Ashampoo Registry Cleaner

People often wonder how to increase the performance of their PC. There are many options, yet one thing is recommended in most cases - clean it. Of course, it can be done manually, but this way you only delete programs and/or files that you no longer need. However, in addition to such files, an important step is removal of obsolete registry entries that an average user will find difficult to find. Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 is a free utility for the Windows operating system (10, 8, 7) that will help you cope with such cleaning.

Sign up

Although Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 is free, you need to fill out a small form to get a full version. It's very easy to do. When you first run the utility, Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 will prompt you to enter your email address and set a password. All you need to do is go to the specified mail and click on the confirmation in the sent letter. That's all. The full version of Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 is now available to you. An Internet connection is required to activate the program. The program license is verified repeatedly at regular intervals.

Interface

After confirming the mail, the program will immediately start a full scan. The duration of such a scan is from 20 seconds to about one minute. After scanning Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 immediately shows you the result.

As you can see, the interface of Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 is quite simple and there is nothing superfluous. In the center - the main window. In it we can see all found registers, broken down by categories:

1. All - all unnecessary registry files;
2. File formats - shows all file formats listed in the unnecessary registry, ie those files whose formats were entered incorrectly;
3. COM, OLE, ActiveX - system objects entered incorrectly or incompletely.
4. Help files - is responsible for help files for programs and applications that are missing;
5. Application paths - folders for applications or settings that are incorrect or faulty.
6. Software - information about the settings that are incorrect or faulty.
7. History lists - unnecessary information on recently used files.

On the right side we see a small description window. In it you can see the number of found unnecessary or faulty registry files, and how many of them are selected for deletion. Above the description, we see a menu for finding the necessary files (in case you still need a registry).

At the bottom left is a small menu of quick access to settings, backup and create report options. The options menu presents 2 main categories: Basic functions and Registry. The Basic functions menu presents all the basic parameters for setting up the program.

The Skin tab allows you to change the theme of the program from light to dark.

In the Language tab you can change the language of the program. Among the available languages ​​are: English, Dutch, Greek, Spanish, Chinese, German, Norwegian, and dozens more.

The Backups tab (access to which is also in the shortcut menu) allows, as the name implies, to configure the necessary backup settings to be able to recover lost files. Among the settings provided are the ability to automatically delete obsolete backups and the ability to specify whether you first need to ask if you really want to delete them. Also, instead of deleting, you can send a backup to the Recycle Bin and delete successfully restored backups.

In the Other tab you can configure program notifications (if you need them) and the ability to show or hide animations. This option does not greatly affect anything, but if you have a very weak PC, and even with this program, there are problems with performance (although it is unlikely), then connecting animations can help you increase it.

Therein the menu Registry are 2 main tabs: Entry Search and Exceptions. In the Entry Search tab you can specify the appropriate categories of registers that will be considered when scanning. In the Exceptions tab you can specify paths that will not be considered when scanning.

Features

As already mentioned, all the functionality of Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 concerns the removal of the registry, and the ability to specify all the necessary settings when scanning. But let's take a look at everything in turn:

1. Scan and delete an unnecessary registry. I don't think we need to dwell on this. The program scans your system for obsolete, unnecessary, or incorrectly installed registry files and deletes them. The first such scan will begin immediately after starting the program.

1. Possibility of detailed consideration of the scanned register. The average user may not need this feature, but those who know exactly what they need may not need it yet. To check each found file in detail, just click on the number of objects opposite the category. For example, we need the program to delete all but one file. How to do it? Just click on the objects, and in the popup menu, just uncheck the desired type of files.

1. Backup. As discussed earlier, Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 has a Backup function, i.e. the ability to back up computer data, to be able to restore files in case of accidental loss. To create or view Backup, just click Backups in the bottom menu.

1. Create a report. In order to present all the errors found in the form of a text document, the program provides the ability to export this data as a .txt file. All you have to do is scan and click Create Report. Immediately after that, a text document with all the errors found will open.

1. Being in the registry editor (regedit). Although each file has a directory, Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 allows you to go to that registry immediately. To do this, select the file you want, and left-click on “Open selected entry in Regedit”.

Testing

Time to test, and see how this utility copes with its tasks. Although the program scans immediately after launch, we will run it again for full testing. After finding all the necessary files, delete them. To do this, simply click Delete Now. In our case, out of 258 files, the utility was able to delete 252 of them, the rest 6 files are there to view as well.

We will not try to delete them ourselves, but leave them for backup testing. Let's re-scan: the utility has found 19 objects. Let's delete them too. This time the program deleted 17 of the 19 files, leaving only 2. After 2 scans and deletions, let's see how the backup system works. To do this, go to the Backups tab and see if the utility has saved backups.

As you can see, the backup for both deletions were saved. Let's see if we can restore them. To do this, select the desired backup and click Restore. The first attempt was unsuccessful. The program advised to close other processes that may interfere with the recovery or reboot of the PC. Let's try these tips.

Unfortunately, the registry could not be restored. Neither shutting down unnecessary programs, nor restarting the PC did not help. And it's a good time to check out support. To do this, go to the top menu and select Support FAQ. Then fill out the form, describe the problem and attach the necessary files. There was a problem sending and the email was never sent.

Let's move on to another backup check. The options specified the function to send backups to the Recycle Bin instead of deleting them. Check the basket. And the really remote backup is there.

Now let's try to restore them and delete them without transferring them to the Trash. And it works. The backup is removed and the cart is empty.

After all the tests and deleting the redundant registry, let's check how the performance of the PC has changed. It should be noted, cleaning both registry and other files has been performed quite often on our test laptop, so the result may not be so noticeable. If you haven't cleaned your PC in a long time, your result can be much greater. Both the amount of unnecessary registers and the increase in productivity will be significantly different from my example.

Let's walk through the main criteria:

1. Starting a PC. There are no changes here. Deleting such a small amount will not significantly change the startup speed of your PC. But, as mentioned earlier, when you delete a large amount of unnecessary registry, the result will be more noticeable.
2. The amount of free memory. As with a startup, with a small amount of deleted registry, the amount of free memory will not be as significant.
3. Speed. Usually it is at this point that you can notice the most significant changes. Although the number of deleted registers in my case was not so large, you can see a slightly faster start of some programs (Steam, FL Studio, Google Chrome).

Alternatives

1. CCleaner - With the purchase of a much larger number of features available on Windows, Android and macOS;
2. AML Free Registry Cleaner is the most functional program. Available on Windows XP / 2003 / Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 (32 and 64 bit);
3. Auslogics Registry Cleaner - similar functionality. Free basic functionality. A Pro version is available with deep registry cleaning and message configuration management for $8.48 / year (3 PC license).

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say that Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 is a very convenient utility for removing unnecessary or incorrect registry, and the fact that it is free is an indisputable advantage. If you need a utility aimed at cleaning the registry, Ashampoo Registry Cleaner 2 is a good option.