Looking for a good list of free Windows XP and Vista registry cleaners? There are literally thousands of registry cleaners out there, but only a few time-tested ones that have stood out for quality and not destroying your computer! In this article, I’m going to go through some of my favorite registry cleaner programs.
Firstly, do you really need a registry cleaner? YES! That’s my opinion based on using Windows for the last 12 years of my life and being an IT professional doesn’t help. The registry ends up getting filled with lots of useless keys over time because of numerous installs and uninstall’s of software. The more bloated your registry gets, the slower your computers gets and the more problems you start having in general.
So to clean out those old entries and keep your computer running smoothly, check out the following list of free registry cleaners in no particular order:
CCleaner – By far, one of the most popular system maintenance and PC tune-up utilities out there. It’s mostly known for cleaning up your hard drive of useless temporary files, browsing history, etc, but it also has a registry cleaner that has never given me a simple problem. Actually, some people consider it a “mild”registry cleaner in that it does not go as deep as some other cleaners. However, I like it a lot and it has helped keep my system running smoothly.
Comodo Registry Cleaner – Even though this program was just released and is still in Beta, it’s a very good product from a very reputable company. I ran it on one of my machines and it found many intricate registry keys that CCleaner did not find. It also has not harmed my system in any way, which is the main thing! Comodo has other great products like Firewall and Backup, but I’m glad they have ventured intoregistry cleaning also.
Eusing Free Registry Cleaner – Have not used this one myself, but have read some pretty good reviews of it online. Considered a deeper and more powerful registry cleaner as it finds and cleans missing shared dlls, invalid ActiveX, invalid paths, invalid installer references, and tons more.
Argente Registry Cleaner – Another registry cleaner that has some mixed reviews. Some people say it’s one of the best and others say it’s messed up their computers. I’ve personally not run it, but you may want to read some more about it online before trying it on your computer. Also, ALWAYS make sure to backup your registry before running any registry cleaner.
Erunt 1.1 – This utility allows you to backup and restore your registry, plus optimize and tweak it. It only works up to XP, so if you have Vista, you’ll have to find something else. This program has gotten very high reviews online and no negative feedback, which means it’s probably pretty safe and won’t mess up your computer.
EasyCleaner – EasyCleaner is kind of like CCleaner in that it has other features such as cleaning up temp files, duplicate files, and unnecessary backup files. The registry cleaner is gotten good reviews and one of the nice features of EasyCleaner is that it uses a up-to-date text file with registry keys that should never be deleted or changed.
TweakNow RegCleaner – Comes in two flavors, standard and professional. Standard is free and has all the features for registry scanning and cleaning. The Pro version just has a registry defragmenter and a Windows optimizer, but these are really not needed anyway. This program also works with both Windows XP and Windows Vista.
RegSeeker – I have used RegSeeker and personally really like the interface and overall quality of the product. You can use it to search the registry for installed apps, startup entries, histories, favorites, etc. You can also apply certain tweaks to the registry and, of course, clean the registry. Works with Windows XP and Windows Vista also and has high ratings online.
Wise Registry Cleaner – This program also has a free and pro version, the pro version having some extra features like being able to export entries to MS Excel, etc. Also has a restore feature whereby you can return to the original state of your machine before running the software in case something does not work correctly.
Free Registry Cleaner – Very highly rated registry cleaner that works on all versions of Windows up to Windows Vista. Also has a disk cleanup utility, startupmanager, uninstall manager, and process manager. According to reviews, finds a lot more keys to remove than other registry cleaners (this could be good or bad though).
What are your favorite registry cleaners or do you even use one at all? I’m not a huge fan of cleaning the registry very often as it can cause problems with your computer occasionally, but definitely using a milder registry cleaner every few months is very helpful. Also, check out my previous post on Tune-Up Utilities 2008, a very comprehensive program you can use to optimize and tune up your computer system. Enjoy!
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