[Review] Wise Registry Cleaner 4 Pro

{rw_text}Giveaway of the day for March 27, 2009:

Wise Registry Cleaner 4 Pro

Version reviewed:

v4.22 Build 180

Software description as per GOTD:

Wise Registry Cleaner is a powerful registry cleaner and registry optimizer, it speeds up your PC by cleaning your Windows Registry. It removes the junk that accumulates in your Windows Registry. You can safely and easily clean your Windows registry.And it will help you improve your PC’s performance by optimize your Windows Registry.

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{rw_good}

  • Fairly aesthetically please interface (with the ability to change if you dislike the default one).
  • You can manually backup and restore your registry.
  • An “Undo” is automatically created before your make any registry changes (by default).
  • Has the ability to optimize your registry PC(w/ a “Wizard” to “guide” you).
  • Informs you of which registry fixes are “safe” and which are “unsafe”.
  • Has an “exclusion” list you can use to protect certain registry entries.
  • Supports for many (many) languages.
  • You can export your list of registry errors into an Excel file.

{/rw_good} –>

{rw_bad}

  • Once you click on a “Category” after your scan has finished, you can’t go back to showing all the registry errors.
  • “Optimization Wizard” wants to optimize my laptop as if it only had 2GB of RAM instead of the full 3GB >.>’.
  • Has “Download Wise Disk Cleaner” option checked by default during installation – careful or you may accidently download it.

{/rw_bad} –>

{rw_score}
{for=”Features as Described” value=”10″}Everything is there.
{/for}
{for=”Ease of Use” value=”8″}Point and click; however a little technical knowledge is recommended so that you know what change you are making to your computer (but not really needed).
{/for}
{for=”Performance” value=”7″}Finds a fair (and “believable”) amount of registry errors; however CPU usage fluctuates between 0-11% and RAM usage is higher then I like at ~22MB (this is all with WRC4 sitting idle after a scan and with the default theme).
{/for}
{for=”Usefulness” value=”10″}Everyone who has a computer can clean their registry.
{/for}
{for=”Arbitrary Equalizer” value=”9″}This category reflects an arbitrary number that does not specifically stand for anything. Rather this number is used to reflect my overall rating/verdict of the program in which I considered all the features and free alternatives.
{/for}
{/rw_score} –>

{rw_verdict}[tup]
{/rw_verdict} –>

Registration and installation went fine. Note that at the last screen of Wise Registry Cleaner installer, there is an option “Download Wise Disk Cleaner”. It is checked by default; be sure to uncheck it before you finish your installation.

On GOTD comments I posted

If people may recall, Wise Disk Cleaner contained false positives. I sincerely hope Wise Registry Cleaner does not, but being by the same company, it very well could.

Well after testing and fully reviewing this software (did you think I was not going to? =P), I can say I like Wise Registry Cleaner. The errors it finds are what I call “believe” and compare well to my other “trusted registry cleaners”. In other words, Wise Registry Cleaner was a (pleasant) surprise “thumbs up”.

This is what Wise Registry Cleaner’s main program window looks like:

2009-03-27_011019

The interface is pretty nice looking if I do say so myself. If you don’t like it, go to “Options” -> “Style” to choose a different style. At the same time, it is fairly straightforward (although I wish some of the icons were a little bit more self explanatory it is nothing you can’t get used to after using the program once or twice).

Wise Registry Cleaner has most/all of the features one expects in a registry cleaner:

  • You can backup/restore the registry manually.
  • You can set the program to automatically create “backups” before you make any registry changes.
  • You can pick and choose what registry errors to scan for and/or pick (or you can just do the whole registry).
  • There is a scheduler which you can use to schedule cleanups.
  • There is an “Exclusion List” where you can enter “keywords” that will help prevent certain registry values from being detected as “errors”.

In addition to those “traditional” features, Wise Registry Cleaner also has an “Optimizer” which helps tweak some settings on your computer. The “Optimizer” comes with an “Optimizer Wizard” which you can use to allow Wise Registry Cleaner to automatically optimize your computer; of the testing I did with the “Optimizer” I found that Wise Registry Cleaner wants to optimize my laptop as if it had 2GB of RAM instead of 3GB. It may be thinking of dual channel usage but that is not possible since I have 3GB of RAM. Other then that, my testing was limited to seeing if the start menu “speed” was actually increased or decreased like the optimizer says and I can say I did notice a slight difference.

Anyway back to the main feature of Wise Registry Cleaner; only one thing to note before I start discussing the actual testing. Wise Registry Cleaner classifies all the registry errors it finds as either “safe to fix” or “unsafe to fix”. The safe ones will be automatically checked after a scan is run while the unsafe ones will not be checked (you must manually check them to fix them).

Okay so when it comes to registry cleaners, it does not matter how fancy a program may be. If it sucks as a registry cleaner the program is useless. Also, just because one registry cleaner gives more/less errors than another registry cleaner does not mean that one or the other one are wrong. It just means they are different. It happens all the time. that being said, Wise Registry Cleaner seems to do a pretty good job with registry cleaning. The results were, as I stated above, comparable to my trusted registry cleaners:

I ran the registry cleaners of all the following programs one after another. The number next to the program name is the amount of errors that were detected.

CCleaner – 6

TuneUp Utilities 2007 – 27

Advanced SystemCare Pro (not Free) – 231

WinUtilities- 246

Wise Registry Cleaner – 245

Now I have found that CCleaner usually always turns out to be the “least adventurous” registry cleaner out of all the ones I test so the fact that it only found 6 registry errors was not a surprise. What was a surprise is the fact that TuneUp Utilities 2007 only found 27; however as I already said, differences happen and as long as you are using programs that you know you can trust, you are good.

Furthermore, Advanced SystemCare Pro, WinUtilities and Wise Registry Cleaner all found similar amounts of errors. That is a good sign. However to see if this was a coincidence or not, I compared the results of Wise Registry Cleaner and WinUtilities (WinUtilities being the “benchmark”). While the results were not 100% the same, many of the registry errors were similar across WRC and WinUtilities. The ones that were not similar I did my own “manual testing” and discovered that WRC was pretty accurate. All things considered, Wise Registry Cleaner really impressed me up to this point so I fixed all the errors found by Wise Registry Cleaner. Did my computer crash burn and die? Nope; in fact after a quick look, I don’t see shortcuts deleted or anything important missing. Now does this mean I won’t have problems in the future that are related to this registry cleanup I just did with Wise Registry Cleaner? No – you can never be 100% sure that you won’t have problems in the future. However, overall a job well done by Wise Registry Cleaner: thumbs up.

This review was conducted on a laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit. The specs of the laptop are as follows: 3GB of RAM, a Radeon HD 2600 512MB graphics card, and an Intel T8300 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor.

{rw_freea}

WinUtilities 6.2

WinUtilties is an excellent program that includes many computer tune-up related features (including a registry cleaner which is why it is a free alternative to WRC4). WinUtilities is actually a commercial software but the developer of WinUtilities has provided v6.2 for free to dotTech readers!

I have been using WinUtilities off and on since I got it in October and it has been very reliable. Not to mention the automatic backups of registry and other files gives you peace of mind if anything ever goes wrong.

These are all the features of WinUtilities as per the developer:

File Undelete
Recovers deleted files on NTFS and FAT volumes.
Disk CleanerDisk Cleaner
Cleans disks from information that clogs your system and reduces the performance of your computer.
Registry CleanerRegistry Cleaner
Scans the Windows registry and finds incorrect or obsolete information in the Windows Registry.
Startup CleanerStartup Cleaner
Helps you to easily manage program execution at windows startup.
History CleanerHistory Cleaner
Erases all traces of activity on your computer, save spaces and protect your privacy.
File SplitterFile Splitter
Splits any type of file into smaller pieces and rejoin them to the original file.
File ShredderFile Shredder
Erases files and make sure that no data thief can get his hands on your sensitive data.
File Lock & EXE ProtectorEXE Protector
Protects any Windows executable file with a secure password.
Memory OptimizerMemory Optimizer
Optimizes the Memory Management of Windows. No special configuration is needed, Memory Optimizer will auto configure itself.
Duplicate Files FinderDuplicate Files Finder
Helps you to free disk space by finding and removing duplicate files from your system.
Shortcuts FixerShortcuts Fixer
Provides you with an easy way to address the invalid shortcuts and reports back to you so that you can remove it from your system.
Process Manager Process Manager
Allows you to check your system’s performance and manage the running processes.
Uninstall ManagerUninstall Manager
Manages the programs installed on your system and uninstall unneeded software.
System InformationSystem Information
Shows you the detailed information for your computer hardware and software.
Registry Backup&RestoreRegistry Backup&Restore
Back up and restore the Windows Registry.
Registry SearchRegistry Search
Searchs the Windows Registry by a specific wildcard. then you can delete or export them.
BHO RemoverBHO Remover
Manages the BHOs that are currently installed.
Auto ShutdownAuto Shutdown
Schedules your computer for log off, stand by, hibernate, or shutdown at a specific time.
Windows Tools
Provides you an easy way to launch the utilities build in Windows.
System Control
Organizes and manage your Windows Settings
Task Scheduler
Configures the cleaning tasks that take place automatically.

TuneUp Utilities 2007

Tuneup Utilities is actually a program you would usually have to pay for. However, 2007 is now offered for free by VNUNET. Some may remember WinUtilities, which was a giveaway earlier. Tuneup Utilities is much like that. Tuneup Utilities does many things, including registry management, junk file cleanup, system optimizations, etc. Tuneup Utilties is an excellent program.

From softpedia:

With TuneUp Utilities, your system will be faster, more comfortable and more secure. All important aspects of system configuration, security, cleanup and maintenance can be accessed through a modern graphical interface.

TuneUp Utilities will optimize the performance of your PC, solve problems and help you easily customize your computer to suit your needs.

Ashampoo WinOptimizer 5

Ashampoo is basically another tool that does all the registry cleaning, junk file cleaning, etc.

From the developer:

Ashampoo WinOptimizer is an easy-to-use suite of tools for maintaining and optimizing your Microsoft Windows® computer. It keeps your Windows® installation free of unnecessary garbage and running smoothly while other computers just get slower and slower.

Desktop Maestro 2

Desktop Maestro is an all-in-one application that integrates registry cleaning, system monitoring and privacy cleaning. It combines the features of PC Tool’s other products, Registry Mechanic and Privacy Guardian to ensure that you have the range of tools at your fingertips to ensure optimal system performance, stability and user privacy.

-Developer

Advanced SystemCare Free

There is always a free version of Advanced SystemCare, but for a limited time you can get a 6 month license code for Professional edition for free atRaymond.cc.

From Download.com:

Slow down, freeze, crash, and security threats are over. Advanced SystemCare Free is a comprehensive PC care utility that takes a one-click approach to help protect, repair, and optimize your computer. It provides an all-in-one and super convenient solution for PC maintenance and protection. All work will be done with 1 click and 1 minute. Compared with its nearest competitor, Advanced SystemCare Free provides the more essential and practical formula for Windows: Removing Spyware and Adware, Preventing Security Threats, Privacy Protection, Fixing Registry Errors, Temporary Files Cleanup, Startup Cleanup, Repairing Windows, Speeding up System and 1-click Mechanism.

CCleaner

CCleaner is an excellent piece of software. It is 100% reliable and has a reputation for not deleting core files on your computer (meaning it actually does what it claims to do). Best of all, it is always free. In terms of registry management, it does everything Premium Booster does except registry defrag. The registry backups CCleaner makes are self executable. CCleaner does not have all the features of Premium Booster, namely the Windows Tweaks, but it does have other features that are not in Premium Booster such as temporary file cleanup, junk file cleanup, cookies cleanup, etc.

Cleans the following

Internet Explorer
Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat.
Firefox
Temporary files, URL history, cookies, download history.
Opera
Temporary files, URL history, cookies.
Windows
Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.
Registry cleaner
Advanced features to remove unused and old entries, including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more… also comes with a comprehensive backup feature.
Third-party applications
Removes temp files and recent file lists (MRUs) from many apps including Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, MS Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and many more..

-CCleaner Developer

Glary Utility

Another one of those same tools. This is always free.

From the developer:

Glary Utilities offers numerous powerful and easy-to-use system tools and utilities to fix, speed up, maintain and protect your PC.

It allows you to clean common system junk files, as well as invalid registry entries and Internet traces. You can manage and delete browser add-ons, analyze disk space usage and find duplicate files. You can also view and manage installed shell extensions, encrypt your files from unauthorized access and use, split large files into smaller manageable files and then rejoin them. Furthermore, Glary Utilities includes the options to optimize memory, find, fix, or remove broken Windows shortcuts, manage the programs that start at Windows startup and uninstall software. Other features include secure file deletion, an Empty Folder finder and more.

All Glary Utilities tools can be accessed through an eye-pleasing and totally simplistic interface.

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{rw_verdict2}Initially I figured Wise Registry Cleaner 4 Pro would be just another registry cleaner that I could throw away. However WRC proved to be as good as the developer claims: thumbs up. If you want to download and use WRC there are no regrets: go for it. However I am not recommendin WRC mainly because there are so many system utility software out there that can do registry cleaning; why download a program for specific registry cleaning when the other software can do just as a good job + give you more features. Therefore my recommendation is to pick from any of system tune up utilities mentioned above. You are welcome to do what I do: I use Advanced SystemCare Pro for the regular maintenance of my computer (I plan on keeping it for as long as the free license lasts) and then run WinUtilities and TuneUp Utilities 2007 from time to time to supplement my maintenance.
{/rw_verdict2} –>

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