CCleaner - SP3 - Corrupt Registry Entries

CCleaner for Windows
1

***WARNING***

I'm saying warning, because I do not want people to think they can just search anytime for what I describe below and take action. If you do, you're on your own. The issue(s) described may not be relevant to everyone, and *may* cause problems that did not previously exist.

Nuff said.

-----

I tried a few searches and came up with nothing specific, so I thought I'd just ask right out.

Forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere, links to the relevant topics would be appreciated :)

-----

I've run into some issues with a machine running XP Pro, SP2. Seems I need (I DON'T want to but) to install Service Pack 3.

After having read posts and blogs and such regarding issues with the service pack, I thought perhaps CCleaner might help, IF I run into a problem.

Anyways it turns out the service pack has a tendency to mess with the device manager, internet connections and so on...

Based on what I've read (I'll skip all the details), there is a good chance that the service pack itself will end up corrupting parts of the registry which is at least part of the cause of the problem.

-----

My question is...

Does CCleaner detect and therefore offer to 'clean' corrupt registry entries? Please read on...

Specifically (again, based on what I have read), after installing the service pack (3), rogue entries can be located by doing a search in regedit for keys, values, and data entries starting with "$%&" (without the quotes) and deleting them.

I'm hoping the answer is yes. Other options apparently work, but either involve deleting possibly thousands of entries (thanks a lot MS) manually which can take hours, or installing yet another third party program to automatically find them all, all at once.

Any help would be appreciated. It should be noted that I have been looking for a solution for this for some time, and although we do not use CCleaner at work (I do recommend it to clients), the research I did at least gave me a direction and possible solution for customers and for myself on my home machines.

Regards,

Robert T.

P.S. For reference I will include the url to a Microsoft forum thread that discusses this, although it was not my only source.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums...af56ba2/#page:1

2

I am no tech. Someone with some expertise will come along shortly and answer your question. I just wanted to put my 2 cents in about service packs.

You didn't say why you felt that you had to install SP3 and maybe you have a good reason. I just wanted to tell you that I have NOT installed SP3 and have no intention of doing so. I am still using XP, SP2. No issues. No problems. The only time I had any problem was while I was still allowing automatic updates and MS kept trying to install SP3. I've cut that off and that was the end of that. There are loads of folks out there who chose to stick with SP1.

Good luck with your problem.

3

That's a fair question, there are multiple reasons both for work and personally. I won't go into the work reasons, except to say that a lot of my companies clients ordered XP with the machines they built (these are industrial systems for everything from manufacturing to government to scientific...you name it. I get calls (1 or 2 a week) from customers reporting the issues as described in the link I posted for reference after they upgraded the systems to SP3.

On a personal level, again multiple reasons.

1. Some of the software I must run *require* SP3, they won't even install without it, I'm talking applications, some local, some remote.

2. Running into problems with 2 other programs I am trying to run (1 database related, and a game my daughter plays), that randomly lock up while they run. There is seemingly no pattern, and I have yet to determine exactly what the problem is. The machine locks up completely, screen goes blank, the whole nine yards. Because of this, there are no system logs etc. that I can refer to to attempt to glean any info.

Everything, and I mean everything else is %100 up to date (bios, drivers, etc).

I had previously experienced the problems described on another machine running SP2 and after installing SP3 (which luckily caused no issues, although there were some corrupt entries, I cleaned them out manually as there were only about a dozen) they were gone. Point is, SP3 solved the problems. So I am hoping/guessing doing the same on the machine in question will work as well.

3. Somehow, a patch was applied to this XP machine, a patch intended as a hotfix for SP3...even though SP3 had not been installed (don't understand how this can be, I would have thought it would refuse to install but whatever). Although I was able to remove it, it left remnants in the registry. I'm pretty good with working in the registry but not that good, so again, hoping the application of SP3 will resolve that as well.

Hope that explains it.

If CCleaner does NOT address something like this, I'd like to suggest an option to scan for, and clean entries in the registry based on user entered masks, with the ability to list all relevant entries, and be able to edit/delete en masse. Definately an advanced option, not sure if Piriform will go for it but, it would be VERY useful.

4

Installing a Service Pack always poses a slight risk; it is therefore highly recommended to take a full backup of your system before the install.

Installing a Windows Service Pack on a malware-infested computer poses a very high risk! Make sure that your system is 100% malware-free before proceeding.

Run CCleaner (not the registry cleaner part) before installing the SP to clean up as much unneeded data from your HD or partition as possible.

Defragment your HD or partition before the SP install; this will likely speed up the installation process.

I don't think that you will need to worry about corrupt registry entries or device drivers if you follow these simple steps.

5

As much as I appreciate your response, I am fully aware of the risks involved in installing a service pack and am quite experienced in addressing the other issues you suggest. However the possible issues involved in installing SP3 are well documented; the link I provided in my original post was one of many.

Not a flame, not a shot, but your input failed to answer my question whatsoever. Although some may find your response useful, none of it has anything to do with my original question.

At this point I will assume the answer is no unless someone from Piriform can address this directly with a decisive response.

Appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Regards.

6

Wewpt, - I'm not sure if this is any use to you but I'll lay it out anyway.

Wouldn't it be possible to make a pre-SP3 install Registry backup using ERUNT.

Install SP3

Find your corrupted Registry keys (if any) using RegScanner or something similar (if they all contain $%&) and fix them.

If none of it works

Uninstall SP3

Reinstall the Registry backup you made using ERDNT.exe (part of ERUNT)

and you'll be back to just where you started from. (with exactly the same Registry)

The difference between ERUNT and RegEdit Export is that ERUNT replaces the lot whereas RegEdit just pastes back the exported copy into what's already there, creating a bit of a mess. (So I've read)

If I've misunderstood what you want just ignore this.

Regards,

7

Couldn't you use the MS Hotfix if the problem were to occur? I don't think you will run into a problem anyhow.