As your Registry "expands", the performance of your operating system will slow down. The logic and algorithms of third-party Registry cleaning programs may also not be good enough to clean your Registry. These third-party programs clean the Registry by following certain rules and so may not be able to clean certain Registry effectively, especially if your computer's Registry is large or corrupted.
Fortunately, you can manually clean the Registry to remove entries from old programs that are left behind after program removal. You can also delete unnecessary Startup entries. Read step 1 to start cleaning the Registry manually.
Note: This article is for advanced Windows users. If you clean the Registry carelessly, your computer may have problems afterwards.
Step
Step 1. Open Windows' built-in Registry Editor
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Click Start > Run…
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Enter regedit in the text box.
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Press Enter, or click OK.
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Step 2. Back up your Registry before making any changes
You must take this important step so that you can undo changes that harm the operating system or programs. Read articles on the internet to find out how to back up the Registry.
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Click File > Export.
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In the Export range pane, click All.
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Select the location to save the backup, and name the backup file.
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Click Save.
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Step 3. Understand the Registry Editor interface
The Registry Editor window has two panes. The first pane displays the entire Registry tree, while the second pane displays Registry values.
Step 4. Open the Registry to remove old programs
Delete the app entries that you have uninstalled.
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Unlock the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" key by clicking the (+) button next to it. This key is in the form of a folder.
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Unlock Software.
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Find the key with the name or company label of the app maker.
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Select the app lock.
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Press Del to delete the key.
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Step 5. Find the Registry key for the deleted application by searching for the application name, file name, or folder name
After that, delete the key.
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Press Ctrl+F to open the Find dialog box.
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Enter a search keyword.
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Click OK to start the search. Registry Editor will mark the search results.
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Select the Registry entry you want to delete, then press Del to delete it.
Clean the Windows Registry by Hand Step 5Bullet4 - Press F3 to find other search results.
Step 6. Remove unwanted Startup programs
Some popular programs, such as Adobe Reader, Quicktime Player, and Real Player, "embed" a Registry key that will start an update program or similar process when Windows starts. To delete it:
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Follow the steps above to unlock My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version Registry key.
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Select the Run key.
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Find the key value in the right pane. The key value will contain a shortcut to the program file.
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Choose a key. If you don't know what a particular key is used for, or can't map the key with an app, look up the process name via Google or a process search engine like Process Library
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Press Del to delete the key. You can also delete multiple keys at once by pressing Shift or Ctrl while selecting keys.
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Repeat the above steps to clear the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key. If a particular application is installed for all users, the startup entry for that application can be found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. However, if a particular application is installed for only one user, the startup entry for that application will be located at HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
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Step 7. When finished editing the Registry, close the Registry Editor window
Tips
- If you make a mistake while editing the Registry, restore the Registry with the backup you made. Double-click on the backup file to restore the Registry automatically, or start the computer via the Windows installation CD and perform a manual restore.
- Click a letter in the Registry tree to find a specific program's Registry entry if you know its name.
Warning
- Editing the Registry with Windows' built-in Registry Editor can be risky. You cannot undelete a value or key without restoring the Registry.
- Don't edit the Registry if you're confused. Before editing the Registry, make sure you back it up. If in doubt, do not delete entries in the Registry. Search the Internet for the usefulness of the entry before deleting it.
