Registry Distiller
Rting: 5
Version tested: 1.0 Beta
Registry Distiller is a free registry cleaner that will optimize your system by removing obsolete and incorrect information from the registry, resulting in a faster computer that is less prone to errors.
The Windows registry is a database that stores settings, options and preferences pertaining to the operating system, software and hardware on a PC. Depending on what you do with your computer, the registry can grow cosiderably; in my experience, the registry tends to grow much like an untended garden. With time, especially if you install and/or uninstall a lot of software (like I do) it will invariably contain obsolete or incorrect information. These can slow your system’s performance and cause errors and/or crashed. If your system is sluggish or slow it very well may be due to registry problems. (Note that you should consider other reasons first, including: spyware/malware, a fragmented hard drive, faulty memory, too many programs running at once competing for your system resources, problems with your drivers).
Here’s what you need to know about this program.
- Very simple program: 1-click registry scan, afterwhich you can check which invalid entries you want removed (or select all).
- Registry Distiller keeps a backup log of all removed registry entries. You can use this to revert back to the pre-cleaning state if you wish
I took a stab at evaluating this program simply by comparing it to RegSupreme Pro, an excellent registry cleaner which alas is not free. I scanned my laptop with RegSupreme Pro under ‘normal’ mode and saved the list of entries found to a text file (about 250 entries). Note that scanning using RegSupreme Pro’s advanced mode rendered 700 entries, and I decided not to compare against that.
Next I scanned the same system with Registry Distiller and copied the list of entries found (approx 200 entries). I then cleaned and compared the 2 lists (I am very good at manipulating text strings; its part of my job). The result: the Registry Distiller list was a subset of the RegSupreme Pro list on normal mode. After this, I went back and cleaned the registry with Registry Distiller, then made another scan with RegSupreme Pro; predictably, the list of invalid entries went down from 250 to approx. 50 items. This, as far as I am concerned is an excellent result for a free registry cleaner. I also did a scan using TonyArts EasyCleaner 2.0 which resulted in a very low 7 invalid entries found subsequent to the Registry Distiller cleaning.
I’ve been looking for some time for a good, free registry cleaner, and Registry Distiller may well br it. Note that I am not an expert on the Windows registry and my evaluation of this software as documented above is by no means systemic or scientific. Nonetheless I’m going to give this program (which is still in beta) the benefit of the doubt and a 5 star rating.
Compatibility: Win NT/2000/2003/XP.
Go to the program home page to download the latest version.
I have Ccleaner installed and I still love it. I’ve download and installed Registry Cleaner but it won’t run. I get this error message “System Error Message: The Parameter is Incorrect.”
Love the program, after trying it for a few days and testing it against some other programs, this one came out on top. It definitely got registry errors that the others ones missed. Want to thank the author for developing this great program. Deleted the others. Thanks, I now have one program that does everything instead of three to get most of what I wanted done. I would definitely give this a five star rating
Shieka
Program loaded but would not”INSTALL”
this is NOT a free registry cleaner as advertised. Like numerous others, it will scan for free, but only clean a few items from four non-critical areas. In order to acutally clean the registry you need to buy it.
George,
Registry Distiller most certainly IS free as advertised.
After reading your comment, I just went and downloaded the latest version, and was able to perfrom a full system scan AND perform a cleanup.
My guess is that you downloaded the wrong program (perhaps you clicked on an ad instead of the download link?)
go here to download Registry Distiller:
http://www.codeode.com/registrydistiller/index.html
Note that I install and test all programs before reviewing on Freewaregenius. If it is not free or handicapped it would not be posted here.
After running the program I now have various problems and would very much like to restore my machine to it’s pre-Distiller state. Does anyone know where and how I can undo the registry distiller changes?
Thanks, Steve
Well, that’s the problems with reviews like this.
the reviewer writes: “I am not an expert on the Windows registry … Nonetheless I’m going to give this program the benefit of the doubt and a 5 star rating.”
based on what? that it finds alot of entries? maybe it’s just too agressive and many of the entries it finds are false positives? according to the last commenter it seems that’s the case…
excellent
Great program, especially considering it’s free. The only suggestion I believe worth making is if like me, you like to ‘cleanly’ install programs using msconfig, you should run Registry Distiller under ‘normal’ config or be mindful of what you are doing if you know the program well and run it under msconfig. Otherwise, it will delete entries for programs from your normal start-up list if those programs aren’t running.
If you find the program won’t run or an error message appears, re-install it and make sure you have admin privileges. Sometimes (especially if you run CCleaner before rebooting), programs don’t install properly. Re-installing generally fixes it, but wait for a reboot before doing any registry editing.
Checking the entries against the invalid registry entries gives a decent appraisal of the efficacy of the program.
If you’re a relative ‘newbie’ and want to back up and recover your registry, there’s nothing better (imo) than this free back-up: ERUNT available at
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?autocom=downloads&showfile=113 OR http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
Just put it into a program folder or wherever you like, create shortcuts to the desktop, then place those in your Start Menu and you have quick access to a registry defrag and awesome recovery tool. One of the best kept secrets around and resolves any issues regarding restoring registry entries…
[...] performance improvement). I have taken a stab at reviewing free registry cleaners in the past (see Registry Distiller and TweakNow RegCleaner), but generally speaking reviewing registry cleaners is a tricky business. [...]
[...] performance improvement). I have taken a stab at reviewing free registry cleaners in the past (see Registry Distiller and TweakNow RegCleaner), but generally speaking reviewing registry cleaners is a tricky business. [...]
I am pleased to get your useful prog.Thanks alot.