CNET Editors' review
Registry optimizing tools tend to fall into two categories: those that defragment the registry by removing blank spaces and those that make changes to the registry, deleting unnecessary, invalid, or problematic entries. Registry Life from ChemTable Software combines both in one free application. Like other registry cleaners, Registry Life is best used with caution. It's much more forgiving than most such tools, though. Used wisely, it can keep your system working smoothly.
Registry Life's interface sports two main items, Registry Logical Structure and Registry Physical Structure, and a menu of basic controls and settings in the left-hand panel. Pop-up dialogs handle operations and display scan results; most offer an Advanced User option that lists results in detail. We install and remove a lot of software on our test machines, so there's always plenty for a registry cleaner to do. The Registry Cleanup tool quickly found 275 problem entries, mostly nonexistent references, useless keys, and invalid entries. We saved the scan results as a text file, a recommended step that Registry Life makes easy. The cleanup scan tagged nothing critical, so we clicked OK. The software cleaned the registry in about a second, simultaneously creating a backup file--a thoughtful touch. The registry optimization tool is a bit more vigorous, requiring you to close all applications, disable your antivirus software, and reboot the system when it's finished. Nevertheless, the process took mere minutes and reclaimed significant space on the registry, resulting in a quicker boot-up. More importantly, it caused no problems, at least no obvious ones.
While any software that modifies the registry demands caution, Registry Life seems less prone to include valid entries in its scans in the first place. It's freeware that outperforms costly tools, so it's definitely worth a look.
Publisher's Description
From ChemTable Software:
Registry Life is a utility designed to improve system performance by fixing errors, defragmenting, and compressing the registry. Unlike similar freeware tools, Registry Life offers registry cleanup and optimization in a single tool. The registry cleanup tool scans the registry for a wide variety of problems and fixes them all at once. For example, it will remove invalid entries from the Windows start-up registry and browser context menu; check file type associations, common dynamic-link libraries, and registered applications; and examine other parts of the registry.
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All versions:
3.7 starsout of 23 votes
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Current version:
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My rating:
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"Wow, Some People Need To Pay Attention When Installing!"
Version: Registry Life 1.31
Pros
It found 156 items that CCleaner and Auslogics both missed. Out of the 156 items I found 151 that I knew were obsolete software references, the other 5 I wan't sure about so I added them to the ignore list.
Cons
None. The program does what it says it will.
Summary
This little known program does what it says. If found a crap load of entries that others missed. It also defragged and compressed the registry as well.........All of the people crying about malware (lol) and crapware just installed this program without READING the installer. I suggest using the custom install feature on this, AND ALL, software installations. Take your time and read!!
Free software has to generate $ somehow, so most of them partner up with someone and try to install a new search engine, or toolbar, ect....
Always do a custom install!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
"This download have maleware"
Version: Registry Life 1.28
Pros
I dont know
Cons
I dont know
Summary
This download have maleware please take care of that,detected with avg internet security, be more careful.
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"Easy to use and does a good job"
Version: Registry Life 1.27
Pros
Easy installation, seems to work well. Well worth the download.
Cons
None so far
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"very dangerous program"
Version: Registry Life 1.26
Pros
none whatsoever
Cons
it will offer you the instalation of emoticons for facebook, a dangerous thing to do since this is a highly dangerous spyware thing. IF you remove the program the spyware stays since they are independent things.
Summary
you computer can get contaminated with dangerous spyware things.
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"A bit dangerous and installs crapware"
Version: Registry Life 1.26
Pros
The registry defragger seemed to work fine.
Cons
Registry optimizer suggested several entries for deletion which appeared to be incorrect.
Also popped up a window saying "do you agree". I hit yes before reading and it installed an annoying browser extension which becomes default search provider.Summary
Use Auslogics for the registry optimization and use this for the registry defrag afterwards.
I'd like to update this review to 1 star.
Updated on Feb 7, 2011
The spyware they installed was not removed by doing an uninstall. In addition, each browser had to have add-ins removed manually, then each browser had to have the default search provider manually set back to what I wanted it, instead of Facemoods.com, then I had to do a search and find out that to set Firefox's default keyword search back I had to go to About:config search for facemoods, reset to default values, then find out how to actually make the google search work again.
Annoying.
Also, my sound card no longer functions. This is bad software and should be removed from download.com -
"Works good."
Version: Registry Life 1.26
Pros
Cleans it all nicely.
Cons
Cleans out my passwords, because I can't figure out how to stop it from cleaning them. I'm not computer savvy.
Summary
Easy enough, I run it once a month.
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"works perfectly"
Version: Registry Life 1.24
Pros
its simplicity
Cons
noyhing it does what it says on the tin
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"Seems to work Ok"
Version: Registry Life 1.23
Pros
Easy to use
Cons
Nothing at this time
Summary
It looks like a good program at this time
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"Absolutely wonderful!"
Version: Registry Life 1.22
Pros
So easy to use and novice friendly. Used for a week so far and it hasn't messed up our Vista or XP.
Cons
Haven't found any.
Summary
Better than Glary or eusing.
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"Nothing special."
Version: Registry Life 1.22
Pros
Found substantial number of registry errors.
Cons
One of the slower registry cleaners I have used to date.
Summary
On first use, it seemed competent but slow. I have been using Registry Mechanic for years as my primary registry cleaner--and it beat out Registry Life with number of errors and speed. But I also recently tried out Auslogic's free Registry Cleaner, which blew both Registry Life and Registry Mechanic out of the water. So while Registry Life is OK, Auslogic set a new standard for me. If you are using Registry Life and are happy with it, no reason to give it up. But there are better, faster products out there.
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