subject: The Best Registry Cleaners - A Guide For Beginners [print this page] The best registry cleaners are, by their very nature, rather technological pieces of software. The typical computer user would be distressed to put in plain words just what a registry cleaner does, yet alone how.
Therefore, it's rather not easy for them to significantly evaluate different software when shopping around for the best registry cleaners.
This article will solve that problem for you. It will list the criteria for you to judge the best registry cleaners by.
As a result, you can make a decision and judge which the best registry cleaners are.
Effectiveness
The most important gauge of registry cleaning software is how effective and thorough it is at repairing and cleaning your computer's registry.
The first thing that you should check for in the documentation when you evaluate registry cleaners is the number and types of errors it looks for.
Registry errors have several categories. A wider variety of registry errors are found by the best registry cleaners than the other regular ones. And so, more problems can be found and resolved.
At the very least, any decent registry cleaner should check the following twelve standard categories for errors:
*Invalid Shortcuts
*Shared Program Paths
*Startup Files
*Shared DLL Files
*Active X/Coms/OLE
*Most Recent Files
*Font Files
*Application Paths
*File Associations
*Toolbars
*Help Files
The best registry cleaners will check more than just these twelve standard categories. If possible, look for a registry cleaner that scans fifteen categories or more, such as:
*System Drivers
*Shell Extensions
*Add/Remove Programs List
*Uninstall Entries
Features
Repairing and cleaning your computer's registry is the only function of simpler, cheaper registry cleaners and nothing else. On the other hand, the best registry cleaners are packed with extra features.
Some of these features are highly useful, even crucial, while other features are essentially just fluff that has little to do with cleaning the registry.
The following features are essential, and should be considered a must-have for any registry cleaner worth paying money for.
Scheduler
Once a week or whenever you choose, your registry will be automatically set by the registry cleaner to run itself and clean your registry.
As the registry desires to be cleaned frequently, but it's easy to forget to do it yourself, a scheduler becomes a very important feature in helping your keep a clean, stable registry.
Backup Restore
This feature makes a backup copy of your registry before it makes any maintenance or repairs.
That way, if something goes wrong and your registry gets damaged (very rare but known to happen), you can restore the backup copy of the registry and be none the worse for wear.
Registry Optimizer
This tool reorganizes, defragments, and condenses your registry. This makes the registry (and thus your computer) undersized, competent, and quick.
This feature goes by many other names, such as a Registry Compactor or a Registry Defragmenter.
Those are the important features. There are other features, but, that while not harshly required are still nice to have if you can get them. These include:
*Automatic Updates
*Startup Manager
*Disk Cleanup
*Anti-Spyware
Simplicity
The majority of us, just typical ordinary computer users, favor fast and simple controls reduced to the point-and-click, drag-and-drop level. If there are complex settings, we choose them to be securely concealed away on a detached screen where they won't puzzle us or get clicked by mistake.
Even the best registry cleaners can reduce the controls down to "one-click cleaning" which a lot of people like.
On the other hand, if you're a techie power-user, speed and simplicity might be of lesser significance to you. Perhaps you value control and precision more, and choose advanced, technical controls that let you fine-tune the software.
Many registry cleaners have advanced features and controls as well. Whatever your preference, give a higher ranking to a registry cleaner that your are more confident and comfortable using.
Price
Finally, you need to consider the price. A more expensive registry cleaner is not necessarily better, and some of the best registry cleaners are only charge a mid-range price.
Keep in mind that a good, quality registry cleaner can add years to your computer's operating life.
If you are uncertain at the relatively modest cost of a good registry cleaner ($20 - $50), just compare that price tag to the price of a new computer. You'll find that the cost of a good registry cleaner is a good long-term investment.
