Best Registry Maintenance & Cleanup Program?

[X-Savior]

Hello!

Ok, as the topic says, What is the best Registry Cleanup Program out there?

I have used Norton Systemworks and Registry Mechanic before. What are you people using and what do you recommend?

[ajua]

well, i use TuneUp Utilities 2006. its very good at what it does.

http://www.tune-up.com

it can clear temp files (i prefer ccleaner for this), scan registry for errors, defrag registry, startup manager, file shreder, uninstaller (i use smarty uninstaller pro for this), tweak lots of windows settings and more. give it a try.

it can schedule a system maintenance at specified intervals.

[godan]

I use ccleaner 1.27 (the lite build) its simple and stright forward however there are no really advanced features though..... but its FREE!

[X-Savior]

Very Interesting. I will look into them... Compared to Systemworks 2006 or Registry Mechanic 5, how do they stand up?

[jaclaz]

Look here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=68677

Comparison of 32 apps by Jeremy.

jaclaz

[ajua]

tuneup utilities has many features and all are neatly integrated with each other. i recommend it a lot. the ones i use the most are the registry cleaner and the scheduled system maintenance, also the tweak section is comprehensive (i prefer applying my tweaks during win setup though).

you cant compare systemworks or system mechanic since tuneup utilities is about system cleaning, maintenance and tweaking with no hassles. norton and system mechanic use this-program-is-doing-a-lot-of-things-as-the-gui-suggests but i doubt it. they do the same as many freeware apps and tuneup is not as expensive as they are.

[Jeremy]

When it comes to the registry, you have to use more than one program, and not necessarily freeware, but even payware because some registry cleaners like JV16 PowerTools do a terrific job of cleaning the registry. I don't think it is the registry's fault, but moreso the fault of registry cleaners in general. They all scan for different things and have different definitions of what is safe/unsafe to remove. For example, JV16 used to cripple Device Manager and VMWare Workstation due to excessive removal of OLE/ActiveX/COM entries. JV16 PowerTools also includes dozens of other useful tools. One of my favorite features of a registry cleaner is the ability to manually search for something specific; say you just beat CoD2 and want to see if anything was left behind after you uninstalled it. A freeware solution is found in RegSeeker, which is another favorite of mine.

From experience I've seen that a lot of registry cleaners focus on file/folder paths. I've come to the assumption that these particular entries are the most important for any registry cleaner to check. Second in priority are references to uninstalled software which left entries behind. Ace Utilities, TuneUp Utilities, JV16 PowerTools, and RegSeeker are the very best ones to use, in my honest opinion.

As for over system cleanup, obviously you would use CCleaner as it is free, updated frequently, has dozens of programs integrated into it, and cleans out everything from MRUs to Hotfix Uninstallers. I've seen it remove 1 GB of garbage on a friend's machine. It is truly an essential tool because there are so many general users out there that can't be bothered to search through the countless directories in Windows XP looking for files to delete. Let CCleaner save you time and hassle.

As you may know, the registry becomes full of gaps after you clean it out, so it needs to be "compacted" / "defragmented". There are several programs out there that have this feature, but from experience, NTRegOpt.exe (Windows NT Registry Optimizer) is the best because it is freeware and does the best compacting of the registry.

Finally, after all the smoke clears, you'll want to defragment and the best bet is to use PerfectDisk with SmartPlacement. It may take a long time depending on your fragmentation level, but it is the most efficient defragmenter out there.

Just for kicks and giggles, I'd like to mention RAM "optimizers". Never use one. They are totally bogus and only give n00b users the illusion of optimization. You want better performance? Clean the junk out, defrag and get more RAM. Simple as that.