The Windows Registry is the place on your PC where Windows stores information it might need to retrieve later--for example, when you open an application or change a system setting. The registry contains profiles for each user, the applications installed on the computer and the types of documents they create, what hardware exists on the system, and the ports being used.

Over time, the Windows Registry can begin to contain information that's no longer valid. Maybe you uninstalled an application without using the Add or Remove Programs function in the Control Panel, or perhaps an object or file in the registry got moved. Eventually this orphaned or misplaced information accumulates and begins to clog your registry, potentially slowing down your PC and causing error messages and system crashes. You might also notice that your PC's startup process is slower than it used to be. Cleaning your registry once a month via the Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is the easiest way to help avoid these common problems.

While this is fairly easy to understand, I have heard both sides to this. Some people say that you should clean the registry and other's say that you shouldn't. What I would like to see is an article on why you should not clean the registry. When I say clean, I mean use a software program to do the task. I don't mean editing the registry manually because that is not a smart move to make.

Justin