PC Tools Registry Mechanic 9, 3 PC Licence (PC CD)

I installed this on to my Vista laptop not expecting it to find many problems as I only recently re-installed Vista. The installation went swiftly, and the software updated itself before prompting for the first scan. I was staggered that after three or four minutes the scan finished and reported that I had just over 2000 problems. Most of these errors will be so minor that you could probably run your system for years and never encounter a problem. However all of these errors are potential problems waiting to happen, and they will all slow your computer down both during start up and shutdown and when you are just generally using the PC.
I had a look through a few of them and it was quite clear that I wasn't going to be able to decipher what the problem was so I just clicked on the next button and allowed Reg Mech to clean the lot. It took a couple of minutes to do this and then returned me to the menu. I next decided to defragment and optimise the registry and was informed that I had 8 megs of wasted space in a 90 meg registry. After the optimisation I had to reboot the system. During startup the computer was a little bit faster - but what was most noticeable was that menus and programs were opening faster and my system just seems to be running better. If I experience less errors then that will be a bonus - but time I will have to wait and see if this is the case.
I decided to repeat the procedure on my daughter's computer which has been running XP for a few years and is very overdue a fresh install. It takes about five minutes to boot up and the hard disk is chugging away pretty much all of the time. Installation was very straight forward again, and within a few minutes it was scanning away. It identified just over 1000 problems this time which surprised me as I would have expected the old computer to have many more problems than the new one. I allowed it to fix the errors and then optimised the registry again. Very fast and painless. The reboot was again a little faster, and the system seems to be running faster and smoother. Not the total fix to the long reboot times, but I think my anti-virus has a lot to do with that.
There are a few more options on the main menu, and most of them are pretty much gloss as for 99% of people they will just install the software and run a scan. A few just take you to Windows utilities and others will not make much sense to the average user and a couple just seem a little pointless. Hence four stars rather than five. There are options to have it running in the background and constantly monitor changes to the registry, but this makes me a bit uneasy so I think I will just uninstall it and if I need it again I will reinstall. As long as it is within a year that is - otherwise I will have to buy the next version as the license runs out after 12 months.
Many people will be unaware that they need this software but it does exactly what it says on the box, and I am pleased with my new and improved registries. For a years use on three systems this represents good value for money.

There are a vast number of applications out there that purport to clean and optimise your computer's Registry and here is another.

The Registry, for those who don't know, is sort of database of references and cross references used by the computer to access the operating system, applications, and system elements. Everytime a new application is installed, removed or modifed then the registry is written to. Frequently when applications are removed or system elements changed traces are left behind in the Registry and it becomes increasingly cluttered with these left over bits of code. This slows the computer down and makes it more prone to crashes,startup and shutdown delays and other problems. Applications such as Registry Mechanic will clean and speed up the Registry by pruning it of the spurious code.

Well, that's the theory. Debate rages over the effectiveness of any of these programs or, indeed, if they actually work at all. Personally I have never noticed any improvement to a PC's performance after using one. Yet I still live in hope and dutifully test each new one I encounter.

This offering from PC Tools has a pleasing interface and is easy to use and configure. Whilst my computer was no faster after installing it I must in fairness say that it was no worse either. That is no mean boast as a poorly written Registry tool can easily render a machine unbootable.

If you are in the market for a registry tool then this one would not be a bad choice.

If you buy this application or any other software from PC Tools then be sure to buy the physical product from a shop or a third party retailer such as Amazon. I suggest you avoid an online purchase from the PC Tools website. I once purchased an item from them only to learn that my credit card was being charged afresh every year to renew the software which, as it did not work and slowed my PC down, I did not want. It took a protracted exchange of emails and a cancellation of my card before I was free of them.

This v9.0 is the latest version of Registry Mechanic [i.e. in effect Registry Mechanic 2010], and it is compatible with Microsoft Windows 7 (32bit, 64bit), Windows Vista SP1+ (32bit, 64bit), Windows XP SP2+ (32bit) on the PC. This latest version doesn't really offer any extra features over the previous RM 2009, it is in effect a further one years licence to use the latest program. If you already have Registry Mechanic 2009 there is an annual licence renewal route via PC Tools website, but often boxed versions such as these are cheaper via Amazon.

So what does Registry Mechanic v9.0 do? Well, if you are the type who constantly loads and unloads software and games chances are your PC system registry has got a lot of rubbish lying about in it. Manual editing of the registry can be done with Windows RegEdit which is fine for simple edits of a known problem but one false step and your hard drive could become unbootable requiring a complete reformat and install of Windows [and any data on the system drive lost]. The thought of that naturally puts off most people from playing around with the PC's system registry. However if your PC is having a lot of problems loading [very very slow to boot up and a lot of disk chuntering] chances are something unfortunate has happened to the registry and Windows is rummaging about looking for lost links etc... Or do you get frequent unrelated system crashes and a lot of odd cryptic Windows error messages, or is the PC now simply moving at a snails pace?

A slow system speed might be just because your hard drive needs defragmenting or an error check, so do that first [Goto: Start, Control Panel (category view), Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk management]. Also try deleting 'temporary files' under internet explorer's Tools, Internet Options. Alternatively your system hard drive may simply be full up, as you ideally need at least 25% free space on it, 15% minimum [if so, uninstall games, delete rubbish, and/or get a secondary hard drive]. Also be aware of any hardware problems like the PC's S.M.A.R.T. system reporting hard drive errors [switch it on in the PC system BIOS] or the hard drive making unusually loud clicks - both signs of imminent hard drive failure and data corruption. However if all that doesn't cure the problem it's quite likely that this bit of software, Registry Mechanic 2009, will help. Load the software, register it online [wait for the updates], and run the registry check. It will come up with a load of registry errors, say fix them, wait for the OK, and then restart the PC. Hopefully the computer should now start-up much faster and be more stable. Registry Mechanic even sets a system restore point so that you can undo any changes it has made, in the unlikely event something useful or crucial is accidently removed. The software can then optimise the PC registry to further improve PC speed. All I can say is that if your system is experiencing registry problems, this program really works and it is highly recommended by techie magazines like PCPro. However, if your PC is working perfectly, certainly don't bother installing or running the software, as it might do more harm than good and can't really offer much benefit anyway. I have used Registry Mechanic for many years and it does work well. Once the PC stability problems are resolved I wouldn't run it very frequently, if at all, or leave it running in the background, as it might chip away at the registry integrity. More likely it will affect non OS software though [e.g. Adobe], and besides using the Registry Mechanic 'Undo' option, you can simply re-install the problem software [as it may have a registry error anyway].

I've never known Registry mechanic affect a crucial Windows file [but make sure RM is updated to it's latest version]. With Partition Magic I have lost whole disk partitions of data when it's operation failed, but problems on this magnitude have never happened to me with Registry Mechanic. However, if your system seems to be in need of software like Registry Mechanic 2010, head straight for a comprehensive backup of all important files, documents and photos first. In fact this year I have just lost an entire XP installation to registry corruption, that prevented Windows booting up at all on my main home-office PC, even in safe mode - a very complex temp fix from Microsoft allowed me to recover and backup files, but I lost all my emails for 2008 - and no, Registry Mechanic wasn't installed on that PC.

That said if any computer of mine is experiencing very serious problems after a dodgy install or two, I always reformat the system C: drive and re-install Windows - and believe me that is like a breath of fresh air to any PC. This assumes that you have wisely formatted your hard drive into two partitions so that all your data is 'safely' [well relatively] on the non system D: data drive [use software Partition Magic for this if your drives already have Windows/data on them - and back-up that data to DVD ASAP]. I stopped using Registry Mechanic a year or so ago, as this software only runs for a year after install - after that you need to buy the licence again [renew it] to get the crucial software updates and email support. This Registry mechanic v9 is for XP, 2000, Vista and Windows 7 only. However you can still buy the old RM Version 7 from PCTools if you have Windows 98/ME. Previously if you suspected PC registry corruption but don't wish to shell out on Registry Mechanic, you could use Microsoft's freebie offering 'RegClean', which was less sophisticated & quite conservative in it's repairs. However Microsoft's trustworthy RegClean's no longer available for XP/Vista, so for a registry repair freebie you'll now have to trust the likes of the [well respected] CClean that includes a 'registry cleaner' utility. The Australian firm 'PCTools' that produces Registry Mechanic v9 makes other security software such as the respected anti-Spyware program 'Spyware Doctor', that goes beyond that offered by standard PC anti-virus software.

How does Registry Mechanic v9 work? Well: "Registry Mechanic uses a high-performance detection algorithm to quickly identify missing and invalid references in your Windows registry. These problems can occur for many reasons including being left-behind after the un-installation or incorrect removal of software, by missing or corrupt hardware drivers, or orphaned start-up programs." Now that I have teenagers in the house with their own PCs, who download and install goodness knows what, I have renewed my PcTool's Registry Mechanic v9 and sibling application Spyware Doctor licences to usefully help clear up after them when necessary.