Custom Controls

[telboy1938]

I have used Registry Mechanic for a long time and it has seemed to be ok until now. As you will know it repairs any faults etc you may have accumalated. But I now have a situation where I have 10 items in Custom Control which it will not repair. It still repairs any other fault. Is there someone out there who can help me?
Thanks...Telboy

[ACtheTROLL]

I'd suggest ... leave it alone ....
if you don't understand what's happening ... don't get involved

given the 1000000s of possible combinations of hardware/software ... RM is always working on a "best guess" basis.

Deleting hive entries is dodgy at the best of times ...
deleting because it worked on someone else's machine last month ... is asking for trouble.

Cleaners/optimisers generally work in "no brain" mode - making a lot of noise ... tells you everything it's going to do in impressive detail... but achieves very little in real terms.
..... Except filling the makers bank account

Anything that could possibly matter is flagged up (as in this case) so that you can decide.

when it's working ...the registry is incredibly efficient and fault tolerant on it's own.
really ..... it's best left alone

when it's not ... unless you have a backup
The only real way to "fix" a broken registry is to re-install the o/s

[telboy1938]

Thanks ACtheTROLL........Are you saying that it is best NOT to use any of the many cleaning programmes? or can you recommend what I should use to keep the PC from getting choked with matter not required? Your advice is much appreciated.
Telboy

[ACtheTROLL]

before XP is was a little different ... but now
Personally - I'd never use one

Unless you loaded 20 progs a day (and never uninstalled them) ... you'd find it difficult to choke the registry - (flatfile databases (that's what the registry is) are designed to work efficiently with many Gbs of information)

What is worse for your system is leaving lots of DLLs etc in window's system folders.

so if you must, run the cleaner ... (windows' disc cleanup is probably all you need) ...

Reg Mechanic as you say has been round for years ...
So I suppose at best ... it will do less damage than some others!
(norton used to include similar - but seem to have dropped them lately.)

See what Microsoft say
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/registry.htm

XP backs up the registry every time you startup
if things go wrong ... goto help and support ... restore the system to before .....

if you try out lots of proggys ... you should consider re-installing your O/s every 12-18 months ....

build your system ...
I use at minimum C: & D: - d: is where my "My documents" lives

don't install too much software ... only drivers - get everything just as you like it

Then use an application like Acronis true image to create an image of your working system (c: only) - XP fits on 2-3 CDs - Vista on 2-3 DVDs!!!. This is your base
(this is how I do it ....)
then load everything you must have - and take another image - if you break your system ... use this to get up and running.

If I make a mess (which I do often) ... it takes about 15 mins to get back up and running.

as new hardware or proggys are added or upgraded .... your "working" system will get out of date ....
so from time to time ...

[telboy1938]

Many thanks for your time & advice...you can be sure that it is much appreciated....Wish I had your knowledge (or even half of it for that matter)
Kindest regards
Telboy