I have been in the process of cleaning up my three year old computer in hopes that my baby will run like new. I’ve done everything else I know to do and everything else many others have told me to do. But looking online, many google.com searches result in me looking at some form of a registry cleaner. I’ve looked into a few specific registry cleaners like quad-cleaner, xp medic, and registry patrol, but I have been hesitant to try one out. I understand that cleaning up my registry is undoubtedly good, but my fear is that I won’t notice any improvement. Does anyone have any advice or a name for a different program that I could try? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Ccleaner is the most popular and best (in my opinion): CCleaner - Home (http://www.ccleaner.com/)

This is of course my opinion, but I prefer just wiping out the entire hard drive and doing a totally clean install of everything. In fact, I'm getting ready to do that maybe this weekend if I have time. It certainly cleans one's registry. ;) I try to do this a couple of times of year (meaning I can also do it fairly quickly). I feel like the clean-up techniques help in the short-run, but not in the long-run, especially when the long-run is years. A clean install certainly is "like new."

Of course, this does require backing everything up and knowing everything you need -- I do a Ghost image on a separate hard drive just in case I do forget something. (As Windows has gotten more complicated, forgetting something happens more frequently. :D) And it requires having all the original installation disks.

Assuming you are using XP, check this link out and refer to posts
3 and 5 - Information on Maintenance and ways to help improve speed of PC

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/computers-beginners/frequently-ask-questions-about-computers-233870.html