Re: Windows registry cleanup tools

["Patricia M. Godfrey" priscamg@xxxxxxxx]

Harry Binswanger wrote:
> But I want to back up more than just data files. I want to backup the
> config files, at least, for what I've installed. Even if I can't backup
> the Windows OS, there's a lot of stuff that's neither than nor data (as
> conventionally construed).
Unfortunately, unless you really understand all sorts
of things about the inner workings of Windows (as I
suspect only Robert and Flash do here; I certainly
don't), having those files won't do you a bit of good.
The interrelationships among App A's config files, App
B's, Windows settings, the Registry, DLLs, and all
sorts of things are so complex that only an algorithm
can keep track of them. Look, how many times has even
M$ (and if ANYBODY knows this, they should) put out a
patch that broke half a dozen things (including some of
its own apps) to fix one problem?
And--another argument against Flash's MO--apps can get
corrupted too, and a naive end-user won't know when it
happened. I had a multifunction printer once; every six
months or so it would get totally corrupted and I had
to uninstall it (which involved doing Add/Remove
Programs, then deleting all the folders and subfolders,
then manually editing the Registry to remove a couple
of hundred--I'm not kidding--references to its parts),
then reinstall. After the third time, I said, "The
Hades with this; my time is worth more" and got myself
an Epson inkjet printer-only.
--
Patricia M. Godfrey
PriscaMG@xxxxxxxx