??? Please provide a link to empirical data - a real study (like that of Fred Langa above I provide), a white paper, a review site, anything besides a posters' opinion (with no supporting evidence) that illustrates this "sheer scale of problems" you noted.
Please provide a link to a industry respected expert who has conducted real research and who reports Registry cleaners will break our systems. A report that counter's experts like Mark Russinovich who reports every admin should have a good cleaner in their toolbox.
Your link illustrates one of the problems I noted above - you lump all Registry cleaners into the same pile. How is that fair? Are all anti-malware programs created equal? There are lists of rogue and fake anti-malware programs yet we don't automatically condemn them all.
There are junk and there are quality power supplies. Do we condemn them all? No! Instead, we point users to the known good products AND we teach them how to use them correctly.
PC Cleaner Pro is not CCleaner. CCleaner does NOT promise to "Fix Your PC Errors". It does not "tweak your complete system" to "Boost Your PC's Speed". It does not have a "System Optimizer" that will "adjust all your system settings at once", nor does it "remove malware".
BTW - I note the OP in that thread easily undid the changes PC Cleaner Pro made. Also, you say it shows where PC Cleaner made things worse, I disagree. He said PC Cleaner ran the night before - but he clearly states he had been having the problem for 4 days.
Please show us where Registry cleaners in general, and CCleaner specifically (since that is the ONLY one I recommend) "will usually cause more damage than good".
I contend that 10 years is a long time to hold a grudge - especially when it comes to ever-changing, ever-advancing IT and it behooves all of us as providers to regularly re-fresh our knowledge and re-evaluate our advice (and canned responses) to ensure what we think is true, still is.
For example, I note many of my colleagues regularly recommend the use of 3rd party defraggers like Auslogics' Disk Defrag with Windows 7 and Windows 8. Why? That is BAD advice! Or at least NOT GOOD advice. With XP, it may have been good, but not with W7 or W8. Using 3rd party defraggers will degrade performance, not improve it.
How many other software developers have been making such a destructive program of the "sheer scale" you mention for 10 years or more who are STILL in business with the same, highly recommended software?
Just to be clear, I reiterate my position here:
- I only recommend CCleaner's Registry Cleaner because (1) it is NOT overly aggressive, (2) it prompts to backup the Registry before making changes, and (3) its backup restore works.
- CCleaner's Registry Cleaner should only be regularly used to "maintain" a working computer - NEVER to "fix" a broken computer. And by regularly, I mean preferably from Day 1.
- Not all Registry Cleaners are the same.
- CCleaner is not a Registry "fixer".
- CCleaner is not a "system optimizer/tweaker".
- Piriform has long-standing reputation of producing quality products.
To be sure, I'm no naïve spring chicken here. I've been repairing PCs professionally since BEFORE there where 300 baud dial-up BBSs and Internet tech support forums. And for sure I would be lying if I said I have never seen where the "misuse" of Registry cleaners made matters worse. But if I used that logic to dissuade users, I would advise users to NEVER install service packs, update their BIOS, pull and replace their RAM, install a new graphics card, replace a PSU or apply thermal interface materials to a CPU because for sure, I have seen more broken computers due to user abuse, misuse and missteps during upgrades and failed repair attempts than I have from the use of Registry cleaners.
