Registry files Windows 10
 

Multiple questions:

Is it safe to delete old registry files? Some goes back years.

Is it better to merge them? (How?)


At a minimum, how to remove registry icons from home screen?

I would be careful. I thought there was only one registry on the system and messing with it could cause real problems.

If you haven't already tried this, right click on the icon and select Properties. This should give you a better idea what the icon represents and what action it takes if you open it.

To be safe, I would just leave them alone.

An easy way to clean up your home screen, is to add a folder called "Unused Icons" and drag and drop the icons that you don't use often into the folder.

Precisely. If you don’t know how to handle registry files, leave them alone. If you do something wrong with your registry file, you might brick your computer that would require reformatting your hard drive and reinstalling Windows OS.

Glary utilities free can clean up junk on the computer and remove invalid registry values. Also can make a registry backup. Been using it for many years with no issues

Glary Utilities | Glarysoft

I use ccleaner - a free utility that removes some (but probably not all) unused registry entries

otherwise, I leave the registry well alone

well, registry backup files can be gotten rid of while saving the last several.

Are the files in question registry backup files?
however there are also image files, which you want to save on a separate device in case you have to
re-image your hard drive. . . image files you don't want to delete.

computer guy

The OP has not identified any problem with their computer. Are you suggesting that he/she do something? Why? My advice would be to leave it alone.

If it's not broken, don't fix it.

If you have to ask, then stop messing around with things.

Most utilities are putting a nice interface on standard windows commands. Lots of junk is left behind installs, uninstalls. Regular maintenance is needed. Glary utilities is simple and effective. Allows for backup of registry and other critical files which is important

You know, I never have to worry about those types of things with Linux!

I have never worried about them with Windows either.

Irrelevant and not helpful.

It’s really hard to push one button on a utility to solve an issue

upvote! seriously, this is the easiest and best thing to do

Glory Utilities is great for cleaning up registries. Windows has a built-in cleanup tool that can delete old registry backups. You can get to it from File Explorer, C Drive Properties. It can free up lots of disk space if you need it.