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Scan Times: Best Registry Cleaners tested each program on Six Computers and the numbers below reflect the average time taken to scan the Windows registry and detect errors. In general, shorter bars are better but the number of errors during the scanning process should also be considered.  Errors Found: The total number of errors are returned from the registry scan above. Each program has its own proprietary scanning algorithm which is used to find and detect errors which is why you will notice a discrepancy. We found that some programs clean areas of the registry that should remain unaltered. We found that RegServe combined a powerful scan and selected safe errors for repair.  Effectiveness: To test the effectiveness of each registry cleaner our the test included two parts. First we timed how long the computers took to load before and after running each registry cleaner program. Since the registry was unaltered prior to running the application the average startup time prior to running the programs was 1:09. Upon repairing items there was a noticeable decrease in computer startup times and while operating 3rd-party applications.  The second part of the Effectiveness test was to see which areas of the Windows registry was cleaned by running the applications. Areas we felt were necessary to clean were: COM/Active X Controls, Uninstall Entries, Font Entries, Shared Dll's, Application Paths, Help Files, Startup Items, File/Path References, Program Shortcuts, Empty Registry, File Associations, History, Program Shortcuts, System Drivers, and Firewall Rules.  Features: Each program offers unique features that can not be compared to another, so we ranked them on a scale of 1-10 according to our liking. We suggest that you use the button below to download a Free Registry Scan and see how results may vary on your computer. Some features such as an Ignore List, Backup/Restore, etc, should be included in any reputable registry cleaner program.  Computers & Operating Systems Tested Through our rigorous testing we have concluded not all registry cleaners do what they claim. Several registry cleaners left some of our older computers at a non-operational state, which created more headaches than it was worth. The computers tested include:
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