Daddy Bob

DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A

February 5, 2006
 

Q. I found a program called Registry program on the Internet and when I ran it, I came up with these results. 487 Problems found. 366 Total Items restricted. My question is, are the two items dangerous to the operation of my machine and if so do I need to buy this program to correct the Registry?

A. To answer your last question first, probably not. Without examining your computer and seeing first hand how it is operating, I cannot tell you whether or not those "problems" and "restrictions" are causing you difficulties. And, I seriously doubt that any program that you may run over the Internet can either. It makes a good sales pitch and many will get scared, and buy the product.

Any computer that has been used for a while will have "problems" in the registry. Programs, when they installed, or run create entries in the registry. Almost all programs do a very bad job of cleaning up after themselves and leave all kinds of entries behind.

Whether or not they are serious is best determined by how the computer is working. The word "problems" is used loosely, and could mean just some things left over from a program that either was not uninstalled correctly, or just didn't "clean" up after it was uninstalled. .

 The same thing applies to the word "restricted". It sounds like there is something there that is preventing you from doing something. What it probably means is that something in the registry is not useable to any program, possibly because the program is no longer installed. That would surely restrict its use.

 Whether or not you need the advertised program is questionable. You probably don't. Possibly the best advice is to let the registry alone unless you know what you are doing, or just like the idea of formatting your hard drive and installing everything from scratch. WARNING!!! Incorrect modifications to the registry can render the computer useless. I speak from bitter experience.

Now that you have been warned, if you still want to fool around with the registry, there is a shareware program called "RegVac" and have been using for several years. It has two modes, expert and novice. When run in the novice mode, it is pretty nearly fool proof. It can be used for 30 days before you have to pay for it. I don't remember what it cost to register, but it can be downloaded at www.regvac.com if you want to give it a try.

Q. I have a stupid little window that pops up every time I start my computer, asking be to buy something. I have traced it down to a file that I tried to delete. But, every time I try to delete it, I'm told that I can't. How can I get rid of this file?

A. This sounds like adware, and the first thing I would do is run a good adware removing program like Microsoft's AntiSpyware, Ad-Aware, or Spybot Search and Destroy. All of these are free, and very good. Just make sure that your definition files are up to date. They get along with each other well, and all three can be on the computer at the same time. I use all these, plus one more. I am beta testing Microsoft's new "OneCare" program, and all are running together with no problems.

If the program still is there, and you are sure you want to get rid of it, here's how to do it. Re-start the computer, and when Windows is starting up, repeatedly press F8 to force the computer to boot up in safe mode. When it does, choose to NOT use the system restore when asked, but let it go to the desktop. Your screen resolution and color depth will probably be messed up, but ignore this.

Locate the troublesome file and just change its name. If the name was  "filename.exe", just change the extension to something like "filename.old". Just in case you were wrong and do need this file, you will still be able to go back and change its name to what it was before. If, after rebooting and running the computer for a while, you are sure you don't need the file, you can then just delete it.

Now, all that said and done, if this file is adware or only part of another program, just deleting may not solve your problem. It could be put back again by another part of the program that is still on your computer.

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