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Chuck Wintle
06-19-2008, 9:51 AM
Anyone have any experience with registry cleaners? It seems like a good idea to occasionally clean out the Windows registry. :D

Neal Clayton
06-19-2008, 10:31 AM
in modern computers, it's not really necessary. that won't stop software companies from selling such applications, but it won't turn a ford into a ferrari.

if you exchange photoshop for corel draw and there's a stale reference to the default application for PSD files in the registry, how long does it take to process that? a thousandth of a second, maybe? if there are 100 such processes when you open a file, will you notice the 1/10th of a second? probably not.

if you wanna check for spyware and virii that's great, those will slow down your network connection and make a difference (despite the fact that your computer is a threat to everyone else). but scanning registries and deleting cookies religiously is on the same level with scrubbing your floor with a toothbrush and a magnifying glass after you mop it. it really isn't gonna make all that much difference.

in fact these all inclusive virus scans, website scans, and file scans that people run slow their computers down more than anything else. that makes for good marketing for the registry cleaners and "accelerators" but not much else.

the only thing you really need to do for a computer...

1) have a virus scan that scans incoming email. unless you must use it, avoid using outlook and outlook express. 99% of viruses target microsoft office apps and outlook specifically. use thunderbird or pegasus or some other such alternative instead.

2) scan zip and executable files you download, most virus scans do this on the fly now. most web based malware targets internet explorer, so along the same lines as outlook, don't use internet explorer, use firefox or opera instead.

3) have some sort of firewall. incoming is fine, there's no need to scan outgoing traffic. at least the windows firewall. if you have a router for home wifi and a home network, that is a firewall, so that's sufficient.

4) if you suspect virii or spyware, you don't need a half dozen programs to scan for it. go to start, run, and type cmd. at the dos prompt, type 'netstat' (without the quotes). that shows open network connections. if there are lots that don't seem kosher, you've probably caught something. if there aren't, you're ok. if you want to be absolutely sure, you can do a virus scan online for free at http://housecall.antivirus.com (note: only works in internet explorer).

5) if you need a virus scan and aren't crazy about paying for one with a bunch of stuff you don't need and don't want, AVG is fine and is available for free for personal use. http://free.grisoft.com (http://www.grisoft.com) . sadly they've started to bloat it up as of the most recent version, so if you choose to use it, don't install the link scanner and website scanners and other such stuff, that will slow you down as much as any virus, and isn't necessary as stated above. you just want the virus scan and the email scanner, that's it.

Cliff Rohrabacher
06-19-2008, 10:46 AM
go to start, run, and type cmd. at the dos prompt, type 'netstat' (without the quotes). that shows open network connections. if there are lots that don't seem kosher, you've probably caught something. if there aren't, you're ok.
When I do that I get a fast opening and closing command prompt screen that flashes a list of maybe 15 or 20 lines and closes itself before the eye can focus on anything

Chuck Wintle
06-19-2008, 10:53 AM
When I do that I get a fast opening and closing command prompt screen that flashes a list of maybe 15 or 20 lines and closes itself before the eye can focus on anything
go to start...run
type CMD in the run box..hit enter

type "netstat"

Jeffrey Makiel
06-19-2008, 1:07 PM
Registry cleaners always seem to leave some collateral damage for me, and therefore, I never use them as a maintenance practice. Unless I've been hit with a virus or adware issue (which hasn't happened in many years due to antivirus software and a firewall), using a registry cleaner is an absolute last resort for me.

-Jeff :)

Cliff Rohrabacher
06-19-2008, 4:46 PM
go to start...run
type CMD in the run box..hit enter

type "netstat"

As woody Harrolson said the Cheech (just before Cheech blew Woody's pal away)
"Mooo-chose-Grass-EE-ass"

So I have 22 iterations under columns
"Proto" "Local Address" "Foreign address" "State"
I don't know what any of this or the date in the column means.

Is 22 a lot?

Neal Clayton
06-19-2008, 7:09 PM
maybe, depending on how many things you have running.

try closing out of all programs and running it, and see what it says then. the big tip off is if you have lots going to odd addresses you don't recognize, especially foreign ones (like .ru, .tw, .cn, etc.), and/or if you have lots going out on port 25 (email goes out on 25, that's how most virii spread themselves, one computer gets infected and starts shooting infected emails to other computers).

the number after the colon is the port that whatever you're looking at in that table is going out on.

Cliff Rohrabacher
06-19-2008, 9:18 PM
ones (like .ru, .tw, .cn, etc.),
No national indicators at all

When I shut my E-mail and everything else internet related including my word processor off off I get very little only 4 lines.

Neal Clayton
06-20-2008, 11:13 AM
that's about right. as long as there are no processes making remote network connections on their own, that's about a 99% chance your computer is clear.