I've experimented with quite a few apps since I've had my note 3 & when I use a file explorer I see a lot of empty folders the old apps have installed.

Is it worth doing a factory reset just to get rid of the stuff left behind by uninstalled apps or does the Wipe Cache Partition do the same thing?

Is Android like windows in the sense it can benefit from a clean install & last but not least, does google back up all my sms & whatsapp messages or would I lose them all? I've got about 2000 sms + whatsapp msgs & I'd be gutted to lose some of them & I'm not sure Kies 3.0 backs up WhatsApp images & messages?

It's not really that the device has slowed down, I'm just stuck in the windows train of thought that it can make a huge difference to performance if you do a clean install once a year or so. Does Android use a registry like Windows does anyone know?

Thanks for reading & have a great weekend ppl

If you're pretty militant in removing apps you no longer need, then you'll probably not find much (if any) benefit from a factory reset. That having been said, sometimes it's nice to have a fresh start now and again, in which case you would need to get an app such as SMS Backup + or similar to back your SMSs into the cloud. (Such functionality is supposedly coming to Hangouts at some point, but isn't here yet). I don't use it anymore but I seen to recall WhatsApp has its own backup facilities inside the app. If not, you'd need to find an app for this as well unfortunately.

Registries are pretty much a Windows exclusive thing and do not feature on Android. However you may find that some uninstalled apps leave some detritus in the folders that you've observed yourself. It won't affect the running of the device but sometimes a spring clean is nice!

Just get something like Clean Master off the Play store as they clean up all the junk on the phone.

Just wow, wow, wow.

As long as processes aren't left it will only be MBs on your phone. Are you paranoid?