Problems in the registry usually occur due to an accumulation of a large amount of junk information within it. Let’s have a look at some of the activities that may contribute to the collection of this junk in the registry.
If you frequently install and uninstall programs, utilities, freeware applications, and games on your system, your registry is certainly in for a toss. This is because anything you install on your PC makes an entry in the registry, and if you just keep adding programs without removing the ones you do not need, your registry is bound to bloat up and eventually collapse when it is no longer capable of carrying the load.
You may also cause harm to the registry if you do not follow the correct program removal steps. Incorrect program removal leaves behind too many orphan registry keys that unnecessarily add to the registry size. Moreover, many large programs such as many Norton products add hundreds of registry entries and even if you follow the correct removal process, you may not be able to remove all registry entries.
In addition to these, many times, when entries are removed from the registry, they leave behind their place holders or vacant registry keys, which also considerably contribute to the size of the growing registry.
Many malicious programs, such as virus and spyware, also damage the registry by adding incorrect entries and altering current entries in such a way that they generate frequent errors on your system. For instance, if a virus alters the file association of EXE files in the registry, you may not be able to run any application on your PC.
When your system is operational, the registry is loaded into the physical memory and when you shutdown, any changes to the registry are written back to the registry files on the hard disk. Now, if your system crashes, this information cannot be updated in the registry files. Therefore, system crashes and abrupt system shutdowns can also cause severe damage to the registry.
All these problems and issues make it important for you to regularly clean your registry. We recommend that you use a reliable and efficient registry cleaner for the purpose. Registry cleaner tools enable you to perform a full and deep scan of the registry and weed out any unwanted and erroneous entries from it. These tools are user friendly and you can use them not only to fix several Windows errors, but also prevent Windows errors from occurring. Registry cleaner tools also enable you to defrag the registry to remove any registry holes from it and make the registry files contiguous and compact. Additionally, regularly registry cleanup and defrag enables you to considerably boost the performance of your PC.
In addition to using a registry cleaner tool, you must also use antivirus and antispyware tools to regularly perform a full system scan and ensure that your system and the registry are free from malicious information.