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Newbie - Registry Question


Shybill

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Wow - Just downloded and used CCleaner. As the name states I am shy when it comes to "cleaning the registry". What types of "issues" can I SAFELY remove without harming my setup.

I cleaned the "explorers and applications" - Painless.

Windows XP is the op system. Any help is appreciated.

Bill :unsure:

 

P.S. If I can do it anyone can :P

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Hello Shybill :)

 

Have a read here first, just to give you an idea of things. The bit you may be interested in at the moment is the one under registry.

 

http://www.internetrotsyourbrain.com/ccleanerbeginnersguide/

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

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Hello Shybill :)

 

Have a read here first, just to give you an idea of things. The bit you may be interested in at the moment is the one under registry.

 

http://www.internetrotsyourbrain.com/ccleanerbeginnersguide/

 

Good Morning Hazelnut,

Well I slept on this and this AM I decided to give it a try. All seems to have gone well as my laptop seems to be up to speed. Now that it is clean I can feel a little better cleaning it on a regular basis, as I will have a better feeling as to what is being deleted, one can loose track of what if it has neveer been done.

I will be receiving a new Dell 1525 Insperion with the Vista installed - will CCleaner work on the OS also??

Thanks for your help and holding my hand :rolleyes: through this life shattering decision to "clean or not ot clean" - glad I did. :rolleyes:

Regards,

Bill

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Hello Bill.

 

Glad you managed to ''do the deed'' :)

 

Yes, CCleaner will work on vista, however I presume you have some sort of arrangement on your computer for backups of your important files and folders etc. If not, and you need suggestions, just ask.

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

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Hello Bill.

 

Glad you managed to ''do the deed'' :)

 

Yes, CCleaner will work on vista, however I presume you have some sort of arrangement on your computer for backups of your important files and folders etc. If not, and you need suggestions, just ask.

 

Good Morning Hazelnut,

NOW you've peaked my interest - with your statement to "backup important files" ;) - Why would you say this?? Is it a Vista issue or A CCleaner issue that files can be lost??

Again thanks for your help.

Regards,

 

Bill

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No, I didn't mean this in relation to using CCleaner :) Although I would advise new ''issues''cleaner users to say yes to backing up the .reg entries they delete until they are confident about using the program.

 

I was actually talking about making sure that you have backups of your pictures, and music etc that are important to you in case of problems which can happen to anyone using a computer. (preferably on an external hard drive or burnt to dvds)

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

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Wow - Just downloded and used CCleaner. As the name states I am shy when it comes to "cleaning the registry". What types of "issues" can I SAFELY remove without harming my setup.

I cleaned the "explorers and applications" - Painless.

Windows XP is the op system. Any help is appreciated.

Bill :unsure:

 

P.S. If I can do it anyone can :P

Hello Shybill,

Welcome to the forum!!!

The wise person always asks first.

I have been using this PC for about 4 years now.3 1/2 years of that was just using.Not cleaning,not updating,etc.

So when I came to this forum I would consider myself a "new" PC user.I did not know any safe practices other than to back up my daily work and master files.I knew nothing about what good safe software,websites or the safest things to do as a "newbie".

I know you may be a long time user but maybe a "newbie" to the other things I have mentioned.

 

I have written many replies to wise "new" users like you.

You are absolutely correct in your statement "If I can do it anyone can :P "

You can do it very easily.A little work but fun and easy.That's the way it should always be.

See this link and other links in it and you will be set on your XP machine and your new Vista PC.

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=102905

 

You can always get help and learn here.

Best wishes,

:) davey

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I'm a Newbie also

My question is this

When I select back up for the registry it sends the item(Reg file) to My Documents

If I wanted to implement the "back up" how would I do it?

When I right clicked on the item in My Documents I selected Merge and was shown this message

"This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action.Create an asociation in the folder options Control Panel

What does his mean and how do I implement the back up .....IF EVER REQUIRED

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I'm a Newbie also

My question is this

When I select back up for the registry it sends the item(Reg file) to My Documents

If I wanted to implement the "back up" how would I do it?

When I right clicked on the item in My Documents I selected Merge and was shown this message

"This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action.Create an asociation in the folder options Control Panel

What does his mean and how do I implement the back up .....IF EVER REQUIRED

Hi Doc,

Good to hear from you again.Your medical training is showing.

Going through a little dry run before surgery? Good for you.

Did you happen to change the name of the backup file? If so OK but the last part must be .reg .This way the software identifies it as containing registration entries.

If you did not change the name then something has caused .reg files not to be associated with the program "regedit.exe". You can right click on the file again and select "Open with" and click on "Registry editor" if it shows or "Choose program". If you select "choose program" then select Registry editor and also check off the box that says use this program for files with the same extension.

Try this first.If not come back.

:) davey

P.S. Doc , I was going to find you the fix but I see YoKenny and hazelnut are on the job.

Sometimes for whatever reason some users lose the proper file associations especially for REG files.

I think I remember you saying that you are using WinXP.If so go to the DOUG KNOX site that hazelnut provided and click on this line to restore your REG file associations. REG File Association Fix (Restore default associations for REG files).

:D The smile is me remebering that I "lost" my REG file associations on purpose because I did not want the other users of this PC to be "playing around" and possibly restore some of my CCleaner Registry backups. :lol:

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"This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action.Create an asociation in the folder options Control Panel
Please read what Microsoft says about this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307859

 

Registry Editing Tips:

http://www.activewin.com/tips/reg/product_3.shtml

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." - Albert Einstein

IE7Pro user

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Hello Dr Goldberg,

If as davey says you have changed the name of the backup you must rename it to .reg (any name you like but it must end in .reg.

 

You don't say if you are xp or vista, depending on which you are here are the fixs to restore your correct file associations.

XP

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

vista

http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/...dows-Vista.html

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

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To Davey, Yo Kenny and Hazelnut

Thanks for your input

Note: I have never backed up any file on my PC ...period

I assume the purpose of a back up is :if you create a problem you can always go back and reinstall the file that existed before you made the change

I also assume the following:

1.Whenever I change/modify the registry I should always use "back up"...Yes or No?

 

2.Since I dont have any errors after changing the registry I guess I should delete the back up file in My Documents....Yes/No?

 

3.The back up file is a .reg file

 

4.I am using Win XP

 

5.If I had a problem and had to use back up...as Davey suggested I clicked "open with" (since Merge did nothing)

Now another window appears and states

"Windows cannot open this file;To open this file windows needs to know what program created it

What do you want to do:

a) Use Web Services to find appropriate program............... (I did not select this)

b)Select program from list ................................................( I recognized Note pad, Word etc)"

 

I gave up at this point so I would not screw up my PC ...not knowing what I'm doing

(I did look at and opened the info that Haazelnut and Yo Kenny sent but did not know what to do with that info)

but I would like to know how to back up Registry if I ever needed to use "back up"

Doc

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First lets see if you can get the .reg working. Go here

 

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

 

scro;ll down till you see REG FILE ASSOCIATION FIX and click on the blue writing. This will bring up a small file to download. Choose save to desktop.

 

Then double-click it.

 

Then try right clicking on a CCleaner backup and see if you get the merge option now.

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

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To Davey, Yo Kenny and Hazelnut

Thanks for your input

Note: I have never backed up any file on my PC ...period

I assume the purpose of a back up is :if you create a problem you can always go back and reinstall the file that existed before you made the change

I also assume the following:

1.Whenever I change/modify the registry I should always use "back up"...Yes or No?

 

2.Since I dont have any errors after changing the registry I guess I should delete the back up file in My Documents....Yes/No?

 

3.The back up file is a .reg file

 

4.I am using Win XP

 

5.If I had a problem and had to use back up...as Davey suggested I clicked "open with" (since Merge did nothing)

Now another window appears and states

"Windows cannot open this file;To open this file windows needs to know what program created it

What do you want to do:

a) Use Web Services to find appropriate program............... (I did not select this)

b)Select program from list ................................................( I recognized Note pad, Word etc)"

 

I gave up at this point so I would not screw up my PC ...not knowing what I'm doing

(I did look at and opened the info that Haazelnut and Yo Kenny sent but did not know what to do with that info)

but I would like to know how to back up Registry if I ever needed to use "back up"

Doc

Hi Doc,

You are a good user.You take care to record things as you go along and you anticipate things.

P.S. Yes always reply "Yes" to back-up messages.If you don't get these messages then don't go any further.There is an option to turn this feature off but I recommend against it or you will have no back-up made.

Always wait awhile before you delete the back-ups.They are small files anyway.If you find that you are always "fixing issues" then something is wrong.Unless you are constantly installing and uninstalling software this should not occur often.

Average users should just leave the Registry alone anyhow.The Registry can have many issues for years and not affect anything.

That is why I advised you to leave it alone.If you really want to be a "techie" than that's a different matter. Just be prepared to be without your PC for awhile if things go badly.

 

The first thing I want you to do and learn is this simple but IMPORTANT task when doing any maintenance to your PC.

It is called Create a manual System Restore Point.Always do this step before anything else when doing system maintenance.

Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > click System Restore .You are now ready to Create a System Restore Point.

I have found these to be much more reliable than ones taken automatically.Just follow the instructions.If you do this often enough it will remain in your Start menu.

Don't go any further without Creating a System Restore Point.This is not always done by experienced users but always a good practice for any user just the same.

 

WE think that you need to restore your REG file associational since it is not working properly.

The link below will take you directly to the web page that you need to do this.

 

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

 

On the left hand side is a list.In this list you will find the following REG File Association Fix (Restore default associations for REG files).

Left click on REG File Association Fix and a File download window will appear.

Click on Open 1 time another box will appear Click on Open 1 more time and a window will appear.

In this window will be an icon like a sheet of paper with blue blocks on it.Left double click on that.

A Registry Editor window will open and ask if you want to add the information Reply YES.

Another box will appear informing that the changes have been made.

 

Now go try double clicking or right clicking on your CCleaner registration entries.It should work now.Either way Double left click or Right click and click on Merge.

 

Remember that the back up file is only for the items from that one execution of "fix issues".It is not a complete copy of your Registry.This way,later you can restore just those items without disturbing the rest of the Registry.If you do 3 "fix issues" and you want to reverse them then it is necessary to restore them in the "reverse" order in time that they were created.The #3 back up would be restored first.Then #2 and then #1.This is "Very Important".

 

There are other basic things you need as a "new user" but later for now.

Good luck,

:) davey

Edited by davey
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