RegTweaker is a utility for optimizing the registry and increasing performance of your PC.This program scans your PC for the most common causes of problems, like registry, junk files, security issues, and more. These problems often translate into long boot times, low or bad system performance, crashes (remember the infamous BSOD).
The scan should take no longer than a minute. I actually was amazed by the short time it took for the scan to be complete, taking into account the large amount of information it delivered. After completion, the results are shown in the main window, and these results are divided into seven tabs, being those: overall, registry, junk file, evidence, file association, IE and bad ActiveX.
The first tab shows the total results classified by category. The Registry tab shows the problems encountered in the registry, like empty entries or wrong paths. The registry is the most common cause of system instability, as its database holds crucial data for the operating system, like hardware configuration, software settings, and components to be loaded at startup.
One superb feature I found, is that it erases all of the Prefetch files. These files, located in the Prefetch folder, are entries that keep track of the programs run on your PC, as well as their related files (DLL, INI, and others). This data is used to load part or all of these files, depending on the frequency of use, while OS is booting, resulting in faster execution of those programs. But over time, this folder can become a repository of entries that either lead to nowhere, or programs you executed just once (like an installer), with the consequent longer boot time. Not so many programs that I know of deal with this problem. The results of this scan are located in the Junk File tab, as well as the files in the Temporary and Recent folders.
Another key feature of this utility, is the blocking of bad ActiveX Controls. They can be exploited by malicious websites to upload malware to your PC, with the consequent risks this may represent. It also restores certain default settings in IE to help improve security. For instance, it restored the start page and search provider.
The Evidence tab shows the files of digital forensics value, like registry keys MRU (Most Recently Used) and Recent, IE cache, History and temporary files. The FileAssoc tab refers to file extensions that are not recognized or don't have an associated program to open with.
RegTweaker also offers the possibility to create a backup copy of the registry before you proceed to erase the problematic files and bad registry entries. So, if something goes wrong, you can go back to the last working state of your PC.
Another good feature is the Startup Manager, that contains registry entries found under the Run key. These entries refer to the programs that are needed to be loaded with your OS. Your AV software is an example.
The bad news is that as a shareware program, it just scans and shows the errors, offering repair feature only in certain categories of minimal relevance. So, in order to completely optimize your PC, you might want to try buying the license.
RegTweaker is loaded with great features to optimize your PC. It's light in size and doesn't consume much RAM, but it's a powerful set of tools to really speed things up. So it should be worth giving a try.
Available for Windows 2000/2003/2008/XP/Vista/7 (32/64-bit.).
Comments