Delete Broken Registry Items on Windows

How to Delete Broken Registry Items on Windows?

In this article, we are going to explain the corrupted or broken registry items and the procedure to delete the broken registry items on Windows 10. But before analyzing the corrupted registry item and ways to delete them, it is far more important to differentiate between registry items & broken registry items.

Windows registry is more like a compact Windows database, and the registry files contain all kinds of information your computer operating system may require during its processes, such as various accounts information passwords, hardware & device drivers’ information, installment files linked with many systems apps, and many more. You can easily access the registry editor app on your computer system by navigating via Windows administrative tools.

What are broken registry items?

Some registry files may get corrupted due to particular reasons such as malware or virus attacks, duplicated files, wrong editing of any registry file, etc. These corrupted registry files are also known as broken registry items. Malware or virus may make changes to the registry items unknowingly, leading to broken registry items. Sometimes when you delete any file or uninstall any app, its stub may still reside in the Windows registry.

 In other cases, whenever you attempt to update or reinstall any app, its registry value may get duplicated, which may cause the broken registry items. The presence of such broken registry items is not a good thing for your computer system as it slows down your OS’s performance, and in the worse cases, it can even crash your whole computer system. So, it is suggested to remove broken registry items timely.

Is It OK To Delete Broken Registry Items on Windows?

The registry carries essential data that plays a critical role in operating the Windows System. So before you make the decision to delete, add, replace or change any registry items, consider its far-reaching consequences. Any registry operation can cause the missing work data, app crashes/hang, or even cause the PC not to boot. 

We highly recommend you be extremely careful when doing any operation to fix the broken registry. It’s always the best idea to make a backup of your Registry data before proceeding with any operation. 

How to Create Windows Registry Backup

Before you perform any methods to delete broken Windows Registry items, follow the steps below to create a registry backup first:

  • Click open the Windows Start menu and type run search bar. Open the Run dialog box. (Short cut: Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box)
  • In the Run, type regedit and hit enter.
  • Once the Registry Editor opens, find the File tab on the upper right and open it. 
  • Now find and open Export from the drop-down menu. 
  • Type in a file and click on the Save option to save the Registry file items on your Windows. 
  • The saved/exported registry files will get saved automatically as a .reg extension by default.

How to get rid of broken registry items?

Are you the one searching the query “how to remove broken registry items windows 10?”. Here we are going to share 4 quick & working ways to get rid of broken registry items. We have omitted a very common solution of restoring the files as this tactic won’t work unless you make sure you have backup your system in the past.

Complete disk cleanup 

The first thing you can try to resolve this broken registry issue is to perform a thorough cleanup of your disk manually. Follow these simple steps stated below to clean up your disk.

  • Search for the disk cleanup program in your system by entering “Disk cleanup” in the search bar on the desktop.
  • Open disk cleanup app and select the particular drive in which your windows is installed; most possibly, it’d be a C drive.
  • In the next step, you can manually select the files to delete by your choice.
  • Then click on the “clean up system files” button to proceed with the disk cleanup process.

System files checking via CMD

You can also run a system file checker command in the command prompt to identify & remove the corrupted files in your system. Follow the procedure to perform this tactic, as stated below.

  • Open command prompt in administrative mode.
  • Type this command “SFC /scannow” and press enter.
  • This will scan all your computer files and will automatically remove corrupted files.

Startup repair or auto repair

This startup repair method will repair your system automatically. You need to practice the following steps in the same sequence as mentioned below.

  • Open the “Windows settings” interface on your PC first.
  • Select the update & security option available in Windows settings.
  • Select the “recovery” option from the left panel menu.
  • Click on the “Restart now” button accessible below the “advanced startup” tab.
  • Choose the “troubleshoot” option from the displayed options.
  • In the window next to troubleshoot, you’ll get 2 options “reset this PC” and “advance options.” Click on “advance options.
  • Select the “startup repair” option available on the top.
  • Choose a particular user account and proceed with its password to continue the repairing process.

System recovery method

The system recovery method may also work to fix this broken registry files issue. Follow the step-by-step procedure we have explained to recover the computer system manually via the control panel.

  • Open the control panel on your computer system.
  • Select the “system restores” option available to undo recent changes that occurred in the system.
  • Select the “restore system & settings” option and click on “next.”
  • Click on the “Scan for affected programs” options. 
  • Confirm your restore point from where you want to undo the specific changes.

Reset the PC

If none of the solutions stated above worked in your case, you can go for the reset option then. The following step can help you to reset your PC with Windows 10 operating system.

  • Navigate to windows settings on your computer system.
  • Select the update & security option available in your windows settings interface.
  • Click on the recovery option available in the left panel menu.
  • Choose the option “reset this PC” and click on the “Get started” option to proceed.
  • Here you’d have 2 options such as “keep my files” & “remove everything.” 
  • Select the “keep my files” option to reset only the apps & system settings without deleting your personal files.
  • Then click on the reset button to reset your entire computer system.

Delete Broken Registry Items on Windows – Video Guide

Conclusion

Here, we have explained in detail what exactly the broken registry files are and how can you get rid of broken registry files. We have integrated the best possible ways to remove these corrupted registry files from your system, and we have also covered its various linked aspects. From the above discussion, we can conclude that it is quite necessary to scan your computer system frequently to eradicate the virus effects and backup your system & files.

A regular backup enables you to restore the important files & settings on your computer in case of any crash or broken registry files. If you have no backup file on your computer, then practice all these solutions one by one and always consider the “PC the reset” solution as a last option.

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