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Damaged Registry Repair and Recovery in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318159
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

I would treat these third party registry scanners that claim to fix the registry and delete unwanted registry entries with some caution.
I have never seen one yet that was either next to useless or would, sooner or later, delete something that it shouldn't have done.
When you understand what is in the registry, to do a comprehensive scan and check every single entry would take hours and even then there is a good chance that something might be missed.
One would expect something from Microsoft to work properly without deleting something important. They should know which entries are important and which can be deleted if anyone does.
Stuart

Ruban,
I have used Registry First Aid by Rose City Software for about two years and have never had a problem. I have never had it delete an important registry link. In fact, the program errs on the side of caution when deleting entries. It also prompts you to create a restore point before cleaning out your registry. It's gotten to a point that I no longer create the restore point, I trust it that much.

Hi:I have to Say "Registry Mechanic" & "RegSupreme Pro" are very Good registry Tool
On the other hand If you are looking for Two Best registry Tools which include everything you Want Just Give :
TuneUp utilities 2006 & MindSoft Utilities 8.2 a go & you never be Sorry
Bon Courage ..

XpUser,
I disagree. Just because the registry doesn't appear to be broken, doesn't mean that it's OK. Numerous dead links and entries vastly slow down the computer. I've cleaned out many people's registries with Reg First Aid and the computers run much faster now.
IMHO, of course.

I agree with XpUser.
I have seen to many PC's in the shop here with the user saying... "I used this registry repair tool and now I cant boot my PC."

reformat is time consuming but the best way of tidying up your system.
MSI KT4AV-L
AMD Athlon XP 2800
1Gb Crucial 3200 DDR
160Gb Seagate Barracuda
ATI 256Mb 9600XT
16x DL DF DVD/RW
16x DVD ROM
9-in-1 Flash Media FDD

I agree that Reg cleaners are dangerous and can leave you in a position where the only recourse is a format/install. Cleaning up the Registry is normally not going to help system performance significantly.

The reason why they are dangerous is that the registry is Windows lymph nodes. Once you screw it it is usually fatal (unless you created a restore point prior to playing the Russian roulette).
i_XpUser

I agree with XPuser.
Even if you create a restore point or make a back-up, the result of a deletion might not be immediately apparant.
Some problem comes up weeks later, how do you know which registry deletion caused it? And by then your restore point is possibly gone as well.
My advice, unless you are really sure of what you are doing, stay away from registry cleaners. Or use them sparingly, like just to remove entries from deleted programs for instance.

Here is some extra info.
How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;307545Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;256986HOW TO: Back Up, Edit, and Restore the Registry in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;322756

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