Windows Registry

Top and Worst Registry Cleaners for Windows XP and Vista

Introduction

The Windows Registry controls thousands of settings—a few for Windows itself, some for application programs. Over time, the Registry gets burdened with un-needed or inaccurate entries left behind by incomplete uninstall routines, application program errors, and even misapplied registry hacks. Problems also come up when users transfer or delete files without realizing that dozens of Registry entries aim to the old location.

In this article, we review and rank the best-selling Registry Cleaners for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista operating systems.

This, by the way, is the only Windows Registry Cleaner Review that you will need. Now we won't kid you: there are many registry cleaner reviews you will find on the Internet. However, none of them will be technically meticulous, unbiased, and comprehensive as ours. As you will see, in the following section, our testing method to evaluate the registry cleaner is second to none. While ranking various products, we have put a lot of emphasis on the ability of the registry cleaner to fix illegal and invalid registry entries. As a result, we have been able to achieve an objective, technically accurate, and unbiased ranking system.

So without much further ado, lets get started.

Our Testing Method:

Step 1		We started with a clean install of Windows XP/ Windows Vista on a blank formatted 200 GB hard-drive. Next, we installed 100 most common Windows applications to simulate real life conditions.
	Clean Install of Windows HDD
Step 2		Then we intentionally introduced roughly ~8000 errors into the Windows XP/Vista Registry
	Introduce Registry Errors
Step 3		After that, we duplicated this hard drive on 9 additional blank 200 GB similar hard drives using Norton Ghost program to test various registry cleaners.
	Duplicate HDD for Multiple Tests
Step 4		Each hard drive was then installed into our test PC one by one. Each time a new Registry Cleaner Program (that we wanted to test) was also installed on each hard drive.
	Install Each HDD into Test Computer
step 5		Each Registry Cleaner was then ranked ONLY on the basis of the number of registry errors (that were introduced in step 2) it was able to fix. Other features and cost benefits were given secondary consideration.
	Rank Each Registry Editor per its Error Fixing ability

Results:

We have classified our results on the basis of operating system:

If you are Windows XP user, Click Here.
If you are Windows Vista user, Click Here.

Windows XP Registry Cleaner Comparative Analysis

Go Back

Free PC Scan

Editor’s Review: RegCure goes way beyond traditional Registry Cleaning software to provide a comprehensive PC Optimization solution. Not only does it include industry leading Registry cleaning and error optimization routine but it offers active monitoring of your PC system to keep it error free real-time. Additional features include scheduled registry optimization and backup functions and startup manager to improve your system boot performance and start up time by as much as 70%. This software is a steal at $39.95. Multiple PC license can be obtained at highly discounted rate. Please take the Free Diagnostic Scan of your PC before making a purchase decision.

Software Name	Errors Created	Errors Fixed	Performance Index	Rating	Bottom Line
RegCure	8624	8242	Score: 95.6/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $39.95	Most complete solution for total registry care and PC error repair. RegCure exhibited the most superior performance with highest Registry Error elimination rate. Highly Recommended.
RegSweep	8624	7847	Score: 90.9/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $37.00	Excellent protection for your PC. The registry error correction routine is not as good as RegCure. User Interface is Excellent. Not a bad buy.
RegistryEasy	8624	7270	Score: 84.3/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $34.95	Simple to Install and Use. Provides adequate protection and performance. Rated no. 3 in our internal test. OK Buy.
ErrorNuker	8624	7244	Score: 83.9/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $39.95	This software did not perform very well in our tests and was not able to remove almost 20% of registry errors. For the same price you can purchase our no. 1 rated software, RegCure
ErrorKiller	8624	6541	Score: 75.8/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $29.95	The numbers speak for themselves. This software performed very poorly with success rate of only 75%. Not Recommended.

Windows Vista Registry Cleaner Comparative Analysis

Go Back

Free PC Scan

Editor’s Review: RegCure goes way beyond traditional Registry Cleaning software to provide a comprehensive PC Optimization solution. Not only does it include industry leading Registry cleaning and error optimization routine but it offers active monitoring of your PC system to keep it error free real-time. Additional features include scheduled registry optimization and backup functions and startup manager to improve your system boot performance and start up time by as much as 70%. This software is a steal at $39.95. Multiple PC license can be obtained at highly discounted rate. Please take the Free Diagnostic Scan of your PC before making a purchase decision.

Software Name	Errors Created	Errors Fixed	Performance Index	Rating	Bottom Line
RegCure	8467	8322	Score: 98.2/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $39.95	Most complete solution for total registry care and PC error repair. RegCure exhibited the most superior performance with highest Registry Error elimination rate. Highly Recommended.
RegistryFix	8467	8002	Score: 94.5/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $39.95	RegistryFix is equally good in terms of its ability to detect and fix Registry Errors on Windows Vista. It has excellent set of additional features. The software is not as intuitive RegCure. Nevertheless, an excellent buy
RegSweep	8467	7124	Score: 84.1/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $37.00	RegSweep does not work as well on Windows Vista as it works on Windows XP. An upgrade for Windows vista is expected soon. However, at this point it does not offer the best solution.
RegistryGenius	8467	6306	Score: 74.5/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $39.95	This software did not perform very well in our tests and was not able to remove almost 25% of registry errors. For the same price you can purchase our no. 1 rated software, RegCure.
ErrorKiller	8467	6005	Score: 70.9/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $29.95	The numbers speak for themselves. This software performed very poorly with success rate of only 75%. Not Recommended.

Other Useful Resources

Microsoft Registry for Advanced User

Wikipedia Registry Cleaner Page

Wikipedia Registry Page

Windows Vista Registry Cleaners Reviewed

Introduction

The Windows Vista (All Versions) Registry controls thousands of settings—a few for Windows itself, some for application programs. Over time, the Registry gets burdened with un-needed or inaccurate entries left behind by incomplete uninstall routines, application program errors, and even misapplied registry hacks. Problems also come up when users transfer or delete files without realizing that dozens of Registry entries aim to the old location.

In this article, we review and rank the best-selling Registry Cleaners for Microsoft Windows Vista operating system.

This, by the way, is the only Windows Registry Cleaner Review that you will need. Now we won't kid you: there are many registry cleaner reviews you will find on the Internet. However, none of them will be technically meticulous, unbiased, and comprehensive as ours. As you will see, in the following section, our testing method to evaluate the registry cleaner is second to none. While ranking various products, we have put a lot of emphasis on the ability of the registry cleaner to fix illegal and invalid registry entries. As a result, we have been able to achieve an objective, technically accurate, and unbiased ranking system.

Comparative Analysis of Registry Cleaners for Windows Vista

	RegCure	RegSweep	RegistryEasy	Max Registry	Wise Cleaner
Errors Created	8467	8467	8467	8467	8467
Errors Found	8322	8002	7124	6306	6005
Score	98.2/100	94.5/100	84.1/100	74.5/100	70.9/100
FREE Registry Scan
Link to Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site
Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

Features

Descriptions of Problems
Deep Scan
Scanning Log
Ignore Lists
Backup/ Restore
Startup Manager
Registry Optimizer
Registry Compactor

Detects and Repairs

Application Paths
Shared Program Paths
File Associations
Active X Controls
Add/Remove Programs
Help Files
Font Files
Toolbars
Shared DLL Files
Invalid Shortcuts
Startup Files
Most Recent Files

Operating Systems Supported

Windows Vista
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows NT
Mac

Reviews of Top Registry Cleaning Softwares

Rating 98.2/100

Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

Simple PC Optimization

RegCure features advanced registry tuning functions that will safely optimize and compress your registry. This will increase your computer's performance, and save you valuable hard drive space.

Editor's Top Choice

1. RegCure

RegCure Registry Cleaner is an easy to use and effective tool for cleaning the Windows Registry. It offers a wide variety of custom scanning options, including a standard and deep scan.

RegCure Registry Cleaner also offers several data protection/backup options including a backup/restore feature for deleted registry items, so that you can roll-back any changes that cause problems on your system, a full registry backup option allows you to save the entire registry not just the changes made from cleaning as well as the ability to create a system restore point if you use Windows XP.

If you have any concerns about changes made to your system or lost data RegCure registry Cleaner offers the most protection of any of the registry cleaners in these tests.

Auto-updates and automated scheduled scans are also available if you wish to optimize your system on a regular basis.

The deep scan option found 8002 registry problems on my test system. Each problem detected has a brief description as well as a severity assessment, so you can identify and fix high-priority problems immediately

RegCure Registry Cleaner offers a Registry Optimizer/Defragmenter. The defragmenter will remove dead items and empty space from the registry, while reordering the registry to maximize access time. This will improve system performance, while reclaiming valuable hard drive space. This feature is is easy to use, fast and efficient, and can often shrink the registry by as much as 10%.

Finally, RegCure Registry Cleaner offers a nice range of support features including Scan Log Analysis which allows you to submit a copy of your registry scan to their support to for analysis if you are concerned about deleting a particular item. This way they can look at you log and make sure everything is ok before deleing anything.

Also included is Live web based help so you can get answers to your questions in real time as opposed to waiting for answers by email.

List of Features

• Deep Scan
• Custom Scan Options
• Complete Registry Backup/Restore
• Registry Optimizer
• Registry Compactor
• Problem Descriptions and Threat Levels
• Email Support
• Application Help File
• System Restore Point
• Live Customer Support

Click Here to Download RegCure Registry Cleaner

(Click here to visit RegCure Registry Cleaner)

Rating 94.5/100

Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

2. RegSweep

RegSweep is a robust and thorough registry scanner. It features standard, deep and custom scan options, including ignore lists. RegSweep was able to find and repair a large number of registry problems on our test system, behind only Registry Mechanic and RegCure Registry Cleaner.

This program also features a number of helpful "Managers" to make securing and cleaning your system much easier: The Full Registry Backup Manager is a quick way to ensure that you always have a working version of the registry available. Another useful manager is the System Startup Manager, which allows to browse and remove programs that have been set to start up when Windows boots. The Add/Remove Programs Manager allows you to browse the programs installed on your system and to delete any entries or data that may have been left behind.

RegSweep can also be configured to run at Windows Startup to ensure that the system is checked regularly for errors. Scheduled scans are not available, however, so users that run their PCs continuously will need to remember to run the scan manually.

Auto-updates are also not available, so future versions of RegSweep must be downloaded manually.

RegSweep offers email support as well as a help file within the application. There is no online FAQ or knowledge base available for RegSweep at this time.

List of Features

• Deep Scan
• Custom Scan Options
• Complete Registry Backup/Restore
• Ignore Lists
• Startup Program Manager
• Scanning Log
• Email Support
• Application Help File
• Scan on Startup

Rating 84.1/100

Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

3. RegistryEasy

RegistryEasy is an extremely simple and easy to use registry cleaner

Equipped with the standard features of most registry cleaners like custom scanning options, registry optimization, backup/restore capabilities and scheduled scanning options RegistryEasy is a satisfactory registry optimizer.

There is however not much that makes it stand out compared to our top choice RegCure. RegistryEasy lacks registry defragmenting, has only one method of backup compared to 3 different ways with RegCure and does not have some of the more advanced support features like Live Help and scan log analysis.

If you simple want a registry cleaner without all the bell and whistles RegistryEasy will more than meet your needs.

List of Features

• Deep Scan
• Custom Scan Options
• Complete Registry Backup/Restore
• Ignore Lists
• Startup Program Manager
• Application Help File
• Email Support

Windows XP Registry Cleaners Reviewed

Introduction

The Windows XP (Both Home and Professional versions) Registry controls thousands of settings—a few for Windows itself, some for application programs. Over time, the Registry gets burdened with un-needed or inaccurate entries left behind by incomplete uninstall routines, application program errors, and even misapplied registry hacks. Problems also come up when users transfer or delete files without realizing that dozens of Registry entries aim to the old location.

In this article, we review and rank the best-selling Registry Cleaners for Microsoft Windows XP operating system.

This, by the way, is the only Windows Registry Cleaner Review that you will need. Now we won't kid you: there are many registry cleaner reviews you will find on the Internet. However, none of them will be technically meticulous, unbiased, and comprehensive as ours. As you will see, in the following section, our testing method to evaluate the registry cleaner is second to none. While ranking various products, we have put a lot of emphasis on the ability of the registry cleaner to fix illegal and invalid registry entries. As a result, we have been able to achieve an objective, technically accurate, and unbiased ranking system.

Comparative Analysis of Registry Cleaners for Windows XP

	RegCure	RegSweep	RegistryEasy	Max Registry	Wise Cleaner
Errors Created	8467	8467	8467	8467	8467
Errors Found	8322	8002	7124	6306	6005
Score	98.2/100	94.5/100	84.1/100	74.5/100	70.9/100
FREE Registry Scan
Link to Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site
Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

Features

Descriptions of Problems
Deep Scan
Scanning Log
Ignore Lists
Backup/ Restore
Startup Manager
Registry Optimizer
Registry Compactor

Detects and Repairs

Application Paths
Shared Program Paths
File Associations
Active X Controls
Add/Remove Programs
Help Files
Font Files
Toolbars
Shared DLL Files
Invalid Shortcuts
Startup Files
Most Recent Files

Operating Systems Supported

Windows Vista
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows NT
Mac

Reviews of Top Registry Cleaning Softwares

Rating 98.2/100

Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

Simple PC Optimization

RegCure features advanced registry tuning functions that will safely optimize and compress your registry. This will increase your computer's performance, and save you valuable hard drive space.

Editor's Top Choice

1. RegCure

RegCure Registry Cleaner is an easy to use and effective tool for cleaning the Windows Registry. It offers a wide variety of custom scanning options, including a standard and deep scan.

RegCure Registry Cleaner also offers several data protection/backup options including a backup/restore feature for deleted registry items, so that you can roll-back any changes that cause problems on your system, a full registry backup option allows you to save the entire registry not just the changes made from cleaning as well as the ability to create a system restore point if you use Windows XP.

If you have any concerns about changes made to your system or lost data RegCure registry Cleaner offers the most protection of any of the registry cleaners in these tests.

Auto-updates and automated scheduled scans are also available if you wish to optimize your system on a regular basis.

The deep scan option found 8002 registry problems on my test system. Each problem detected has a brief description as well as a severity assessment, so you can identify and fix high-priority problems immediately

RegCure Registry Cleaner offers a Registry Optimizer/Defragmenter. The defragmenter will remove dead items and empty space from the registry, while reordering the registry to maximize access time. This will improve system performance, while reclaiming valuable hard drive space. This feature is is easy to use, fast and efficient, and can often shrink the registry by as much as 10%.

Finally, RegCure Registry Cleaner offers a nice range of support features including Scan Log Analysis which allows you to submit a copy of your registry scan to their support to for analysis if you are concerned about deleting a particular item. This way they can look at you log and make sure everything is ok before deleing anything.

Also included is Live web based help so you can get answers to your questions in real time as opposed to waiting for answers by email.

List of Features

• Deep Scan
• Custom Scan Options
• Complete Registry Backup/Restore
• Registry Optimizer
• Registry Compactor
• Problem Descriptions and Threat Levels
• Email Support
• Application Help File
• System Restore Point
• Live Customer Support

Click Here to Download RegCure Registry Cleaner

(Click here to visit RegCure Registry Cleaner)

Rating 94.5/100

Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

2. RegSweep

RegSweep is a robust and thorough registry scanner. It features standard, deep and custom scan options, including ignore lists. RegSweep was able to find and repair a large number of registry problems on our test system, behind only Registry Mechanic and RegCure Registry Cleaner.

This program also features a number of helpful "Managers" to make securing and cleaning your system much easier: The Full Registry Backup Manager is a quick way to ensure that you always have a working version of the registry available. Another useful manager is the System Startup Manager, which allows to browse and remove programs that have been set to start up when Windows boots. The Add/Remove Programs Manager allows you to browse the programs installed on your system and to delete any entries or data that may have been left behind.

RegSweep can also be configured to run at Windows Startup to ensure that the system is checked regularly for errors. Scheduled scans are not available, however, so users that run their PCs continuously will need to remember to run the scan manually.

Auto-updates are also not available, so future versions of RegSweep must be downloaded manually.

RegSweep offers email support as well as a help file within the application. There is no online FAQ or knowledge base available for RegSweep at this time.

List of Features

• Deep Scan
• Custom Scan Options
• Complete Registry Backup/Restore
• Ignore Lists
• Startup Program Manager
• Scanning Log
• Email Support
• Application Help File
• Scan on Startup

Rating 84.1/100

Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

3. RegistryEasy

RegistryEasy is an extremely simple and easy to use registry cleaner

Equipped with the standard features of most registry cleaners like custom scanning options, registry optimization, backup/restore capabilities and scheduled scanning options RegistryEasy is a satisfactory registry optimizer.

There is however not much that makes it stand out compared to our top choice RegCure. RegistryEasy lacks registry defragmenting, has only one method of backup compared to 3 different ways with RegCure and does not have some of the more advanced support features like Live Help and scan log analysis.

If you simple want a registry cleaner without all the bell and whistles RegistryEasy will more than meet your needs.

List of Features

• Deep Scan
• Custom Scan Options
• Complete Registry Backup/Restore
• Ignore Lists
• Startup Program Manager
• Application Help File
• Email Support

Top and Worst Registry Cleaners for Microsoft Windows Vista and XP

Introduction

The Windows Registry controls thousands of settings—a few for Windows itself, some for application programs. Over time, the Registry gets burdened with un-needed or inaccurate entries left behind by incomplete uninstall routines, application program errors, and even misapplied registry hacks. Problems also come up when users transfer or delete files without realizing that dozens of Registry entries aim to the old location.

In this article, we review and rank the best-selling Registry Cleaners for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista operating systems.

This, by the way, is the only Windows Registry Cleaner Review that you will need. Now we won't kid you: there are many registry cleaner reviews you will find on the Internet. However, none of them will be technically meticulous, unbiased, and comprehensive as ours. As you will see, in the following section, our testing method to evaluate the registry cleaner is second to none. While ranking various products, we have put a lot of emphasis on the ability of the registry cleaner to fix illegal and invalid registry entries. As a result, we have been able to achieve an objective, technically accurate, and unbiased ranking system.

Comparative Analysis of Registry Cleaners for Windows Vista & XP

	RegCure	RegSweep	RegistryEasy	Max Registry	Wise Cleaner
Errors Created	8467	8467	8467	8467	8467
Errors Found	8322	8002	7124	6306	6005
Score	98.2/100	94.5/100	84.1/100	74.5/100	70.9/100
FREE Registry Scan
Link to Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site
Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

Features

Descriptions of Problems
Deep Scan
Scanning Log
Ignore Lists
Backup/ Restore
Startup Manager
Registry Optimizer
Registry Compactor

Detects and Repairs

Application Paths
Shared Program Paths
File Associations
Active X Controls
Add/Remove Programs
Help Files
Font Files
Toolbars
Shared DLL Files
Invalid Shortcuts
Startup Files
Most Recent Files

Operating Systems Supported

Windows Vista
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows NT
Mac

Reviews of Top Registry Cleaning Softwares

Rating 98.2/100

Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

Simple PC Optimization

RegCure features advanced registry tuning functions that will safely optimize and compress your registry. This will increase your computer's performance, and save you valuable hard drive space.

Editor's Top Choice

1. RegCure

RegCure Registry Cleaner is an easy to use and effective tool for cleaning the Windows Registry. It offers a wide variety of custom scanning options, including a standard and deep scan.

RegCure Registry Cleaner also offers several data protection/backup options including a backup/restore feature for deleted registry items, so that you can roll-back any changes that cause problems on your system, a full registry backup option allows you to save the entire registry not just the changes made from cleaning as well as the ability to create a system restore point if you use Windows XP.

If you have any concerns about changes made to your system or lost data RegCure registry Cleaner offers the most protection of any of the registry cleaners in these tests.

Auto-updates and automated scheduled scans are also available if you wish to optimize your system on a regular basis.

The deep scan option found 8002 registry problems on my test system. Each problem detected has a brief description as well as a severity assessment, so you can identify and fix high-priority problems immediately

RegCure Registry Cleaner offers a Registry Optimizer/Defragmenter. The defragmenter will remove dead items and empty space from the registry, while reordering the registry to maximize access time. This will improve system performance, while reclaiming valuable hard drive space. This feature is is easy to use, fast and efficient, and can often shrink the registry by as much as 10%.

Finally, RegCure Registry Cleaner offers a nice range of support features including Scan Log Analysis which allows you to submit a copy of your registry scan to their support to for analysis if you are concerned about deleting a particular item. This way they can look at you log and make sure everything is ok before deleing anything.

Also included is Live web based help so you can get answers to your questions in real time as opposed to waiting for answers by email.

List of Features

• Deep Scan
• Custom Scan Options
• Complete Registry Backup/Restore
• Registry Optimizer
• Registry Compactor
• Problem Descriptions and Threat Levels
• Email Support
• Application Help File
• System Restore Point
• Live Customer Support

Click Here to Download RegCure Registry Cleaner

(Click here to visit RegCure Registry Cleaner)

Rating 94.5/100

Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

2. RegSweep

RegSweep is a robust and thorough registry scanner. It features standard, deep and custom scan options, including ignore lists. RegSweep was able to find and repair a large number of registry problems on our test system, behind only Registry Mechanic and RegCure Registry Cleaner.

This program also features a number of helpful "Managers" to make securing and cleaning your system much easier: The Full Registry Backup Manager is a quick way to ensure that you always have a working version of the registry available. Another useful manager is the System Startup Manager, which allows to browse and remove programs that have been set to start up when Windows boots. The Add/Remove Programs Manager allows you to browse the programs installed on your system and to delete any entries or data that may have been left behind.

RegSweep can also be configured to run at Windows Startup to ensure that the system is checked regularly for errors. Scheduled scans are not available, however, so users that run their PCs continuously will need to remember to run the scan manually.

Auto-updates are also not available, so future versions of RegSweep must be downloaded manually.

RegSweep offers email support as well as a help file within the application. There is no online FAQ or knowledge base available for RegSweep at this time.

List of Features

• Deep Scan
• Custom Scan Options
• Complete Registry Backup/Restore
• Ignore Lists
• Startup Program Manager
• Scanning Log
• Email Support
• Application Help File
• Scan on Startup

Rating 84.1/100

Features
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Customer Support

3. RegistryEasy

RegistryEasy is an extremely simple and easy to use registry cleaner

Equipped with the standard features of most registry cleaners like custom scanning options, registry optimization, backup/restore capabilities and scheduled scanning options RegistryEasy is a satisfactory registry optimizer.

There is however not much that makes it stand out compared to our top choice RegCure. RegistryEasy lacks registry defragmenting, has only one method of backup compared to 3 different ways with RegCure and does not have some of the more advanced support features like Live Help and scan log analysis.

If you simple want a registry cleaner without all the bell and whistles RegistryEasy will more than meet your needs.

List of Features

• Deep Scan
• Custom Scan Options
• Complete Registry Backup/Restore
• Ignore Lists
• Startup Program Manager
• Application Help File
• Email Support

Top & Worst Rated Windows® Vista & XP Registry Cleaners

Introduction

The Windows Registry controls thousands of settings—a few for Windows itself, some for application programs. Over time, the Registry gets burdened with un-needed or inaccurate entries left behind by incomplete uninstall routines, application program errors, and even misapplied registry hacks. Problems also come up when users transfer or delete files without realizing that dozens of Registry entries aim to the old location.

In this article, we review and rank the best-selling Registry Cleaners for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista operating systems.

This, by the way, is the only Windows Registry Cleaner Review that you will need. Now we won't kid you: there are many registry cleaner reviews you will find on the Internet. However, none of them will be technically meticulous, unbiased, and comprehensive as ours. As you will see, in the following section, our testing method to evaluate the registry cleaner is second to none. While ranking various products, we have put a lot of emphasis on the ability of the registry cleaner to fix illegal and invalid registry entries. As a result, we have been able to achieve an objective, technically accurate, and unbiased ranking system.

So without much further ado, lets get started.

Windows XP & Vista Registry Cleaner Comparative Analysis

Go Back

Free PC Scan

Editor’s Review: RegCure goes way beyond traditional Registry Cleaning software to provide a comprehensive PC Optimization solution. Not only does it include industry leading Registry cleaning and error optimization routine but it offers active monitoring of your PC system to keep it error free real-time. Additional features include scheduled registry optimization and backup functions and startup manager to improve your system boot performance and start up time by as much as 70%. This software is a steal at $39.95. Multiple PC license can be obtained at highly discounted rate. Please take the Free Diagnostic Scan of your PC before making a purchase decision.

Software Name	Errors Created	Errors Fixed	Performance Index	Rating	Bottom Line
RegCure	8624	8242	Score: 95.6/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Compatibility XP/Vista	Most complete solution for total registry care and PC error repair. RegCure exhibited the most superior performance with highest Registry Error elimination rate. Highly Recommended.
RegSweep	8624	7847	Score: 90.9/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Compatibility XP/Vista	Excellent protection for your PC. The registry error correction routine is not as good as RegCure. User Interface is Excellent. Not a bad buy.
RegistryEasy	8624	7270	Score: 84.3/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Compatibility XP/Vista	Simple to Install and Use. Provides adequate protection and performance. Rated no. 3 in our internal test. OK Buy.
ErrorNuker	8624	7244	Score: 83.9/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Compatibility XP	This software did not perform very well in our tests and was not able to remove almost 20% of registry errors. For the same price you can purchase our no. 1 rated software, RegCure
ErrorKiller	8624	6541	Score: 75.8/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Compatibility XP	The numbers speak for themselves. This software performed very poorly with success rate of only 75%. Not Recommended.

Other Useful Resources

Microsoft Registry for Advanced User

Wikipedia Registry Cleaner Page

Wikipedia Registry Page

Windows XP® Registry Cleaners Reviewed

Introduction

The Windows XP (Both Home and Professional versions) Registry controls thousands of settings—a few for Windows itself, some for application programs. Over time, the Registry gets burdened with un-needed or inaccurate entries left behind by incomplete uninstall routines, application program errors, and even misapplied registry hacks. Problems also come up when users transfer or delete files without realizing that dozens of Registry entries aim to the old location.

In this article, we review and rank the best-selling Registry Cleaners for Microsoft Windows XP operating system.

This, by the way, is the only Windows Registry Cleaner Review that you will need. Now we won't kid you: there are many registry cleaner reviews you will find on the Internet. However, none of them will be technically meticulous, unbiased, and comprehensive as ours. As you will see, in the following section, our testing method to evaluate the registry cleaner is second to none. While ranking various products, we have put a lot of emphasis on the ability of the registry cleaner to fix illegal and invalid registry entries. As a result, we have been able to achieve an objective, technically accurate, and unbiased ranking system.

So without much further ado, lets get started.

Our Testing Method:

Step 1		We started with a clean install of Windows XP on a blank formatted 200 GB hard-drive. Next, we installed 100 most common Windows applications to simulate real life conditions.
	Clean Install of Windows HDD
Step 2		Then we intentionally introduced roughly ~8000 errors into the Windows XP Registry
	Introduce Registry Errors
Step 3		After that, we duplicated this hard drive on 9 additional blank 200 GB similar hard drives using Norton Ghost program to test various registry cleaners.
	Duplicate HDD for Multiple Tests
Step 4		Each hard drive was then installed into our test PC one by one. Each time a new Registry Cleaner Program (that we wanted to test) was also installed on each hard drive.
	Install Each HDD into Test Computer
step 5		Each Registry Cleaner was then ranked ONLY on the basis of the number of registry errors (that were introduced in step 2) it was able to fix. Other features and cost benefits were given secondary consideration.
	Rank Each Registry Editor per its Error Fixing ability

Results:

Windows XP Registry Cleaner Comparative Analysis

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Free PC Scan

Editor’s Review: RegCure goes way beyond traditional Registry Cleaning software to provide a comprehensive PC Optimization solution. Not only does it include industry leading Registry cleaning and error optimization routine but it offers active monitoring of your PC system to keep it error free real-time. Additional features include scheduled registry optimization and backup functions and startup manager to improve your system boot performance and start up time by as much as 70%. This software is a steal at $39.95. Multiple PC license can be obtained at highly discounted rate. Please take the Free Diagnostic Scan of your PC before making a purchase decision.

Software Name	Errors Created	Errors Fixed	Performance Index	Rating	Bottom Line
RegCure	8624	8242	Score: 95.6/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $39.95	Most complete solution for total registry care and PC error repair. RegCure exhibited the most superior performance with highest Registry Error elimination rate. Highly Recommended.
RegSweep	8624	7847	Score: 90.9/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $37.00	Excellent protection for your PC. The registry error correction routine is not as good as RegCure. User Interface is Excellent. Not a bad buy.
RegistryEasy	8624	7270	Score: 84.3/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $34.95	Simple to Install and Use. Provides adequate protection and performance. Rated no. 3 in our internal test. OK Buy.
ErrorNuker	8624	7244	Score: 83.9/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $39.95	This software did not perform very well in our tests and was not able to remove almost 20% of registry errors. For the same price you can purchase our no. 1 rated software, RegCure
ErrorKiller	8624	6541	Score: 75.8/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $29.95	The numbers speak for themselves. This software performed very poorly with success rate of only 75%. Not Recommended.

Other Useful Resources

Microsoft Registry for Advanced User

Wikipedia Registry Cleaner Page

Wikipedia Registry Page

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware: Your System Hardware Key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware has all the information about the hardware configuration of your PC. In Windows XP, the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware key branches out into 4 subkeys:

1. Description subkey has general information (of descriptive nature) about each hardware device on your PC.
2. DeviceMap maps the location of the registry where each device’s full configuration is stored.
3. ResourceMap Contains translation data about each major hardware component that is installed in the system. Each subkey is a set value entries named .Raw and .Translated.
4. ACPI obviously holds information about the ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) system. The ACPI key is only found on systems that support ACPI. Potential ACPI subkeys include the following:

• RSDP Root System Description Pointer
• DSDT Differentiated System Description Table
• FADT Fixed ACPI Description Table
• FACS Firmware ACPI Control Structure
• PSDT Persistent System Description Table
• RSDT Root System Description Table
• SSDT Secondary System Description Table
• It should be noted that in Windows NT 4, the Hardware key contains another subkey, called OWNERMAP, which contains information about removable PCI-type devices.

 

Description within this key you will find a boatload of information about the installed hardware on your PC.  It should be noted that System is the only key that has permanent information about hardware. Items in the Description key are always redetected at boot time. It should be also kept in mind that storage devices (such as non-IDE hard drives, SCSI devices, non-IDE CD-ROM drives, video, and network interface cards), are not found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\Description. Instead, you will find them  in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\DeviceMap. It is because these devices are not detected during booting but only after a login session is initiated.

DeviceMap The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\DeviceMap subkey has the following subkeys:

• KeyboardClass as the name suggests, has the address of the subkey that controls information about the keyboard.
• Parallel Ports has  address of the subkey that manages information about the parallel printer ports on your system.
• PointerClass has the address of the subkey that manages information about your mouse. SCSI A subkey that contains information about each SCSI interfaces found on the computer.
• SerialComm has the address of the subkeys that manage data coming from the available serial ports.
• Video Contains the address of the subkey that manages the video hardware. Under this subkey you will typically find two video devices. One of them is the currently used adapter, and the second is a backup containing the settings of the previously installed (in most cases the generic VGA) adapter in the event of an issue with your current video system.

ResourceMap Each hardware device driver creates a ResourceMap subkey to map all the resources that they will use. Each ResourceMap entry contains the following usage information:

• I/O ports
• I/O memory addresses
•  Interrupts
• DMA (direct memory access) channels
• Physical memory installed
• Reserved memory

The ResourceMap subkey is further divided into different subkeys for class of device that they represent. Under these device class subkeys lie subkeys for actual devices. Windows XP and Windows 2000 also contain another key in ResourceMap called PnPManager. This key stores Plug and Play information. 

Registry Key Data Types

Each key and subkey in the registry hive contain value(s). These values can be of following different data types:

1. REG_BINARY corresponds to binary values. They may be altered or recorded as hexadecimal or binary numbers. Figure 1 depicts the Registry Editor's Edit Binary Value dialog box.

   

2. REG_SZ Used for registry keys comprising of strings. Editing is simple; just enter in the new string. Case is preserved, but realize that when you first open the dialog box, the string is initially selected, so be aware not to unknowingly delete it. Strings are of predetermined length. The lenght is defined when the key is created. Figure 2 shows a string being altered in the Edit String dialog box. A string key may be made longer later by adding additional characters to the string; the key  will be reallocated if this were to happen.

   

3. REG_EXPAND_SZ This key is used if the key were to contain an environment variable that must be expanded prior to its use. Sometimes key need to contain values that reference the environment variables, for example, if a string contains the value %SystemRoot%\System32, and it is necessary to dynamically substitute the %SystemRoot% component of the string with the value that is attributed to it in the environment. In order to achieve this substitution, this string must be defined as a REG_EXPAND_ SZ type string. The result of the expansion is then delivered to the requestor. For your information, %SystemRoot% is a commonly used environment variable containing the location, drive, and the folder name where Windows XP has been installed. The Registry Editor uses the same dialog box as is used by REG_SZ for entering a REG_EXPAND_SZ key, as shown in Figure 3.

   

4. REG_DWORD This is a 32-bit value, entered either as decimal or hexadecimal number. The Edit DWORD Value window dialog is as shown in Figure 4. The window allows you to enter only valid numeric data to prevent typographical errors.

   

5. REG_MULTI_SZ This key stores multiple strings in a single registry key in contrast to REG_SZ key which only allows one string value. However, the multistring type allows a string resource in the registry to accommodate multiple strings as required. Figure 5 shows multiple strings being edited, with four lines of string data.

   

6. REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR This type of data is used to manage information for hardware resources. These data values should never be edited unless you know what you are doing. Figure 6 exhibits a resource object revealed in the Registry Editor. Again, these objects are never, ever changed manually.
7. REG_NONE This identifier is used when no data is stored in the key.
8. REG_UNKNOWN is used when the key's data type cannot be determined.

Other registry data types that are not fully supported by the Registry Editor include:

1. REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN similar to REG_DWORD, but it designates the numerical value to be in big endian format, in which the 4 bytes of the DWORD are organised in inverse order than little endian format (little endian format is the native mode for Intel processors, while processors from other vendors, such as Motorola processeors in Macintosh, use big endian).
2. REG_LINK is used for establishing a symbolic link between a registry value and an application's data value. Entries in REG_LINK are usually in Unicode text.
3. REG_QWORD is a 64-bit integer number.
4. REG_RESOURCE_LIST holds entries used by device drivers, including data about  hardware configuration.
5. REG_RESOURCE_REQUIREMENTS_LIST holds a list of resources required by a given device driver. Besides the above types of registry data, application programs also have the power to make custom registry data types as needed. This flexibility grants the application to both read and write the registry data without having to perform complex conversions and translations.

Windows Vista® Registry Cleaners Reviewed

Introduction

The Windows Vista Registry controls thousands of settings—a few for Windows itself, some for application programs. Over time, the Registry gets burdened with un-needed or inaccurate entries left behind by incomplete uninstall routines, application program errors, and even misapplied registry hacks. Problems also come up when users transfer or delete files without realizing that dozens of Registry entries aim to the old location.

In this article, we review and rank the best-selling Registry Cleaners for Microsoft Windows Vista operating system.

This, by the way, is the only Windows Registry Cleaner Review that you will need. Now we won't kid you: there are many registry cleaner reviews you will find on the Internet. However, none of them will be technically meticulous, unbiased, and comprehensive as ours. As you will see, in the following section, our testing method to evaluate the registry cleaner is second to none. While ranking various products, we have put a lot of emphasis on the ability of the registry cleaner to fix illegal and invalid registry entries. As a result, we have been able to achieve an objective, technically accurate, and unbiased ranking system.

So without much further ado, lets get started.

Our Testing Method:

Step 1		We started with a clean install of  Windows Vista on a blank formatted 200 GB hard-drive. Next, we installed 100 most common Windows applications to simulate real life conditions.
	Clean Install of Windows HDD
Step 2		Then we intentionally introduced roughly ~8000 errors into the Windows Vista Registry
	Introduce Registry Errors
Step 3		After that, we duplicated this hard drive on 9 additional blank 200 GB similar hard drives using Norton Ghost program to test various registry cleaners.
	Duplicate HDD for Multiple Tests
Step 4		Each hard drive was then installed into our test PC one by one. Each time a new Registry Cleaner Program (that we wanted to test) was also installed on each hard drive.
	Install Each HDD into Test Computer
step 5		Each Registry Cleaner was then ranked ONLY on the basis of the number of registry errors (that were introduced in step 2) it was able to fix. Other features and cost benefits were given secondary consideration.
	Rank Each Registry Editor per its Error Fixing ability

Results:

Windows Vista Registry Cleaner Comparative Analysis

Go Back

Free PC Scan

Editor’s Review: RegCure goes way beyond traditional Registry Cleaning software to provide a comprehensive PC Optimization solution. Not only does it include industry leading Registry cleaning and error optimization routine but it offers active monitoring of your PC system to keep it error free real-time. Additional features include scheduled registry optimization and backup functions and startup manager to improve your system boot performance and start up time by as much as 70%. This software is a steal at $39.95. Multiple PC license can be obtained at highly discounted rate. Please take the Free Diagnostic Scan of your PC before making a purchase decision.

Software Name	Errors Created	Errors Fixed	Performance Index	Rating	Bottom Line
RegCure	8467	8322	Score: 98.2/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $39.95	Most complete solution for total registry care and PC error repair. RegCure exhibited the most superior performance with highest Registry Error elimination rate. Highly Recommended.
RegistryFix	8467	8002	Score: 94.5/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $39.95	RegistryFix is equally good in terms of its ability to detect and fix Registry Errors on Windows Vista. It has excellent set of additional features. The software is not as intuitive RegCure. Nevertheless, an excellent buy
RegSweep	8467	7124	Score: 84.1/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $37.00	RegSweep does not work as well on Windows Vista as it works on Windows XP. An upgrade for Windows vista is expected soon. However, at this point it does not offer the best solution.
RegistryGenius	8467	6306	Score: 74.5/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $39.95	This software did not perform very well in our tests and was not able to remove almost 25% of registry errors. For the same price you can purchase our no. 1 rated software, RegCure.
ErrorKiller	8467	6005	Score: 70.9/100	Ease of Use Other Features Customer Support Purchase Price $29.95	The numbers speak for themselves. This software performed very poorly with success rate of only 75%. Not Recommended.

Other Useful Resources

Microsoft Registry for Advanced User

Wikipedia Registry Cleaner Page

Wikipedia Registry Page

HKEY_USERS Hive of Windows Registry

The HKEY_USERS hive carries data about each active user who has a user profile in Windows sytem. The HKEY_USERS hive generally two keys. The first key is called DEFAULT and the second key belongs to the currently logged user. It should be noted that the security identifier for the currently logged user begins with characters S-1-5-21. The value 21 in the SID indicates that the user is active. The DEFAULT key stores information for users who don't have a profile on the system. Additionally you may find other keys in the form of user identifiers that are generally created for the system use. Personal profile registry settings are usually stored in either %SystemRoot%\Profiles folder or the %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\Default User folder. If a roaming profile is used a copy is stored in one of the aforementioned folders and original resides on the server. 

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG Hive of Windows Registry

The HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG hive contains information about the your system's current configuration. This information is obtained from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System and HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\Software. However, HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG does not contain all the information that is contained in the aforementioned source keys.

It should also be noted that the HKEY_DYN_DATA hive no longer exists in Windows 2000 / XP / Vista. This hive was used by the legacy Windows namely Windows 95 / 98/ ME to store information about various Plug and Play Devices.