Strange error messages start popping up, previously working hardware suddenly malfunctions or your internet connection breaks.
When that happens it's time to get your registry database back into shape.
Follow the 3 easy steps below to regain a clean Windows registry.
Step 1: Backup the Registry Database Before you do anything else, make a backup of your current registry database.
The registry is essential to Windows working properly and restoring your registry to its current state after a failed repair attempt is better than nothing at all.
To backup the registry, goto Start->Run and enter "regedit" and hit OK.
In RegEdit, goto File->Export...
and export the registry's contents to a file in a secure location.
The Windows desktop folder is fine.
Now that that's out of the way, we'll analyze your registry to see what's wrong with it.
Step 2: Scan the Registry for Errors Before we can repair anything, we need to find out what exactly is wrong with the registry.
The easiest way to do this is to use a registry repair utility, such as PC Tools Registry Mechanic.
I'll be using the free version of this tool as an example for this article.
You can find a link to expert and customer reviews of Registry Mechanic at the bottom of this article.
If you haven't downloaded the free version of Registry Mechanic yet, now's the time to do so.
Go to PCTools.
com, click on Download next to the section that says Registry Mechanic and then click the big green button that says Start Download Now!.
After the download has finished, doubleclick the downloaded file and follow the instructions to install Registry Mechanic.
After the installation is finished, launch Registry Mechanic via the Start Menu.
In the main window of Registry Mechanic simply click on Scan Your Registry and the scanning process will begin.
Depending on the size of your computer's registry, this process will take a minute or two.
You'll see the number and kind of errors the tool has found while the scan runs.
When the scan is finished, you'll see the Scan Results window.
This window shows you the total number of errors that were found, the category of each error and its severity.
If the little color bar next to an error in the list on the right side of the window is full, the severity of that particular error is classified as high and the error should be repaired immediately.
This brings us to the final step: repairing the registry.
Step 3: Repair the Registry The free version of Registry Mechanic will repair an unlimited number of errors in the following categories:
- Software Locations
- Registry Integrity
- Windows Fonts
- Help and Resources
- Shared DLLs
But I suggest you first run the repair with the free version and see if that fixes your problems.
So now, after the scan is complete, click on Repair and Registry Mechanic will repair all the errors in the categories mentioned above.
After the repair process is finished it's time to check if your problems persist.
If you're lucky, the errors that were fixed were the source of your problems and you'll be a happy camper.
If not, you'll need the get the full version of Registry Mechanic and fix the remaining errors.