Without a central registry, all of this information would be stored all over the place on your hard drive. This would mean that when you make changes, such as software uninstalls, or installing a new printer, your system would have to search every nook and cranny of your hard drive in order to make the necessary changes. The system registry keeps track of the software you install on the computer and how each program relates to the others. It allows the operating system to keep multiple hardware configurations and multiple users with individual preferences. It allows programs to extend the desktop with such items as shortcut menus.

Trouble is, the registry is still enormously complex. Add to this that many software applications do not include all of the necessary information to properly uninstall the registry information meaning that a lot of now redundant information is left over. As this amount of information increases, it starts to cause registry errors and faults.

When your System Registry becomes corrupt a whole range on intermittent and recurring problems can result. One way to clear out the registry is a complete windows reinstall. This takes an awful amount of time. An alternative is to go to the Microsoft support pages and follow long and complicated procedures. The best option is to invest a modest amount of money and buy a registry cleaning software which automates the whole process for you.

In addition to your computer running more slowly, a variety of other symptoms will manifest themselves, such as:

System32 Error - often caused by missing or corrupt system files.

Runtime Error - occurs during execution of a program.

ActiveX Error - caused by certain browser settings and badly configured system files.

DLL Error - Missing or corrupt .dll files often occur after removing or installing a program.

.exe Error - occurs during system or program start up because of superfluous files in the Windows registry.

General Protection Fault - Occurs when a running program violates hardware rules.

Windows Explorer Error - Windows Explorer gets stuck in a loop due to a corrupt registry.

iExplore or iExplorer Error - Internet Explorer browser error, causing shut down.

Access Violation - occurs when an application tries to access wrong storage.

Windows Installer Error - 3rd party shell extensions cause a crash.

Blue Screen - Windows cannot recover from a system error, usually requiring a reboot.

Once these symptoms start, they don't stop, and as you continue to use your computer, more and more problems arise, your computer gets slower and slower, and you become more and more anxious that there is something seriously wrong.

However, you can sort these issues out in just a few minutes by.
1. Running a free online scan of your registry to diagnose the problem(s)
2. Purchasing the right Registry Utility Software, download it and fix your corrupt registry

There is, however, a surprising amount of variation in the performance of the different registry utilities. Even though the price difference between them is only a few dollars. The better utilities also offer complimentary tools such as Browser Help Object Managers and start-up programme managers. It is therefore worth doing some research into the features on offer, trying some free scans to observe the results. Or find a good comparison site.

The best news is that once you have the software, you can run it regularly and maintain your PC's performance.