OT Edit Registry in Windows

Ultradog MN · Jan 28, 2016

I used to know how to go in and edit the registry on a windows computer.
But it's been years since I've done it and I've forgotten how.
We have an older computer here that we got free from an office. When it loads windows it loads so much extra crap that it just bogs down.
A couple different virus programs, software for non existent printers, etc.
I would like to delete some of that stuff and see if I can speed it up a little.
I did go in and remove some programs but would like to look in there a little deeper.
Thanks for any help.

connor9988 · Jan 28, 2016

Bring up the run prompt (either by selecting it in the start menu or by pressing the Windows + R keys.) then type "msconfig" into the run prompt. In the config window go over to the "Startup" tab and select the programs you would like to run at computer startup. Typically the less programs you have running the faster it will be. That being said, make sure you dont shut off some important items. (you can still fire them up after the computer starts they just wont auto-run when you start the computer.)

Hope this helps.

Ron-MO · Jan 28, 2016

ccleaner (not a mistype, ccleaner is correct). Google it. is a good tool/program that helps clean up and uninstall programs, and cleans up the registry without actually editing the registry. I use it quite often when I have a program that Windows will not properly uninstall. If it were me, that is the first thing I would run to clean it up. It usually speeds things up if they are running slow because of old programs that have not been removed properly or a bunch of garbage starting up on you that you do not want.

rbhuntn · Jan 28, 2016

(quoted from post at 14:08:50 01/28/16) I used to know how to go in and edit the registry on a windows computer.
But it's been years since I've done it and I've forgotten how.
We have an older computer here that we got free from an office. When it loads windows it loads so much extra crap that it just bogs down.
A couple different virus programs, software for non existent printers, etc.
I would like to delete some of that stuff and see if I can speed it up a little.
I did go in and remove some programs but would like to look in there a little deeper.
Thanks for any help.

To edit the registry do the following.

Open the start run then in the box type regedit

Hope this helps

Mike(NEOhio) · Jan 28, 2016

You have to be careful playing around in the registry. You could delete something necessary to the system.

CliffP · Jan 28, 2016

Make sure you backup your registry before doing any editing in case something goes wrong.

Fawteen · Jan 28, 2016

Another plug for CCleaner. Unless you REALLY know what you're doing, mucking about in the Registry is asking for trouble.

CCleaner looks for and offers to delete unused or orphan registry entries. It's never steered me wrong.

I also run the overall cleaner at least daily to clean up after browser caches and such, usually deletes ~400MB of unneeded files.

The lastest (free!) version also has a duplicate file finder to help clean things up and free up disk space.

David G · Jan 28, 2016

Use a cleaner program.

TimV · Jan 28, 2016

I also use CCleaner. One of its features allows you to easily check and change what programs start on startup. It's a quick, easy download and install and a painless one-click removal if you don't like it, without lots of annoying "nagware" pop-ups or other junk.

Duner Wi · Jan 28, 2016

Start, run, type in regedit or regedit.exe
Rememeber it is easier to get into trouble than get out of!

RM-MN · Jan 29, 2016

After you download and run Ccleaner, download and run Malwarebytes. You don't know what malware may be on that computer and Malwarebytes does a better job cleaning than most antivirus programs. It will want to install and run constantly but I would just run once and not install the virus protection if you already have another antivirus installed.

Royse · Jan 29, 2016

If you just want to delete the entries that start the programs
the entries you are looking for will be in this key:
\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

That key is in both the HKEY_Current_User hive and the
HKEY_Local_Machine hive so you should check them both.

I would back them up first by right clicking on the Run key, selecting
Export and saving the file to a location you will remember like the desktop.

Royse · Jan 29, 2016

To clarify, I didn't mean you should delete the Run key.
Once you get to it, there will be individual values in the
right hand pane that you can selectively delete.

OT Edit Registry in Windows

Ultradog MN

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connor9988

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Ron-MO

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rbhuntn

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Mike(NEOhio)

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CliffP

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Fawteen

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David G

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TimV

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Duner Wi

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RM-MN

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Royse

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Royse

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