Don't expect perfection from PC utilities

I have a few computer clients as well as an online troubleshooting forum I frequent that have been asking a common question of late. The question usually goes something like: "Why is my PC utility screwing up my computer so that now program X and Y don't work properly anymore?"

Pretty much every I'll fix up your computer automatically even though you could do it better yourself utility, is designed to try to be all things to all people on all computers in every configuration. It's a fool's errand. Everyone's setup is different and the folks who wrote the software could not possibly anticipate what configuration exists on every PC. So when a generic program runs on a not-so-generic configuration, stuff happens. These utilities tend toward the aggressive side, meaning that files that should have otherwise been left alone are deleted. Same goes for registry entries. The program looks for registry data that seems orphaned and non-essential. But not every program on every computer follows proper registry protocol. So in a perfect world, these utilities would work fine. You know how the rest goes......

Let me try an analogy. If you hired a robot to clean your home, but the robot is not programmed to watch out for your prized collection of German beer steins - stuff's gonna get broken.
(no - that did not happen to me, I just have an active imagination)

You'll get much better results learning how to do the things utilities do...... yourself - manually. This is why I will never use any monstrosity like Norton Internet Security, Window Washer, or any other program that offers Cadillac features when all that is called for is Smart car functionality.