You may have heard about the importance of cleaning up your computer registry, but you may still be asking the question "Is registry clean-up necessary?" In this article, I hope to explain why it is.

When we look at whether registry cleanup necessary, we first need to look at what the registry is, and how it works. The registry is a large database that all Windows based computers have, at least those with Windows 95 and later. Windows accesses this database whenever the computer user does a command. Also, new entries and files are constantly being placed in the registry. This includes whenever you install a new piece of hardware and software, but also when you go from web page to web page. Most of these entries are deleted right away, but some stay behind, and over time, this causes the registry to get big and bloated, and this will cause other applications on your computer to not run the right way. When this happens, you will see freezes and possibly even crashes, as well as very slow start ups and shut downs, and a computer that runs really slow in general.

Now that we have answered the question of whether registry cleanup is necessary, now let us look at how to do it. Your best option is to use a registry cleaner which will perform a comprehensive scan of your computer to find problem files that you can delete. It will also perform future scans so that registry errors never slow down your computer again.