PC Cleaning, Stage II

I clean my registry with every new major release of Windows. But I do it by reinstalling Windows from scratch mainly because I detest upgrade installs.

I keep a clean registry by doing a clean install several times a year. I like having a computer that runs like new.

"runs like new"? You have no idea, what a mess the registry is in, after an install. As long as you don't know, I guess you'll be happy. But, I do know, and it drives me crazy, till I get it fixed.

I've found that by just doing an install of Windows, and all your programs, leaves a lot of garbage in the registry.
I always perform a Registry Cleaning after an install. I guess that I'm just a Neat Freak when it comes to my computers.

Wow! You're amazing, @TechnoMage2021.

Well, Thank You Gary!

I hope that my comments in this thread will not be taken by anyone as a put-down. Should anyone think that, I sincerely apologize. Like "Boxers or Briefs", "Coffee or Tea", we all have our favorites, in just about everything.

It's just that I spend a lot of my Retirement time, day in and day out, on this little OLD PC, and keeping it in A+ condition is of great importance to me. That's why I've spent many hours, and lots of research, to write a comprehensive HD Cleanup program, that rivals any of the so called Cleaners on the market.

Over the many years that I've been a Computer Tech, I've learned a lot about the Care and Feeding of Microsoft Windows, and the "IBM Compatible Personal Computer". (I guess no-one calls them that anymore. Eh?)

Now, pushing 80, I don't get around like I used to, and traveling is just out of the question, so I'll be spending even more time, right here at my PC, reading my email and working my favorite forums.

I thank Y'all for participating in this little discussion.
TM

Maybe that's something that I should play with just to educate myself. Of course, I might not like what I see and find myself chasing things to clean, so maybe that's not such a great idea for me

What's that old saying....."Ignorance is bliss"?

If you're happy with the way your PC is running, that's good enough. Eh?

One way that I know of, to check your PC's efficiency, is to run the "Reboot Timer". That's been a "TOPIC" on many forums over the years. I've not run it in a while. I still have it, somewhere, though.
I may dig it out and run it, just for grins.

TechnoMage2021 said:

What's that old saying....."Ignorance is bliss"?

Click to expand...

Windows 10 once could not update, because of an empty reg entry. MS deployed a reg cleaner. Many issues are preventable by doing a regilar maintenance/checkup, instead people prefer to fix the problem after it occurs and manual fixes use reg cleaning.

TechnoMage2021 said:

So, I'm just wondering if anyone else, regularly cleans their own registry?

Click to expand...

I turn off PC with it. I am also using HiBitUninstaller-Portable, which does a great job removing leftovers.

Hi,
Yeah clean installing several times a year or even every year or new builds is a bit compulsive not to mention unpractical
Sounds more like insider/ developer usage more than work place or even normal user with office/... to consider doing this as a way to solve issues it really sounds like you're doing things really badly

Dude posted ccleaner 607 portable is okay but I've not tested it.
Personally I've not had to many issues on upgrade installs and mount all new builds 30-45 days after released and keep apps and files.

Wisewiz said:

What about your programs? You just set aside a whole day and re-install, re-install, re-install?

Click to expand...

The program I use every day to make my living is Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation. All customization is saved with Interactive Brokers every time I close the app. Loading Trader Workstation after a reinstall is like I never left it, it's loaded fully customized for how I work.

All customization of my browser, Microsoft Edge, is saved in my Microsoft Account. It loads fully customized.

With my Adobe Lightroom subscription, customization of a photo is saved with the photo. All I need to do is download my subscription apps and I'm done. No app customization required. My catalog is automatically there in OneDrive.

All my data is kept in my OneDrive folder and mirrored in my 1 Terabyte of cloud OneDrive. As soon as I log in to Windows, all my data is instantly there as if I never left. No time consuming data restore is necessary.

I don't bother customizing Windows 11 Pro as it works quite well for me as is. I don't find it necessary to make myriads of OS customizations.

I really can do a clean install and be up and running in well under an hour.

Obviously, Your Mileage May Vary!

Gary, I'm in a similar situation, at least in the respect that so many of my customizations just migrate over automagically. But I take it even a step further. First, I install Windows using an unattended answer file so the entire installation from start to finish is automated with no interaction needed from me. Then, after installing Windows, I run a single batch file that installs ALL of my drivers and makes all my Windows customizations.

So reinstall is super easy.

Well, sports fans, I found my "Reboot Timer". With my Startup folder empty, I can do a Reboot in 83 sec's.
But with everything back to Normal, my Reboot time is 87 sec's. Totally acceptable for an old timer. Not me, the PC!

@TechnoMage2021
Just for the sake of comparison, please tell us what your "Reboot Timer" program is, and where we could get a copy. Tx.

@Wisewiz
It's the same one that's been floating around the internet forums, for like..... Decades!
I have no idea where it originated, or who wrote it, but if you want to recreate it for yourself, here's the code.

Option Explicit
On Error Resume Next
Dim Wsh, Time1, Time2, Result, PathFile, MsgResult, MsgA, AppName, KeyA, KeyB, TimeDiff
MsgA = "Please close all running applications and click on OK."
KeyA = "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\RestartTime\"
KeyB = "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\RestartTime"
AppName = "ReBoot-Time"
Set Wsh = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
PathFile = """" & WScript.ScriptFullName & """"
Result = wsh.RegRead(KeyA & "Times")
if Result = "" then
MsgResult = Msgbox (MsgA, vbOKCancel, AppName)
If MsgResult = vbcancel then WScript.Quit
Wsh.RegWrite KeyA & "Times", left(Time,8), "REG_SZ"
Wsh.RegWrite KeyB, PathFile, "REG_SZ"
Wsh.Run "cmd /c Shutdown -r -t 00", false, 0
else
Wsh.RegDelete KeyA & "Times"
Wsh.RegDelete KeyA
Wsh.RegDelete KeyB
TimeDiff = DateDiff("s",Result,left(Time,8))
MsgBox "Your computer reboots in " & TimeDiff & " seconds", VbInformation, AppName
end if
wscript.Quit

Copy that code, and paste it into any text editor, and save as "RebootTimer.vbs"
I just run it from my desktop, after closing all programs.

It's kind'a neat, because you can run it, make some changes, and run it again, to see if you're gaining or loosing ground.
I can pretty well guarantee, that Win-11 wasn't so fast when I first installed it. But then, I didn't run the timer then either.
I'm not anal about my startup time, because I run several programs during the BootUp, including, a script to force a new Restore Point. Everything takes its own time.
Oft times, first thing in the morning, I'll hit the Power ON switch and walk away, to get my first cup of coffee. When I hear "You've got Mail" coming from O.E.Classic, I know it's time to go back and read my email.

I do have another PC, which I built myself. It's so much faster than this one, it's hard to compare the two.
Kind of like comparing a VW Bug, with a Corvette.

Sorry. First run, I forgot to kill Malwarebytes, which holds onto the open process for dear life before it yields. Second result is with closing of all visible running apps.

Cool!

With your script, saved as vbs, and with Malwarebytes and my other visible runners closed:

I'd have to say, that you've got a pretty efficient computer there, Wiz.

Well, I use CCleaner Pro every night to delete the caches and cookies (except for the ones I've told it to keep), and once a week, I use it to clean up the temps and log files, and once a week I use Disk Cleanup to wipe anything that amounts to enough to bother with (if a category in Disk Cleanup has no more than a couple of MB in it, I skip it). I keep my current backup images on my data drive, and once a week (again), I transfer the oldest ones to an external SSD, replacing the still older ones on that external. I use the CC reg cleaner once a week (again!!!) as posted in #9 above.

It works for me. A clean install is a PITA for me, because I've got 35 or so (non-MS) programs on my D: drive, most configured extensively, and just re-installing them, much less re-configuring them, takes mucho, mucho time.