How to remove a key from the registry 10. Cleaning the “tails” of a program in the registry remaining after its removal

Hello admin! Question, how to clean the registry from accumulated garbage: remaining keys, parameters, values ​​of deleted programs, but I want to do this correctly, since I have had bad experience.

Just recently I installed one program on my computer and was surprised to find that another one was installed along with it, some kind of operating system and registry cleaner. The most interesting thing is that this program began to run along with Windows, constantly offering to clean the computer of various garbage. Just for fun, I decided to try it and clicked OK, the process of cleaning the registry from unnecessary entries began, after a minute the check ended and the program issued a report, 1024 errors were found, which the utility offered to fix, I agreed and clicked OK again, the registry errors were deleted and the computer rebooted and didn't boot anymore!

The next time I booted, the error Windows\system32\config\system... and something else appeared on a black screen. With great difficulty, we managed to restore the operating system using your article.

I also found an interesting article on your website where you can clean the registry of keys left behind by a virus without resorting to any programs. That's why I decided to write to you and ask how to clean the registry from garbage, and is it even necessary, because many users never clean the registry at all and don’t think about it.

How to clean the registry

1) What is a registry!

2) Is cleaning the registry really necessary?

3) Did you know that if a malicious program leaves its keys in the registry, then no registry cleaner will find them. How to find unnecessary keys in the registry manually without resorting to any programs.

3) How to clean the registry with EnhanceMySe7en

4) How to clean the registry with CCleaner

Hello friends! A good question has been asked and to answer it, I will tell you in a nutshell what the registry is and how it is used by Windows.

The registry, an essential component of Windows, appeared in the ancient Windows 3.1 as a file Req.dat.

The registry contains a huge database or repository of configuration information of all programs installed on the operating system and Windows itself. Information about all users, file extensions, drivers, connected devices, activations, and so on, all this is stored in the registry.

Any application, when installed in the operating system, leaves its configuration data in the registry, and also any application does not delete all data from the registry when it is uninstalled (removed) from the computer. This is a well-known fact.

For example, I will remove the Adobe Photoshop program from my computer, and then check the registry for the presence of keys for this program and they will be there,

The same thing will happen with the Download Master program.

And if you remove a more serious program from Windows, for example, then pay attention to how much garbage it leaves behind in the registry. And if you imagine that we have been using the operating system for a year!

It becomes clear that quite a lot of this junk left by programs after being removed from the computer remains in the registry, but here’s another question, my friends - does all this junk interfere with the performance of the operating system? No one has been able to prove what is preventing it. Isn’t this proof that the well-known Microsoft developer of Windows himself never created a special tool for his brainchild that would automatically clean the registry. yes, it is also present, but you can clean the registry only manually using the special regedit editor built into Windows.

In what cases do I clean the registry myself?

Friends, at one time I experimented ad nauseum with various registry cleaners, but never came to a convincing result. I believe that there is no great need for constant automatic cleaning of the registry, since no automatic cleaning is as good as you think. If you deleted a program and it left its keys in the registry, then Windows will never access these keys and because of these keys there will in no way be a drop in system performance or any errors. Garbage in the registry can amount to several tens of kilobytes of unnecessary sections and have no noticeable impact on system speed

But you should still know how to delete unnecessary entries in the registry, and here's why.

As an example, I will give a real case. A friend of mine picked up a malicious program that launched an executable file from the C:\Windows\AppPatch\hsgpxjt.exe folder. We successfully removed the virus, but the entries created in the registry by the malicious program remained, since the following window appeared when the system booted.

None of the existing automatic registry cleaners helped me then; they simply did not find malicious entries.

I had to manually find malicious keys in the registry located in the registry hives

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Windows

Keys added

Load REG_SZ C:\WINDOWS\apppatch\hsgpxjt.exe

Run REG_SZ C:\WINDOWS\apppatch\hsgpxjt.exe

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Key added

userinit REG_SZ C:\Windows\apppatch\hsgpxjt.exe

I wrote a detailed article about this case "" you can read it. From this article you can learn how to find unnecessary keys in the registry using the regedit editor built into Windows.

Well, what can we wish for users who want to have an automatic tool for cleaning the registry at hand?

How to clean the registry with EnhanceMySe7en

Before using registry cleaner programs, I advise you to create a system restore point (let’s lay down a straw before we fall)

At one time I used the EnhanceMySe7en program, it is a very good tweaker for Windows 7, it includes two dozen convenient tools for managing Windows 7. EnhanceMySe7en also contains a startup manager, a hard drive defragmenter, a hard drive monitoring tool and a process manager (some tools are only available in the paid version ). This cool program is unfortunately in English, but everything will be clear to you just the same.

Official website of the program http://seriousbit.com/tweak_windows_7/

Click Download v3.7.1, 12.6 MB and download the free version,

It does not contain some tools, such as a hard drive defragmenter.

To start cleaning the registry you need to go to the Tools tab and click just one button Registry Cleaner.

Then you can view the Details or immediately click on the Delete button to Delete errors.

That's it, the registry is cleared.

How to clean the registry with CCleaner

An even simpler program is CCleaner, which is used by the vast majority of users. It is installed on literally everyone who needs it and doesn’t need it. Sometimes it seems to me that it is included in the set of standard Windows programs. No matter what kind of computer they bring to me for repair, it will always be installed there.

You can download the program on its official website

http://ccleaner.org.ua/download/

You can use a portable version of CCleaner that works without installation and carry it with you on a flash drive. There is even a version for Mac.

Downloaded, run the program as administrator.

First of all, go to Settings and select Russian language.

Registry tab. Click on the Search for problems button.

The first time the program finds a lot of errors.

Click Fix.

And select a location to save the backup.

Then you can view all registry errors or simply click the Fix marked ones button.

You will need this backup copy if something goes wrong after cleaning the registry. What could go wrong? For example, some already activated program will ask for activation again, but don’t worry, this happens very rarely. In this case, double-click the right mouse button on the backup registry file

Answer Yes

CLEANING THE REGISTRY OF OBSOLETE KEYS (Extension of the trial period of AKVIS programs)

Many articles posted on this site are devoted to the issue of reusing trial versions of various programs. The reason for this is that I am not a supporter of the use of unlicensed software, and I am convinced that if a person is going to use a program at a professional level, then sooner or later he will purchase its licensed version and use it with a clear conscience. It's another matter if a person uses the program from time to time. Well, in this situation, it would be a sin not to take advantage of the trial products offered by the manufacturer, for the reuse of which it is not at all necessary to use dubious activators (this is considered illegal), but rather simply make some changes to the system registry of your computer. There's just one problem. Not all computer users are skilled enough to edit their registry. Often they cannot find the necessary keys, even if they receive direct links to them, and sometimes their actions lead to unpleasant consequences in the form of disruption of the operating system or even complete loss of its functionality.

Considering the repeated requests from site users to simplify the search for keys that limit the ability to re-use some trial programs (including some programs from AKVIS), I decided to ease their pain a little. Let me make a reservation right away that I am in no way calling for piracy or the use of unlicensed software, but only showing some possibilities for editing the registry that can simplify the life of PC users who, often seeing an interesting program, cannot resist the temptation to install it on their computer.

Now to the point. Everyone knows that when a program is installed on a computer, it makes its changes to the operating system registry. An exception may be programs that do not require installation. Most trial programs, after installation on a computer (including programs from AKVIS), create keys in the registry that are actually not needed for the further operation of both the programs themselves and the operating system as a whole. Some of these keys are needed to show the program the remaining duration of the trial period. Removing the above keys will automatically extend the trial period. The whole question is how to find these keys. To search for such keys, you can often use programs designed to clean the registry. There are a large number of such programs. They can be both paid and free, and sometimes come bundled with paid antiviruses. Of course, the use of such programs is not a panacea for extending the performance of trial programs, but it often helps.

In the case of programs from AKVIS, the most effective is the free program Registry Trash Keys Finder (official abbreviated name - TrashReg). You can download the Russian-language version of this program from the official website of the program developer. On this site you can download a zipped file with the extension “. zip" and all you have to do is extract the archive to the specified folder and use the executive file " TrashReg. exe " It should be noted that the TrashReg program works without installation on a computer and does not itself make changes to the system registry.

After running the executive file " TrashReg. exe "The Registry Trash Keys Finder program window will open in front of you (see Fig. 1). The window is divided into two main horizontal parts. At the top (see Fig. 1) all outdated keys identified by the program are listed. At the bottom of the window (see 2 Fig. 1) the path to the registry keys highlighted at the top is indicated.

To achieve the effect of extending the trial period of those programs whose keys could be determined by the Registry Trash Keys Finder program, you need to delete the keys related to the trial programs. For the AKVIS Sketch program, they are described in the article “”. If it is difficult for you to identify the necessary keys (well, for example, you are interested in keys for other AKVIS programs), then you can delete all outdated keys identified by the Registry Trash Keys Finder program. To do this, select all the keys in the upper part of the window (see 1 Fig. 1), by clicking the right mouse button, call up the context menu (see 3 Fig. 1). After this, use the “Delete selected from the registry” button (see 4 Fig. 1) or “Delete ALL” (see 5 Fig. 1). After that, try running your trial program whose trial period has expired. In some cases (namely, with most AKVIS programs, this helps).

How convenient is the Registry Trash Keys Finder program? First of all, it's free. Secondly, it works without installation on a computer, i.e. itself does not make additional changes to the system registry. Thirdly, the program itself is very compact and takes up very little disk space. Fourthly, the program is quite fast. Cleaning the registry of outdated keys takes a little more than 10 seconds.

Along with its advantages, the program also has a number of disadvantages. First, it is not a panacea for all the tricks of software developers who object to their trial products being reused. For example, even AKVIS has already started using other methods to protect its products. For example, you will no longer be able to renew the AKVIS Sketch Video Classic program this way. I think they will come up with additional protection for their other products. Secondly, this program allows you to identify “outdated keys” only for some programs. Thirdly, this “registry cleaner” identifies a small part of outdated keys, and its use does not speed up the computer. This means that lovers of “freebies” who thoughtlessly install a lot of even useful programs on their computers, no matter how powerful a computer they have, will still eventually face a situation where their PC starts to slow down terribly.

Despite the minor shortcomings, the program's developers should be commended for their work, and those who use their product can show their gratitude on their official website using the Donation section.

Note: Despite the fact that the use of TrashReg programs is quite safe, from the point of view of its impact on the computer’s operating system, before deleting outdated keys, it is advisable to create a restore point, as described in the article “”.

Itsenko Alexander Ivanovich

Articles on similar topics: 1. « »

Hello everyone, today we will look at an interesting topic, namely, removing a key from the Windows 10 registry, I mean the activation key of your Windows. It is stored in the registry in encrypted form, but the fact is that it is not so difficult to decrypt and, of course, look at it. Do you understand? An attacker could take advantage of this!

So it may even be useful to remove it from the registry, since it can be used during the activation of other systems, as a result, your key will be blocked, you will not be able to use updates, and in general your Windows will become UNlicensed.

But this does not apply to MAC keys, they are not stored in the system, and also if your system was activated using a KMS server, because it uses a GVLK key, but everyone else needs to take care of their key, you have it in any case must be saved somewhere.

This method is suitable not only for the new Window 10, but also for other systems, that is, for seven, eight and even whist

I’ll tell you right away that you shouldn’t worry, this is all safe and will in no way change your current activation, everything is as it was - so it will remain. This key is already a dead weight; the system does not access it at all in the future. But I hope that somewhere you even have a key to your system? Well, maybe it’s stuck on the laptop or on the box

And now to the point - open the command line with admin rights, to do this, press Win + X and select this item there:

A black window appears, this is good, now you need to check that the system has been activated and everything is fine, enter the following command:

We press enter and see this message:

Now you can delete the key using this command:

In response, the team returned a message that the product key was successfully removed from the registry. The system remained the same as it was activated. But, there is something else interesting, even if you deleted the key, then using this command: slmgr /dlv you can get the last five characters of the key!

Instructions

The registry is edited using the regedit.exe program (located in the /windows/ folder) or regedit32.exe (located in the /windows/system32/ folder). For ease of use, create a shortcut to this program on the “Desktop” by right-clicking on it and selecting the “Desktop (create shortcut)” option. You can also run Regedit.exe by entering the regedit command in the Run form on the Start menu.

Launch the program. In the window that opens, select the “Find” option from the “Edit” menu or press Ctrl+F. In the form that appears, enter the name of the key that you are going to delete and click “Find Next.” Depending on the search parameters that are set in this window, the program will search for the required key.

Select the found key. From the File menu, select the Export option. In the dialog box that appears, set the file name (optionally, the name of the key you are deleting) and specify the folder in which to save the file with the reg extension. Click "Save". Saving this file will allow you to restore a deleted key at any time if its deletion negatively affects the operation of the operating system. To do this, just double click on the saved file and confirm the operation by clicking OK. As a result, the deleted registry entry will be restored.

Select the key, select the "Delete" option from the "Edit" menu and confirm your decision by clicking OK. Or right-click on the key and select the “Delete” option from the context menu. Close the editor and restart your computer. The latter is not always required, it depends on the parameter being deleted, but it still doesn’t hurt to do it to be sure.

You need to keep in mind that the registry may have several identical keys stored in different sections - HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and others. In some cases, it is enough to make a change in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER section so that it is automatically made in other sections. However, this does not always happen; for a complete guarantee, you need to delete the keys in all sections.

Editing the registry can be done using numerous third-party programs. Most of them save the registry settings before applying the fix, which eliminates the need to export (save) the remote key file yourself. In addition, the programs clean the registry and search for keys, displaying them all at once, while when searching in regedit.exe, after finding one key, you have to confirm the search for the next one each time.

The Ingoda system refuses to delete the key, informing you that you do not have permission to do so. In this case, highlight the subkey in which the key is located and select the "Permission" option from the "Edit" menu. In the window that appears, go to the “Advanced” tab and give yourself full access to edit this subsection.