Free Windows Registry Tools
I have two tools to recommend if for optimizing your Windows Registry. Both are completely free and I’ve found both to be very effective. If you think you don’t need to clean your Registry, you’ll think otherwise once you scan it with a cleaner. Make sure you back up your registry before using either of these! Creating a restore point using the Windows System Restore will do the trick.
First clean up your registry with the Wise Registry Cleaner. Be sure to get the free version, not a trial of the pro version. This program will remove old registry entries that point to things that no longer exist, etc. On my installation of XP, the Wise cleaner found hundreds of useless entries that were fattening my Registry.
Second, you can actually defragment your Registry and remove wasted and unused space, which can possibly help the computer to be more responsive, though probably minimally. There is a tool that can do this for you in seconds. For this job, use the freeware app Auslogics Registry Defrag.
