WinASO RegDefrag for Windows

User Reviews

• Snakeoil for rubes

  VanguardLH12033/16/2012

  Pros

  None. The registry is copied into memory and that is from where processes use the registry. Fragmentation of the registry's .dat files is disconnected and irrelevant since the memory copy gets used.

  Cons

  Risks the stability of your OS for imperceptible change in startup time of Windows - the ONLY measure that will be reduced by the registry's defragmentation. When in memory, one byte is just as quickly accessed as any other byte. That's why it's call RAM - Random Accessed Memory.

  Summary

  Defragging the registry will do nothing to change the performance of your Windows host. The registry gets copied into memory and it is the memory copy that gets accessed by processes. Since memory is RAM (random accessed memory), the time to access one byte from the memory is the same as to access any other byte. Because the memory copy of the registry gets accessed, defragging the registry's .dat files on the hard disk will do nothing to alter performance of registry use after you have loaded Windows. The only savings you get is from file load time: the time to load the .dat files off the hard disk and copy them into memory. This isn't some magic defrag operation. It's the same that you do when defragmenting any other files except these system files are use when Windows loads so you cannot defrag them while Windows is running. So what does a registry defrag program do? It schedules the defrag of the registry's .dat files at the start of Windows before those files are inuse. This is the same procedure performed by, say, SysInternals' "pagedfrg" utility (which is also freeware). So a registry defrag is of no value after Windows has loaded and has copied the registry's .dat files into memory. Once in memory, access time is the same no matter where is the byte in memory. The amount of time you save to load the registry's .dat file on Windows startup might be a grand total of 1-4 milliseconds but other processes run in parallel so it's of dubious value that the .dat files will load faster while the change in load time is so imperceptible. Defragmenting the registry's .dat files is something of interest to obsessive-compulsive types that need to tweak even when there is no real-world change or advantage for the tweak. It's like repeatedly hitting the cross-walk button and when it changes you feel like you made a difference - except the button isn't even connected. After maybe 10 years of use of an instance of Windows (i.e., you never did reinstalls in that time) and with the gradual bloat of the registry, there might be enough fragmentation of the .dat file to warrant its defrag so you can save all of 1-2 seconds in the startup time for Windows. If you want to defrag the registry at earlier intervals, remember that you are putting your OS at risk each time. Some snakeoil peddlers even claim that the registry will be smaller in size so it will take less time to load. Yes, a 10MB sized registry will load faster than a 100MB sized one. Yet defragmentation means making the bytes contiguous for a file, not that you reduced the size of the file. Duh! Presuming the registry defragger does not increase the size of the defragged registry (some will), you cannot reduce the size of the registry because you still need everything in there. Cleanup of the registry is a whole different tweak than defragmenting the registry. They're are the same thing. One takes separate clusters of a file and makes them contiguous on the hard disk but that does NOT reduce the size of the file (the number of bytes that get loaded into memory). The other removes entries from the registry which will make it smaller (except this is a database, not a linear file of text entries so deletions may not necessarily reduce the size of the database). When committing this type of brain surgery on your OS, make sure you save an image of the OS partition. Then if the defrag screws up the ability to load your OS, you can restore from your backup image (provided you have a means of booting the restore program separate of the OS). Make sure you have an escape route.

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• Works really well.

  WinAndLinuxTutorials11/14/2011

  Pros

  1. Simple and easy to use 2. Two defragmentation methods available. 3. Free product

  Cons

  Does not provide detailed infromation about what it does.

  Summary

  <br /><br /><span class='notifyMsg'> Updated </span>on Nov 14, 2011<p/>Another con: May be aggressive. Create a restore point before defragmenting.

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• Product is a fraud

  DavidGPeters6/23/2010

  Pros

  I like the funny pictures on the GUI

  Cons

  Claims reducing the registry size always by 80% no matter what the size or fragmentation actually is. Doesn't actually do anything.

  Summary

  Product is a fraud

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• best reg. defragger

  judokai11/15/2009

  Pros

  analyzes faster than all others, defrags a bit better than rest

  Cons

  doesn't create backup

  Summary

  best reg. defrag there is

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• works fast, could use more features

  rossvassilev11/14/2009

  Pros

  has two options: quick reg. defrag and deep reg. defrag. the quick analyzes fast, does same job as Quicksys. the deep defrag does even better job.

  Cons

  unlike Quicksys, does not have backup reg. files feature.

  Summary

  WinASO is faster than Quicksys, though Quicksys might be safer due to backup feature.

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• Does what it says on the can!

  nottmdon9/30/2009

  Pros

  Easy to use, fast scanning and easy to understand results.

  Cons

  None that come to mind

  Summary

  I have paid good money for similar software that doesn't do half the stuff as good as this programme does, its quick, easy and removes clutter. Dont notice any remarkable speed changes or performance but then again I find few of these utilites that do offer that amazing speed difference.

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• krap ware - terrible - do not install this - beware!

  databaseben1/26/2009

  Pros

  none none and none

  Cons

  does not defrag, does not compress, does not work (period) except to stall the computer.

  Summary

  do not use!!!!

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• Normally, it helps in a way. More power!!!

  luijanejan11/15/2008

  Pros

  It helps to arrange my registry and it is well enough for it.

  Cons

  Nothing, that I can say as of now... I used it once, don't know yet the "cons" of it.

  Summary

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• great software. Don't listen to the haters as they are morons.

  melroseit6/20/2008

  Pros

  I am a computer technician and I use this software as part of my clean-up and optimisation routine on an almost daily basis. It helps keep machines running with stability and efficiency. I have used this software on literally hundreds of computers in many different environments. I have NEVER had a single problem with it. I am grateful to the programmers for helping me do my job well. There appears to be a long and concerted smear campaign going on in this comment space. My guess is there is some pathetic competitor, a no-talent mediocrity, looking to tear down a great product rather than improve their own. They can keep changing their email addresses but we're not fooled. The only talent you pathetic haters have is for negativity.

  Cons

  Summary

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• Simple, it works like a charm

  LT44/30/2008

  Pros

  I like this software because its so simple and it works. Again like you may have heard, I don't understand why there's so much negative feedback. I've never had a problem with this software, and I use it regularley.

  Cons

  The only thing I can think of is that the software doesn't really show details of what was defragged or much more statistics.

  Summary

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