If your system is running on Windows™,
your operating system has what’s called a registry. This registry is
what Windows uses to store hardware and software configuration
information, user preferences and setup information on your
computer.
What is a Windows registry?
The registry is the database in your computer that manages the
options and settings for your Windows operating system. It records
and stores the settings for your hardware, software, user
preferences, etc. Whenever you make a change to your installed
software applications, Control Panel settings, system policies and
file associations the changes are stored in the registry.
Why does the Windows registry
impact the performance of my computer?
Over time the size of your Windows registry grows and errors and
invalid entries begin to collect. This leads to decreased system
performance and an unstable computing environment. Your computer's
speed will continuously decrease and you will experience more
freezes and system crashes.
How do I know if my Windows
registry is corrupt?
If you've owned your computer for any decent period of time (a few
months or more) chances are that you have errors in your registry.
The longer you own your computer, the more errors your registry is
likely to have. Some of the common symptoms of a damaged registry
include decreased system performance, hardware malfunctions, Windows
errors and system crashes.
