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Hi Ara,
Wednesday, October 25, 2006, 3:31:19 PM, you wrote:
AK> I regularly run Registry Machanic to keep PC running properly.
AK> Today I ran a trial version of "PC MightyMax, right after I ran
AK> Registry Mechanic. MightyMax found 241 Invalid Registry Paths and 74 Invalid Shortcuts.
AK> Anyone experienced with this program??? The price tag also seems
AK> unreasonably high ($120 / year licence)
Ara ... generally speaking, these programs are all worthless, and
have the potential to do much more harm than good. Running such a
program -- regularly -- is a prescription for trouble, IMNSHO. These
programs all follow different algorithms, and some are very
"thorough" (to the point that they wreck your system by deleting
things they shouldn't touch), and some are very lax (meaning they
don't really do anything).
Generally speaking, the registry (especially on a 2K or XP system)
does not need "fixing". The only exception to that would be if you
*knew* exactly what needed fixing. The registry is a huge database,
and it does get cluttered with the remains of programs uninstalled,
and other useless data. It also only grows in size, unless it is
weeded and then compressed. But, again generally speaking, the amount
of clutter is almost always minuscule compared to the size of the
registry in the first place. Cutting the registry even by 5 percent
(a tough job, usually) is not going to improve your performance very
much. I doubt if you would even be aware of it.
But because these registry "fixer" companies can scare or convince
you into running a trial version, which they *know* will turn up
something (unimportant, but probably a "large number" of unimportants
-- i.e. seems large to you, but it's really *nothing*), they can make
a lot of money touting their useless products. You could run 10 of
these programs. None would agree with each other regarding either
number or specifics. They are a waste of money.
If invalid shortcuts or invalid registry paths are the only things
you have to worry about, you probably have nothing to worry about,
and definitely should not go to the trouble of reinstalling. What I
am more concerned about, if I'm you, is "Am I compromised"? If your
machine is "owned", to use the phrase, *then* it's time for a
reformat and reinstall, maybe on a completely new drive.
What problems are you having other than the read-only situation you
mentioned in another thread?
Do you have a known-good backup?
Do you have an anti-virus program, and/or an anti-spyware program?
Do you run them once in a while?
Do you defragment your drives once in a while (every 48 hours here on
a rotating basis)?
Do you have a firewall? Which one? Is it running?
Have you run any hard drive analysis software on your machine? Why
not?
Memory check software? Why not?
What ... do your system logs tell you? Do you read them daily?
(There should hardly ever be either a yellow or a red flag; basically
they should be clean almost all the time.)
The only way to clear DRAM that I know of is power off. That means
computer, and modem, and monitor (if it's flat panel). Have you shut
*everything* down completely, and waited five minutes (shouldn't take
that long; but that should do it for sure), and tried again?
Best,
Yuki
Content-Description: "AVG certification"
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.13.27/517 - Release Date: 11/3/2006
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