14 DAY TRIAL // Make your system run better, faster, improve performance, tune up everything, tweak, tweak and tweak! Everyone wants to make their computer the most efficient one; it's not enough to have power, but one needs to make use of it as much as possible. You can work on your hardware by overclocking it, or, you can "overclock" your software.
Registry Mechanic is a program that works on the system registry, tweaking it for optimum results so that your computer will run like a Swiss watch.
Working with the program
The installation kit is small, but downloads most of files from the PcTools server. With a decent internet connection, the installation is completed (about 3 MB are downloaded) in no time.
The first time you use the program, it automatically starts a system registry scan, so that it can figure out what your computer's state is. Scanning the whole registry doesn't take too long, but the number of errors that it can find is amazing.
The main window has three large buttons, allowing you to choose between: scanning your registry, optimizing your system, or compacting the registry.
If you choose the scan option, there's no intermediary, or confirming window and the program jumps directly to the action. The results panel that's displayed after the scan is done shows the errors organized by categories, so that you can view which software section is the poorest one.
A suspicious feature that I don't trust so much is the fact that you can choose to optimize your system. And that's that! No confirmation dialog and no further explanation about what setting is changed, and what consequences might result. It just miraculously improves your system in an instant? I suggest you let the sleeping dogs lie, and don't use this feature, because the program doesn't even take the time to analyze your system before "optimizing" it.
The program does advise you to create a system restore point right after the installation is complete, but it doesn't enable you to back-up your registry. If major damage is done, you might not be able to boot all the way to the system restore section, and a full system reinstall will be necessary.
When repairing errors, the program does, indeed, back-up the fixed registry keys, and this is a good thing; I especially like the fact that you can manually repair each damaged registry, and if you have to deal with an enormous list, this could turn out to be a painstaking operation; but a general setting does not apply to a particular case, and each error must be treated individually. You can, however, have the program automatically repair the errors it finds.
If you want to improve your computer's performance, you can use the "Registry compacting" feature, which eliminates gaps and wasted space and can significantly reduce its size. When doing this operation your computer will lock up in an idle state for a few minutes, but the waiting is worth the effort, and after that you'll see some good results. In this stage the original registry hives are backed up.
The "Restore" feature allows you to open or restore a registry back-up that you've previously created. It would be nice if the program would allow you to create back-ups at any time, but it doesn't!
The options panel allows you to configure and start a custom scan, by choosing which sections you want to include and which you want to exclude from the scanning process, having to choose between the following: registry integrity, software locations, windows fonts, help and resources, shared DLLs, startup programs, add/remove programs, virtual devices, file extensions, custom controls, deep scan or temp files/shortcuts.
You can also add registries to the ignore list, so that the program won't take them into consideration when performing the scan operation.
The help menu is not too rich in information, but does give you all the basic details that you need in order to get to know the program. If you need additional help, you are directed to the producer's website, where you'll find an online version of the help file, containing much more information and explanations.
The good
The interface is user friendly, and you won't get lost between unnecessary details when working with the program. It offers all the features that you need for registry tweaking, and if you need assistance you get both a builtin help file, plus a wider online support.
The bad
I don't get a feeling of stability, and I can't accept the fact that the program performs certain actions without providing additional information (it doesn't do this behind my back, but more details could have been introduced). Also, the program comes as a limited version: no repairs are done until you register it!
The truth
Even though I was a bit repulsive at first, I've noticed that the program doesn't reduce the computer's performance, nor is it unstable. Once I got over the trusting issue, working with the program became a lot easier. The shareware version will give you a good idea whether you want to buy the full license or not (which has a moderate price, by the way).
Check out the screenshots below to get a glance at the program in action:
Installing:
