Created with high hopes of simplifying the way software settings were saved on computers, the Registry has become an endless source of problems for many people.

Software does not always remove information properly and leftover information can reduce the performance of the computer and make it less stable. Registry Mechanic is a safe way to remove all of this detritus and improve the performance of the computer.

Installation was simple, although it did prompt a request for the installation file for one application on our system. However, this did not prevent the installation or Registry Mechanic from working properly.

It can be set to scan automatically when the computer starts, but this is not selected by default so there is no risk of overloading the system.

The first scan of the registry found many hundreds of errors, all of which were categorised and rated by severity. Fixing these errors was quick and did not lead to any problems with our computer. One entry in Add/Remove Programs that referred to a program already deleted was not removed.

Registry Mechanic can also be used to compact the registry by removing empty space. Sensibly, the program provides an option to run System Restore before attempting this, but we didn't come across any problems when performing this task.

The Registry Monitor component will checks for any changes made to the Registry but it didn't seem to pick up on changes we'd made using made with Regedit.

For peace of mind, Registry Mechanic makes regular backups of the registry in case it needs to be rolled back. Updates are also available through the Smart Update function.

If you want to try it out, a trial version is available for download; this includes all of the scanning functionality but will not repair any of the errors it finds.