If you’re a PC user and have ever had the misfortune of running into trouble on your PC (no doubt you have), you’ll probably have seen articles involving or surrounding Windows registry.  If you’ve never investigated,  Leo Notenboom’s got a great article on what Windows registry is, and why it’s there.  And to sum things up, according to Notenboom, the Windows Registry is a central database of organized program and system settings and information.

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Creative Commons License photo credit: Signarama – Crystal, MN

For each setting you tweak, change, or delete, Windows registry creates an entry to log it.  Over time, these entries become obsolete — unnecessary.  Is it safe to remove them?  You bet — in fact, by purging these entries, you make clear space in the registry, and make it easier to call up programs and settings.  But, if you’ve got a new computer that’s slow, I’d recommend formatting (since registry probably doesn’t have that many entries anyway).

How can you clear it?  Don’t do it manually — instead, rely on the many programs provided out there.  I personally prefer CCleaner — it does the job well, and it’s free.  If you want to find out more information about Windows registry, or if you want to keep up with the times, I suggest visiting Registry Cleanerz — for information, and a set of forums to help with those questions of yours.  Have fun cleaning!