record your internet surfing history and keep an eye on you all together. Who would want to know such a things? Of course, those who can profit.

Well profit or not, all this fragmented data makes your computer extremely slow. The slower your PC becomes the more you feel you need a new one and the more incline you are to buy a new operating system that promises a faster PC experience. Its certainly fits the definition of vicious cycle. How do you break the cycle…Enter a registry cleaner.

Let’s start with a basic question. What is Window’s registry used for? The Registry is a database repository for information about a computer’s configuration. The registry keeps growing when you install or delete software,download files or avoid using registry cleaners. As it grows, it attracts obsolete and unnecessary information, and gradually becomes cluttered and fragmented. As Window’s registry grows, the overall daily PC performance degrades. The performance of the whole system is next to go and followed by many software problems. If you have any of these problems you need a registry cleaner.

Do any of these sound familiar

Windows-Installer Error

Error in DLL files

Windows Startup errors

Internet Explorer errors

Runtime errors

Corrupted Errors

Fatal Program Errors

Slow PC Speed

So, why are registry cleaners not readily available at large computer retail outlets? Because these simple and easy to use products will be cutting into computer sales and repair profits!

A good Window’s registry cleaner can dramatically boost the speed of your PC by removing all the fragment data. Up to 90% of the deleted software can remain on your hard drive. Only registry cleaners wipe out all the garbage data. Regsweep is the number one registry cleaner on the market. However, there are many others that are good. This software also defrags your drive regularly.

After viewing the www.delete-computer-history.com, I found some interesting information in a few major PC magazines. The consensus is that that 93.7 percent of computer problems can be fixed with registry cleaners. They have also claim registry cleaners a necessary tool for PC maintenance and maintaining PC speed. I have am currently using two registry cleaners on a five year old laptop PC that still runs like new. You decide for your self if Big brother is conspiring against giving the consumer the benefit of PC long life by not supported registry cleaner software development and sales. However don’t rush to invest in a registry cleaner if you enjoy spending $2500 for a different color of paint with the same engine under the hood.

Gaelim Holland
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/why-big-brother-hates-registry-cleaners-134407.html

The latest Microsoft Windows operating systems have a time synchronisation utility installed by default called ‘Windows Time’. The Windows time service allows a Microsoft network to provide time synchronisation of machines in a domain. This article introduces how to configure the Microsoft Windows 2000 and 2003 operating systems to operate as a SNTPNTP Time Server. The article discusses how to change windows registry entries to configure the Time Service.

Before modifying any Windows registry settings, it is a good idea to save the registry. In the even of any difficulties, the registry can be restored to its former state.

Windows 2000 Time Service

Windows 2000 has an integrated network time synchronization service, installed by default, which can be configured to synchronize to a Time Server. In fact, by changing associated registry settings, the service can act as both a time client and a time server to synchronize other network time clients.

The Windows Time service should be present in the systems service list. The application executable is ‘w32time.exe’. The parameter list for time service should be present in the in the registry at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParameters

The Windows 2000 operating system can operate as a time client and synchronise to a time server by setting the parameter ‘NTP Server’ to the IP address of a Time Server.

By default, the Windows 2000 machine will synchronize to the specified time server every 8 hours, or 3 times a day. This may not be enough to maintain accurate synchronization and can be easily increased. Setting the ‘Period’ parameter to how many times each day synchronisation is required can reduce the period. Setting the ‘Period’ parameter to 48 will activate synchronization with the time server once every half hour.

The Windows 2000 operating system can also be configured to act as a time server by setting the ‘Local NTP’ registry setting to ‘1′.

After changing any of the registry settings for the windows time service, the service must be restarted for the settings to take effect. The time service can be started or stopped from the service control applet in the Administrative Tools menu. The service can also be controlled via the DOS net command thus:

‘net start w32time’ and ‘net stop w32time’

Windows 2003 Time Service

With Windows 2003, Microsoft has expanded on the original Windows 2000 SNTP time service by providing a true NTP implementation. The Windows 2003 time service, installed by default, can synchronise to a NTP Server. Indeed, by changing registry settings, the time service can act as both a time server and client to synchronize other time clients in the domain.

The ‘Windows Time’ service should be present in the systems service list. The application executable is ‘w32time.exe’. The parameter list for the Windows 2003 time service should be present in the registry at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32Time

To configure the Windows 2003 operating system to synchronize to an external time server, edit the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParametersType

Set the ‘Type’ registry entry to ‘NTP’, which specifies synchronization to a NTP time server.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNTPClientSpecialPollInterval

The ‘Special Poll Interval’ registry entry defines the period in seconds that the Windows 2003 operating system should poll the time server. A recommended value is 900, which equates to a polling period of every 15 minutes.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeConfigAnnounceFlags

Set the ‘Announce Flags’ registry entry to 5 indicating a reliable time reference.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNTPServerEnabled

Changing the ‘Enabled’ flag to the value 1 enables the NTP Time Server.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParametersNtpServer

The ‘NTP Server’ parameter is used to provide a list of DNS names or IP addresses, separated by a space, of time servers that the Windows 2003 operating system can synchronize to.

Troubleshooting the Time Service

A number of isuues may be encountered when configuring the Microsoft Windows Time Service. SNTP and NTP operates using the UDP protocol over TCP/IP. Therefore, the TCP/IP network protocol must be active for SNTPNTP to operate. Synchronisation issues may also arise when SNTPNTP attempts to synchronise to an inaccurate time server reference or if network delays are excessive.

Synchronising Network Device and Components

In addition to synchronizing Microsoft Windows servers and workstations, time servers can also be used to synchronise network devices, such as switches, routers and hubs. Any network infrastructure that can synchronise to a NTP or SNTP time server can be pointed to the Windows time server to obtain synchronisation. In this way the whole network and accompanying infrastructure can be accurately synchronised to a time reference.

David Evans
http://www.articlesbase.com/operating-systems-articles/how-to-configure-a-windows-time-server-111173.html

What Is A System Registry?

The system registry is undoubtedly one of the most important parts of the operating system. It is the backbone of the system. The registry stores all the information that the operating system needs to run the PC. This information includes data pertaining to all the programs, hardware and user permissions on the system. When a user logs onto a computer by entering the username and password the system immediately refers to the registry to see what the user is allowed to do on the PC.

According the OS will proceed. If a program or application is run the OS will refer to the registry to locate the DLL files that will run the program. The registry constantly updates its database with information as the comp is used. This bloats the registry. So, a problem with the registry will reflect in the general well being of the system. This is why the registry has to be kept clean and healthy by running a registry cleaner utility when the system begins to show signs of slowing down and being sluggish.

Why Does The Registry Slow The System Down?

As mentioned, the registry updates itself with information. This makes the registry grow in size. As the registry is a hierarchical database the system refers to it serially. This means that the system begins looking for information from the beginning of the registry and goes through each entry individually. This is the case every time the operating system refers to the registry, which may be many times a second. As the registry automatically updates itself there many links and entries that are useless because the registry never deletes an entry. So when the registry is scanned the OS has to go through the useless entries as well. There are many tens of thousands of entries in the registry that lead to nowhere. These entries delay the search every time. A good registry cleaner such as PC registry cleaner or Windows XP registry Cleaner will detect these links and remove them. Then the Registry cleaner will fill the empty spaces by compacting the registry. This further enhances the performance of the PC.

Arvind
http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/when-to-use-a-registry-cleaner-utility-69485.html

When a Windows computer has been used for some time it tends to slow down,freeze sometimes and occasionally even crash completely. It may take months or years depending on how much you use your machine but it will happen.

Why is this so? The reason is nearly always a corrupt registry which has become bloated with data and useless files. Every time you install or uninstall a program incompletely, fragments of the program will remain in the registry causing it to become choked with data after some time.

The registry is something which all Windows PCs have. It is basically a database of entries which the operating system uses to run the machine. When it becomes bloated with too many fragments of data the operating system has to find its way through all the excess entries to locate the data it needs to run the computer and programs. This causes a very noticeable slow down and balkiness in the operation of the machine.

The only way to correct this problem is to remove all the unwanted data entries from the registry. All windows PCs have a function called Regedit which is intended for just this purpose. You can access Regedit by clicking START-RUN then typing Regedit in the box. When you are ready to start using Regedit you must first back up your registry so that you can restore it if something goes wrong. This is done by clicking FILE then selecting EXPORT. Name the backup file so that you can find it and save to your desktop or elsewhere.

You can now proceed to go through the registry entries and remove any you do not want. When you examine the registry entries you will see that you are faced with a formidable task. Unless you really know what you are doing it will be obvious to you that you need help at this point. Just remove one wrong entry and you can completely disable the computer which we certainly do not want to do.

Fortunately help is readily available in the form of an online registry cleaner application which can do the job quickly and safely. A good registry repair utility will backup your registry then delete all unecessary entries from the registry. This will easily and safely clean the registry in a matter of minutes and return the computer to being the sweet running fast machine it was before the registry became corrupt.

We purchased several of the most popular registry cleaner applications and tested them to see which was best. We found that they vary greatly in ability to detect errors in the registry. The best registry cleaner applications could detect many more wrong entries than some of the others.

John Mowatt
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/slow-running-computerspeed-it-up-with-registry-cleaner-software-751759.html

Windows uses a system called ‘file association’ to open a file with the correct program that the file was created in. If a file has an extension .doc then windows knows that the file is a word document and uses file association to open the file in the Microsoft Word application. Or if the file has a .bmp extension then file association will open the file in Microsoft Paint by default.

All these associations are retained in the registry of the system and there will be many times that files are downloaded from the internet and they come with their own third party program to run them. Once we are done with the files we delete the files but the programs remain in the system. The list of such programs builds up over time and we need a windows registry cleaner to clean the registry of these redundant files and programs.

A file extension is a set of alphabetical characters, sometimes these are alphanumeric, and these are placed at the end of the file name after a period. These extensions are also attached to the various software on the system such as .exe, which means the file is an executable program. These extensions are used to determine the type of data stored in them as well as to distinguish the type of program. This information is recorded in the registry and needs to be cleaned with a windows registry cleaner regularly.

The registry gets crammed with useless programs and files. These files and redundant data and information do nothing other than slow down the system. It is important to clean the registry of these files and programs or entries as they are called. There are many registry cleaners on the Internet that can do a good job of cleaning the registry. Typing in a set of keywords such as ‘A must registry cleaner’, ‘free registry cleaner software’, ‘free XP registry cleaner’ in a search engine will produce results that can lead you to the appropriate registry cleaner software you are looking for.

Windows and computer operating systems have used Filename extensions for decades, but they have become popular because the file systems included with DOS and Windows had limitations on filenames for many years, which pushed the use of filename extensions.

It will help to download one of these free registry cleaner software for your system and run it on your computer from time to time. This will keep your computer running well and get rid of the sluggishness of the system. In fact, if you find that your system is running slower than usual it is time to download a registry cleaner and utilize it on your system and get the PC back on track.

Arvind
http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/what-is-file-association-and-its-relation-with-the-registry-119070.html