Just like a web registrar which stores information about various domains, their owners, addresses, phone numbers etc your Windows Registry stores information about each and every software including information about manufacturer, settings, add-ons, tweaks and much more.

Handling such a quantum of information for maintaining registration information of websites is very hard and requires a huge dedication of resources. Imagine the same with your PC when you have installed more than 100s of softwares and uninstalled them over a period of time. Most of these softwares leave unwanted traces in the registry without providing the user a easy way to clean it up.

Not only does this leave a undesirable amount of clutter inside your Windows Registry but it also tends to slow down your PC, and of which usually many of us are unaware of.

Maintaining your Windows Registry is a extremely important exercise and many of us simply tend to ignore it. Here are some tips that will allow you to keep the clutter away from your registry and keep your PC in a very good working condition.

The easiest and the most efficient way to perform registry maintenance is to use registry cleaner tools to clean the registry and get rid of numerous Windows XP errors and Windows Vista errors.

Let’s now go through some important tips that you can follow to get yourself an efficient registry cleaner tool and maintain a healthy registry.

Tip 1: Choose and download a reliable registry cleaner tool.

There are many registry cleaner tools available on the Internet. All of them claim to scan and clean your registry. But, as a vigilant user, you need to see beyond that. There are many websites where end-users and professionals post reviews. Go through these reviews and download the tool that has good, positive feedback and is compatible with your operating system. Also, as most of the tools are available as trial versions, first download the trial version and try it for awhile, and then buy the full version only if you are satisfied with the results.

Tip 2: Make a backup of the registry.

After downloading and installing the registry cleaner software on your computer, make a backup of the registry. This is an important step because even though registry cleaner tools are quite safe to use, the chances of error are still there. And any incorrect edits in the registry can cause severe damage both to the registry and your computer. You can easily back up the registry using your registry cleaning tool. You can also use the tool to restore your old registry in case of a problem.

Tip 3: Scan and repair the registry.

After making the backup, use your registry cleaner tool to scan the registry for errors. An advanced registry cleaner will enable you to customize your search to look only for specific errors. After the search is complete, the tool will display all the detected errors on the screen. You can either choose to delete all the errors automatically by selecting the option provided by the tool, or by manually scanning through the errors and deleting only those you are sure of being an error. If you have an idea of how the registry works, then it is a good idea to perform manual removal because it helps you in further reducing the chances of mistakes.

Tip 4: Defragment the registry.

Follow up the registry repair process with registry defragmentation. Constant addition and removal of data fragments the registry files. When values are removed from the registry, after a program uninstall or the registry repair process, then certain vacant spaces may get left behind in the registry. Defragging the registry will help you make the registry files contiguous and remove these vacant spaces to make the registry compact. A contiguous and compact registry considerably improves the data access time and improves the performance of your PC.

Tip 5: Schedule periodic registry scans.

Now that you know registry clean and repair is an important part of PC maintenance, you must ensure that your registry is scanned and fixed regularly. To do this, use the registry scheduler feature included in your registry tool to schedule automatic scan and repair of the registry at regular intervals.

To ensure a clean registry, you must regularly fix registry errors. To do this, choose a reliable registry tool and install it on your computer. Next, backup the registry and then scan and repair its errors. After cleanup, defrag the registry and then schedule the tool to perform the registry repair process periodically.

If you follow these simple tips you will ensure that you do not have to format your PC every few months and give your hard drive a long life too. If you have any other tips that you would like to share do leave your comments which are welcome anytime.