[Jeremy]

Registry Cleaner Comparison by Jeremy of Many
Test was done on a VMWare Workstation virtual install of XP Pro Gold + SP2 + RyanVM + XPize

Features that make a registry cleaner a respectable one:
-Scans all areas of the registry for all types of errors known to occur within the registry:
-Corrupt entries
-Empty Registry Keys
-Invalid Class Keys
-Invalid Shell Extensions
-Invalid Help Files
-Invalid CLSID/ Typelib/Interface Entries
-Invalid Shared/known DLLs
-Invalid COM/ActiveX
-Unused Sound and Application Events
-Invalid Folder & Filename References
-Unused Fonts
-Unused File Types/Extensions
-Obsolete Shared Folders

-Shows progress during scanning
-Doesn't remove entries that may result in potential damage to the normal operations of Windows functions
-Doesn't limit the number of entries it can fix in a trial version
-Has a straight-forward, easy to use GUI
-Saves a backup of everything it removes/fixes in the registry
-Has ability to scan the registry for specific entry of your choosing

I took specific steps before going through with this test. I installed/deinstalled McAfee Virus Scan 2006, SnagIt, VideoInspector, TMPGEnc Plus, and UltraISO. I deleted some Media, Help, and Cursors folders under C:\WINDOWS. I also created shortcuts to Briefcase, NotePad, Bitmap, Wave Sound, and Compressed Folder, then deleted them. I made a complete backup of the registry before I began and after the test. Fortunately, the changes made in the registry equal approximately 500 KBs difference. McAfee, and Video Inspector left registry keys behind.

1. 3B Registry Repair Pro
http://www.3bsoftwar...epair/rr31.html
Pops up initially with a "thank you for choosing this software" window. Only corrects 15 errors in the trial version. Reminds you how many entries were found in the previous scan if you closed without cleaning last time. Shows progress during scanning. it found 277 "invalids" in the registry. It found the invalid references to the uninstalled McAfee, but not VideoInspector. It found the entries for Help and Media. It creates an entry in your start-up list.

2. Abexo Complete Registry Cleaner 3.1
http://www.abexo.com...try-cleaner.htm
GUI is fine. Has decent organization of reg keys. It takes the most time and shows progress thoroughly during scan. Took 2 minutes and seemed to clean the entire registry. It found 392 "invalids". It seems to think that MMC snap-ins are invalid so I don't trust it.

3. Ace Utilities
http://www.acelogix.com/aceutils.html
Shows more generic progress during scan. GUI is far more organized into columns and categories. Trial version does not search for COM/ActiveX entries. Invalid software entries except VideoInspector were found. Invalid paths to Media and Help were found.

4. CCleaner (Crap Cleaner)
http://www.ccleaner.com/
GUI is basic. Does not show progress during scan. Finds obsolete software keys, but not VideoInspector. Did not find any references to Media, and only few ones for Help. Finds mostly invalid filepaths, thus a rather gentle and mild cleaning.

5. CleanMyPC
http://www.registry-cleaner.net/
Has the annoying slow-fade effect when you open it. GUI is basic, split into two sections: List of things scanned and number of entries found, and details in another window. Found 442 entries in total. Mostly filepaths. It did not find references to uninstalled software. It gives up the vibe that it tries too hard to dig into the registry so it misses the more obvious things. Has an evaluation of 15 days. It creates an entry in your start-up list.

6. CleanReg3
http://www.cleanreg.com/
Absolutely horrible GUI, 15 second delay before it allows usage of the trial version. It looks like it was designed on Windows 95, was released November 17, 2003. Shows several cascaded windows with no organization at all. Waste of programming ability.

7. EasyCleaner
http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/...ne.htm#download
The GUI isn't very impressive, not isn't horrible. Only found 59 entries were found. No references to uninstalled software were found and only few references to Media and Help were found. Not very thorough at all.

8. Registry Cleaner (Generic)
???
GUI is fine, reminds me of 3B Registry Repair Pro. Finds no Media or Help references. Finds mostly ActiveX invalids. 97 entries in total. Also reminds me of CleanMyPC because it tries too hard to find more risky keys and forgets more obvious ones that don't scare users away. It creates an entry in your start-up list.

9. Advanced Administrative Tools (AATools) - Registry Cleaner
http://www.glocksoft.com/aatools.htm
GUI is very nice. It tells you the section of the registry, how many keys it scans as it goes, but it takes far too long to scan every key. It took 5 minutes to process 65000+ keys and only 40 invalids were found. Most of them were just MRU entries and very few Help and Media entries, no references to uninstalled software. The time : performance ratio is very sad in this one.

10. JV16 PowerTools 2006 RC2
http://www.jv16.org/
GUI is great. No progress of scan showed, but results are pleasing. All invalid file extensions, Help, Media, Cursors, and uninstall software (even Video Inspector) were found. 410 entries in total. Results are organized nicely. They have been improving this program for years now and it looks very promising now.

11. RegSupreme (Sub program of JV16)
(Same as above)
GUI is the same, obviously. It found 381 entries in total, everything that PowerTools found, apparently. If you don't want to use PowerTools and only want a registry cleaner, this program is your best bet.

12. RegSupreme Pro (same as above)
(Same as above)
Found 827 entries. Mostly filepaths, CLSID/ProgID/TypeLib entries. It found all uninstalled software except VideoInspector. It seems risky, I'll test this one more later.

13. MSRegClean
Google it, found no homepage.
I don't like it at all. it doesn't show you what it found as invalid or how many of them. It keeps everything a secret and expects you to assume it knows what its doing, typical of M$. Garbage.

14. OLEClean
Very basic GUI, very old. Only searches for invalid ProgIDs/TypeLibs/OLEs. Only 85 were found. Not very thorough. Garbage.

15. PC MightyMax
http://www.pcmightym...cgi//index.html
And I thought GUIs couldn't get any worse. This program reminds me of Norton. It has little pictures, blinky/flashy crap, oversized buttons, fade effects. It found 366 entries and all of them were invalid file paths that were covered in great registry cleaners like Ace Utilities and JV16. It creates an entry in your start-up list. This program is absolute garbage. What else is new... Good thing I'm doing this in VMware, I would never subject my system to this crap.

16. Perfect Companion (no it really isn't spyware, suprisingly)
I don't think I should bother with the link to this...
The GUI is horrible. It is very slow at scanning and notifies you with every individual error it finds in the registry, both asking you if you want to keep or remove it and if you want to add it to the program's "do not read" list. Garbage.

17. RegCleaner
This program is old and everything it has to offer is found in JV16 PowerTools. It doesn't have an actual registry cleaner, but only able to remove items from shell extensions, add/remove list, etc. As I said, same as JV16. It creates an entry in your start-up list. This is essentially garbage now.

18. RegCtrls
This looks like the type of thing you'd find at SysInternals or Nirsoft. Able to unregister "classes". it's over 5 years old. Garbage.

20. RegDoctor
http://www.itcompany.com/regdoctor.htm
Basic GUI, not very appealing. It doesn't find much in the registry compared to even other generic cleaners of its kind. It found only 38 entries, nothing to do with installed software, mostly filepaths. It creates an entry in your start-up list. Not thorough, basically garbage.

21. Registry First Aid
http://www.rosecitys...re.com/reg1aid/
The GUI is very similar to 3B Registry Repair Pro, but different colors. However, it found all references to uninstalled software, Media, help and Cursors. 320 entries found altogether. It doesn't concentrate on the ActiveX/OLE/ProgIDs/TypeLibs, which doesn't scare me away. It's not freeware. It has varied levels of caution, and allows you to view the results from most>least safe. It gives you the option to make a full backup of the registry before you use the program. It has a find feature if you want to search the registry for something specific.

22. Registry Healer
http://www.fixregist...gheal/index.htm
This has the same options as Registry First Aid, except the Find feature. It organizes the results nicely in two sections, much in the same way as CleanMyPC, but better. It found all references to uninstalled software, Media, Help and Cursors. It tells how many entries it finds suitable for repair or replacement rather than deletion. It focuses on invalid filepaths.

23. Registry Mechanic
http://www.pctools.c...istry-mechanic/
The GUI is very similar to 3B Registry Repair Pro, but looks "prettier" (more radiant colors). It does not focus on ActiveX / COM / OLEs / ProgIDs / TypeLibs, which makes it safe for general users. It focuses mainly on filepaths as Registry Healer does. It didn't find any references to uninstalled software, but found the Media, and Help references. It didn't find any references to Cursors. It found 135 entries altogether. I wouldn't recommend this cleaner to anyone.

24. Registry Fix
http://www.registryfix.com/
The GUI is very soft, easy on the eyes and straight-forward. It has some advanced options which can all be found in JV16. It scans for different references than most other registry cleaners, but not significant. It found the reference to the uninstall VideoInspector but none of the other ones. It found references to Media and Help, but nothing of the Cursors. It focuses on filepaths and MRUs. This is not bad, but nowhere near terrific. It also shows everything in small windows that don't allow for resizing, which I find rather annoying.

25. RegScrubXP
Google it, I found no homepage.
The GUI is nice. It scanned the registry instantly (126433 keys) and found 82 invalids. It focuses on a bit of everything. It found different entries than most of the other registry cleaners. It finds a lot of null keys, CLSIDs and TypeLibs. It found all but 2 of the references to uninstalled software. I've used this cleaner in the past and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick freeware fix to their registry.

26. RegSeeker
http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm
I am very fond of this registry cleaner. It finds a lot of everything, even a lot of entries missed by many other generic cleaners. It does a very thorough job that impresses me. It found 528 entries and gives off the vibe of a very safe and straight-forward cleaner with a find feature. I'm surprised it is freeware. It's a favorite of many and there's no wondering why.

27. RegVac
http://www.superwin.com/regvac.htm
This program is very annoying because of the "roll-over" and fade effects. It also does a completely automated cleaning unless you switch to expert mode. It has a unique feature that allows you to remove unused Desktop themes, cursor schemes, time zones, code pages, etc. But, overall, I wouldn't recommend this cleaner to anyone.

28. StompSoft Registry Repair 2005
http://www.stompsoft...try-repair.html
The GUI isn't appealing, reminds me of PC MightyMax because of the pictures and large buttons. It focuses on MRUs and usused themes/schemes just like RegVac. It found no references to uninstalled software, but found the references to Media and Help. I wouldn't recommend this one.

29. System Mechanic 6
http://www.iolo.com/sm/
The GUI isn't too bad, a bit too flashy for advanced users, especially the fade effects. It is more of an All-In-One program, so the registry cleaner will not be as good as other stand-alones. Only 114 entries were found and it does not give the ability to view the results. It adds its own Service. The program overall I wouldn't recommend to anyone because the other features it contains can be achieved with more efficiency by using other programs like CCleaner and PerfectDisk, and JV16. \

30. SysTweak Advanced Registry Optimizer
http://www.systweak.com/
Not a very good GUI. It is payware. The window can be resized but not maximized, which is annoying. It found 195 entries. It has the ability to defrag the registry but NTRegOpt.exe, which is freeware, does the best job at that. There is nothing this registry cleaner finds that makes it any different from other generic registry cleaners. Garbage.

31. RegRestore
http://www.registryrestore.com/
Same as above, except no registry defrag. 185 entries found. Demo only repairs 4 errors. Garbage.

32. TuneUp Utilities
http://www.tune-up.c...neup-utilities/
TuneUp has an excellent GUI. It managed to, however, miss the references to the uninstalled software. It is another All-In-One which has features that can be found in other freeware solutions, other features like RAM Optimizer which are garbage. Also, it does not have its images hardcoded into the executable, so if you accidentally delete the images, the GUI will be crippled, requiring a reinstall. It's GUI alone does not win it over. I would recommend this program, but only for its GUI.

I finally cleaned the registry using TuneUp, and noticed that another generic cleaner still found over 120 entries as invalid. I then moved onto RegSeeker which found 500+ entries. I removed them all and moved to RegSupreme Pro, which found nearly 1000 entries on its first shot. It found 4, which were only MRUs.
I've come to the final conclusion that the best registry cleaners are as follows:
Ace Utilities
TuneUp Utilities
RegSeeker
JV16 (PowerTools, RegSupreme/Pro)

After scanning and removing invalids with these programs, none of the others find anything else, besides MRUs.
If anyone feels I should add anything, let me know. Thanks.

[godan]

nice work, only one suggestion thouhg, you may want to post how much each costs cuz that can be a very important bit of information to many people. sure one program might do a really good job but cost $50 and you can get another that is almost as good free... just an idea.

[jaclaz]

Nice work Jeremy!

Your findings are very similar to mine.

I would like to add a couple more "specialistic" proggies OLE/ActiveX related (FREEWARE):
OLECLEAN
http://www.geocities...s/OleClean.html
Control Registration Utility 2.00
http://www.softcircu...ps/regctrls.zip

Using Regseeker, then the two above, and later using ERUNT
http://www.larsheder...nline.de/erunt/
that includes NTREGOPT, has made the smallest, cleanest Registry I could expect, much better than many COMMERCIAL apps.


jaclaz

[Jeremy]

Jeremy, on Feb 27 2006, 01:27 AM, said:

14. OLEClean
Very basic GUI, very old. Only searches for invalid ProgIDs/TypeLibs/OLEs. Only 85 were found. Not very thorough. Garbage.

18. RegCtrls
This looks like the type of thing you'd find at SysInternals or Nirsoft. Able to unregister "classes". it's over 5 years old. Garbage.

[jaclaz]

Sorry Jeremy,
I did not want to "duplicate" the things or "spoiling" your good work, I just wanted to add the links to the two programs, and to say that in my experience, whilst UNDOUBTEDLY they are by no means good/complete when used alone, they represent valid "post-processors" for RegSeeker.

jaclaz

[alsiladka]

Well done Jeremy ,

Although , only if anyone wants to consider these , i would like to add a few of my inferences or experiences.

I think one of the important info. in this context is , that i have an HP All in One 1402 . Now its driver and software installations are pretty uncommon. It installs them from the path of the cddrive itself , and strangely , the uninstallation entries also point towards the CD. I mean that to uninstall most of its components , you require the cd!!!

Now this is the point which most of the RegCleaners falter with me. They remove some such entries , that Whenever i want to use my All in one , some of its components registry entries are corrupeted and it always pops up the MSI installation and asks for the CD.

I currently use Tune-Up and CCleaner both. They are the only ones which do not give me problems with my All in One. I would reccomend them to those of you , who want to quickly clean the registry without worrying about some important misses. I trust these two blindly , do not even have a look at what all they have found. It never harms my system.

Now about those cleaners who clean the registry and with it , also gave me registry problems.

The first Software on my list is SYSTEM MECHANIC. I simply caution everyone against using it except if you shall carefully and extremely carefully study each and every of its steps before letting it do anything!!! One of its way of safegaurding your system is by changing the way MSI and MSP files work. What an idea, it makes them open in notepad by default!!! and i could not revert back to normal because i could not find its backup inspite of that software having an organized restore system.

About regseeker , well i somehow feel it scans really too aggresively. On doing 3 4 scans one after the other, it must have removed nearly about 2000 entries!!!!!! gave me problems with my All in One.

Even registry First aid gives me problems with my ALl in one.

Have not tried many other of these, happy with Tune up and Ccleaner

ps - anyone having HP All in ones? do you suffer from problem like me? maybe you could help me too out with it

[Jeremy]

@Godan, I didn't list the prices because most of the registry cleaners shouldn't be paid for, plus a lot of them are so poorly made that wasting your money on them would be a sin.

@Alsiladka, I understand your particular frustrations with registry cleaners, and it is odd for a program to point to the CD-ROM by default. Registry cleaners see that as temporary links to files being run off the CD/DVD ROM, not actual program references, so they feel free to remove those entries.

[Jeremy]

I had a chat with a friend of mine about my findings from the registry cleaners experiment, to get far more elaboration of the whole scheme of things, here's a paste of our chat:

Quote

[01:14]Fredrik: Do you just measure the size difference or how good they are in making sure that nothing of potential value goes lost too?
[01:16] Jeremy: The registry cleaners? I made a complete backup of the registry before any tests were done, then installed/uninstalled some stuff and deleted some folders with files in them. Then I made another backup of the registry and the filesize difference was approximately 500 KBs.
[01:16] Jeremy: I didn't keep those files, though.
[01:17] Jeremy: I used the registry cleaners with the intention of seeing invalid filepaths and references to software that were uninstalled but left entries behind because, after all, nothing's perfect.
[01:18] Jeremy: The Windows XP registry even after slipping SP2, RyanVM's Pack and XPize, there were a lot of invalid filepaths, possibly temporary files used during the install of Windows, not sure.
[01:19] Jeremy: I based my conclusion on the fact that few registry cleaners actually managed to find all the uninstalled software references. In some cleaners, one was left out but all others were found, and in other cleaners, it was the exact opposite.
[01:20] Jeremy: Some registry cleaners focused on certain references moreso than others, which bothered me.
[01:21] Fredrik: Interesting. Which one would you recommend if you could recommend only one or possibly two? I want to get rid of stuff like that.
[01:21] Jeremy: For example, some focused on MRUs (recent file lists), some focused on OLE / COM / ActiveX / CLSID / TypeLibs / ProgIDs, which are the most risky to deal with in the registry.
[01:22] Fredrik: How much actual space was saved, in megabytes?
[01:22] Fredrik: Yeah.
[01:22] Jeremy: And others focused on invalid filepaths, which are the most in abundance in the registry.
[01:23] Jeremy: As for final filesize, I did no comparison of that, I might redo the whole process at a later date just to give assurance to my findings, or perhaps it'll bring a whole new ballgame.
[01:25] Jeremy: Anyway, as for recommendations, Ace Utilities handles filepaths and software entries brilliantly. JV16 PowerTools gets the OLE / COM / ActiveX / CLSID / TypeLibs / ProgIDs, and RegSeeker seems to find entries that others miss, which makes me suspicious of it, but its freeware and has a finder feature so I love it.
[01:25] Fredrik: But what really matters is how smooth and clean everything feels right now, so what's your rating on that?
[01:26] Fredrik: I mean as far as the different programs go, but there's no way of comparing that in a good way is there
[01:27] Jeremy: Well, after doing a sweep on the registry with several programs, anyone would generally be satisfied with the feeling that their registry is cleaned out of anything invalid and just needs to be compacted to get rid of the empty parts and reduce filesize.
[01:28] Jeremy: It's basically like running into a burning house and rescuing 5 kids and feeling great that you saved lives, but at the same time, you wonder if you missed anyone.
[01:28] Jeremy: Because there are literally dozens of cleaners and each one finds something that another did not.
[01:29] Fredrik: NT Registry Optimizer is good too, it just compacts the registry files, but I think it has a small impact.
[01:29] Fredrik: Yeah, I know what you're talking about.
[01:29] Jeremy: Which does not necessarily mean that the registry cleaner is better or worse than another, but it makes you wonder how they go about actually determining what IS invalid.
[01:30] Fredrik: True.
[01:30] Jeremy: However, when I cleaned the registry with Ace Utilities and RegSeeker, JV16 PowerTools found nothing afterwards.
[01:31] Jeremy: But crappy ones like 3B Registry Repair Pro still found around 80+ entries, but it's just so hard to tell where these other ones get their results from.

This post has been edited by Jeremy: 27 February 2006 - 11:34 PM

[kartel]

I tried JV16 PowerTools 2005 and did the registry cleaner and it did a great job on agressive I had a long time to check every entry on the list one by one but I swear my computer runs faster now, good job Jeremy.

This post has been edited by kartel: 27 February 2006 - 11:35 PM

[Jeremy]

Glad to have helped.

[eidenk]

Quote

18. RegCtrls
This looks like the type of thing you'd find at SysInternals or Nirsoft. Able to unregister "classes". it's over 5 years old. Garbage.

This shouldn't be in the list as it is not exactly a registry cleaner but rather a COM manager and it's not garbage IMO.

Check also COMView at http://www.japheth.de/ for an even better tool in the same category.

Quote

17. RegCleaner
This program is old and everything it has to offer is found in JV16 PowerTools. It doesn't have an actual registry cleaner, but only able to remove items from shell extensions, add/remove list, etc. As I said, same as JV16. It creates an entry in your start-up list. This is essentially garbage now.

Yes it does have a registry cleaner under Tools/Registry Cleanup and it is still one of the best free maintenance tools IMO.

[Jeremy]

This a trial of elimination. The following programs have won so far. I have screenshots that will elaborate things for you as you read. Enjoy.

Registry/Maintenance Programs That Are Worth It – Revision 1
(Keep in mind that my first priority in judgment for these programs is registry and then maintenance. If it were maintenance first, CCleaner would be #1.

1. JV16 PowerTools 2005
http://www.jv16.org/
Payware ($29.95 US / $34.03 CAN)
Main GUI

As clearly shown, a multi-functional program capable of over a dozen very useful tasks that will keep your PC in optimal shape, especially when combined with CCleaner, due to how many programs’ temp/cache locations are integrated into it, which no other program has.

2. CCleaner (Crap Cleaner)
http://www.ccleaner.com/
Freeware
Straightforward, easy-to-use GUI
Includes a registry cleaner that finds critical invalids, allows for backup if desired
Removes countless junk, temp, cache, MRU files
Add/Remove applet-like menu with rename, remove and execute abilities
Start-Up Manager
Secure File Deletion
Protect desired cookies
Context menu entries optional

3. Ace Utilities
http://www.acelogix.com/aceutils.html
Payware ($29.95 US / $34.03 CAN)
Features include:
Remove Junk Files
Clean Registry
Find Duplicate Files
Start-Up Manager
Complete list of features, explanations and screenshots can be found at the link above

4. RegSeeker
http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm
Freeware
RegSeeker GUI & Features
RegSeeker has several features that remind you of CCleaner and JV16 or RegCleaner. Some people say it removes too much from the registry but I have been using it for a while and haven't had any problems with corruption. It has a great GUI and is free so I thought I would mention it.

5. Registry First Aid
Payware ($27.95 US, $31.75 CAN)
http://www.rosecitys...re.com/reg1aid/
RFA Options
RFA Scan Options
RFA Scan Results
RFA is recently updated, has many useful options that generally make it an overall great registry cleaner. It has many awards and generally gives off the vibe of being a trustworthy program. It is good for removing unused shell extensions and MRUs among many other types of references. It can view entries in safety categories which enforces a boundary for users and makes them feel safer about removing entries than they might otherwise. It adds a start-up entry for its “Agent”.

6. RegCleaner
http://www.worldstart.com/weekly-download/...-cleaner4.3.htm
Freeware
Main GUI
Tools > ...
Contains many of the same functions that JV16 PowerTools has. It has an OLE Cleaner and registry cleaner and is very small in filesize. This is probably the only freeware partial alternative to JV16 for those who want the functions of JV16, but don’t want to buy it. It also allows viewing of OCX and DLL files, which can be used in troubleshooting situations. Overall a terrific freeware solution, despite initial misjudgment from myself. Sorry, eidenk.

7. Registry Healer
http://www.fixregist...gheal/index.htm
Payware ($19.95 US, $22.68 CAN)
Registry Healer Options
RH Main GUI
I’m pleased with this registry cleaner because it intelligently manages to not pick every entry by default, but picks what it thinks should be removed and leaves the rest up to you. The same thing can be said about Registry First Aid, of course, but to have more than one cleaner with this design gives users more variety.
It is clearly highly customizable, and allows you to protect desired areas of the registy so you don’t have to fear of corruption.

8. RegScrubXP
I did not find a homepage.
Freeware
RegScrubXP Extras
ReGScrubXP Results
RegScrubXP scans very quickly and removes a lot of null entries, which is good. It is free and very popular.

This post has been edited by Jeremy: 28 February 2006 - 08:59 PM

[ripken204]

thx for the list Jeremy, ive been using ccleaner for a while now and i see u have it as #2 . #1 costs money so im staying where i am.

[mentalindustrie]

RegCleaner does not work on windows xp x64.
As soon as it starts to scan it crashes.

JV16 PowerTools 2006 does work for x64 though

[eidenk]

Quote

RegSeeker has several features that remind you of CCleaner and JV16 or RegCleaner. Some people say it removes too much from the registry but I have been using it for a while and haven't had any problems with corruption. It has a great GUI and is free so I thought I would mention it.

RegSeeker does break the windows setup applet functionality on WinME. That's the line to add to the exclude.ini file to prevent it from happening :

2|SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\VarLDID

Best "automatic" registry cleaner IMO.

This post has been edited by eidenk: 28 February 2006 - 08:26 PM

[Jeremy]

@eidenk, serves you right for using WinME.
@ripken, yes I have them listed by number, but the are not in a "best to decent" formation. I've been tinkering with JV16 PowerTools and have realized that it has features within features. I was able to remove some things from the registry that nothing else picked up, and then when I did a registry clean, about a dozen old uninstalled software references showed up. Too bad Macecraft charges money for this product despite having a .org website, how misleading. I will rearrange them from what I think is the best to decent way.