In a computer, the registry is like the behind-the-scenes custodial staff that helps keep your computer and programs running smoothly, and stores information for your applications. If a member of the custodial staff were to quit, then your plans would not run as smoothly; just the same, if your registry files were to become corrupted or deleted, then you’d have some problems running your computer and the applications and programs installed on it. To recover from a corrupted registry, you can either use software to do it for you or boot into the registry yourself. I’m going to talk about how to recover the system on your own, and while this method doesn’t guarantee the full recovery of the system to its previous working state, you should be able to recover at least some files and information.

This method is typically used when all other methods have failed-if there’s an automatic system recovery, that is best, as manually booting into and editing your registry may result in many problems with your computer. But if you’re going to do it yourself, you can use two programs: Recovery Console, and System Restore. After the process, your computer should return to a state very near its state before the system error.

First, you need to start the Recovery Console, and then create a temporary folder. Then, you back up all of the current registry files to that new folder location and delete the current existing registry files (be SURE that you’ve backed them up first!) and copy the registry files from your repair folder to System32/Config. In this way, you’ve created a registry that your system can use at startup so that you can actually boot up your computer to complete the rest of the steps. Be sure that you are logged in as an administrator, because otherwise you won’t have access to the files and processes that you’ll need to access. Restart your computer in safe mode by pressing F8 as it is rebooting, and then make sure you unhide files and folders by selecting to Show Hidden Files and Folders, and also do not hide protected operating system files. Then, go to the System Volume Information folder located on your C drive that contains the system restore points on your computer (this is where you will need administrator access), and then you’ll need to copy the snapshots to the Windows/TMP directory.

Finally, you want to reboot the computer and restart Recovery Console yet again, and then replace the repair files with your now-current backup of the computer’s registry. Then, again, restart Windows in the normal (not safe) mode, and then use System Restore to find a good system backup point to return to. You can do this by going to Start, All Programs, and then clicking on Accessories, and System Tools. Under that, you’ll need to hit System Restore, and then Restore to previous Restore Point. This is correct, and then you should be done!

For more details on this process, go to support.microsoft.com/kb/307545.

The registry is an integral part of our computers-without it, programs would not run, applications would die, and your entire operating system wouldn’t even exist. The registry consists of the most basic tools and files of the computer, and when it’s cluttered or damaged, there will be programs that don’t work, or are very slow. Windows does not come with a specific tool for cleaning and repairing the registry; while you can use the Registry Editor (known as Regedit) to edit in a simple manner, any major changes or mistakes could massively damage or debilitate your computer. Thus, registry cleaners have been developed and can be very beneficial for the maintenance of your registry.

There are many benefits that come with having a registry cleaner. They generally have a better graphical user interface, so they’re much easier to use and are very user-friendly, so you know what exactly you’re doing to your registry. Registry scanners also have a methodical and algorithmic way of scanning your registry, and it’s easy to do-just a few clicks of the mouse, instead of a ridiculous amount of searching, editing, and deleting if you do registry scanning manually. When the scan is occurring, most decent registry scanners will display the errors in the registry right on the scanning screen, and you can actually select which errors you’d like to correct and which errors you want to skip over. Also, if you aren’t that technologically savvy, then you can allow the registry cleaner to automatically delete the relevant errors and get rid of many quite annoying errors such as DLL errors, runtime errors, ActiveX errors, and driver errors.

Moreover, registry cleaners are very helpful when it comes to backing up data. Not sure what you’re supposed to back up in the registry, and how you do it? That’s okay! If you use a registry cleaner, you can elect to back up the entire registry or simply select a portion to back up and edit. This way, you can target areas of the registry when cleaning and not have to waste a lot of time going through the entire registry. And if your computer is running super slowly, you may want to consider using a registry cleaner tool to defragment the registry-something that’s extremely difficult for you to do yourself. Defragmenting the registry will remove empty registry entries and decrease the registry’s size, freeing up more space; it also makes the files more unified, so that your computer doesn’t have to go through a bunch of searches to find all the files needed to start an application.

A more advanced registry cleaner also helps to remove permanent registry keys. These permanent keys are sometimes used by spyware programs and are very difficult to remove without an actual program to do it; thus, a very thorough scan of the registry can help you remove non-removable, stubborn spyware programs that may be harmful to your computer, or cause your computer to run very slowly. With such great benefits, a registry cleaner is clearly much easier and safer to use than manual editing.

As your computer is growing older, you may become envious of those people with those shiny new computers that have crazy processors and incredibly large hard disks and tons upon tons of RAM. But, your sad computer is now running more slowly than ever, and it seems to get slower as time passes by (this is normal, as computers do age too, and they become more cluttered with files and data). So how do you speed up your computer so that it doesn’t take 10 minutes to start up and 5 minutes to open a program? Here goes!

There are several ways in which you can speed up your computer. The first is to prevent it from slowing down in the first place, and one of the biggest factors that slow down computers is spyware. Spyware runs covertly whenever you start up your computer and then collects your personal information and actions on your computer without letting you know. This could be potentially dangerous to both your safety and your computer’s health, as the spyware can have access to the passwords you type in and other information in your personal life. Thus, because of this huge risk to your confidentiality, spyware can be a big problem. Moreover, it slows down your computer because so much of it runs at one time and takes up a lot of memory and CPU. To remove spyware, you can use programs such as Windows Defender, SpyBot Search & Destroy, and Adaware.

Another way to speed up your computer is to free up some disk space. You can use the Disk Cleanup tool that comes with your computer to safely delete temporary internet files, remove downloaded ActiveX controls and Java applets, clean out your recycle bin, get rid of windows temporary files, remove windows programs or components that you don’t need, and clean up programs that you haven’t used for a long time. In order to access Disk Cleanup, you can go to Start, All Programs, then Accessories, System Tools, and click on Disk Cleanup. You will usually want to clean up the C drive. Scroll through what files you’d like to delete and put a checkmark next to the ones you don’t mind deleting; then, clear the check boxes for the files you don’t want to delete (this is important-you don’t want to lose files that you can use), and hit okay. This should free up some space and improve the performance of your computer.

You can also defragment the disk so that you can speed up your computer’s access to various data. Often, files become fragmented so that the hard disk must be searched once you open a file in order to put the file together and run a program. After defragmentation, reading and writing to the disk will be much faster. In order to make use of the disk defragmenter, go to Start, All Programs, and then Accessories, System Tools, and click on the Disk Defragmenter. You want to hit Analyze, and that will tell you which drives you want to defragment. Then, select a drive, click on defragment, and everything else will be done for you.

These methods will not guarantee a faster computer but will organize and clean up your computer so that it can be faster. It’s not harmful, and it’s better than doing nothing!

Yes, computers do grow old. And just like how in older people, systems and supports are beginning to fail, the same thing happens with older computers that are loaded with too much junk. And when your computer gets older, a lot of strange things happen to it, and it likes to be temperamental. It will take a certain joy in frustrating you, and will tend to freeze up and lock up the mouse and keyboard. So, in your frustration, you will end up doing things you regret.

Nope, not a good idea. When your computer freezes (also known as hanging or crashing), there are some things you can do; however, if you get frustrated with it and immediately restart or turn off the computer, you may end up losing valuable data and possibly damaging the computer. Usually, you might have to press CTRL+ALT+DELETE in order to try to close programs that aren’t responding or taking up too much CPU. Otherwise, you might need to restart, and lose data. But why do computers freeze up in the first place?

Well, there are many reasons. You could have low memory or low disk space; your hard disk may be too fragmented, or you might have so many programs open at the same time that you’re using up all your RAM (random access memory). Your processor speed might be very low, or you could have corrupted files that are adversely affecting the computer, or you may even have a virus. You could be running software that has bugs and will affect your computer, or your computer could be overheating due to the cooling fan not working well. You could possibly have memory chip problems, as well.

With so many possible causes for your computer to freeze, there is a diverse range of possible solutions to stop your computer from freezing up. To start out, you might want to do a disk cleanup to remove over-clogged temporary files, clear out the recycle bin, or get rid of cache files. Avoid running too many applications at the same time, especially if your processing power is not high. Also, if the freezing is related to one application, then uninstall and reinstall it, because some files in the application may have become corrupted. If the freezing has been happening ever since you installed a new program, uninstall it. You can reinstall to see if it still freezes after, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Delete files and uninstall programs that you no longer need so that you can clear out some disk space. Get the latest Windows Update and try to acquire the latest patches for the software you’re using. Use your anti-virus software to scan the computer, and update your drivers for your hardware, because they might be out of date. Also, try running Check Disk (or ScanDisk) and defragment your disk.

These options, while they may not entirely get rid of your freezing problems, should deal with most issues. Try the one that you think may help most after you’ve identified your problem, and go with it. Good luck!

So you’re just working, relaxing, or having a bit of fun on your computer, and then suddenly the screen flickers, dies, and turns blue. You freak out-oh no! You’ve encountered the Blue Screen of Death! Now what do you do? What about all the progress you made that will be erased? But do not panic; the Blue Screen of Death is better than its alternative, which is severe damage to your operating system and computer due to a critical error. Instead of allowing such damage, the computer creates the Blue Screen of Death and then shuts down-consider it a good thing!

On Windows operating systems based on Windows NT (such as XP and Vista) the Blue Screen of Death (also known as a stop error) is usually caused by hardware or device drivers malfunctioning, or, if the central processing unit (CPU) of the computer is physically hit, the system might restart and the blue screen may appear. The major causes of the blue screen are mostly physical; for instance, if there is a voltage spike or a power supply unit incorrectly matched to the main voltage supply, or if parts of the computer overheat, then the blue screen displays so that the computer can shut down to avoid further damage. Software problems can, however, also cause the blue screen.

Many times, the Blue Screen of Death will appear once and then after the restart, all your troubles will be gone. More often, though, there is likely to be more trouble in the future, along with more and more blue screens until you want to scream in frustration. But don’t worry, there are many ways to prevent and solve blue screens, and this article will detail some of them to relieve your irritation at the computer, and save your money from being spent at the computer repair shop.

The first thing you want to do is make the blue screen stay for long enough that you have time to copy down the error message, so that you’ll be able to troubleshoot. Most of the time, the blue screen will appear before restarting the computer immediately. However, changing a few settings on your computer will solve that. In Windows XP, you can right click on My Computer, and then go to Properties at the bottom of the panel that appears. Click on the “Advanced” tab and then under “Startup and Recovery”, hit the “settings” button, which should open up a new window that allows you to uncheck “Automatically Restart” under the “System Failure” area.

Then, reboot in safe mode and see if it loads correctly; if safe mode works fine, then it is likely a software or driver error that is causing your problem, and you may need to update your drivers. If safe mode does not work correctly, reboot the computer again and hit F8 to get to the advanced options menu; then, select “last known good configuration” to return windows to the last start up that worked. If everything works fine after this step, then you can consider your critical system error to be solved!