That is a trustworthy product but as far as whether it is essential or not - I would say no. It's true that uninstalled programs often leave stray registry entries or even files on your system. In most cases, these do not cause any problems. However, using a program which may weed out the wrong registry entry could make an existng application inoperable. My general philosphy in regard to registry cleaning is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

There is a freeware program called CCleaner that not only cleans out temp files, but also identifies and fixes registry issues. It is a program that is suggested to be run as part of the MRP to clean out temp files, but if you use its "Issues" function, it will identify registry entries that are no longer required. You can then elect to delete those entries. I have used it before successfully with no problems.

I would use any registry pruner or cleaner with caution, however. Make sure that before you use it that it has a feature to backup all registry changes that were made, so they can be restored if a post-cleaning problem results. CCleaner does have that option, so if you do decide to use CCleaner to clean stray registry remnants be sure to use that option as a safeguard, first.

To get rid of infected registry entries, you can use a program that disinfects the registry like SUPERAntiSpyware or Spybot S&D, both of which are recommended in the MRP.

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Negster22 - MS MVP - Consumer Security 2006-2008

Thanks again, Negster22, and the Uniblue product had been uninstalled.

Btw, she used CCleaner without problems on Win XP. (I hope that is correct.) Not sure about Vista yet.

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Microsoft MVP Consumer Security 2006, 2007 & 2008

David's HJT log indicates he has XP, but it is true that I have not tried CC on Vista.

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Negster22 - MS MVP - Consumer Security 2006-2008