Are Registry Cleaners Worthwhile?
I don’t think so.
If you run something like Uniblue Registry Booster you’ll get a scary screen like this
Sounds Serious – High Damage Level – and when you click on Fix Errors you are invited to purchase the program for about $30
Having purchased and “cleaned” your system it is likely you will notice no appreciable improvement in performance – You may even damage your computer or render it unbootable!
If you did shell out your money, you may even be inclined to think that your computer is faster – in order to justify your purchase. Once you have purchased – prepare for the Upsell:
Uniblue is a total waste of money and time. I have installed on both of my computers and noticed no appreciable difference in processing. They start with a $30 offer then upsell from there. Their freeware always identifies “very serious” problems with your system then offer a fix for $xx, that software identifies more problems they can fix for $xx, upgrade again for $xx, etc.
Before you part with your money, I suggest you check out these articles:
Ed Bott – Why I don’t use registry cleaners
I’ve used ccleaner from piriform and it has worked great for me on both XP and Windows 7, it has a registery cleaner built in, it also clears cookies (I think flash cookies as well haven’t checked), your temporary folder amongst other things. You of course get to select what it clears and doesn’t. Also its free.