A fresh reinstall of the operating system is apparently the most popular solution when computers begin to have serious performance issues. However, there are methods to prevent such situations and help you save a lot of precious time and effort.
Auslogics Registry Cleaner is a simple and free utility, capable of detecting and cleaning the Windows registry from many types of errors such as entries left over from software uninstallation, empty keys, non-existent file associations and others, preventing your OS from becoming unstable and randomly crashing.
Installation & Requirements
Auslogics Registry Cleaner is the kind of tool that does exactly what it says and this reflects in the installed folder’s size which is only 10 MB large. Also, the install process is over in a matter of seconds with just a small downside: you will have to face an adware window that will attempt to install the Auslogics Toolbar and set Ask.com as your homepage and you will have to manually deselect these features if you don’t want them.
The program supports both 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows XP with SP2 or later, 2003, Vista, 2008 and 7 with no additional system requirements besides having one of these operating systems installed.
Interface
Besides its efficiency, the interface is what really makes Auslogics Registry Cleaner shine: an essential top menu lists File, Settings and Help options; the left menu shows all of the registry categories (divided into Basic and Advanced) with the option to select/deselect each; the main area displays scan recommendations, scan results, fix results and of course the “Scan Now” button (with two modes to choose from, “Scan” and “Scan and Repair”). Thanks to this simple layout, any novice user will be able to use the program in no time.
Fine-tuning the scan settings can be done by accessing the right-menu of individual registry categories where you will have the options to scan, clean, uncheck all, invert checkboxes and check safe only(this last option is enabled by default for all categories). The other place where you can customize your scan is from the Settings – Program Settings window. Here you can choose the program’s language, enable/disable backups, select which folders will be scanned for invalid shortcuts and customize the ignore list.
All in all, this straightforward, clean GUI provides all you need to clean your Windows registry without forcing you to wander around through endless menus in order to set up your registry scan.
Pros
– Simple, easy to use interface.
– Fast and reliable registry scan.
– Automated registry backup before registry cleaning starts.
– Two scan modes: Scan and Scan and Repair.
Cons
– Complete lack of scheduling options.
– No report history (you can only see the last report).
Alternatives
Auslogics Registry Cleaner is an efficient program, the only problem being the fact that it only cleans your registry. Registry defragmentation, the second step, which in my opinion should have been included, is made available as a separate free download known as Auslogics Registry Defrag. So if you really want to optimize your registry you can use these utilities together or try the also free Wise Registry Cleaner which includes registry cleaning and defragmenting capabilities, plus the very useful scheduling tools.
On the other hand, if you’re on the lookout for a similar application with equal capabilities, Eusing Free Registry Cleaner makes a good alternative.
Conclusion
Auslogics Registry Cleaner is not a complex program, it will only clean your Windows registry…but it does that well. Concerning this program’s efficiency we can say it’s on par even with commercial, feature-rich computer optimization programs that have this functionality included among many others. Still, cleaning the registry is just one of the tasks included in the PC maintenance routine so this program works best in conjunction with other related tools.
