If you don't know how to clean the registry, chances are that you're not going to be able to learn quickly enough to really fix your system. The Microsoft Windows registry is a complicated database found on any Windows system. A Windows computer can't run without the registry, so learning how to clean the registry takes some pretty specialized knowledge.

In fact, you can learn all you want about the registry, but completely cleaning it isn't something you can do on your own. You can do obvious, smaller things. If you know you've uninstalled certain programs, you can search in the registry for anything associated with those programs. If you find information left behind from those programs, you can delete those.

But when you learn how to clean the registry, you learn there's more to it than just deleting those most obvious entries. There are also bits of information that get added every time you use your computer. Over a third of that information that's left in the registry is useless. Finding all of that and removing it is something you couldn't do (and definitely wouldn't want to do) manually.

That's because a day of using your computer can cause hundreds of bits of information to be added to the registry. Experts estimate that in one day of medium to heavy use, Windows can actually write to the registry up to a thousand times. In that case, about 400 different bits of information that were added need to be removed. You'll want software for that.

You can read "how to clean registry" books and websites and get good basic information about the registry and how it operates, though. If you're going to do anything to it, including cleaning it with software, it's a great idea to at least understand it.

Reading "how to clean registry" information, even if you never intend to make a single manual change, can also help drive home the point that you need to do a back up before tinkering with the registry in any way, including using software.

Even the best software could inadvertently remove something that needs to be there. If that happens, your computer can show severe problems and may not want to run at all. As long as you have a backup, you can restore the registry, and the system, to the way it was. This can save headaches and frustration, just in case something goes wrong.

Fortunately, good registry cleaner software will automatically backup the registry before it starts. And most of it will rarely make a change that causes problems. On the contrary, after registry cleaning, a computer typically runs much faster and much better with fewer crashes and quicker boot ups.

It's best, especially if you're not used to downloading software, that you choose a popular commercial registry cleaner or a very well-recommended free program such as CCleaner. Learning how to clean the registry is difficult, but choosing the right software makes it pretty easy for anyone.

The site of the week can be found at www.ccleaner.com

Thank you for reading Nathan's Plain Tech Talk. If your computer is giving you problems or causing you headaches, give me a call at 423-623-8500 or visit us at our new shop at Plain Tech Talk at 181 West Broadway in Newport . www.PlainTechTalk.com