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It requires care when using, but this portable executable eliminates unwanted Registry keys. RegAssassin's business-like interface sports only a text entry box, a pair of check boxes, and a function button. Using it requires experience editing the Registry, but for some pernicious malicious software, deleting their registry entries is part of the cleaning process. The program does display warning messages, but inexperienced users could easily crash their system by deleting an important Registry key.

Operating RegAssassin is simple and quick. Users merely enter a Registry key name and delete the key with a single button click. The application includes simple check box-enabled options to reset the key permissions and delete all subkeys. The utility recommends using RegEdit to correctly get Key Names. The total time from finding a problem key to deletion is less than 10 seconds.

This isn't a tool for novices. Even experienced should stay on their toes when operating RegAssassin. The application has no undo or Registry backup functions. However, advanced users looking for a simple Registry Key killer executable for their USB toolbox will want this utility.

This isn't the most feature-packed Windows optimization utility but we found it one of the easiest to control. Advanced WindowsCare Personal's simple interface offers two main options: Repair and Repair And Optimize. The former fixes Registry entries and cleans out your operating system. The latter does the same thing and tweaks Windows for maximum performance.

If you run into trouble, the Restoration option can return your system to its original configuration. The Advanced menu provides fine control over repairs and optimizations. Afterward, I noticed only one improvement, a reduced amount of used RAM, but that's not insignificant. However, the sparse descriptions of system problems may not satisfy seasoned users. And although the latest version of the app includes a help file, it's hardly extensive.

Nevertheless, if your system is doing its best turtle impersonation and you're considering reinstalling Windows, it wouldn't hurt to try this freeware package first. There's also a paid upgrade that offers more features, such as a run-in-background option, faster definition file updates, and tech support.

Power-packed beyond Registry tweaks, RegToy focuses on Registry edits to optimize your computer performance--but novices shouldn't expect much hand-holding. Though the tweak options are carefully labeled, users must know the consequences of altering them, as the few onscreen notes don't provide adequate assistance. You can restore the Registry settings to the Windows default, but that's an emergency final resort, as it will undo many changes made by you and other programs. RegToy also includes a poorly explained feature for saving and loading settings.

Other features include a file renamer, a file shredder, a start-up manager, an uninstall manager, and a disk cleaner for removing unnecessary files. The app has a pretty nested-button-and-tab interface, which may put off some because it doesn't follow XP standards. Options are primarily of the enable/disable variety, and most changes take effect immediately, although some might require a reboot.

You also get a Registry cleaner for removing invalid Registry entries. It's very rare to find such a powerful and free tweaking application. Intermediate to advanced users will quickly make RegToy an integral part of their toolboxes.

While the jury is still debating the efficacy of Registry cleaners, Registry Repair from Glary seems to do its main job quickly and accurately. True to its name, the utility scans your PC's Registry, then fixes any errors it finds. Some of the extras are worth noting, too.

The app's main interface is easy to grasp at first sight, letting you check and uncheck boxes when deciding which portions of the Registry to scan. For instance, the program looks for such entries as obsolete software, invalid fonts, bad shortcuts, and even spyware. It's also handy that Registry Repair offers a brief explanation of why each key is no longer necessary. Nevertheless, it takes no risks and automatically backs up the Registry before you remove anything.

In addition to its main job, the application also can manage which programs launch on start-up. You'll also find a disk-cleanup utility and an uninstaller. These features are not remarkably different from Windows' built-in tools, but it's still nice to be able to access them from the app's main window.

This powerful application offers extensive utilities to improve your system's performance and protect your privacy. Glary Utilities' well-organized interface allows users to easily choose from several tools. It cleans unwanted junk files and removes invalid and broken shortcuts, freeing up valuable disk space.

There's a registry cleaner that allows you to scan, remove, and back up faulty entries. You also can wipe out Internet Explorer traces and tweak start-up programs and memory optimization. Privacy-conscious users will certainly appreciate the inclusion of a government-standard file shredder to securely delete data. Users who are looking for an effective and easy-to-use application to keep their system in tip-top shape should try this one out.

The Auslogics Registry Defragger looks good, but it's hard to tell if this or any Registry defragger or cleaner works. What's the challenge? Simple: It's not easy to gauge if these programs are effective because you'd need to benchmark your CPU against a range of programs before and after the Registry cleaning to properly test for any improvement, and that's an extremely time-intensive process.

Still, Auslogics is known for making effective Windows utilities, so perhaps we should give them the benefit of the doubt until more conclusive evidence is in. In any event, when you run the Registry Defragger, it spits out a report that you can review before proceeding with the potentially risky defrag process. The Registry optimization requires a reboot to defrag and compact the Registry.

This is a fairly serious program, and once you begin the analysis it won't let you move the mouse outside the program window. It also "strongly recommends" that users close all other programs while it runs, although this is a standard warning for Registry-cleaning apps. In our tests, benchmark improvements never materialized, but it's not impossible that there's something going on that we're missing. Recommended, but with a grain or four of salt.

Where the built-in and sluggish Windows Add or Remove Programs option fails, freeware Revo Uninstaller picks up the slack. Revo is robust and fully loaded, making even the most insidious Registry-altering program breathtakingly simple to eradicate.

Four levels of removal balance against your comfort level mucking about in the Registry, but Revo does all the hard work, ferreting out Registry keys and letting you opt out of deleting them. The main view can be adjusted, and the context menu offers up a list of choices, from fundamentals like Uninstall and Remove from list, to Search Google, Show the installation directory, and quick access to an app's Help file, its About screen, and even an Update link.

Other power-user tools include an Advanced mode to add program-specific Registry key access to the context menu, and a Tools Optimizer containing the Autorun Manager, Windows Tools access screen, and a Junk File finder/killer. The Autorun Manager provides one-stop shopping for start-up tweaking, while Windows Tools pulls together various and disparate basic utilities under one umbrella, and the Junk killer is just killer. The cool Hunter Mode offers click-and-drag uninstall and process-killing functionality. Simply put: Revo will revolutionize your uninstall workflow.

For fans of Auslogics Disk Defrag--and who isn't?--Auslogics offers up BoostSpeed, a utility suite that'll set you back 30 clams in your quest for a computer that runs like a cheetah.

BoostSpeed rounds up all the Auslogics utilities under one roof.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Disk Defrag is a massively popular piece of freeware, and with good reason. It runs faster and provides more information both during the defrag process and afterwards than the native Windows defragger, and it's free. Effective and providing an essential function, there's no question that your computer runs better for it.

BoostSpeed, while effective, isn't necessarily what every user needs. It bundles Disk Defrag with all the other Auslogics utilities. These include a Registry cleaner, an uninstall manager, a startup manager for boot cycle customizations, RAM and browser optimizers, file shredder, DirectX diagnostic, Windows tweak manager, and several mini apps to manage Windows settings. It also comes with a rescue center that can back up any settings before you change them. No doubt, BoostSpeed gives you your money's worth, at least in terms of services provided. Upgrading also only costs $10, for those who own older versions.

Are they all worth paying for? That depends on what kind of user you are. Most if not all of these features are available as freeware from one vendor or another, and generally one in each category is top-notch or nearly so. Some of the lesser tools, like the tweaks manager and the security feature, didn't live up to my expectations. Tweaks focused on basic functions and wouldn't serve as a replacement for TweakUI, while the security feature merely let me know that I had up-to-date security apps installed. Still, the convenience of having all these tools located under one umbrella is hard to argue with, and even the tools that didn't impress did their jobs free of hitches.

Scan speeds for the other features included here are comparable with those in Disk Defrag. Users also get the convenience of optionally setting the program to run at startup and live in the system tray, making most of the program's functionality no more than a context-menu click away.

The most useful tools are the Disk Defrag, the RAM optimizer, the Registry Optimizer--if you believe that "optimizing" the Registry is more than snake oil--the file shredder, and the performance monitor. The 15-day trial comes unfettered, allowing you to thoroughly judge if BoostSpeed is a program you need.

Auslogics, publisher of the popular Auslogics Disk Defrag, also makes another defragger: Registry Defrag. Does it actually work? Is it all smoke and mirrors, or does using this free program result in faster clock times?

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