Travel Technology - Safe registry cleaner for Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise

So, after a number of re-installs on Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, all of which were experienced while in the UK this past weekend, I've determined that iOlo System Mechanic Business Edition v9.5.x is NOT suitable for use as a registry cleaner as it's repairs somehow alter how Windows monitors itself as being legitimate or not. Or perhaps I'm not enough of a power user to figure out which entries are being flagged as "bad" should be unchecked and not repaired.
Hopefully the former is correct and not the latter, is there such a thing as a "safe" registry cleaner that I can be used? Or are they just a bunch of bunk and not necessary? I'm pretty much at the point in which I won't be install much more software on my laptop.

Eric

Hopefully the former is correct and not the latter, is there such a thing as a "safe" registry cleaner that I can be used? Or are they just a bunch of bunk and not necessary?

I've never found success with Registry Cleaners, and I personally think it's risky business. I think you can eliminate most of the problems that a registry cleaner would potentially resolve by not repeatedly installing and uninstalling software and the like. What is the issue that you want the registry cleaner to resolve? Perhaps there is a different approach to the problem.

I have always thought that cleaning the registry on a somewhat regular basis was supposed to be a good thing. I think that was just me buying into the hype of them to create their own justification. If anything, they've caused more problems than anything else.

Anything that removes entries from it, outside of cleaning up after an abortive software removal with a vendor generated removal tool, is something that I won't be using anymore. I'd just as soon do a clean install of the OS via a new image once a year than run the risks associated with regular use of a registry cleaning program.

I like cc cleaner, which supposedly supports 2008, I'm just not clear if the free one does or not.

What operating systems does CCleaner support?

CCleaner is fully tested and compatible with all the latest Windows OSs.
This includes both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of:
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP

Additionally we're backwards compatible with older OSs:
Windows 2000

For advanced and business users, we also support:
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2003
Windows 2000 Server

I'd just as soon do a clean install of the OS via a new image once a year than run the risks associated with regular use of a registry cleaning program.

Absolutely. No matter what cleanup/malware/anti-virus tool you use, nothing works as well as a fresh install of the OS. That's just how technology works, unfortunately.

I have also found that re-imaging on occasion forces me to re-organize my files. I don't know how you organize yourself, but I certainly need this every once and again!!

There is no such thing as a complete safe and effective registry cleaner.

If it is safe, then it is not very effective (being very conservative in its actions); to be effective it must be aggressive and that will increase the probability of damaging the registry.

There is a balance between these two approachs. It is better to be conservative (and safe) on day-to-day operations and to reinstall the operanting system if needed.

So, after a number of re-installs on Server 2008 R2 Enterprise... is there such a thing as a "safe" registry cleaner that I can be used? Or are they just a bunch of bunk and not necessary? I'm pretty much at the point in which I won't be install much more software on my laptop.

Eric

I'm not sure I would trust any registry cleaner on a server OS, though as others have said CC Cleaner might be the best option. Setting up a Virtual Machine or two for provisional software loads might be something to consider. Its a great way to isolate (or for that matter) back up your production environment from any untested software. Not sure what the OP has for hardware, but with a bit of extra memory most current machines with hardware virtualization support can run a VM or two pretty well.

I'm not overly thrilled with any of the "cleanup" applications. Although they may remove files or registry entries that are technically unused, in most cases they're not causing issues either.

Yeah, a bunch of internet cache or temp files can eat up a lot of disk space, but the Windows built-in disk cleanup will take care of those if you don't want to do it manually. Apart from that, I wouldn't do anything unless there's a specific problem. There's always the risk of breaking something by deleting something that is used.

Whenever I get a new computer or upgrade Windows, I do a clean install at that point which gets rid of any accumulated clutter.

Dont TOUCH a registry cleaner, they are bogus CRAPWARE.

Don't reinstall every year either, especially a server, my goodness you people are full o junk advice.

I have servers, running windows, that have been up 5+ YEARS without a reboot even, properly secured and networked off, even updates are done with very few exceptions, they don't need a reboot even if they claim to need it, they just need to overwrite in use files which can be done manually with service stop/starts.

Anyone reinstalling every year is probably installing a lot of junk like registry cleaners and freeware/shareware apps and not really doing it right. If you want to play around with junky software, make a special computer or virtualbox to do it and test to see what it does before you install it on your main machine.

It is just like on an iphone, linux, Mac, driod, or anything else with user install, install crappy software have a crappy running device!

Dont TOUCH a registry cleaner, they are bogus CRAPWARE.

Don't reinstall every year either, especially a server, my goodness you people are full o junk advice.


Gee, thanks.

Sorry the rest of us gave such junk advice.

I have a light that's been on in the basement for five years. I should get a medal.

Gee, thanks.

Sorry the rest of us gave such junk advice.

I have a light that's been on in the basement for five years. I should get a medal.

Yep, registry cleaners are junk, nothing is any good, and WILL cause problems. Files won't open, file associations will be gone, conversions may error out, and a lot more, registry cleaners simply aren't useful, and do a lot more damage than good. I can't tell you how many times I've fixed computers in the last 18 years that were made almost completely by registry cleaners, including 'symantec systemworks' quite often, that was a total turd in every way, even the defrag sucked.

Reinstalling isn't needed either, just properly use your computer and don't install things that are not tested outside your machine, and you won't have problems. I have two android phones and test apps on one before moving to the other. Computers can easily run virtual machines, and should be used for anything even remotely questionable.

Yep, registry cleaners are junk, nothing is any good, and WILL cause problems. Files won't open, file associations will be gone, conversions may error out, and a lot more, registry cleaners simply aren't useful, and do a lot more damage than good. I can't tell you how many times I've fixed computers in the last 18 years that were made almost completely by registry cleaners, including 'symantec systemworks' quite often, that was a total turd in every way, even the defrag sucked.

Reinstalling isn't needed either, just properly use your computer and don't install things that are not tested outside your machine, and you won't have problems. I have two android phones and test apps on one before moving to the other. Computers can easily run virtual machines, and should be used for anything even remotely questionable.

Have to agree with you here. My first thought when I saw the thread title was,"What the H*ll is he doing putting a registry cleaner on a server?" Unless, of course, this is some home plaything. Surely this is not a production server in some place where they actually rely on it to get work done. :confused:

Well, I'll stick to re-installing with a clean image when needed and stay away from anything that has to do with the registry at all (clean, defrag, compact, or whatever) permanently. I just made an image of my drive after having installed all of the software that I'll have on it with Symantec System Restore 2011and now have a virtual image that can be used any time I need a clean slate as it's fully patched and ready to go. I thank all of you for your input. It's been an eye opener to say the least.

Thankfully, I don't need to worry about leaving my laptop on for 5 years either. I'll just shutdown at the end of the day when I'm using it.

Personally, I feel registry cleaners are snake oil. Trying to run one on a server OS is just asking for trouble.

As the OS is 2008 R2 Enterprise, you can run just Hyper-V on the physical host and compartmentalize each role(s) in its own virtual machines. This way configuration changes/updates in one virtual machine does not affect other virtual machines or the host. The down side is additional memory and disk usage, but they are so cheap these days.

Virtual machines are also ideal for testing. It is easy to create a new machine, test the software and delete the machine when done. But don't activate the test virtual machines though.

IIRC, Windows Server Enterprise license entitles you to 1 physical host and 4 virtual machines.