Hi Upacreek,
Every thing you said is correct.
As for the Windows Registry,just think of it like an old Name and Address book or an old Phone book.
There are entries in there for people who have passed or moved or the houses or businesses have closed.
You can still use those books for years even though there is some "invalid" information in there.
The only thing you have to guard against is losing the book or it getting torn or damaged.
ERUNT and NTREGOPT
For complete Registry Backup and Recovery and Registry optimization.
I recommend that all PC users use ERUNT and NTREGOPT.
ERUNT and NTREGOPT come as a package at this author's website.
ERUNT backs up the Registry and other important files needed for a greater chance of successful Emergency Recovery.
Select the ERUNT /AUTO backup feature and your Registry will be backed up automatically Once a day each time you restart.
It will automatically delete backups older than 30 days.
NTREGOPT will create a fresh compacted copy of your Registry.To be safe you must REBOOT your computer immediately.This is because any registry changes made after compacting will not reflect in the next REBOOT.
I recommend these two programs because of their outstanding reputation,ease of use,and the rarity of needed updates.
I also recommend using all of the default settings for home users.
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/index.htm
Good Luck,
davey
P.S. My original reply somehow got lost between here and there and now is somewhere in Hyperspace.
I had a few paragraphs about why CCleaner's Registry is designed on the safe side.
It should also be known that some "registry cleaners and optimization" report every instance they find on your computer even many duplicated in each copy of System Restore points.
Andavari's following reply says it all about "Registry Cleaners".