Out of all the complaints I get about computers the one that people misread the most is the slow Internet syndrome. The call usually goes like this: "Jose, my Internet is slower than before. I can't even open two windows at the same time and all I get is the cursor hour-glassing."

After a couple of minutes in front of their computer I figure the problem is not in the Internet connection; I connect my laptop to their router and show them what high speed looks like. "Yeah, that's the way it used to be" they all say.

You see when you have registry problems your computer slows down, it freezes on you and it always blames the Internet. So what are some of the causes registry problems? I'll mention two of the most common:

• That program you installed just to see how it worked and later had problems de-installing.
• Viruses

The first one, programs that are improperly de-installed, can really mess up your day. You keep going back to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs and the little #^%$& it's still there. If you are like me you'll spend hours going back and forth trying to delete the program, many times making the problem a bigger one. The second, viruses, we all know about; malicious programs intended to get you admitted to the psych ward. And although these two are not the only reasons for a corrupted registry, the end result is basically the same: time wasted in front of the computer waiting for it to do what you are asking it to do.

So what to do about it? After all that's what you are here for. I have two solutions:

• Manually fix the registry
• Get a registry cleaner program

I can already hear the screams of computer techs; how can you recommend someone to go into their computer registry and fix it themselves? Are you nuts? You know why they panic? Because if you don't know what you are doing chances are you'll mess up your computer to a point where it may not work again. So no, I am not recommending you do that, unless you are trained and are positively sure of what you are doing.

The second option is to get one of those registry cleaners. The advantages of a registry cleaner is that they are programs easy to use, they are inexpensive and they do a very good job of identifying the problems and fixing them.

I wish I could say that all your computer problems will someday disappear but that's not something I see happening soon. In the meantime when your computer starts to slow down run the registry program and watch out when installing and de-installing programs.

Click below or more information on Registry Cleaning:

http://eCa.sh/T4EI