The Windows registry is arguably one of the most used, yet least understood components of your PC. Quite simply it’s a central configuration database that’s used by Windows, and by the programs and hardware on your computer. The registry is a key component of Windows and any registry error(s) should be dealt with quickly to ensure the health and vitality of your PC. It may be tempting to ignore these problems, but in most cases they will not simply go away.

Common causes of registry errors?

Registry errors are a diverse lot and can be caused by many things. Usually, it’s one or more of the following:

• Programs that load when your PC starts-up
• Junk or useless entries created by computer viruses
• Corrupted registry entries (data gets “garbled” and cannot be read properly)
• Broken links and short cuts
  Program folders, help files, fonts and configuration files

There could be other causes of registry errors, for instance, a hard shutdown (when you loose power and are not able to gracefully shut the system down) but the ones above represent the bulk of registry errors.

What to do when you get a registry error.

It may be possible to simply reboot your PC to temporarily make the error go away, however, this only is a short-term fix.

Registry errors are an indication of a deeper issue and must be dealt with before the problem escalates. If left untreated, these errors will likely lead to your PC freezing up and/or the dreaded blue screen (this is when Windows encounters an unrecoverable problem). Eventually the errors could become so severe that your PC will not start or freeze during startup. At this point, any kind of repair or recovery may not be possible.

Registry Repair Programs

Fortunately most registry errors can be fixed easily by a registry cleaner and repair program. These are programs that will scan through your entire registry looking for known problems. Usually in 5 minutes or less a complete registry scan and cleaning can be done. Not only will this scan fix errors, it will remove unwanted and unneeded entries in your registry. Depending of the amount of these junk entries, your PC’s performance can be dramatically improved.

Along with cleaning and fixing errors, a good registry cleaner will backup your registry before making any changes. This will ensure that you can restore your registry in the unlikely event that you need to restore a removed item.

Note: we recommend RegCure as the premere Registry repair tool and scanner. You can download it here (direct download link).

The errors are gone … now what?

Now that you’ve removed the cause of your registry errors and all the other unknown problems that were lurking in your registry, what’s next?

Remember at the core the Windows registry is a database. All databases require regular maintenance to perform at peak efficiency. It’s recommended that your run regular registry scans at least once a month. Not only will this ensure that your PC is running at tip-top shape, it will prevent other serious problems from developing in the first place. This will do wonders for the lifespan of your PC!