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Well 52 unused registry keys is a needle in a haystack. Maybe you noticed a performance gain, but it probably wasn't only due to removing those. Maybe you cleared your temp files/cache/compressed unused files/defragmented your machine.
I occasionally run CCleaner to clean up my unused regs and I get around 400 keys on average. A total of 52 is nothing and you shouldn't notice a gain just from that alone.
You dont understand buddy,lemme try helping you...
Do you keep your CUPBOARDS NEAT in your kitchen?? -- If so,WHY?????
So you can easily find stuff faster??
Dont you think a computer also likes it when there is AS LITTLE IN THE CENTRAL FILE AS POSSIBLE?? (registry)
I think the point is that when you consider the average number of registry keys which is anywhere from 300k to 800k depending on OS, 52 keys aren't likely to be causing much of an issue. It is like your disk being a thousandth of a percent fragmented, it isn't a performance issue really.
That is not to say that managing ones registry by cleaning it and organizing it is without benefit, but where you really see the problem issues is with people who have had machines for years that they have installed/uninstalled/updated many programs. Those are the machines that you are more likely to see a visible difference in speed as they will often contain thousands upon thousands of invalid entries and references.
Though I don't share the posters implication that it is pointless to attend to it. My machines are always extremely fast and efficient. The reason they are is because I keep them clean, refined and organized.
Where you will really see a performance increase is going through your services and turning off a lot of the unneeded ones. I see so many people complain about the speed of their machine and then you look at the number and type of processes they are running and it blows me away. Other than essential processes and relevant to your repeated tasks, most can be shut down and put on manual start until they are needed.
You dont understand buddy,lemme try helping you...
Do you keep your CUPBOARDS NEAT in your kitchen?? -- If so,WHY?????
So you can easily find stuff faster??
Dont you think a computer also likes it when there is AS LITTLE IN THE CENTRAL FILE AS POSSIBLE?? (registry)
Except what you did was move a couple of teacups about an 8th of an inch out of the hundreds of thousands of hypothetical teacups you would have.
You made an "improvement" which is so insignificant it is immeasurable.
It is literally impossible that you saw any improvement whatsoever. All you're doing when you spew this ignorant crap on these forums is confusing others who are looking for helpful information. Stop.
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nomander
Where you will really see a performance increase is going through your services and turning off a lot of the unneeded ones. I see so many people complain about the speed of their machine and then you look at the number and type of processes they are running and it blows me away. Other than essential processes and relevant to your repeated tasks, most can be shut down and put on manual start until they are needed.
For those who might be interested, would you share, how you know which ones can be deleted and which ones are absolutely necessary to keep ?
For most of the people who do user a computer in their daily life, what you mention is way above their understanding.
Rather than just mentioning it, how about teaching how to become more efficient ?
For those who might be interested, would you share, how you know which ones can be deleted and which ones are absolutely necessary to keep ?
For most of the people who do user a computer in their daily life, what you mention is way above their understanding.
Rather than just mentioning it, how about teaching how to become more efficient ?
Processes are not something you "delete", rather it is a service you turn on or off.
It all depends on the machine and the user. Many services are dependent on others and so before you turn one off, you need to be sure that an application you are using does not require it. You also need to understand what each service does that you "may" turn off. Some are specific to OS required systems and functions to which turning off may cause some key features to stop working or function inappropriately.
I won't step by step you through these things as this is something you need to put effort in to learning yourself.
I will tell you generally where you need to start though.
Under Administrative Tools (located in the control panel) you will see a section called "services". These services are all the various systems your OS uses to function. There are services for all areas of the OS (local system, network, etc...), including some 3rd party services.
You will notice that not all of them are running (listed as "started") and you will also notice a "start up type" which may show some descriptors like Manual, Automatic, disabled.
You can go to the properties of a service and change many things such as
1. General tab
Start up Type
Manual, automatic, disabled, Automatic (delayed). Also where you can start stop, pause or resume the service.
The relevant ones here are the first 3, Automatic (delayed) is a bit more complicated and a feature added to windows 7:
Manual will only start up the service if you do it yourself or in some cases if another services directs a call to that service.
Automatic will start up every time and disabled will not start up at all (even if it is called and needed).
Keep in mind, this is a VERY BASIC run through, you will need to read up in detail on these if you really are serious about using them for greater detailed management (their are entire books on the subject of service systems and management).
2. Log on tab
It uses to log on (Administrators will modify these at times using specific accounts they choose to increase security, though I STRONGLY discourage you from doing so as only expert administrators should do this).
3. Recovery tab
This is used for tuning how a service will recover if it fails. Mostly this is used in server management decisions on important service failures that you need to self correct through restart or the like. It also allows you to run a program when the events happen (email you upon failure, run a special log program, etc...) You really won't bother with this one.
4. Dependencies Tab
This one is a good place to see what else may require this service and what this service also depends on.
It is an informative tool for seeing what some of the implications may be if this service is turned off or disrupted.
Now there are many systems that you may not need due to your uses. an example is the spooler system which handles print/fax spooling. If you do not have any printers or fax programs (or any programs that may use this service), then you could switch it to manual or disable it freeing up memory and processor use. There are many systems as such which you may have no use or need for.
WARNING:
There are however many services that are EXTREMELY necessary and you may be fooled by a simple description that you do not need this or use it. You could also make your machine vulnerable to attacks by disabling services you are not familiar with as well as causing headaches with applications that you didn't realize were using a specific service.
So, you should ALWAYS read in depth about a given service and find out all of the available information concerning its dependencies and dependents before you consider disabling it.
There are many 3rd party services that get installed on your machine that you may not use, or only use occasionally, but still are established to start up automatically even though you are not using them. These are the ones that will gain you the greatest benefit in cleaning up your system as if you configure their start procedure to be manual in many cases, they will only be called when needed.
In the end, what you should adjust all depends on you and your machine and it is not something a "general guide" can establish. You really have to take an active part in learning about your system and needs. If it were simply an issue of a "one size fits all" type of solution, IT administrators would be paid the same as burger flippers.
So while you can do all of this yourself and it is not beyond the means of the average person, you do have to put some learning into what you will be doing, so sit on your hands first and understand what it is you are changing and what the repercussions of it may be when you do. Do that, and you will be well on your way to managing a fast, efficient, and solid machine.
Another thing to consider is your start up programs. Many services start up because they are called to start at boot, so if you may find that the service starts up every boot up as well.
You can check your start up programs using msconfig at the run prompt, or using a program like ccleaner which shows your start up programs.
Just keep in mind that there are many factors to consider when adjusting these things which is why you have to take some effort into learning what you are doing before you go about doing it.
The good news is that there is a plethora of information out there through a simple google on a given topic. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding an answer to a specific topic you search for.
These topics are for "general" discussions on the issue. People who are interested in doing more can obtain that information they need as I mentioned.
Processes are not something you "delete", rather it is a service you turn on or off.
It all depends on the machine and the user. Many services are dependent on others and so before you turn one off, you need to be sure that an application you are using does not require it. You also need to understand what each service does that you "may" turn off. Some are specific to OS required systems and functions to which turning off may cause some key features to stop working or function inappropriately.
I won't step by step you through these things as this is something you need to put effort in to learning yourself.
I will tell you generally where you need to start though.
Under Administrative Tools (located in the control panel) you will see a section called "services". These services are all the various systems your OS uses to function. There are services for all areas of the OS (local system, network, etc...), including some 3rd party services.
You will notice that not all of them are running (listed as "started") and you will also notice a "start up type" which may show some descriptors like Manual, Automatic, disabled.
You can go to the properties of a service and change many things such as
1. General tab
Start up Type
Manual, automatic, disabled, Automatic (delayed). Also where you can start stop, pause or resume the service.
The relevant ones here are the first 3, Automatic (delayed) is a bit more complicated and a feature added to windows 7:
Manual will only start up the service if you do it yourself or in some cases if another services directs a call to that service.
Automatic will start up every time and disabled will not start up at all (even if it is called and needed).
Keep in mind, this is a VERY BASIC run through, you will need to read up in detail on these if you really are serious about using them for greater detailed management (their are entire books on the subject of service systems and management).
2. Log on tab
It uses to log on (Administrators will modify these at times using specific accounts they choose to increase security, though I STRONGLY discourage you from doing so as only expert administrators should do this).
3. Recovery tab
This is used for tuning how a service will recover if it fails. Mostly this is used in server management decisions on important service failures that you need to self correct through restart or the like. It also allows you to run a program when the events happen (email you upon failure, run a special log program, etc...) You really won't bother with this one.
4. Dependencies Tab
This one is a good place to see what else may require this service and what this service also depends on.
It is an informative tool for seeing what some of the implications may be if this service is turned off or disrupted.
Now there are many systems that you may not need due to your uses. an example is the spooler system which handles print/fax spooling. If you do not have any printers or fax programs (or any programs that may use this service), then you could switch it to manual or disable it freeing up memory and processor use. There are many systems as such which you may have no use or need for.
WARNING:
There are however many services that are EXTREMELY necessary and you may be fooled by a simple description that you do not need this or use it. You could also make your machine vulnerable to attacks by disabling services you are not familiar with as well as causing headaches with applications that you didn't realize were using a specific service.
So, you should ALWAYS read in depth about a given service and find out all of the available information concerning its dependencies and dependents before you consider disabling it.
There are many 3rd party services that get installed on your machine that you may not use, or only use occasionally, but still are established to start up automatically even though you are not using them. These are the ones that will gain you the greatest benefit in cleaning up your system as if you configure their start procedure to be manual in many cases, they will only be called when needed.
In the end, what you should adjust all depends on you and your machine and it is not something a "general guide" can establish. You really have to take an active part in learning about your system and needs. If it were simply an issue of a "one size fits all" type of solution, IT administrators would be paid the same as burger flippers.
So while you can do all of this yourself and it is not beyond the means of the average person, you do have to put some learning into what you will be doing, so sit on your hands first and understand what it is you are changing and what the repercussions of it may be when you do. Do that, and you will be well on your way to managing a fast, efficient, and solid machine.
Another thing to consider is your start up programs. Many services start up because they are called to start at boot, so if you may find that the service starts up every boot up as well.
You can check your start up programs using msconfig at the run prompt, or using a program like ccleaner which shows your start up programs.
Just keep in mind that there are many factors to consider when adjusting these things which is why you have to take some effort into learning what you are doing before you go about doing it.
The good news is that there is a plethora of information out there through a simple google on a given topic. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding an answer to a specific topic you search for.
These topics are for "general" discussions on the issue. People who are interested in doing more can obtain that information they need as I mentioned.
I would NOT RECOMMEND this technique to the average user. This is something that is highly unnecessary for most standard users. Most of your performance problems can be solved by uninstalling unused programs, clearing cache and registry issues, and defragmenting your hard drive.
IF YOU FEEL YOU MUST TRY THE ABOVE then make sure you google the .exe associated with the program you are about to disable.
I would NOT RECOMMEND this technique to the average user. This is something that is highly unnecessary for most standard users. Most of your performance problems can be solved by uninstalling unused programs, clearing cache and registry issues, and defragmenting your hard drive.
IF YOU FEEL YOU MUST TRY THE ABOVE then make sure you google the .exe associated with the program you are about to disable.
I agree, it's not something that everyone should be messing with.
I would NOT RECOMMEND this technique to the average user. This is something that is highly unnecessary for most standard users. Most of your performance problems can be solved by uninstalling unused programs, clearing cache and registry issues, and defragmenting your hard drive.
IF YOU FEEL YOU MUST TRY THE ABOVE then make sure you google the .exe associated with the program you are about to disable.
True, most really don't need this approach.
There are also other ways of approaching this depending on the features of the software that is installed or how you configure it to work.
There are some though that just can not accept removing software and the result is they end up with a massive number of processes that are just sitting there eating up memory and processor cycles while they are not being used at a given time.
This is where tweaking services can be useful allowing people to have relatively quick access to a given program when needed, yet not having it take up memory when it is not.
Though to be honest, I don't see the average user being someone who would even give a registry topic much thought anyway, so most who would even begin to understand the issues of this topic, would be capable of learning and applying such changes to maximize efficiency of their machine.
Fact is, someone will see far more performance gain from service management than they ever will with defragmentation (providing the drive isn't severely fragmented) and registry cleaning
Fact is, someone will see far more performance gain from service management than they ever will with defragmentation (providing the drive isn't severely fragmented) and registry cleaning
One is a tweaking, the other is maintenance. Periodic Disk Defrag is necessary to ensure the OS/Apps run without suffering performance loss due to disk/file fragmentation.
Disk Defraging actually would seemingly improve performance if overdue and if that was the case, messing with services would not help with system performance at that point. Most do not know how to properly run a simple task such as disk defragmentation or they get lazy. They either use the less-than-great Windows own defrag tool or overlook the steps they need to take, prior to running disk defrag, such as:
- Cleaning temp/junk files (see CCleaner, ATF-Cleaner)
- Run Scandisk (disk-checker)
- Disable virtual memory (pagefile) on the partition/drive that will be defragged (requires a restart afterward).
- Disabled/stop all unnecessary startup applications and services including AV scanners, firewall, network connections, screensavers, wallpaper changers, updaters of any kind, etc. (I personally run AUSLogics Disk Defrag after booting Windows in Safe Mode).
- If using a 3rd-party app, run it from a different drive or partition preferably. Flash drive or an external drive is ideal.
Of course, re-enable virtual memory (requires a restart afterward) when defrag is done.
Windows service reconfiguration is logical to ensure system performance is optimized but then again, this is not for the technically unsavvy. If someone needs to play with Services, then they ought to know what they are doing.
Startup application (process) configuration management is a different story. An average user can and should be able to handle this task. This alone could improve system bootup time as well as the overall performance. Especially network bandwidth hogs like Skype, Stopify, Dropbox and various chat programs do not need to be in startup. As a matter of fact, nothing needs to be in the startup other than a security related software such as AV scanner or firewall.
Registry cleaning can improve the performance but it is a double-edge sword nevertheless and also without defragging the registry after cleaning is a half-baked optimization anyhow.
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
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Reputation: 5229
Whoaaaa ... ,
definitively NOT for the below average (Computer savvy) user !
But good info.
Thanks anyway.
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