As you already know, there are quite a few choices when it comes to choosing a registry cleaning tool for your Windows PC. And because you’re here, right now – we know that you aren’t merely looking for a registry cleaning tool; you’re looking for the best registry cleaner for Vista. There’s a difference, and we’re going to show you what to look for when you’re choosing a registry cleaning tool for your PC.

Look for a long history of development for Windows computers

Microsoft has been in the operating system business for a long, long time. Each and every time a new flavor of Windows has been introduced, application developers needed to upgrade and tweak their programs to work with the newest operating systems. If you find a registry cleaner that works with not only Windows Vista, but XP, ME, 2000 and Windows 98 – you can rest assured that this developer is dedicated to creating a stand-up product; one that will almost certainly perform with excellence on your Vista machine.

Look for a wide array of features

We are truly a “what can you do for me” generation – we’ve come to expect the best in terms of features and benefits from the software that we purchase, and a registry cleaning utility shouldn’t be any different. Some questions to ask yourself before your purchase:

• Is this software easy to use?
• Does this software make my life easier?
• Will this software identify and correct multiple registry issues?

Because there are so many programs to choose from, accept nothing less than a “yes, yes, yes” when going through this checklist.

Look for real user reviews of the software

There is no better way to determine the worthiness (or worthlessness!) of an application than by checking out what other people have to say about the product. Now, be forewarned that people are more likely to review something when they have a problem with it rather than when the product actually helped them. In all honesty, bad reviews shouldn’t necessarily reflect poorly on a product – they actually add legitimacy to what is being offered. That being said, if you find nothing but bad reviews about a product that you’re considering purchasing, you should be wary in these cases.

The best registry cleaners are those that are offered by a company with proven history in the field, offer a wide variety of easy-to-use features and have the praise of its users. While only one registry cleaner can truly wear the “best for Vista” label, we hope that our short little guide will help you find a registry cleaner that works for you.

When your Windows computer starts to bog down, slow down and stall during startup – there may be an easy solution to your problem. See, many times when your computer is slow during the boot up or start up process, it’s due to too many programs trying to load when your PC is booting up for the first time. We’ve put together this short tutorial to show you, step-by-step, how to remove unnecessary startup programs and how to identify which programs are safe to remove.

Removing unnecessary programs to speed up XP startup

In order to find out which programs are loading when your computer is starting up, you need to open up the System Configuration Utility. Don’t worry — it’s a quick and painless process.

To access this utility:

• Click the Start button on your desktop
• Click on Run on the right-hand side
• Type in msconfig
• Hit OK

Now, you’ll need to view the programs that are scheduled to load when your computer is starting up and you can find this information by pressing the Startup tab.

Once you have this opened, you’ll likely see a good number of seemingly confusing words and file locations – but all you really need to know at this point is that the boxes with checkmarks (on the left) represent programs that are scheduled to run when your computer is starting up.

Identifying unnecessary startup programs

Now, this part is a bit trickier — but fortunately you have some help to do this. You’ll notice that in the Startup section of the System Configuration Utility that there are words next to the checked boxes –these are the words that we are going to use to check against the Windows Startup Database to see if they are necessary programs, whether they are programs that you can disable or even if they are potentially malicious programs which should be completely removed from your PC.

When you are attempting to check whether an application is needed by Windows XP, the search term you will be using will be in the Startup Item column next to a checked box. In some cases you may be able to guess what an application is, for instance, YahooMessenger is the popular instant messaging software –Yahoo Messenger. Unfortunately, not all startup programs are as clear as our example here – which is where the Windows Startup Database comes in handy.

Once you have identified and unchecked the unnecessary startup programs from the System Configuration Utility, you’ll need to press the Apply button and then OK. At this point you will be prompted to reboot your computer, though it’s generally ok to wait for the reboot until you are done with your session.

This one easy tip can make an immense difference in the amount of time that it takes your Windows XP computer to startup. If your computer is still lagging when it comes to starting up, please see some of our other computer optimization tips for ideas on how to address this problem.