This is a question often asked and the answer is no. However, if you want your computer to perform well then I would suggest learning how to manually edit the registry but in my opinion, it’s easier to just get a registry cleaner. Alright it might cost you a little money but it saves you a lot in time believe me.

Editing and cleaning the registry manually takes ages and it’s not good on your eyes and add to that it’s hideously boring! So for $30 dollars or whatever, you can keep your registry clean and it only takes a few minutes.

Alternatively you could do nothing and hope your computers registry looks after itself which probaly isn’t going to happen. You can expect blue screen errors and crashes and programs will take forever to start up. It’s a no brainer really isn’t it?

Check out our reviews on the best registry repair software.

It’s important to make sure that before you make any changes to the registry that you make a registry backup because mistakes in the registry can lead to disaster.

To backup the registry:

In Windows XP

1. Click Start | Run

1. In the Run dialog box type regedit

1. Click OK

In Windows Vista

1. Click Start

1. Type regedit in the Search box

1. Click OK

Windows XP/Vista

1. From the registry editor click File | Export

1. Enter an appropriate filename

1. For the Export Range select the radio button next to All.

1. Click Save

To restore the registry from a registry backup:

1. From the registry editor click File | Import

1. Now select the appropriate backup file and click Open

You can make this job simpler by using registry repair software but make sure the software you choose has the option to backup the registry.

A registry cleaner is a great thing to have in your arsenal of computer maintenance type software. The thing is that some people have the misconception that a registry cleaner has some kind of special power and that it has the ability to repair any computer problem. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Ok if you keep getting errors or blue screens crashes etc. the chances are there are some errors in your registry but there could potentially be something else causing your computer to crash and give out constant error messages. I run my registry cleaner on my computer once a week to keep it in good order but I also run it after I have uninstalled a software program as well thus making sure that any entries the software has left over get cleaned out.

Doing this works and keeps my programs running quickly and performing how they should. This should be done as part of a weekly maintenance routine and this will ensure your PC operates efficiently. In your maintenance routine you should be scanning for viruses and spyware and also checking the hard disk for errors. Defragging is also important and be sure to backup your data regularly in case of hardware failure.

I can definitely relate to people who say “I’ll do the computer maintenance thing tomorrow, I’m to busy to do it now” and then forgetting to do it again and again and that’s when computer problems appear. I can relate to this because this is how I use to be with my PC and I just got fed up with the slowness of my computer that I kept to a regular computer maintenance routine and I hardly have any computer issues. Check out our reviews  page and find out what we think is the best registry cleaner on the market.