How Do You Find Empty Registry Keys?
Empty registry keys, or registry holes, typically are caused by uninstalling applications. As the programs are removed, they dump the physical data off of the hard drive and leave the data in the registry behind. At times, they may remove the data within the keys but leave the keys empty. This empty space still has placeholders allocated to memory regardless of whether the data is present or not. These superfluous keys can cause fragmentation issues with the registry. Click “Start” on the taskbar. Type “regedit” in the Start Search bar, or click “Run” if you’re running Windows XP, then type in “regedit.” The Registry Editor will open. Navigate through the Registry Editor and look for keys that are empty. Right-click any key you find to be empty and select the “Delete” option from the drop-down menu.
