Tricky Registry Mechanic

[ahhaa]

I downloaded Registry Mechanic as supposedly the best of the registry repair/optimizers; after a full hour of scanning my old ME laptop, it claimed to have found 400 some errors but would only fix 38 of 'em unless I registered (pay for) the program right then.

I don't like programs that try to bamboozle you into paying, whic I think this is.

Can anybody recommend another decent registry tool that is still actually free ? Version can be old as this is ME...

[liquid217]

try www.ccleaner.com
It includes a registry repair tool as well.

[wtsinnc]

I use three different free registry cleaners/optimizers as well as ccleaner which is a great program. Google these three search terms; (1) Eusing Software (download the free registry cleaner and maybe the free windows washer). The registry cleaner will prompt you for a donation, but click on "skip" and proceed. It's fast and (so far), hasn't caused any problems in my installation. (2) Google Abexo free registry cleaner. Free download, free program. Slower than Eusing, but more agressive. (3) Google WinASO and download the free version of the registry optimizer. This trial version will correct only ten errors at a time, but features relatively fast scanning and allows for repeated passes until all errors have been either corrected or removed, and the trial period is apparently open ended. WinASO also includes other tools for system tweaking, and all three registry cleaners give the user the option of deselecting any registry key included in the scan results, plus all three offer a registry backup option which you should always use as well as user friendly GUIs. Good luck.

[Mr. Dweezel]

I tried Reg Mech and some other programs but I stopped using them.

I would look at each file that the program was going to delete before I pressed
the 'okay' button.

It was more of a hassle than it was worth and didn't improve anything.
Also, I wasn't sure that the files should actually be deleted without taking the
time to check through everything.

A lot of the excess files are from installing and uninstalling, and I do a lot
of that on my PCs, but none of them have shown any signs of problems from
registry errors.

The slowdowns are from other files that aren't needed any more, and that has
run into many gigabytes of crap!!!

I remove those manually.

[AlanHK]

try www.ccleaner.com
It includes a registry repair tool as well.

I had a look at that, it wants to install a Yahoo toolbar as well.

The whole point of cleaning your system is to get rid of crap, not add more.

[TBoneit]

Since there was a registry to clean I've never used a registry cleaner program.

OTOH I have seen more than one computer turned from running fine into a dud. If it isn't broken don't fix it.

If you really want a clean registry format and re-install.

I've seen brand new installs that registry cleaners and fixer calimed needed to fixed/cleaned. New install!

[liquid217]

try www.ccleaner.com
It includes a registry repair tool as well.

I had a look at that, it wants to install a Yahoo toolbar as well.

The whole point of cleaning your system is to get rid of crap, not add more.

Simply uncheck it. That's what I do. Irfanview, a powerful image editing package, has been doing the same basic thing with the google toolbar.

The way I see it, someone has to pay the hosting costs. If you can get a major company to back you, so be it, just as long as you give the end user the choice of not installing the additional components.

[AlanHK]

try www.ccleaner.com
It includes a registry repair tool as well.

I had a look at that, it wants to install a Yahoo toolbar as well.
The whole point of cleaning your system is to get rid of crap, not add more.

Simply uncheck it.

I stopped at the EULA when it gave me 10 pages telllng me I had to install the toolbar. Is there actually a choice not to later, or do you have to turn it off after installing it?

The way I see it, someone has to pay the hosting costs

I understand that. But it's a bit underhanded not to even mention it on their site (that I noticed).

[hech54]

try www.ccleaner.com
It includes a registry repair tool as well.

I had a look at that, it wants to install a Yahoo toolbar as well.

The whole point of cleaning your system is to get rid of crap, not add more.

I've never seen any mention of Yahoo toolbar on my version of ccleaner.

[AlanHK]

try www.ccleaner.com
It includes a registry repair tool as well.

I had a look at that, it wants to install a Yahoo toolbar as well.
The whole point of cleaning your system is to get rid of crap, not add more.

I've never seen any mention of Yahoo toolbar on my version of ccleaner.

Get the current version and start the install. You get a long EULA about it before it goes ahead. It implies that it's compulsory, so I didn't go any further. Maybe it's a recent change.

[ahhaa]

Thanks guys- I d/l'd a couple that should do the job. Got into this because I noticed that Trend's firewall was 'tracking' all the downloaded but never installed software in my personal 'archive'. I'm moving most of it to CD and wanted tocheck out the registry.

We could use a master list of useful free utilities, I'd say!

[Jim44]

It implies that it's compulsory, so I didn't go any further. Maybe it's a recent change.

A little searching at the Ccleaner forum would have turned up that it in fact it is not compulsory:
http://forum.ccleaner.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=7706&view=findpost&p=55876

And if you somehow missed that setting, the toolbar can be removed via the typical "Add/Remove" process:
http://forum.ccleaner.com/index.php?showtopic=7921

Cheers,
Jim

[AlanHK]

It implies that it's compulsory, so I didn't go any further. Maybe it's a recent change.

A little searching at the Ccleaner forum would have turned up that it in fact it is not compulsory:
http://forum.ccleaner.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=7706&view=findpost&p=55876
Jim

Thanks, I didn't see that because I aborted after seeing the toolbar EULA (which did not mention it was optional).

A lot of "free" apps come with sneaky attachments and un-uninstallable features, so I tend to be paranoid.

But even better, there is a link there to the "Slim build", with no toolbar at all.
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds.aspx