It is not often necessary to know how to repair broken registry in Windows XP, as it is a fairly stable operating system when updates are applied regularly. With too many third party programs installed, however, or should the system become infected by a virus, instabilities may be introduced that can ultimately wreck your system.
System slowdowns or other error messages can have elusive causes under Windows XP. Viruses, Trojans, poorly-written applications, power surges and any number of additional causes can generate these instabilities which, over time, accumulate to bring your system to its knees.
Before you start trying to find ways to fix it, you should identify the problem first and find out if the registry is really broken. The trick on how to repair broken registry in Windows XP is to perform various scans for problems and diagnostics outside the registry.
Improper tampering of the registry can cause even more problems so you should repair it only if you really need to.
Scan for physical problems
Performance issues are sometimes caused by corrupted system files, often damaged by power surges or improper shutdowns. In many of these instances, Windows XP's own hardware diagnostics may identify and fix the damaged files on your drive. In others, a simple disk defragmentation may be all that is needed to resolve performance issues.
Check for malware
If your computer is acting very strange, most likely a virus or trojan running free in your system.
Never repair broken registry in Windows XP if a virus is present the virus may re-infect things that you previously fixed. Get rid of the threat first and then proceed to checking for registry issues.
Remove suspicious programs
Scanning installed applications via the add/remove programs menu in the control panel is good policy for maintaining a healthy system. Any mysterious programs you find may very well be responsible for either corrupting your registry or for interfering with legitimate applications and causing performance issues.
This is another step that should be performed before cleaning the registry. Rogue applications may restore any keys deleted by registry repair programs, and as such will interfere with your efforts to clean the system.
Restart and do another check
Now that you've performed some basic system maintenance, restart your computer to discover whether the problem still exists. If items are missing or some settings can't be saved, then the registry is likely the cause of any remaining issues.
Install a registry cleaner and perform a full scan
Now that you taken care of the physical and malware problems, you should be able to repair broken registry in Windows XP without going through much trouble. All you need to do is install a credible registry cleaner and do the longest and fullest scan possible.
After all the results are shown, make sure you save a log and find out if a backup option is available to avoid risks. Proceed with the cleanup and then do a restart after it finishes.
If still present, carefully note the symptoms, using them to determine if an online registry fix exists. If this is not possible, your registry may be deeply corrupted and it may be necessary to re-install as a last resort. It is generally much easier to use the many registry cleaners on the market if you've taken care of any other possible issues before attempting to fix the registry itself.
System slowdowns or other error messages can have elusive causes under Windows XP. Viruses, Trojans, poorly-written applications, power surges and any number of additional causes can generate these instabilities which, over time, accumulate to bring your system to its knees.
Before you start trying to find ways to fix it, you should identify the problem first and find out if the registry is really broken. The trick on how to repair broken registry in Windows XP is to perform various scans for problems and diagnostics outside the registry.
Improper tampering of the registry can cause even more problems so you should repair it only if you really need to.
Scan for physical problems
Performance issues are sometimes caused by corrupted system files, often damaged by power surges or improper shutdowns. In many of these instances, Windows XP's own hardware diagnostics may identify and fix the damaged files on your drive. In others, a simple disk defragmentation may be all that is needed to resolve performance issues.
Check for malware
If your computer is acting very strange, most likely a virus or trojan running free in your system.
Never repair broken registry in Windows XP if a virus is present the virus may re-infect things that you previously fixed. Get rid of the threat first and then proceed to checking for registry issues.
Remove suspicious programs
Scanning installed applications via the add/remove programs menu in the control panel is good policy for maintaining a healthy system. Any mysterious programs you find may very well be responsible for either corrupting your registry or for interfering with legitimate applications and causing performance issues.
This is another step that should be performed before cleaning the registry. Rogue applications may restore any keys deleted by registry repair programs, and as such will interfere with your efforts to clean the system.
Restart and do another check
Now that you've performed some basic system maintenance, restart your computer to discover whether the problem still exists. If items are missing or some settings can't be saved, then the registry is likely the cause of any remaining issues.
Install a registry cleaner and perform a full scan
Now that you taken care of the physical and malware problems, you should be able to repair broken registry in Windows XP without going through much trouble. All you need to do is install a credible registry cleaner and do the longest and fullest scan possible.
After all the results are shown, make sure you save a log and find out if a backup option is available to avoid risks. Proceed with the cleanup and then do a restart after it finishes.
If still present, carefully note the symptoms, using them to determine if an online registry fix exists. If this is not possible, your registry may be deeply corrupted and it may be necessary to re-install as a last resort. It is generally much easier to use the many registry cleaners on the market if you've taken care of any other possible issues before attempting to fix the registry itself.
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If the system maintenance steps alone aren't enough to eliminate your problem, check our best registry cleanerssection for a list of good registry cleaners. One of these is sure to straighten out any registry issues once and for all. And don't forget to visit us for more tips on How to Repair Broken Registry in Windows XP.
