Windows Registry Tweaking and How it Impacts the Performance of your Computer

PC users who are unhappy with certain aspects of Windows and its performance often resort to registry tweaking.  The main goal is often to modify default Windows behaviour and settings to better suit user needs. Tweaking is a general term that refers to any manual changing of the registry. In practical sense there a many, many kinds of tweaks depending on what values you are changing and what you are trying to accomplish.

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Before you start editing the registry, make sure you create a backup of the same. If you are editing specific registry keys, create back up of those as well. Make sure you have a system restore point just in case things go the wrong way.  If you have read about specific tweaks on the internet and you want to implement them, ensure that the source of the information is reliable and trustworthy.  And if you are planning to implement a large number of tweaks, don’t do everything in one go.  Make a couple of tweaks, reboot (for tweaks to take effect) and if everything is fine, proceed with implementing a couple of more, and so on.

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Manual Tweaking vs. Tweaking Utilities

For a beginner computer user there are lot of good resources on how to do specific tweaks. As long as you know what your goal is (e.g. better computer performance, improve the internet connections) you can accomplish it.  This said, it is also normal that an average PC user, who does not know much about the technical aspects, is nervous about modifying registry.  And this is a valid fear.  If you make a wrong change you can incapacitate the whole machine, damage critical files, brake software applications, or even break connections with peripheral devices.

The good alternative to manual tweaking is to use Registry tweaking tool.  There are many on the market, some are free, and others you have to purchase.  Utilities such as Magic Tweak, WinBubble and Ultimate Windows Tweaker are easy to use with a self-explanatory interface.  By using these tools you are certain that you won’t incidentally damage other registry sectors.  Some of the options offered with these tools are icon changes, internet explorer settings modifications, computer optimization, and over a hundred other types of tweaks.

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Types of Tweaks

As a PC user you are probably wondering what kind of tweaks can you do and what is the final result.  Ask yourself, what aspect of your computer experience you want to change.  If you are using a lot of multimedia files, you might want to get a better, faster access to these (e.g. AVI) files.

The most popular tweak is the one that improves performance of your computer. Better performance means your application will be open and work more quickly, faster gaming experience, better responsiveness. Many users complain that it takes a long time for their machine to load and to shut down.

There are many other tweaks that we will mention in a future articles.  Other tweaks that PC users are implementing are icon changes, menu edits, command console, search optimization, …

In the end, whether you are using tweak instructions from the internet or you are using registry tweaker utility, make sure that instructions/tool refers to your version of Windows.