Registry

You'd better believe Windows XP has a Registry-- a big one, bigger than any before it... maybe bigger than Microsoft... no wait! cancel that! Actually the Windows XP Registry is in several pieces but I mostly treat it like one big lump. This is Windows XP's humongous blue book of what's what and where, what's installed, what everything looks like, how everything behaves, or doesn't. XP consults the Registry like few Windows operating systems before it. Abuse, neglect or otherwise misuse the Windows XP Registry, and you're just begging for an unplanned and involuntary boot into Safe Mode, if you're lucky. Further down is how I handle cleaning, compacting, and backing up of the big R so that Windows XP doesn't spit at me... much.

Note: There are differences of opinion on whether or not to use "aggressive" Registry cleaning in Windows XP. But aggressive is other people's word for it, not mine. I prefer the word thorough. Some would advise a conservative approach to cleaning the Registry, wherein you would use maybe one or two tools like those listed below. Me, I can't help but feel that this is a half measure, especially if there are serious XP problems that might be Registry related. The only downsides I've experienced are these three: 1) the time needed to run all the programs... but that's more of an inconvenience than a problem... 2) my trigger happiness when it came to deleting Registry backups too soon after making repairs-- more on that here... 3) was a problem I had when using a tool called ERUNT to do a Registry restore, a problem that was later resolved (see the bottom of this section).

Of course, all warnings and cautions you may have heard or read, still stand. Take care when using these or any Registry tools. Keep their backups around for a while, just in case any of the programs make changes that affect your system in a negative way. On to the software:

        - MS RegClean 4.1a: Though Microsoft doesn't support this tool, and though it's not listed as being for Windows XP, it has been tested there. Like any good Registry cleaner, it backs up the entries it removes, so you can put them back if the changes cause trouble. RegClean is mentioned in a PC World article by Lincoln Spector, called Why Is My Speedy PC S-l-o-w-i-n-g D-o-w-n?. Look over the whole text. In my opinion, most every article in PC World is worth reading. No, I don't work for them.
        - Easy Cleaner is a multifunction program that will scan the Registry for invalid entries and let you delete what it finds. Backups are created so that you can undo a Registry change. Along with other options, Easy Cleaner can also remove duplicate and unnecessary files, broken shortcuts, unwanted startup entries, temporary Internet files, IE history, MRU (Most Recently Used) entries, and more, from your system.
        - RegSeeker is another tool of many virtues. I sent an email to the programmer to ask if it had been tested with Windows XP... it had. Before that, I took a chance and used this computer as a guinea pig for the latest version. There were no bad side effects from using the Registry cleaning option. RS scans the Registry for invalid entries and lets you clean up what it finds, making backups in case you need to undo what it did. RegSeeker is like a jackknife with a bottle opener and a fish scaler built in; it does several things well but Registry cleaning may be its best feature. RegSeeker also removes a fistful of other disposables like unwanted startup items, MRU (Most Recently Used entries), Internet Explorer and Find histories, old Start Menu items, and a lot more.
        - RegScrubXP is a good tool with a help file full of XP tweaking tips. Because I usually run it last, there isn't much left for it to clean up. And unfortunately, the author's web site is gone. But alternate links like the one above still exist.

<Note: There is a free version of Jv16 Powertools that is listed as being for Win9x/ME/NT4/2000/XP. According to the description, version 1.3.0.195 is the "last uncrippled Freeware version" of the software. I haven't tried this one with XP yet. That's why I stuck it here for now. Someone at a Windows forum said it was the only program he used, the only one anybody would need. That's one opinion. Anyway, give it a go if you like.>

        - Once the scouring is done, it's time to do the Registry equivalent of defragmenting, also known as compacting or optimizing the Registry. I do this with Lars Hederer's NTREGOPT.
        - After that, I backup the whole thing using ERUNT, also available at the same link, by the same author.

<Note: Make sure to use the latest versions of ERUNT and NTREGOPT with XP Service Pack 2. An older version of ERUNT kept giving errors during the backup process. Updates can be had at the link already mentioned.>

If you prefer, The Elder Geek has an alternate Registry backup and restore procedure, called Backing Up and Restoring the Windows XP Registry. And so does MS for that matter.

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A warning about using ERUNT (mentioned above): There finally came a time when I needed to restore the Windows XP Registry from a two-day-old backup created by ERUNT. Though it seemed to work, Windows XP kept giving errors during the restoration. If I had kept cool about it, I might have written them down. The errors showed up when restoring in either normal or Safe Mode. I'm guessing that Windows File Protection had something to do with the problem, though I'm not sure and haven't decided what to do about it yet. WFP may have to be turned off before restoring, or I may have to give up using ERUNT to make Registry backups. What good are the backups if you can't restore them properly?

Update: I came across this link at the same page where ERUNT can be found. There is a section there, dealing with ERUNT problems. I still don't understand it all but I know I should have read it long before this. I'm thinking I may have to go outside of Windows to do a proper Registry restore (assuming it's an option), but I'm not in the mood to experiment right now, considering what happened, and that XP is working fine in spite of it.
Another update: I just found one more reason to stick with FAT32 on Windows XP. I got ERUNT to do an error-free Registry restore outside of Windows. This meant rebooting from a floppy and running the "ERDNT" restoration utility in DOS mode. Here is a link on how to Create an MS-DOS Startup Disk in Windows XP.
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More on the Registry:
    - About the Registry Editor in Windows XP (Microsoft)
    - How to back up, edit, and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (Microsoft)
    - Safekeeping the Windows XP Registry (Microsoft)
    - How to troubleshoot registry corruption issues (Microsoft)
    - How to backup the Windows XP Registry? (MVPs.org)
    - Backing Up the Windows XP Registry: 3 Ways to Protect Your XP System (About.com)
    - Step-By-Step: Care and Feeding of the Windows Registry (PC World)
    - Answer Line: How Do I Restore My Windows Registry? (PC World)