Number 202 - March 2000

Computer Maintenance - Part 4 Untangling the System Registry
by Jennifer Fulton, http://www.ivillage.com/click/experts/computingcoach/archive
My little girl has long, curly hair, and when it gets wet, it becomes a tangled, mixed-up mess. Sometimes, while gently coaxing a comb through the wet strands and listening to my daughter sing me a 'lullaby' at 500 decibels, I wish I could wiggle my nose and make her hair straighten itself. This is the same way I feel about the Windows System Registry.     The system registry keeps track of all sorts of details about your computer, such as your desktop preferences, device settings, hardware configurations, and applications you've installed.     The system registry keeps track of all sorts of details about your computer, such as your desktop preferences, device settings, hardware configurations, and applications you've installed. So important is the system registry that if anything were to happen to it, you might not be able to start Windows. (Now there's a thoughtful feature -- Windows 95/98, now with more than 1,000 ways to crash.) Because the registry holds so much information about Windows, your computer and your programs, it tends to get a bit cluttered with old data (such as data file types whose programs you removed two years ago). It may also contain a lot of entries that were never valid to begin with. So it doesn't take long for the registry to grow to the size of the New York phone directory. And since Windows and your programs refer to it all the time, an oversized registry will slow you down faster than rush-hour traffic in Manhattan. First Things First: Back Up the Registry     The registry is important to the well-being of Windows, so you should always make a backup copy before you try to make any changes to it. You'll store this backup on the hard disk, which may seem a bit silly, but the two files that form the registry are simply too large for a floppy disk. (You can, however, copy the registry to a Zip disk, which is a much smarter thing to do, since you'll have this copy available to you even if you can't start the computer.)	The method you use to back up the registry depends on which version of Windows you're using. If you use Windows 95, then you can use RegClean to create a backup. If you use Windows 98, then you use something called ScanReg to create your backup: to start it, open Explorer, change to the WindowsCommand directory, and double-click the ScanReg.exe file. After scanning the Registry for errors, you'll be prompted to back it up. Click Yes.     If you want to back up your registry by simply copying it to a Zip disk, that's okay too. You'll find the two files that make up the registry, SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT, in the Windows directory.     By the way, you should make it a part of your monthly maintenance plan to back up your registry -- it's the best insurance you can find against devastating problems with Windows. Cleaning Up the Registry with RegClean     RegClean is a nifty program that cleans your registry without a whole lot of nagging from you. For some silly reason, however, it doesn't come with Windows; you'll need to download it first. You should find the most recent version at www.download.com.     Copy it into whatever directory you like; I keep mine in the WindowsCommand directory. Then just open Explorer, change to that directory, and double-click the RegCln41.exe file to start the program. (You might also want to create a shortcut to RegClean on the Programs menu.) RegClean scans the registry for errors, and if it finds any, it'll ask you whether you want them fixed, which is always a good thing to do. After it's through, RegClean will back up your Registry again, make the changes you requested and tell you to restart Windows. If for some reason you think the registry has made some kind of colossal error, you can undo what it did by double-clicking the undo file, UNDO.REG, that it creates automatically.     Next month: Deleting Duplicate Files
Number 202 - March 2000