How to clean Windows XP Registry

How to Clean Windows XP Registry?

The Windows XP registry is one of the most important components of your PC. The registry is where Windows XP stores all of your computer's device and file associations, as well as critical information about drivers, directories, Windows applications and more (See, 4 Easy Ways to Clean up your PC).

The Windows registry is a central hierarchical collection of software, hardware and user settings that are present in your machine. It is used in Microsoft Windows 9x, Windows CE, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium, Windows XP and Windows Vista. Although the Registry is common to several Windows operating systems, there are some differences among them. The registry plays a very important role in your computer¡¯s operating system, for example, by allowing Windows to start and ensuring the stability of the entire system. When the user makes any modifications to Control Panel settings, file associations, system policies and installed software, all these changes are reflected and stocked up in the registry. The Registry replaces most of the text-based .ini files used in Windows 3.x and MS-DOS configuration files, such as the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys.

• Step1. Click the "Start" menu button to open the Start menu.
  
  

• Step2. Click "Run."
  
  

• Step3. Type "regedit" into the text field and press "Enter."
  
  

• Step4. Access the many different entries in your Windows XP registry. It is separated into primary sections: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_USERS and HKEY_CURRENT CONFIG. Each section contains a different set of entries related to different aspects of Windows XP operation.
  
  

• Step5. Click on one of the plus-signs (+) next to one of the root directories, opening a more detailed list. This second level will have more directories to choose from, and will make it easier for you to find entries you need to clean the registry.
  
  

• Step6. Delete entries in the registry that you know are either causing conflicts or are no longer necessary. Do this by pressing the "Delete" key, or by right-clicking on your mouse and choosing "Delete entry."
  
  

• Step7. Invest in a third-party registry application to help you clean your Windows XP registry. Several programs are available that do the dirty work for you. Some even include backup capabilities to retrace their steps in the event of a critical error.
  
  

• Step8. Clean your boot records by changing which programs load themselves at startup. Click through both the LOCAL_MACHINE and CURRENT_USER directories until you reach Software/Microsoft/Windows/Run and RunOnce. From here, you can clean out registry entries that are causing certain programs to run on startup.
  
  
  

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