Computer help please

[Len Silva]

My old xp machine is getting slow and cranky just like me.  I suddenly find on my desktop a program called RegCure.  I don't remember downloading it and don't know how it got there, but it looks legit and may solve some of my problems.

I am scared to death of anything that messes with the registry, having lost one machine to Norton a couple of years ago.

Anyone know about RegCure?

Thanks,
Len

[Jeremy]

I hadn't heard of it but just Googled it and found there is all sorts of information out there - some happy customers and some horror stories. Have a look yourself and make your own mind up - but from my own quick look it appears you have to send them money before the program will actually do anything useful anyway

Jeremy

[Hobie]

Not good news from this site:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/regcure-c4155.html

Take a look at your Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, and Temp files and delete the junk.

[Len Silva]

Thanks guys, that answers it.

[skipn]

Len,

   You might consider defragging your disk.......If it hasn't been done for a while
 prepare yourself for a long wait.


   FWIW

 Skip

[Hartley]

Just stay away from anything "Symantec" ( Norton ) and you will be fine doing a little manual cleaning. Norton used to be the best. Now they foul the NEST....

I never understood how any company can claim to clean the registry especially if they don't have any clue as to what is installed. There are usually lots of leftover junk items but the most evil are the loads of leftover temp files.

Resident programs that have been installed that load up when you start the machine that you don't ever use also can be a problem.

The best thing is to have little or nothing in the "startup" folder and unload anything that hides in the icon trays or toolbars especially if you don't use them.

Instant messengers that get installed by default use up resources. If you never took them out they will sit there taking up usable memory...

Dave....

[ktmossman]

I would also recommend going out to download.com and getting "Spybot - Search and Destroy".  It cleans out and prevents adware/spyware/malware.  I have seen it provide significant performance improvements to sluggish systems.  I use it on every computer I have at home and it is the first thing I do to any system I am asked to look at for performance issues.  You would be amazed at the many hundreds of things it cleans off computers, even when they have been running good security programs.

[Sojourner]

Thanks guys, that answers it.

Lin...are you saying...it fix?

My favor virus protection is free and going on 4 years.
AVG_Free

FWIW

Sojourn for Christ, Gerald

[Len Silva]

Thanks guys, that answers it.

Lin...are you saying...it fix?

My favor virus protection is free and going on 4 years.
AVG_Free

FWIW

Sojourn for Christ, Gerald

No, I'm just saying I won't use RegCure.  I do use AVG Free and I will try Spybot and and the rest of the suggestions here.  I do defrag regularly but haven't cleaned up the startup folder in a long time.

One of my problems may be that because of my business, I keep about a hundred of fonts loaded all the time.  I would love to find a good (inexpensive) font manager that would allow me to view uninstalled fonts and the quickly install or uninstall them as needed.  It would be even better if it could be done from inside my graphics program (Adobe Illustrator).  There are some out there that might work but they a quite expensive.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

[WEC4104]

I'll second KT's endorsement of Spybot.  I have found it to be "safe & effective".

There is also a second free product called HijackThis.  It is a utility that reports what is actively running on your system. It doesn't fix things for you, but is a great diagnostic to find hidden stuff loaded without your knowledge.  Google it and you will find lots of on-line help desks using it.

[gumpy]

Thanks guys, that answers it.

My favor virus protection is free and going on 4 years.
AVG_Free

FWIW

Sojourn for Christ, Gerald

The jury is still out on AVG for me.  I downloaded it last week and installed on my XP machine. I started a scan on the drive. When I returned, the system had crashed. It took 15 minutes for it to boot and was running like slug slime on a cold day.

I disabled AVG till I can get more time to play with it.

[HighTechRedneck]

I 2nd (or 3rd) all of the advise given so far.  I too use AVG Free and Spybot S&D.  Great tools.  I have seen issues on a friends computer with the paid full version of AVG (it adds a lot of features just like McAfee and Symantec and that is where the trouble begins I think).  So far, AVG and Spybot S&D have saved my bacon a few times.

I also use Registry Repair Wizard from http://www.registryrepair.net/

It isn't free, but it's only $30, works well and has been trustworthy on my computers now for over 2 years.  It also has a rather unique license.  You buy one $30 license and you can use it on as many computers as you personally operate.  It looks like they have changed that on new purchases.  When I got mine over 2 years ago, that was true and so mine is still licensed that way.  But looking at their purchase page, that isn't the license issued on new purchases now.

To answer Dave's point on how it can know what to clean - There are two aspects.  1st) Common problems (for this reason it should be updated periodically just like anti virus/spy programs).  2nd) missing files and broken registry cross references.  The Windows XP registry is a huge database with many thousands of cross dependent references.  Many programs when added or removed leave behind "garbage".  This does two things, it makes the registry bigger and it leads to broken references.  Those can slow the boot and shut down process and bog it down during program starts.

One area where a lot of registry cleaners go wrong is being overly aggressive in an effort to report HUGE numbers of fixes.  In doing so they can delete some information that only looks like broken file/path references but are actually used by programs.  Deleting those entries are where the horror stories come from.  This program allows advanced users to fix problems in those entries, but warns you extensively when you enable that feature.  The normal scan will usually fix several hundred problems when you run it the first time, then fix a few dozen each time when you run it monthly.  If you enable the "File/Path Reference" option, you will see thousands of items.  But unless you are a registry expert, leave them alone.

Another feature this program has is easy management of start programs, including ones started from the registry (a lot of background programs don't use the startup group anymore, they launch from the registry).  You can review all start programs and elect to disable them if you wish.  Likewise you can re-enable them easily if you need to.

Similarly it also helps you manage Browser Helper Objects (BHO's) which are  plugins that can be very useful or bog your browser down to a crawl.

It also helps you do safe registry backups/restores and defrag the registry.  Defraging the registry is not the same as defraging the hard drive.  It is more like optimizing a database.

Simply put, I am impressed with the product.

[skipn]

Len,

    I'm not sure what you are trying to diagnose........
 I have 214 different fonts on my machines and most of the time I would never have noticed.
 I have my choice of GIMP2 or Ill  ustrator, Premiere or couple of others on the machines I work with.

 I usually use GIMP 2 fast and does most of what I need. I will not deny the power of the adobe products
 just the speed in which they work(load).

   You might try some of the other brands of software out there.

  JMHO

 Skip

[HighTechRedneck]

100 fonts should[n't] be a problem.  I have 494 fonts currently installed on mine.  (Windows XP sp3).  I like Gimp too, and have come to rather dislike Adobe as a company, but I still use Adobe graphics and web tools because of the features.


note:  oops, meant to say 100 fonts shouldn't be a problem.

[TomCat]

.... clip .... I suddenly find on my desktop a program called RegCure.  I don't remember downloading it and don't know how it got there, but it looks legit and may solve some of my problems.
 .... clip ....
Thanks,
Len

Len,

Don't for a second think that anything that 'pops up', is in any way going to be good for you or your computer.

It almost scares me that you feel it's legit.

You have a Trojan or Malware that has installed itself.

If the above advice and the resulting scans do not make the RegCure disappear, visit this site...

http://www.atribune.org/forums/index.php?s=a96c309366cc8e7e3fb3839abe380af0&showforum=9

Please read the "Before Posting" post, and follow it's directions carefully before posting your scan results.
Within two days the volunteers at Atribune will have your computer clean of any nasties, and humming along happily once more.

They will also help you prevent it from occurring again.

HTH

Jay
87 SaftLiner