A registry scan program is a program that automatically scans the entire registry of a computer in order to find any errors located within the registry. In addition to this, the registry scan will also eliminate any files or information that is no longer needed or used on the computer. In other words, a registry scan program will repair files and pieces of information on the computer and make space on the computer's registry by removing clutter from the registry. By removing clutter, the computer will have more space and will operate a bit faster.

On the majority of registry scan programs, there is an option for performing a manual scan of the computer's registry. Many people click on this option, see how complicated it looks and decide to opt for the automatic scan. However, there are some people who believe that they can fix their computer on their own and that they know exactly where the problem is.

It is rarely to never encouraged for an individual to perform a manual registry clean up. The only time it is likely that an individual will perform a manual registry cleaning is when the individual is a computer expert. Manually cleaning the registry of a computer is very risky to the computer. You risk losing crucial information to the operation of your computer. If you were to accidentally remove a piece of this information, there would be no way to retrieve the information.

The most crucial thing about manual registry clean ups are:

- You can easily remove files and information that are crucial to the boot up of the computer.

- You can remove information needed for the operation of the computer or the programs installed on the computer.

- If you remove any of these files from the computer's registry, there is no way to retrieve them and place them back in the registry. Once the information is deleted, it is deleted. This means that you will have no choice but to take your computer to a professional.

The only individuals who should perform a manual clean up of a computer's registry are highly trained computer experts. Anyone who is not a highly trained expert in computer technology should allow the registry clean up program to perform the automatic scan on the computer in order to avoid the erasing of any crucial files on the computer's registry.