I'v used CCleaner registry cleaner and it reports no errors. I then ran Uniblue RegistryBooster 2010 evaluation copy (free) and it found 336 more errors. Is this an error in CCleaner or marketing effort by Uniblue? Heres two examples (Windows 7):
Reason: The value LinkedHelpTopics in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/MMC/SnapIns/contains an invalid path C:/Windows/Help/taskscheduler.chmEntry: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{8AE029D0-08E3-11D1-BAA2-444553540000}\3.0\HELPDIR
Value name:
Value:
Reason: The key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/TypeLib/{8AE029D0-08E3-11D1-BAA2-444553540000}/3.0/HELPDIR is empty
Finding more entries does NOT mean a reg cleaner is "better". You can try Uniblue's reg cleaner if you want, but it might delete something important.
CCleaner is safer than most others since it isn't as aggressive. However, no Registry cleaner is 100% safe - you should always check each key : if you know it can be deleted (such as keys related to uninstalled programs), it's okay, else, you shouldn't let the cleaner do anything with it.
Anyway, Registry cleaning will not improve your computer's performance, unless you have serious problems;)
Thanks guys for the input. The articles were informative. I've done more searches and still confused by the pros and cons. I will have to agree, just leave it alone if you don't know what you're doing. I did find one article here which confirms my suspicions. "UniBlue looks like a sneaky rip off" My link I'm still Curious....