Outpost Pro Firewall started causing me some major problems, made the CPU shoot up to 100%, definitely a problem, happily back with ZAP.

Also, made some big changes with the software I use. Don't have CCleaner/RegCompact/TuneUp Utilities on my system, in fear of ruining my registry, heard too many bad stories form my local PC repair shop who have tested them, and also don't have Ewido, as ZAP comes with a decent Anti-Spyware, and I don't want another service on my system.

I don't like outpost but why did you get rid of ccleaner and regcompact.net? now your pc is going to get bloated and slow...

Out of curiosity what did the local pc shop say about ccleaner and regcompact.net? I'm curious because I've used them both on numerous computers and never had an issue.

Also I think the antispyware with ZA suite is Etrust's pest patrol. Its ok but ewido is better.

Well messing with the registry without knowing exactly what you're deleting is always high risk which is especially the case if using an unfamiliar registry cleaner. It's why common sense is needed by manually hunting down keys listed in a registry cleaner for verification, however most credible registry cleaners have a sufficient undo system to repair most mistakes. And don't forget ERUNT for backing up and restoring the registry.

I honestly have never had any problems with RegCompact.NET, however it isn't one of those apps that need to be used everyday. For instance in WinRescue it's recommended to only run it's RegPack (same thing that the freeware apps RegCompact.NET and NTRegOpt do) once a year.

ZAP may have a good anti-spyware, however Ewido is an anti-malware and has a good proven track record of dealing with malware (virus, trojan, spyware, etc., all of these are sub catagories under the malware moniker). It's what I use first before running an anti-virus on a known infected system. You may end up reconsidering its usage if you get infected.

Maybe with Ewido.

CCleaner and RegCompact are known to cause a lot of damage in the registry, and I can just use Disk Cleanup and manually delete a bunch of stuff myself.

Who says this ?

Known by who? What kind of damge? I'm thinking that these people at this computer shop were just BSing because they didn't know what they were talking about or because they wanted to sell you some other program. What possible harm could using ccleaner to delete temp files cause? The reg cleaner makes back ups and so does reg compact.net's...

They didn't want to sell me anything else at all. They tested it themselves on lots of PC's, and messing with the registry which is a fragile thing is not needed, and CCleaner and RegCompact are known to cause damage (registry wise). And what with some of the negatives I've heard people have with the Cleaner in CCleaner I'm not prepared to use it anymore.

i use ccleaner, ewido, spyware blaster, spybot, adaware, zone alarm personal, etrust ez trust, and tune up utilities.

no problems, computer is as fast when i got it, and the only time i have had problems is when i did something stupid (deleted a registry key, or downloaded something i shouldnt have) or used a program without reading the fine print (i know i know, but hey, we all have done it).

i have used cleanup! in the past, and experienced quite a few problems. didnt have any problems with avg, the only other anti virus i have used, so i think my combo is working for me.

oh, and i love firefox. was i rambling?

Um.. your just repeating yourself like a broken record..
You said they told you that ccleaner and regcompact cause registry problems, but you didnt say what they actually did(What is the damge?). What are the negatives you've heard about the cleaner in ccleaner from people?

the only negative i experience from ccleaner is the negative level of junk in my system.

I think that PC repair shop was blowing smoke up your backside, or perhaps they have another motive by not telling people to use known good trustworthy apps because holy s**t - an end user may actually be able fix something all on their own. Although with that said there are some registry cleaners that need a large ignore list so as to not remove valid stuff, and one registry cleaner to currently avoid like the plague is the one at Microsoft Windows Live Safety Center Beta because it detects a horde of valid registry, or lists data that can't be easily verified if it's invalid or valid.

Agreed. All of the products he has stopped using are ones I use frequently.

Well I disagree with you, it is nothing like that. but mae your own assumptions if you want, but they are false.

If you look through the bug reporting and discussion part of the forum, I think even you, Ultimate Pedator, would admit that almost all problems are caused by things like VB errors, and permissions issues.

Other common problems are cookie saving and that old chestnut, the progress bar. None of which come into the catagory you mentioned, registry damage.

Of course there was the recent hotfix problem but this was flagged up very quickly and lots of warnings were issued. A one-off problem.

All in all it's an easy to use program, which is not distructive to the user as are some others. We all like to change our setups now and again, products change, as do our likes and dislikes. However this doesn't mean you should slag off what I'm sure you know deep down is a decent and safe program.

do you have any proof? right now, you're only told us that there friends of yours put them on random comps and they messed up the registry along with other things. you haven't even told us what the damage was. if you go on saying that we are false when we are acually right, then what's going to happen is everyone will hate you and you'll go to hell (just kidding about the last part).

I couldn't agree more.

I personally have been using CCleaner for a long time (way before I ever joined this forum) and I have yet to have an Issues scan remove anything necessary or useful from my registry. Not to mention I put it on every single computer I work on, and on all of those dozens of computers, CCleaner has also not caused any problems at all.

A lot of PC repair groups, such as the one who gave you your information, write their own software for installing drivers or other tasks that they don't feel like manually performing on every computer they work on. I would be willing to bet that if something went wrong on the computers they worked on, it was due to their own cruddy software, and not CCleaner. Either that, or like Andavari said, they're just feeding you a line so that you get nervous about trying to fix computers on your own, that way they get more business form you.

Don't let em' sucker you into wasting your money. Commercial software is definitely not always the best software.

Well unfortunately back in Feb 2006 CC did remove three registry references "Active/X" to three Windows updates that I had just installed, which was an easy fix as I just downloaded the installers and reinstalled them.

Also as I've mentioned in another thread before when using other WinXP profiles the Issues portion wants to remove a handful of valid Start Menu shortcuts, however that has nothing to do with the registry itself. Therefore the registry cleaning isn't "error proof," however it is still the safest registry cleaner I know of even though it doesn't have an exclusion feature.

Exactly. It isn't error-proof, which is why I don't want to use it. They didn't specify what the exact damage was, but badly messed with the registry. It may well be the safest, but it still has the potential (as does TuneUp and RegCompact) to cause problems.

Doing anything has potential to cause problems. Hell just connecting to the internet could cause problems.
CCleaner and Regcompact arent perfect but they aren't "badly" messing with the registry either. Apparently that shop has scarred you enough to quit using some great software, sucks for you.

Why not get the guys from the computer shop to come here and tell us how regcompact.net and ccleaner are "badly" messing with the registry.

Hey, the more people with easily-removed spyware means more easy money.

I get a strange feeling when I hear (read) people badmouthing ewido, Ccleaner, and RegCompact.net at the same time. There are so many "computer experts" around that say idiotic things, then average computer users repeating these idiotic things until they become true. So Ccleaner is now "known to cause damage" -- ah yes, of course, I just remember the guy complaining in the main forum about Ccleaner having deleted his valuable applications!

You're not listening to me, so there's no point even bothering.

I am listening, but you ain't telling. Some guys in a computer shop tell you that "Ccleaner is known to cause damage". What kind of damage? Should any registry entry removed by the Issues scanner cause a problem, it can very easily be restored from the backup.

What kind of known damage does RegCompact cause? RC does not alter registry contents; it merely compacts the hives by removing empty space.

Unless they specifically give detailed information to backup their claims I wouldn't believe them, many people have bullcrap theories and preach them upon others without giving any kind of valid proof, don't believe everything you hear, or see. Your computer may actually be at more risk by following their questionable advice.


Ha, ha, that would be the day. They would probably get banned in a few posts and I doubt they'd have any solid proof.

I can't be bothered with this anymore. I'm off for good and sticking with Lunarsoft.

Sorry to hear that.
You said programs were causing issues and all I asked was why. Seemed like a logical question to me...

Hell, even Tarun said they were wrong.

Hmm... who created Lunarsoft? Oh yah.

That's your decision, if you don't want this to continue PM a Mod/Admin to ask for the thread to be locked.

As a long time forum member on here you'll be missed UP!