Defrag Registry To Speed Up System

excellent
key review info
application features
  • Fast defrag registry
  • (2 more, see all...)

Besides cleaning of invalid entries every once in a while, Windows Registry also needs defragmenting for the system to be in the best shape. WinMend Registry Defrag is one solution to the matter that promises to carry out the job in three easy-to-follow steps.

Not too long ago tools of this kind were pretty scarce and most of the developers offered them for a price. However, this niche of the market has grown to the point that there are plenty of free choices to pick from, and WinMend Registry Defrag is one of them, along with Quicksys RegDefrag.

Registry fragmentation occurs whenever you install or uninstall a program. Gaps between pieces of information are created, just like in the case of disk fragmentation. Compressing all the data so that all the space is neatly arranged in one contiguous flow translates into faster access to the registry data, hence improved system performance. And this is exactly what WinMend Registry Defrag has been built for: compact and optimize Windows registry.

There is no portable version for this application, but installation completed uneventful in our case. The interface states right from the beginning what it can do and the steps you need to go through in order to finish the job successfully.

Although there are three tabs available in the main screen only the first one is of interest for the task of defragmenting the registry. The other two promote other products from the same developer and show details about the author of the application. Among the free programs signed by the same developer there is a tool for hiding folders, a file splitter and merger, auto-shutdown utility and a batch copy tool. These, along with the paid products provided by the author, can be downloaded straight from the interface of the Registry Defrag.

The program puts at your disposal details about your system's registry such as its size and files. Apart from this you'll also have the size of each registry file and its path on the computer.

Just like in the case of any defragmenting utility, you need to assess the current damage before proceeding to fixing the issue. So the first step is analyzing the registry. During this operation you have to close all running applications and the computer may become unresponsive (in our case this happened at each test). You won't be able to stop or pause the process and everything except for the progress bar will dim down.

Unlike other products of the same feather (read QuickSys RegDefrag), this one offers you a clear view at the fragmented state of the registry. Besides the number you will also be able to analyze graphs with the current state and the prediction after defrag completes.

What is even better is that you get a report comprising the size of each registry file after the analysis and predicted size after defragmentation.

During our first test WinMend Registry Defrag predicted an overall registry access improvement of 5% after it finished rearranging the data; the fragmentation level declared was 2.78%, which does not sound too dark and stood for an excess of 1684KB in size.

After the compression the size of the registry did not shrink exactly by that amount, but by 1024KB, leaving the registry still fragmented (1.1%). However, repeating the operation the second time brought it to 0% fragmentation level, according to multiple registry defragmenters we put WinMend's against.

Before starting the defragmentation procedure take into account that it order t complete successfully a computer restart is required. This may comes as a distress for some of the users, but this routine is absolutely essential for this sort of job.

WinMend Registry Defrag is not a complicated thing to handle. Simply by following the onscreen instructions even a beginner user could attain a better running system.

On the downside, you will not benefit from estimated time for completing neither the analysis nor the actual defrag process. But this should be a minor concern since the job completion advance is marked in both cases by the transgression from one registry file to another and a percentage bar that keeps on filling up.

Also, the duration of the task should not be too large since the registry is not a place to store a huge amount of bits. Taking this into consideration, a regular job should not take longer than a few minutes. Of course, the number of applications installed and the fragmentation level of the registry have a strong influence.


The Good

WinMend Registry Defrag's main advantages are that it is free, easy to use and does a great job at compacting the registry.

You can take a look at the results of the analysis before proceeding to the actual defragmentation. Registry details provided after the analysis comprise predictions on the future size of each registry file.

The Bad

Lack of time estimation for finishing the task when scanning the registry or defragging may come as a downside for some users, but if you think that the entire operation should last for about 5 minutes, this isn't really an issue.

In our case it failed to bring defragmentation level to the minimum value in just one run.

The Truth

Although multiple runs may be required, WinMend Registry Defrag manages to deliver registry compression and thus better the way the system runs.

Compared to programs of the same feather you will have more details on the registry and its files.

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user interface 4
features 5
ease of use 5
pricing / value 5


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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