Auslogics Registry Cleaner is a good choice for home users who have some familiarity with the Windows Registry. This no-nonsense application performs quickly and reliably, with good backup and restore features combined with user guidance.
Registry Cleaner looks for errors such as missing files or devices and invalid entries in categories like as Add/Remove Programs, Fonts, Shortcuts, and Virtual Devices. The application, which presents a wizard-like approach, defaults to the recommended quick registry scan option. This will scan six problem areas. Advanced users can choose from 10 additional categories, such as Classes & Active X Objects and Software. Scanning is quick–a couple of minutes for a registry of 80,000-plus keys–and fixing is even faster. You can view the details of all the proposed changes and uncheck specific ones you don’t want made.
As one would hope, Auslogics provides both informational and functional tools to minimize the risk of seriously damaging your registry. When setting up an advanced scan, you can click on each category to read a brief description of what problem the program will be seeking. For example, the program allows you to back up and restore your registry easily, and you can choose how many backups to keep and how long you want them stored. In the Program Settings menu item, you can also identify keys that you want the program to ignore.
At first we were frustrated by a seeming lack of usability features, such as a toggle for selecting or deselecting all check boxes. We eventually discovered that these features are handled through right-click menus. One problem without a fix, however, is the optional report you can view at the end of a clean. All reports are saved with the same filename, so viewing a new one will overwrite the old. Remember to save out these files if reports are important to you, because although you can view the details of past cleans through the program interface, this will be limited to data in a list box that you cannot easily send to someone else.
Although Registry Cleaner appears to work perfectly well, fixing 1,185 problems provided a performance gain of only 2 percent, according to the application. As Auslogics will tell you via in-application ads, you will not maximize your housekeeping gains unless you defrag your registry as well. Luckily, Auslogics provides this service as another free download, or you can purchase the BoostSpeed suite, which contains a number of other optimization tools. (To the company’s credit, the free version of Registry Cleaner provides all the functionality of the component found in BoostSpeed.)
Anyone looking for a fast and reliable Registry Cleaner should absolutely try Auslogics Registry Cleaner, but be prepared to download additional optimization tools to realize performance gains fully.
