How to Fix the Windows Registry Manually?

To Clean or not to clean, that is the question. The really short answer to that question is: Probably not!

For the longer answer and my rational read on:

In the spring of 1974 before Microsoft unleashed Windows on the world I was in the back seat of a big green Plymouth station wagon rolling down Interstate 95 heading to Florida in what would become the last great family vacation. My Mom, Dad, Brother and two girls - one of which is now my wife - were on our way to Disney World. Somewhere in the Carolinas the family truckster started to run hot. This continued for a while and we made several stops on the side of the road to fill water jugs and poor the creek water into the radiator.

Eventually the Old Man decided that this wasn't going to get us to FLA and we needed to do something about the problem. We pulled off the highway and found a WalMart-like place. The Old Man went in and bought a Bunsen Burner, some solder, pliers and an adjustable wrench. I'd like to think duct tape was involved. In the parking lot of that store I stood by as the not so able assistant and watched as the Old Man took the ailing radiator out of the car and pinched off some of the duct-work, a little solder here and a little tweak there and installed the radiator back in the car. The whole project took about 2 hours and cost about $27.

That car carried us to our vacation and all the way back to Massachusetts with no problems - unless you count being 17 years old couped up in station wagon with your parents and brother for 3,000 miles a problem.

The Old Man won a lot of respect that day and I still call if I need mechanical advice.

The fact is that the mechanical genes didn't get passed along and if I ever find myself in a similar situation I'll be looking for the nearest reputable garage and pay the out of town Northerner surcharge and be on my way. For most of us ripping major automotive components out of a car and repairing them is not in our skill set and neither is editing the Windows Registry.

If your computer is running slow or freezing up or just not performing like it used to you could just get under the hood and fix it. But you better know what you're doing or be flat broke. There are products out there that are dirt cheap and super effective. Take advantage of the digital solutions that make use of high level engineering and sophisticated algorithms for the price of a steak dinner and a few mouse clicks. That way that old computer like that old Plymouth will get you where you want to go and you might even have some fun along the way.