It is just not a good practice to mess with the registry and to stay away from registry cleaner programs it can do so much harm very quickly if not used by someone who really knows the registry.

I also would get rid of that program completely.
did the program you used create a backup that you can revert back to in case what it did created problems? Never ever use one that does not do that.
It is much better to come ask us about a program prior to using it, at the security clean up forums it is advised to stay away from registry cleaners for the most part.

Have you run malwarebytes ? if not install it update it and run full scan let it clean what it finds.

what operating system are you using and how much Ram do you have in it, you can run belarc to find out info on your computer
Belarc
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
both are free
do that and report back

In my opinion, anybody who tells you he can get rid of all "not responding" problems and that they are all caused by the registry is telling you a lie. There are many possible things that can cause a program to stop responding. As you discovered, some of them may well be temporary.

Follow the steps ravencajun outlined. They may not fix the not responding problem, but if you have any malware, you'll be on your way to getting rid of that issue.

Ohhhhhh Dear! My Mother recommended the PerfectSpeed Optimizer. She has been using it and hasn't had any problems! One thing though.....my "not responding" problem started before I installed that program. I just installed the Malwarebytes as you recommended and did a quick scan, found nothing, went ahead and did the full scan and it found nothing either. The Belarc thing is taking forever looking for Security updates, so I don't have any answers there. I have Vista Home Premium OS. What else should I do?
I don't believe there is a back up option with the PSOptimizer.

look in your event viewer to see if you have any thing giving red flags it is likely one program that is causing the problem.
Introducing the Vista Event Viewer

That Belarc Analysis has been checking for Security Updates for hours now. What's the deal? I finally got the statistics sheet. What do you want to know besides the RAM? 320.07 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
236.66 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
Does that tell you?
I went to the link you gave for the Event Viewer. Where do I go from there? Is it a download? Free? Help!!!!

No, find RAM here see the MYCOMPUTER ICON on the desk top, or it could be in click start, in there look for something that says MYCOMPUTER, when you find it RIGHT click it, see the window that opens at the bottom of that window click properties in there it will list RAM (MEMORY) please tell us how much it will also list processor information.

What operating System do you have, XP, Vista, Windows7, or windows 98?

NOW DO THIS BELOW: POST THE LOG...

Please download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to your desktop. Click here
Double Click mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
 Make sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.
 If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
 Once the program has loaded, select "Perform Full Scan", then click Scan.
 The scan may take some time to finish,so please be patient.
 When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
 Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
 When disinfection is completed, a log will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart.(See Extra Note)
 The log is automatically saved by MBAM and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
 Copy&Paste the entire report in your next reply.
Extra Note:
If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove,you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts,click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process,if asked to restart the computer,please do so immediately.

1 Answer the questions please.

2 Post the Malwarebytes log.

Zep, as I posted above, I have Vista. I did both the quick and the full scan with Malwares and it said I had no infection. I have 2.00GB Ram. What else? What about that Event Viewer? Thanks!

Lets see what's running post a hijackthis log, still have program?

Click Here to download HJTInstall.exe
 Save HJTInstall.exe to your desktop.
 Doubleclick on the HJTInstall.exe icon on your desktop.
 By default it will install to C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis .
 Click on Install.
 It will create a HijackThis icon on the desktop.
 Once installed, it will launch Hijackthis.
 Click on the Do a system scan and save a logfile button. It will scan and the log should open in notepad.
 Click on "Edit > Select All" then click on "Edit > Copy" and Paste the entire contents of the log (no attachments) into your next post.
DO NOT use the AnalyzeThis button, its findings are dangerous if misinterpreted.
DO NOT have Hijackthis fix anything yet. Most of what HJT lists will be harmless or even required by your Operating System.

Casi go up 4 or 5 posts to ravencajun's post and you will see she has provided a link to a Vista Event viewer tutorial. You will be looking for red error messages in the system folder. Double click on any red error message you see for an explanation and most often there will also be a link there to a site offering a fix if there is one.

As I am not a Vista user I cannot remember the sequence of events to get there but the link shows that. It seems more confusing than the event viewer in XP to me but that could be due to a lack of use.

OOOOOH Wait Zep. I'd love to do that HiJack thing, but I just found the Event Viewer. I have 7900 events!!!!!!! OMG. They consist of red errors and some yellow warnings.. When you click on them it generates a detail from Microsoft. The first one is a CDROM problem. It says it most likely is a cord that connects the Drive to the computer. My current problems started when I tried to burn a DVD. I had done a couple already and didn't have any problems. Could it be the cord that connects the Camcorder to the computer? I did leave the failed DVD in the computer, maybe it caused a lot of the errors. I guess I need to try to see if I can burn something just on the computer and disconnect the camcorder.
Is there any need to do the hijack thing?

No I guess not...

Well, been studying this event viewer; probably 90% of the errors are CDrom related, but it goes back even to April so it isn't my connection to the camcorder. I have used it some, but never really had a problem til this last week. Am I going to have to get some professional help to see if the CDrom isn't connected right? It does say to clean it. How? I wish I had known about that viewer. Most of that stuff I have no idea what it is talking about.

I think it is talking about the internal connection cord that connects the cd drive to your mother board, it may be loose or have a bad connection it may have a lot of dust bunnies built up in there, when is the last time you opened it and cleaned the inside? I figured it was your cd/dvd drive causing the problem that is pretty common with that kind of error especially when it was happening when you used it. It may be that your cd/dvd drive is going bad too.
Cleaning the computer and its components

you can open the case once you turn off the pc and disconnect it from all power, clean it and then while in there check to make sure all your connections are secure not loose or anything like that.

Thanks RavenC. I have never cleaned it! My machine is only 1 1/2 yrs old, so I wouldn't think it would be going bad. It does sit in a room where we have been doing a lot of construction, so it may be dirty. Even though it shows errors back in April, I don't remember having a problem using it then. I will definitely work on it. I was so discouraged last night when I went to bed. I have been so excited about getting those movies on DVD and here I may have some major computer problems with a practically brand new computer! My 7yr old machine is getting slow, but it just keeps chugging along.
I'll let you know how I progress.

I have a HP Touchsmart PC, if you aren't familiar with that, it is sort of like an "all-in-one", so there is no "tower". I finally did figure out some screws that I could remove and actually did lay eyes on the "inards". It was dusty, but not near what I expected. All I have is a regular vacuum, which I used on the outside. On the inside I pretty much just blew around until nothing blew off anymore. I didn't see any loose wires, so I have not idea about the connecting cord to from the CDROM to the computer itself. I am not getting anymore error messages which I'm pretty sure it was related to that DVD being left in. I am going to try to do a burn today and see what happens. I'm able to use the different CDs and DVD's, so I don't know. I appreciate everyone's input.

I wanted to address part of your question I neglected and that was about the error nerd, please stay away from that site and applications it is RED listed on WOT so definitely not a place you want to go to or download from.

You should not leave anything in the cd or dvd drives unless they are being used, when not being use take them out asap.

and definitely keep away from any registry cleaners and I would really urge caution to your mother if she is using them, we see computers that are so screwed up after people use registry cleaners with out the proper knowledge and usually the only recourse is to wipe clean and reformat.

Also just because a pc is new and the components are new does not mean they can not go bad, some are bad on arrival, and I have had to change the cd/dvd on several computers, when you use them repeatedly they do generate a lot of heat, so anytime you will be burniing try to space it out so as not to keep it continually running for long periods you want to keep the heat down, heat is a real killer. The model you have is very compact so has even less air flow space inside, keep it cool, I put a little fan on my desk that blows directly on mine to help keep things cool.
Getting the dust out is good, you can use the canned air to help blow out dust also.

the link at the bottom is the WOT rating page for that nerd site, you might want to add WOT to your browsers it is a super helpful tool.
Free Internet Security WOT Web of Trust

Here is a link that might be useful: ratings page