There are literally hundreds of registry cleaner programs available online for sale. Some will argue about the value of ‘paid for’ registry cleaners however, putting aside such debates, the fact remains that millions of people around the world choose to buy registry cleaners. For this reason, it seemed appropriate to conduct a bit of light testing on some of the registry cleaners currently available for sale.
‘Paid For’ Registry Cleaner Review: The Test
This article is not intended to provide thorough analysis of each program listed. The purpose however is to provide initial basic information intended to provide the reader with additional knowledge about what to expect.
- Did the program include any free offers?
- Did the trial version install any adware?
- How many errors did the registry cleaner claim to find?
- How much does the program cost?
These are the questions answered in this review.
‘Paid For’ Registry Cleaner Review: The Test
All registry cleaners listed below were tested in a machine that was completely cleaned by several registry cleaner, optimization programs and defrag programs prior to the testing of each program in order to provide a level testing field. The results of each test are listed below (in alphabetical order).
- Ascentive: PC SpeedScan Pro - The trial version of PC SpeedScan Pro includes a free scan, but no free fixes. At $29.95*, PC SpeedScan Pro reported 143 “errors” on the test PC. No adware.
- FreeRegistryFix: Free Registry Fix – Free Registry Fix took the longest of all tested registry cleaners to complete its initial scan; 20 minutes. The trial version includes 100 free fixes and reported 15,114 “errors” on the test PC. There was no adware and purchasing the program costs $29.95*, however getting the program to 'close' was impossible as the close button was linked to 'purchase options. The program had to be closed through the Task Manager.
- getARO: Advanced Registry Optimizer - The trial version of ARO includes 20 free error fixes. To fix all found errors, the cost is $29.95*. ARO reported 471 “errors” on the test PC. No adware.
- iolo: System Mechanic - System Mechanic allows for the installation of a fully functional trial-version, which is good for 30-days and fixes all encountered errors. System Mechanic reported 2 “errors” on the test PC, contained no adware and costs $39.95 to purchase after 30-days.
- MyFasterPC: My Faster PC - My Faster PC trial version includes 20 free error fixes. On the test PC, My Faster PC reported 249 “errors” and costs $29.95*. No adware.
- PCSoftHelp: PC Cleaner - PC Cleaner provides a free scan of the PC but no free fixes. PC Cleaner reported 895 “errors” on the test PC and costs $29.95*. No adware.
- Registry-Serve: RegServe Pro - RegServe Pro provides a free scan, but no free fixes. The program reported a total of 502 “errors” on the test PC and is available for $29.95*. No adware but the programs claims all found errors are “serious”.
- SoftCity:No trial version downloads could be located prior to purchasing, thus was not included in this test.
- SpeedyPC: Speedy PC 3.0.2 - The free scan reported 137 “errors” on the test PC. Speedy PC does clean Font Entries and File Association errors free of charge. No adware was reported and the cost of Speedy PC is $29.95*. Interestingly, Speedy PC can be obtained free if the user chooses to buy an item from one of their affiliate sites
Registry Cleaner Review: Results
All of the above listed programs were tested in the exact same computer environment (fully cleaned with alternate registry cleaner software prior to each test). None of the above listed programs contained any adware or made use of any pressure or spamming sales tactics.
The wide variance in the number of reported “errors” on the exact same PC, is a bit concerning as the potential buyer should expect see more consistency between products performing almost identical tasks. It should be noted that the test involving Free Registry Fix clearly identified an issue with the program as it reported all Adobe CS5 files as invalid shortcut errors (all 14,671 files).
Slightly more costly than the rest, iolo’s System Mechanic seemed to be the most accurate in terms of error reporting and one cannot ignore that it was the only registry cleaner that allows the user to test it for a full 30-days at no cost.
Registry Cleaner Review: To Each His Own
The testing completed in this article (of 8 different registry cleaners) took approximately 1.5 hours to complete. Given that a registry cleaner is an investment designed to improve the overall health of the PC, this is a very brief amount of time to find the program suited to each person’s individual comfort. This is important to understand, as each person’s level of comfort with computers is different. Taking a little time to test what’s out there will ensure satisfaction with the purchase.
*all dollar amounts are USD
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