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Registry Mechanic
This is a reprint from the Sept. 2006 issue of TOE (The Outer Edge)
By Jim Thornton
The speed and stability of your computer relies on the wellness of its registry. All Windows operating systems use a registry, which is a database that contains your computer's configuration information. Whenever you install, modify, or remove a program, your registry is being modified. So, let's look at a program that is designed to keep your registry at its highest performance level. The program is Registry Mechanic from PC Tools, a developer of numerous computer maintenance products ranging from spyware detection, antivirus, file recovery, privacy protection, and spam control. What Registry Mechanic does is to safely clean, repair, and optimizes the registry. Sick registries cause frequent system crashes, slow performance, and error messages.
Registry Mechanic uses a high-performance detection algorithm to quickly identify missing and invalid references in the registry. These problems can occur for many reasons including left-behind information after the uninstallation or incorrect removal of software, by missing or corrupt hardware drivers, orphaned startup programs, etc. An example of left-behind spyware information is why some pop-ups and other spyware activities will persist on your computer after a system reboot. In addition, registries after several years become bloated with incorrect and outdated information. Registry Mechanic scans the entire, and provides a list of the registry errors identified. From this list, you may selectively or automatically repair, delete, or ignore each item. In addition, Registry Mechanic makes a backup of all changes so that they may be reversed if ever necessary. Besides fixing problems, Registry Mechanic, also, will add new registry tweaks and compact the registry to improve your computer's performance.
Here's a brief overview to how to use Mechanic Registry. First, scan the registry and when the scan is finished, then the results of the scan are displayed. No registry changes are implemented without your approval. After you have reviewed the suggested repairs and take the appropriate action, then your registry should be optimized and compacted.
The main screen of Registry Mechanic displays eight buttons as well as a summary of the last scans results and the date and time of the last registry compaction. The Status button displays the Main Status screen. The Start Scan button starts a full scan of the registry. The Restore button displays the Restore registry backup screen, where you can selectivity undo any changes to the registry made by Registry Mechanic. The Options button displays several scanning choices. The Register Now button displays how and why to register your program. The Click to reset statistics unlined line displays the current build number of the Registry Mechanic and a reminder to compact the registry. The About button, which is only displayed to registered users, displays more information about Registry Mechanic and its version number. The Help button displays Registry Mechanic's Quick Start Guide.
The Registry Mechanic is a freeware program and its shareware version keeps your version updated with the latest enhancements to the program. The Registry Mechanic website is at (www.pctools.com) and then click on Registry Mechanic. The current version is 5.2, which was release on April 11, 2006 and is fully compatible with all versions of Windows. The program has received awards form CNET, tucows, WUGNET, PC World, PC Plus, PC Advisor, apc, etc. The purchase price is $29.95 for one computer, $49.90 for two, $99.95 for five, etc., and if you want the CD-ROM version add $9.95. Kim Komando is offering a $5 discount. PC Tools is offering a discount on their other products when you are buying Registry Mechanic - Spyware Doctor (regularly $29.95 reduced to $19.95), PC Tools AntiVirus ($29.95, reduced to $19.95), and Privacy Guardian ($29.95 reduced to $9.95).
One of the best thing that you can do for your computer is to go to the Registry Mechanic website, click on "Start Registry Scan Now", and see what Registry Mechanic finds on your computer. The typical scan time is less than three minutes and when I scanned my computer Registry Mechanic found 197 problems, which I promptly corrected.
