Registry Cleaning

[EarthboundHero]

So, before I upgraded to Windows 8.1 I always cleaned my registry almost consistently. Recently I heard that it can actually be harmful.  I was wondering if it is harmful, and why. Even my fresh install of Windows 10 has tons of registry stuff according to CCleaner. Thanks everyone.

[GoodBytes]

There is no point in cleaning the registry. The registry is a database. It is designed to not slow down your system as it get more and more populated. Much like this forum. The forum doesn't go slower due to the number of posts/threads. Data access of the registry is also consistent, with no performance degradation.

So cleaning the registry can only cause harm, if anything. CCleaner is amongst the safe registry cleaners out there, by removing very safe things, but it also be noted by some to screw things up. When things screws up, they are things you don't notice until some Windows update at some point in time in the future, or Windows update, or some software that you use have a problem, etc.

So, while you can do this, I recommend not to, especially that there is no benefits. It is only good if you try to solve a problem that is registry related, and stuff like that.

Yes, some program after you uninstall them leave registry out, so you can pick and choose them in CCleaner, which is nice, and you can do that. Those won't cause a problem, but again, there is no advantage to this. It would be more 'cosmetic' if you want to call it that.