RegCleaner Readme

WARNING
This computer program is protected by copyright law and international treaties. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this program, or any portion of it, may result in severe criminal and civil penalties, and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under law. You are allowed to distribute RegCleaner on the internet only if you distribute it in it's original package. You must have the author's written permission to distribute RegCleaner on CD-ROM or in any other media other than the internet. E-Mail is acceptable as a written permission.
Disclaimer
This product is provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Jouni Vuorio further disclaims all warranties, including without limitation any implied or stated warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and no infringement. The entire risk arising out of the use or performance of this product and documentation remains with recipient. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall Jouni Vuorio or his suppliers be liable for any consequential, incidental, direct, indirect, special, punitive, recursive, or other damages whatsoever(including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, personal injury, disruption of family life, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of this agreement or the use of or inability to use the product, even if Jouni Vuorio have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Because some states/jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitation may not apply to the recipient.
Copyright Notice
This program is called "RegCleaner," Microsoft's registry cleaner is called "RegClean." My program has nothing to do neither with "RegClean," nor with Microsoft.
I am ready to change my program's name if Microsoft requests it.
Microsoft is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation.
All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
1999-2000 Jouni Vuorio
All rights reserved

Table of Contents
Introduction
What does RegCleaner do?
Why should I use RegCleaner?
Very important to know

About the Features
Backups
Command Line
DLL Files
File Types
Keyboard Shortcuts
New File
Options
Registry Cleanup
Remove .reg Files
Removing software's registry entries
Shared DLLs
Shell Extensions
Startup List
Tips and Tricks
Uninstall Menu
Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction
With RegCleaner, you can easily remove obsolete registry entries from software that you may have deleted ages ago.
What does RegCleaner do?
RegCleaner deletes registry entries. You can delete DLLs with the Shared DLLs feature, and shortcut files with the Startup feature. You don't even have to know what registry actually is to be able to use RegCleaner.
Why should I use RegCleaner?
You should use RegCleaner because it's a good idea to keep the registry as clean as possible. Here are some examples to help you to understand how RegCleaner can truly help you:
1. Say you've accidentally destroyed a nice shareware program what has a 30-day trial period. Later on, when you notice that it's been destroyed, you try reinstalling it, only to find out that you can't, because the program thinks that you're just trying to get another 30 days. If you first remove the program's registry entries, however, you may very well be able to reinstall the software and recover your trial period again.
2. You've found that your favorite program is an older version, and you want to download the latest whiz-bang version. The program, however, doesn't provide any uninstall utility, so you simply destroy its files and cross your fingers. But, as fate would have it, when you try to install the latest version, you see a dialog box such as this:
"Please uninstall the old version of this program before attempting to run this installation."
Great, now what?
Hang on; you simply remove the old program's registry entries with RegCleaner! Now you can continue installing the newer program version that you wanted to have originally(I'm using the word "programs", but most of these examples will apply equally to games and other software as well).
NOTE: Some programs register file types(such as: '.txt’), so when you've deleted the program, Windows reports an error when you try to run files that are registered to that program. RegCleaner removes(when possible) all of the registrations done by that program. Now when you try to run files that were registered to it, Windows will bring up a dialog box and ask what program you now want to use with this particular file type. You can then select a new association.
NOTE: In some cases, some programs have made particular file type registrations that aren't written into the registry. In those cases, RegCleaner won't help, but it's not RegCleaner's fault, it's simply the way the programs were written.
Very important to know
If you are not 100 percent sure that you have the original disk(s) for all items of software on your computer, and then don't remove anything. In theory at least, it's not dangerous if you remove registry entries of most software that you may be using, since likely you'll just lose your settings and some options, but there's always the risk that the software won't work at all any more as well.
Also, if you see some 'software' or 'author' like '! @#WFDSf&"!4e2e2', and you know that it's in the software section by accident, DO NOT REMOVE IT It's most likely some(stupid) program's(stupid) copy protection.
Example: Re-Volt and F-Secure's virus scanners do these.
NOTE: You must agree to the Disclaimer on the top of this page to use RegCleaner.
If you disagree delete the software immediately.

Backups
Here lies the list of current backups.
If you can't see the sections of text(the lines are too long), you can right-click the item you want to see better and a popup will show it. Click the popup to hide it. This works also in other sections, but there you have to only move the mouse over the popup to make it go away.
NOTE: The backups aren't removed even after you have restored them, if you want to delete some backups; you will have to delete them by clicking the 'Remove selected' button. It's safer this way.
Command-Line
RegCleaner supports these Command-line parameters: 'Automatic clean,' 'Manual clean,' 'no backups,' and 'one backup file.'
Example: RegCleanr.exe /automatic clean /one backup file starts automatic cleaning and RegCleaner makes only one backup file.
NOTE: You can use 'no backups' only with 'manual clean'.
DLL Files
With this feature you can delete obsolete DLL files. The list contains every DLL file, not justthe obsolete (because it's impossible for RegCleaner to know which ones are obsolete). You can mess up your system really good if you delete wrong DLLs, so please, leave this alone if you are not sure what you are doing.
File Types
Here's listed every file type or file extension. If you have tried some program and it have registered some file types (That means that you can access those files with a double-click. Example: you can view .txt files with notepad by double clicking such file). If you have found that program useless and uninstalled it, but some files are still marked like "Some programs some file". With this feature of RegCleaner you can remove those unneeded file extensions.
Keyboard Shortcuts
ctrl + s: Save the list as a text file
ctrl + q: Exit the program
ctrl + a: Select all items
ctrl + d: Select none
ctrl + i: Inverse selection
ctrl + f: Open the find dialog
F1: Open this Readme
F2: Open the old readme
F3: Visit my homepage to check for a new version of RegCleaner
F4: Show the about dialog
New File
Try to click you Desktop with the right mouse button, select 'New'. There a few files that you can create. Now, with RegCleaner you can remove some file types from that list.
NOTE: Example: WinZip and Adobe Photoshop add their files('WinZip file' and 'Adobe Photoshop Image') to that list automatically. If you remove them, they add them in there again.
NOTE II: This feature should not work under Windows95. Example: It has been reported that it doesn't work, but I haven't been able to confirm this myself. Try it.
Options
Marking as old:
-Automatic: All entries are marked as old when you exit the program
-Manual: You can manually mark entries as old
Registry Cleanup:
-Automatic: RegCleaner will do an automated registry cleaning when you click the Registry Cleanup button.
-Manual: RegCleaner will show you a list of all entries that are found to be invalid and they can be removed, you can then remove them if you like to. One by one or many entries at the same time. When you're done, click the done button on the lower left corner.
Uninstall Menu:
-Show all software: all software are shown in the uninstall menu
-Show only hidden software: only hidden software are shown, by hidden I mean software that is not listed in the Windows' Add/Remove software list.
-Donīt show hidden software: All the same items as in the Windows' Add/Remove software list are shown in the uninstall menu.
Registry Cleanup
This feature does basically the same as those expensive 'automatic' registry cleaners. That is, this feature automatically removes all kinds of junk from the registry. You can lose some programs options or such if you use this feature. In such case try to add the programs name(not the filename) to the Ignore List (Options>Registry Cleanup>Ignore List...). If that solved the problem, please report to me what you had to add to the Ignore List.
Remove .reg Files
You can remove .reg files from the registry with this feature. This can be done within RegCleaner(File>Remove .regs>Remove...), or by enabling the shell extension (File>Remove .Regs>Enable shell extension). If you choose to enable the shell extension, you can remove .Reg files from the registry with right-click menu. Just right-click a .reg file and select 'remove from registry'. You can afterwards remove the shell extension.
Removing software's registry entries
RegCleaner will search the whole registry and remove every entry that is created by the software you wish to remove. Of course, it's impossible to remove all the entries, but RegCleaner removes all entries possible. The main theme is security, there's no risk whatsoever to use RegCleaner. That is, if you use it right. I would like to point out that if you somehow manage to damage your computer with RegCleaner, It's not my fault. Read the Disclaimer for more info.
Shared DLLs
With this feature you can delete unused shared files. Here's only listed those files that are not used by Windows or another programs, so they should be safe to delete. Please note that RegCleaner will delete the file and the registry entry and then both are backed up.
Shell Extensions
Here's a list of all the file associations. Example: If you right-click an mp3 file, there's some special items on the popup menu, with RegCleaner you can remove those extra commands you don't need. Example: If you don't even have a printer you don't need ability to print some files with a right-click.
Startup List
Here lies the list that shows every program that is started from the registry and from start menu at the same time as windows starts. These programs can easily use an obscene amount of your computer's memory and decrease performance. Keep this list as empty as possible.
Tips and Tricks
If you can't see everything on RegCleaner, you can use the More Info feature by right-clicking the item you can't see entirely. When you have seen what you want, you can make the More Info to disappear by moving the cursor over it. In the backup section it disappears when you click it. If you can't see all the tabs you can double click the caption bar above it and a two navigation buttons appear. You can hide them by double-clicking the bar again. You can view the contents of backup files by right-clicking the backup you want see. You can see what entries would be deleted with right click and Advanced Info feature.
Uninstall Menu
Here's listed all the programs that are available for uninstallation through Windows. You can access this list also from Control Panel > Add/Remove programs. The main idea behind this feature is that you can remove the junk from the Add/Remove programs list. Like if you have deleted some program rather than really uninstalling it. It's uninstall stuff is still in that Add/Remove programs list. So with RegCleaner you can remove them from there. You can also uninstall programs with the 'uninstall' button.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I remove the entries that I want to delete using RegCleaner?
A: Simply highlight those entries that you wish to delete (with your mouse"select" key), and then click with your mouse on the "Remove Selected" button in the lower right corner next to the "Exit" button. The entries you've selected will automatically be deleted.
Q: What does the age-thing mean?
A: Itīs just a way to point out the new entries. And by new, I mean entries that you haven’t seen before. So you don't have to read the whole list, because the age-thingmakes the new entries appear on the top of the list.
Q: Does the registry cleanup work with every Operating System?
A: Yes. It supports every OSs as the RegCleaner itself (Win95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT4,2000)
Q: What's the difference between 'Uninstall' and 'Remove selected' button in the uninstallation screen?
A: Uninstall button uninstalls the program but the' Remove selected' button only removes the program from the list.
Q: What are those "unknown entries?"
A: They can be anything. Might be some copy protection stuff or just some program's settings or something. You see, some programs just add their stuff to the registry but don't bother to actually mark what program added them. Actually quite stupid, but some programs just work that way.
Q: Even though I have restored a backup it still is in the backup section, why?
A: If you don't need that backup again, then just delete it.
Q: Do I have to delete the old version of RegCleaner before I can install a new one?
A: No, You can delete it, but there's no need to.
Q: How do I uninstall RegCleaner?
A: Just delete it. RegCleaner doesn't make any entries to the registry or to any other files in your computer.
Q: Is RegCleaner free?
A: Yes, 100% free. No sponsor banners, nothing. A true freeware.
Q: Does RegCleaner contain so-called 'easter eggs?'
A: Yes it does. Three to be exact, two has something to with the search feature, and one with the about box...
Copyright 1999-2000 Jouni Vuorio
All Rights Reserved
Click here to send Jouni Vuorio an E-Mail
Go to Jouni Vuorio's Website
Click here to send Adam Severns an E-Mail
Go to Adam Severns' Webpage
This Readme was created by Adam Severns.