Opinions on Registry Cleaner I wrote nearly 4 years ago I im

[jdulmage 0]

This reminds me of when me and my "friends" created that XP/2000 Tweaker and got heat for it.

 

Better watch when you post your own programs on here.

 

Not that I care, it was the past....but good stuff man...someday, I'll get back in to doing something like that, on my own this time.

[garymattingly 0]

Sorry Alex but I keep my reg clean. Anyway here are my results

 

1 MS regclean = none

2 Norton WinDoctor = none

3 System Mechanic = 18

4 jv16 RegCleaner = 6

5 Yours = 32!!!

 

Good Program, a little slow on my computer, but I like it

Keep up the good work. I'll let my Registry get a little dirty next time I run it.

 

bty this is on a duel 1gz pIII system

[Alien 1]

Hey Alec, you wouldn't happen to have written 1 of those registry change trackers would you? or have 1 & know how to use it - it's just that I'm having trouble finding where a particular setting is kept.

 

I know how to change it through Windows, but that can get annoying when you have to keep doing it, I was thinking of having a go @ progging & trying to make a little prog that would flip/flop the variable from 1 state to the other, or just keep 2 batch files for changing to 1 state or the other.

[Alien 1]

LOL - making the changes isn't the problem - finding the key to change is. I know how to change the setting by clicking through the various options in Windows, I just want to find out where the variable itself is stored so that I can export it in the 1st place. I've alredy had a rummage through the registry in Regedit, but I can't find where that setting is kept, hence the need for a registry-change tracker, or something similar.

[clutch 1]

I was going to say that I think regmon is what he's looking for, but you just pointed that out.

 

Also, JD has a point with regards to essentially "advertising" a product here. We do have the other forum for selling stuff, but as people are actually trying it and submitting results I guess it isn't a big deal (just as long as it isn't repeated). The reason why JD's posting went over like a lead balloon wasn't just because of him advertising, he was promoting a product that wasn't available for testing, and he was a total a$$ to boot. Hence, no real double standard for the same situation in my eyes as the situations are in actuality a bit different.

[Alien 1]

Alec - please read all of this post before starting a response to it.

Quote:

Have you tried the FAVORITES menu in 2k/XP regedit.exe to bookmark them? Sounds like what you are after... if I understood you correctly above.

 

If you are out to automate this, then its a matter of exported .reg files I'd imagine (again, if I understand you goals correctly)...

 

E.G. #2 - An exported value with one state in it, & one with the reverse state merged via regedit.exe /S commandline example type I gave above.

 

Yeah, that would be great - if I knew where the variable was stored in the 1st place!!!

Quote:

An export, properly done, SHOULD yield this ability to you... you do not have to export entire hive... only sections! RightClick on them, you will see hives areas (folder looking ones) EXPORT menu option available to you.

:bangs head against wall in frustration:

To export a key, you 1st have to FIND IT. I don't know where the key is, or what it is called! I've already told you that I tried to find it, but couldn't - I already told you that my only problem is that I don't know what key contains the variable I'm looking for.

Quote:

Alternately, on scripting & reskit tools, they either have functions that test existence of entries & find them, OR have error levels you can call on in scripts/batches to test for existence & values!

1 problem, AFAIK they don't include a psychic ability function that somehow knows which key I want to modify if Idon't specify which 1, which is kinda hard to do when I DON'T KNOW WHICH BLOODY KEY IT'S IN!!!!

 

I'm sorry for shouting, but I don't like having to repeat myself, as I already explained all this in my 1st post on the subject.

Quote:

You mean like a monitoring tool? www.sysinternals.com has regmon, should do that for you... give that a shot, I think it may be what you are looking for as far as tracking changes.

OMG!!! i think he's actually got the point! Thanks, BTW.

 

Quote:

* www.majorgeeks.com has an ENTIRE section of registry tools as well, & ones that seem to have functions like you are looking for also. I don't use them, but I am fairly sure they are there!

 

 

APK

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind if that sysinternals thing isn't any help.

[Alien 1]

Cool, I'll check it out later. I hope it can find what I want to find, as it's something that I often change back & forth quite a few times a day, & it gets really annoying having to do it the way I am @ the mo.

[jdulmage 0]

Quote:

I was going to say that I think regmon is what he's looking for, but you just pointed that out.

Also, JD has a point with regards to essentially "advertising" a product here. We do have the other forum for selling stuff, but as people are actually trying it and submitting results I guess it isn't a big deal (just as long as it isn't repeated). The reason why JD's posting went over like a lead balloon wasn't just because of him advertising, he was promoting a product that wasn't available for testing, and he was a total a$$ to boot. Hence, no real double standard for the same situation in my eyes as the situations are in actuality a bit different.

clutch is right, I didn't present that well at all...but like I've said to Phillip, the past was full of those kinds of mistakes.

[jdulmage 0]

The people I worked with smoked pot and only cared about making money. Where's the passion? Without it, there is no product.

[FrogMaster 0]

Hi Alex,

here are some results:

- APK, yours: 23 (took 20 minutes!)

- MS Regclean: 0 (took around 10 seconds)

- Norton Windoctor: 6 (took less than 5 minutes)

- Tony's Easycleaner: 30 (took less than 10 seconds!). It found the same errors as your proggy plus 7 more.

Regards

Frog

[FrogMaster 0]

Sorry I cannot show those additional entries since I took the opportunity to blow the whole stuff 8)

I run W2K by the way.

I will let this machine create some new crappy entries for a couple of days and redo the test and let you know.

Frog

[clutch 1]

I ran it on my workstation on work, and it had 90 entries that it didn't care for, and took more than 30 minutes to complete this (p3 733, 512MB RAM, WinXP Pro).

[Davros 0]

I tested it on my WinXP machine. I compared it to Ashampoo Winoptimizer, here are the results:

 

Time taken:

Ashampoo: 5 minutes

APK: 25 minutes

 

Entries found:

Ashapoo: 25

APK: 117

 

You can view the entries for each in the text files below:

 

Ashampoo

APK

 

 

One tip for you: Don't have it save backups or any files in the Windows folder. These should go in it's own folder somewhere in Program Files.

[Davros 0]

Have you tried Setup Factory ? It will make nice .exe distros for you without adding much crap (may be about 500k larger than a zip file).

[Davros 0]

Maybe consider making it install to it's own folder on the root and save backup files there. It's easy to get to root regardless of drive letter:

 

cd %windir%

cd\

 

Oh yeah, and put @echo off as your first line in the batch file to lessen the clutter when it runs.

[Davros 0]

See if you like this...

 

[size:9]

@echo off

echo.

echo Installing APK Registry Cleaning Engine 9.0++ SR-2 on Windows XP/2k/ME!

echo.

pause

cls

echo.

echo Copying Program and supporting .reg files to the apkrgcln Folder...

echo.

md %temp%\apkrgcln

copy *.* %temp%\apkrgcln

cd %windir%

cd\

md apkrgcln

copy %temp%\apkrgcln\*.exe apkrgcln

copy %temp%\apkrgcln\*.reg apkrgcln

echo.

echo Copying other supporting .reg files to your Windows Based Enterprise Management Folder and System32 folder/subdirectory...

echo.

copy %temp%\apkrgcln\*.reg %SystemRoot%\system32

copy %temp%\apkrgcln\*.reg %WinDir%\system32\wbem

copy %temp%\apkrgcln\*.txt apkrgcln

copy %temp%\apkrgcln\*.bat apkrgcln

Cd apkrgcln

echo Done copying files, will start program now (You must create its shortcut on your desktop to APKRegistryCleaner.exe)...

pause

cls

echo Starting program! Enjoy... apk

APKRegistryCleaner.exe

[/color]

[Cyn 0]

Yes I was hoping you would have a registry compacting option, but I'm glad to see that you will have it sometime in the future.....however since you don't have it now, what current utility would you suggest for job? I currently have RegCompact 1.0

Anyone else have experience with something better or worse?

[Toby 0]

Alec,

 

you might wanna take a look at Nullsoft (SuperPiMP|Scriptable) Install System It´s a free installer made by the creators of WinAmp.

 

More info here: http://www.nullsoft.com/free/nsis/

 

/Toby

[embj 0]

Does it get rid of registry tweaks?

[DosFreak 2]

No. A Registry Cleaner "cleans" the registry by removing invalid key's. Key's are invaid if they do not match your system configuration.

 

Tweaks are simply Key's with modified values.

[Alien 1]

Alec - I think I tracked down the key & variable where that setting for IE's kept, but if I put it in a .reg file & merge it it doesn't take effect until after I've opened a new IE window, whereas doing it through IE's options it affects all open IE windows immediately.

 

As to your Registry Cleaner prog - I got it from Major Geeks, unzipped it, & ran the appropriate .bat file for XP, but when I try to run the .exe file I get 1st this:

 

then when I click ok on that I get this:

 

 

& that's all.

[Alien 1]

Ok, a bit more info - I re-read that 2nd error message & decided to try disabling Visual Styles & try again. This time I got this:

 

then when I click ok on that I got this:

 

then the prog opened! I ran the analysis & it found 95 errors results & took about 20mins. Considering I'm using a faster CPU than you or 1 or 2 of the others I was a little surprised @ how long it was taking, so I checked on CPU useage & it stayed fairly steady between 4 & 6%. It might be interesting to see how much quicker its progress would be if it utilised more of the available CPU power.

 

When I re-enable Visual Styles it goes back to not working & gives the original 2 error messages.

 

<edit>

I forgot to mention - it needs wheel-mouse support as well.

</edit>

 

<edit 2>

Sorry to keep finding fault dude, but when I deleted a few of the results/orphans/whatever it didn't just delete them, & continue to show the rest, but it blanked the list as well, so to do any others I had to re-analyse. That could get real annyoung after doing it a few times.

</edit 2>

[Alien 1]

Quote:

You had 2 instances of it running... it will issue that if you try to start more than one instance (so it is not doing anything to the registry 2x).

No, I did not have 2 instances running, I'm not stupid. It happened the 1st time I ran it & I can reproduce the error with Task Manager open to show that there's only 1 instance running & post a screen capture of that if it'll make you believe me.

Quote:

Did you run it AFTER reading the directions on how to install it using either the automating batchfile, OR the manual installation directions?

Those are errors you'd see if you did not install it properly.

(Missing the .reg files that are in the zipfile... they have to be in your Windows folder, usually C:\WINDOWS or C:\WINNT)

According to the readme it's a no-brainer, just unzip [which I'd already done to get the readme], then run InstallMe2kXPME.bat. Having just checked the batch file, I think you need to brush up on your DOS. I didn't bother with the manual install as I thought that if you could manage a registry cleaning prog then you'd know your way around DOS.

Quote:

P.S.=> Those errors you saw are the results of simply just not installing it right, & also trying to run 2 instances of it at once... you install it right & avoid having it 2x in RAM, you'll be fine! Everyone else did fine, except for yourself, & I know those errors... installation not done right is all, no biggie... should fix ya up!

No, they are the result of you making a mistake in the batch file. You shouldn't be so quick to blame a user for problems with a prog that you're still beta testing. If you'd checked the batch file properly then there would be no need to do a manual install. Under normal circumstances I would have told you what's wrong with it, but as you were so quick to blame me I'll let you figure it out yourself.

Also, something like this rather dents my confidence in using a prog that you've written that does stuff that's a lot more complicated than DOS.

Quote:

On the "Visual Styles" thing... I don't use it here. Sounds like it is trying to mask/overlay how a program form draws itself.

If that is the case, I can see it messing around with my program... definitely. I do that as it is right now, with the black to dark blue title bar gradient... sounds like it is in your face!

(That's a first too, in this test...)

*

I've never come accross a prog that had a prob with Style XP before. I discovered that it is actually that & not specifically Visual Styles. Style XP gives you more control over Styles & allows U to use more than the 3 that come with XP.

Quote:

P.S.=> "Visual Styles"... I am not familiar with that, what is it? Some 3rd party skinner? I dunno, I had trouble with those here & stopped using programs of that ilk, like Window Blinds... so it is not tested with that! apk

Visual Styles is part of XP, it does kinda skin all [well, most] progs, but not as much as more traditional skinning progs. You know when you 1st install XP & the start button & window frames & title bar buttons look different to that of previous versions of Windows, rounded & 3D? Well that's the new Visual Styles thing [like themes on steroids ].

Quote:

Put those files where it instructs to have them... simple fix.

Actually, I think I'll pass.

Quote:

(Not a bad display, 95 errors is a pretty good find rate. You must do alot of file shuffling/using &/or deleting...)

Not really, quite a few of them were things like recently used file lists stored by XP itself, & some stored by other progs, eg Paintshop Pro. Things like that are normally the domain of security-type progs that remove traces/records of what you've been doing, not registry cleaners. There were also a bunch of files referenced that are part of windows [i don't remember what specifically & can't be bothered to look again].

Quote:

Could be your registry is just bigger/more packed with entries, could be variation in diskspeeds too...

I have an IBM Deskstar 75GXP on a KT7A-RAID v1.3 mobo, running in UDMA/100 mode so I don't think it's a disc accessing problem. Neither Norton Uninstaller Deluxe or Norton Windoctor take anywhere near as long, & Norton Windoctor does a fair bit more in less time.

Quote:

Most of your "faults" are easily fixed. Bad install looks like caused 1/2 of them with files not in right spots,

So fix the batch file, or as someone else suggested try a proper installer, like Nullsoft's 1.

Quote:

the rest are result of your use of this Visual Styles thing.

Style XP is actually a rather popular prog, so you might wanna get hold of it & find some way to solve the prob, as ppl might get put off if they have to disable it everytime they want to use your prog.

Quote:

Delete them ALL at one shot. The program is designed to be SAFE, by not exposing OLE Server controls... anything it finds is 100% safe as a candidate for deletion. It was designed with safety in mind foremost, & I'd guarantee that.

If you EVER doubt it?

You can always restore from its file tracking method or eventlog tracking... all time/date stamped too!

No way! If I don't even trust progs made by major software companies to do it automatically, & insist on going through the results & deciding which 1s to fix/delete & which ones to leave alone then I'll be damned if I'm gonna trust a prog that although showing potential, still needs a fair bit of work. I don't care if it does do backups - I prefer to avoid problems in the 1st place than sort them out afterwards,

[Alien 1]

Firstly, it's XP Pro that I'm using.

 

Now, about the batch file: I'm not a DOS guru, nor have I claimed to be, but I did use it quite a lot in the past, & still do use it now & then when I think it's appropriate. [FYI DosFreak's the DOS guru on here ]. It's not a complicated thing, & I believe in circumstances such as this, when something's really simple to try & get the person to think it through for themselves, that way they're less likely to do the same thing again in the future than if you just give them the answer. If it was something complex I would have told you.

 

I'll give you a clue: there are possibilities that you should have accounted for, but haven't. Have some of whatever chills you out [for me it's coffee ], sit down & just read through the batch file, line by line & ask yourself "what does this line do?" [not "what do I want it to do?]. Trust me, when you realise it you are really gonna kick yourself. It's 1 of those things that you can sometimes miss because it's too obvious.

 

2nd clue: your DOS syntax is fine, the flaw's in your logic.

 

3rd Clue: both batchfiles have same problem [i didn't use both, but had a look @ other 1].

 

As to the manual install thing - like I said - once you realise your mistake you will no-longer need the manual install option.

 

On the subject of StyleXP & performance hits - no, that's not how it works. The ability to use visual styles is built into XP, however [for whatever reason] by default, you can only use the 3 styles that come with XP. To use any others you have to get a prog like StyleXP [though it's possible that there may be more in the Plus! pack, but I don't have that]. Once installed StyleXP doesn't actually use any memory, except when you have it loaded up to change Styles, themes, etc. The actual .dll [which after the install of StyleXP is a patched v. of MS's 1] uses up 1080k as far as I can tell, which these days isn't a lot. My mum has it installed on her P2/450 with 128MB RAM & a 16MB TNT1, & I don't notice any performance hit with it. The things that can cause a performance hit on XP are stuff like animated [as in sliding open] windows, list boxes, & menus, but I don't use any of those.

 

I have used other skinning progs in the past, 1 in particular [Windowblinds] had a noticeable performance hit, but Visual Styles don't.

 

About trusting your prog: Sorry, but whenever possible I like to know exactly what a prog is going to do before I let it do it [i'm not really a paranoid control freak, honest! ].

[Cynan 0]

For a start, when you extract the program, you might extract it to another drive, other then C. It could be D, E, F, X, even a network drive, and in which case, your installation batch file would fail.

 

It seems a lil pointless to me to copy all those registry files to multiple places. Thats bad practice dude. Its a lil messy if you ask me.

 

So I installed it, and I ran it. Things I noticed: -

 

1. The title bar flickers like mad, as its changing to a 'working' message, and its original constantly, as does the mouse cursor... urgh.

 

2. Its using next to no processing power.. what gives? LOw CPU utilisation code? or perhaps Delphi (thats what you develop in yes?) just can't use resources very efficiently (even on the high CPU setting which doesn't change Window's own priority, though I guess it an internal setting to your program).

 

3. It takes freakin' ages to complete a run! It may find a lot more entries (according to everyone elses results), but to take as much time as it does, it just doesn't feel right. I clicked 'Analyze' (spelt wrong btw? Should it not be Analyse?) over 10 minutes ago and its still going. I'll update this post when its finished with the final time.

 

4. Its not multi-threaded.

 

5. There is no difference between the 16-bit and 32-bit menu options when running in XP, and I'd say 2000 but I can't check that to verify it. It would be nice if you talor the options dynamically to suit the OS that its running on.

 

6. There is an icon on the taskbar and in the system tray, and no option to have either one. Both is pointless.

 

Oh, and I agree with Alien about the list clearing when you delete stuff - if it does do that. I'm yet to find out... its still bloomin' scanning after about 10 mins!!!!!! 8) Thats crazy.

 

Also, you should have an option to save the keys it finds, so that you can load it up again later. Just a thought.

 

EDIT: O'kay the program is still running and I have go out, so I'm unable to see how long it'll take. Its at 70% and its been over 40 minutes amd found less then 30 keys.

 

--Cynan.