the last few times i used the registry cleaner it screwed up my hp support assistant and god knows what else so it wouldnt work properly anymore. so i had to to do the system restore to fix the problem. i havent used it since that was about (3-4 updates ago). im not a brainimac about computer stuff but i assumed if i did the registry cleaner it would find problems not list stuff that would screw something up.
Crash, I assume that it is.
You need to check what is removed before removing it haphazardly. I have noted that when you remove some HP printer registry keys, it interferes with other HP printer file functionality. This is NOT just the registry cleaner. I would not even say it is the registry cleaner's fault. It is how HP does things.
You will find that a lot of times, when you decide to try to uninstall one HP printer component, it may affect another & cause you to have to do a total re-install. I like the way HP prints, but I HATE the way their programs are so integrated & break so easily.
No registry cleaner is 100% safe, not even CCleaner.
My personal opinion: the Windows registry does not need cleaning. There may be unused entries, even lots of unused entries, but they do not interfer with Windows running.
The registry hives do not even get smaller if you don't compact them after cleaning. And if you do compact them, you may find that you have only gained a few KB.
I have never run any registry cleaners (except for testing), and all my Windows systems run smoothly.
I have noted that when you remove some HP printer registry keys, it interferes with other HP printer file functionality. This is NOT just the registry cleaner. I would not even say it is the registry cleaner's fault. It is how HP does things.
That's pretty much the same with most printing software though, most are bloated beyond belief.
Inputting File/Folder and Registry exclusions should help - but with all the stuff HP printer/scanner software puts all over the computer it will take a good while to input a bunch of exclusions.