Registry Editor in XP

It is only natural that the more you use your computer, the slower it will become. This is normally because you will be installing more programs and using up disk space. But it also means you are adding more information into a place called the “system registry”. This registry stores all important settings so that it can make your machine run the way it should. It basically logs all the things you add/change/remove on your computer so it knows what is going on.

But in the course of time the registry will eventually have lots of information that is doesn’t need any longer. Information about programs you uninstalled months ago for example. So if you can clean out this information, it will give your computer more disk space and will stop it from slowing down any further.

So how do you do it?

Let’s assume you are running Windows XP, as that is the most common operating system. There is a registry editor in XP that allows you to change the registry. It can be accessed by typing regedit into the Run box, which you’ll find in your Start menu. But it doesn’t allow for changes to be made whilst you are logged on as a safety precaution.

So what you need to do is download a piece of software that is called a registry editor or registry cleaner. What this software does is automatically look through all the entries in your registry and find the ones that don’t relate to anything anymore. It will then remove them from the registry completely.

Even if you could open up the registry editor in XP, it is highly recommended that you don’t even try. This is because if you remove any files that are still needed, it might your machine to crash completely and not even boot up. So always use the software.