3 Ways to Clean the Windows Registry Safely

A  good antivirus program will catch stuff like that and prevent you from installing the program, or will at least alert you that you shouldn’t install it. CCleaner is definitely our favorite free registry cleaner, but we also prefer Wise Registry Cleaner and Auslogics Registry Cleaner above most of the others in that list.

• This method removes all apps and settings and keeps all your personal files or removes everything, including apps, files, and settings.
• If you had created the backup for your system before, you will see that backup in the ‘system restorePanel.
• Unlike previous versions, Windows 10 has several useful tools for automatic system repair.

Thankfully, Avast Cleanup knows how to delicately handle a registry. It was designed specifically by Windows optimization experts, and it will ensure your registry always runs smoothly. Avast Cleanup finds leftover entries from programs you don’t need or have installed anymore — and whenever your registry needs tidying, it will take care of it, hassle-free. It may not look like much, but the registry is one of the most essential parts of your computer. If you click around, you can get a more detailed look at the registry’s keys and values.

Use DISM to Clean Registry Files

The export and import options are intended to backup and restore one or multiple Registry keys only. Although there are several methods (including third-party tools) to backup this database, you can use System Restore to quickly backup and restore the entire Registry. In Windows, use of the registry for storing program data is a matter of developer’s discretion. Microsoft provides programming interfaces for storing data in XML files (via MSXML) or database files (via SQL Server Compact) which developers can use instead. Developers are also free to use non-Microsoft alternatives or develop their own proprietary data stores. If the /s parameter is omitted the user will be asked to confirm the operation.

These can be caused by a variety of things, such as improperly closing programs, installing/uninstalling programs without using the proper tools, etc. In its aggressive mode, the registry cleaner in jv16 PowerTools found 392 registry problems; in its normal mode, it detected 298 problems. The first option was to back up the registry and let jv16 make all the changes it wanted to—a choice we weren’t happy with and wouldn’t use. On the other hand, when we chose the “Custom fix” alternative, the program forced us to look at each problem one at a time. Other apps, such as Registry First Aid, list all the items and let you select specific entries by checking the boxes beside them, which is much easier. We also wished that the program showed the severity of each problem so as to know which ones were important, but it didn’t.

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Then, select the ‘System’ section on the left pane and click the ‘Recovery’ option on the right pane. So open the Command prompt by searching for ‘cmd’ or ‘Command prompt’ in Windows Search and click ‘Run as administrator’ on the right pane. To back up the registry, right-click on ‘Computer’ in the left panel and select ‘Export’. To open Windows Registry, press Win + R, then in the Run box, type regedit and press Enter. Alternatively, you can search for Windows Registry in the Windows Search bar and open it.

You can alternatively trust Windows to decide which hours you’re most likely to be working (based on your past activity) and set your active hours for you. On the “Change active hours” screen, move the slider underneath the text “Automatically adjust active hours for this device based on download chrome_elf.dll windows 10 activity” from Off to On. You can control when Windows installs updates by choosing “active hours,” during which installations shouldn’t take place. Alternatively, to pause updates for up to 35 days in one fell swoop, click Advanced options on the Windows Update screen. Scroll down to the “Pause updates” section and click Select date. A scrollable list of every day for the next 35 days will pop up.

When the scanning is complete, check for all the additional files that you can delete, and click OK. Use the ‘Filter’ button before clicking ‘Search’ to restrict your search. Note that Auslogics Registry Cleaner provides no indication of whether a key is a problem or not; it simply returns all results. When you’re done, verify ‘Back Up Changes’ is ticked, then click ‘Repair’ to remove only those entries you’ve selected.