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     CNET editors' review
     Reviewed by: CNET staff on June 04, 2009

Free Window Registry Repair is a refreshingly simple tool for cleaning up your Windows Registry. It lacks the bells and whistles offered by some programs--such as special features for uninstalling programs or managing the Start menu--but thankfully so. This is a program that does something well and doesn't stray from that success.

The application's straightforward presentation and clear menu make this program appropriate for most users. The program opens to a window with very simple, step-by-step instructions. You can perform a full scan or select areas to examine. Scanning is quick, and the results list shows the data and key, sorted by problem type. The right-click menu lets you open the Registry to a specific item. Each time the program fixes a set of errors (you uncheck the ones you don't want fixed), it automatically creates a backup. This seems like a sensible and safe feature, making us wonder why most other repair makers make you manually create a restore point. Each backup is saved with a unique filename, allowing you to choose which one to reinstate via the Restore menu.

In addition to scanning, fixing, and restoring, Free Window Registry Repair offers an Options menu where you can choose keys to exclude from scanning as well as choose to create a system restore point prior to fixing errors. The program isn't perfect--the name of the program itself has a typo, and the Help file is actually not a help file--but overall, this is a great, speedy program for all but the most novice user.

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