BC-
H-U-G-E ... T-H-A-N-K-S ... for the link, GREAT reading!
I don't want to come off sounding like a Regy cleaning evangelist. I see my REAL problem was the perception of Regy cleaner tools as an any-person's-point-and-click-solution tool. They aren't. A great tool in the hands of a technologist could be absolutely devastating to the point-and-click community. Know what you're doing!
My "concern" is bloat from useless entries (orphaned entries left behind from uninstalls.) Admittedly it's an old concern born from the Win9x days when RAM, CPU speed and HDD space were limited. Those items are in abundance with today's new machines and the need to maintain a clean Regy is reduced. A good defragger is probably more effective now, in terms of improving operating speed, than anything else.
As long as one pursues a regular maintenance schedule -- of removing "temporary files", checking msconfig startups, and watching what "services" get loaded, with the addition of a good AV product and learning how to read the HijackThis log -- machines tend to remain healthy.
One of the comments made in that linked discussion caught me eye: (paraphrased) "tools written by computer enthusiasts generally perform better." I'd like to give that an "Amen!"
Thanks again,
Matt
