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Introduction
Registry manager contains all the necessary tools for manual registry repair and maintenance. You can uninstall software, remove leftover registry entries from software you thought you had removed ages ago, edit or remove shell extensions and so on. The registry manager is your easy-to-use interface to the Windows' registry and you really don't have extensive knowledge of the registry to be able to use the registry manager.


Functions

  • Installed Software. This list contains the list of software found from various places inside the registry. It's very common that you find programs here that you thought you had removed ages ago.

  • Starting Programs. This features shows you the list of all the programs that are automatically started from the registry when your computer starts. You can also add your own items to this list with the Add button.

  • Uninstall Menu. By default this feature shows you exactly the same as Windows' own Uninstall menu shows (Control Panel > Add/Remove programs). But in addition to Add/Remove programs' features you can also remove obsolete items from this list. Notice that the Remove button just removes the software from this list and only the Uninstall button actually uninstalls it. For your own safety, you can uninstall only one software at the time.

  • Registered File Types. This feature shows you all the registered file types, like that .txt files are text files and so on. It's very common that programs you remove from your computer leaves their file type registrations.

  • New File shell ext. This feature shows you the list of files types you can create from right click > New menu. Note that if you still use the program which new file shell extension you wish to remove from the right click menu the program will most likely automatically recreate it the next time you use the program. For example WinZip and Adobe Photoshop behave this way.

  • Shell Extensions. This list contains all the registered shell extensions. Shell extension means that program can register some file types for itself and define some operations with it. For example you can view a text file (.txt) with Notepad by double clicking such file and you can print the contents of a file by right clicking it and selecting print from the menu. Many times programs create a lot of unneeded shell extensions, you can remove all the shell extensions you think you won't be needing. Notice that you can also modify existing shell extensions with the Modify button.

  • IE Context Menu. The list contains all the context menu tools of Internet Explorer. Context menu extensions are those additional tools which are shown in the right click menu when you right click anything on a web page using Internet Explorer. Some programs, such as FlashGet, create this kind of new entries.

  • Open With... Menu. This feature shows you the list of programs Windows can show in the list it shows when you try to run a file of unknown file type. (This feature is only for NT-based operating systems)

  • Search with Menu. This feature shows you the list of items in Start Button > Search. You can remove all the items you don't need. (This feature is only for NT4 and Win2000 operating systems)

 

The Tools menu

  • Registry Cleaner. This feature automatically scans the entire registry and detects entries that are invalid or obsolete. Read more.
  • Registry Finder. Allows you to find items from the registry based on a search word or words. Read more.
  • Registry Monitor. Allows you to monitor the changes in the Windows' registry. Read more.
  • Console. Shows the Console. Read more.
  • Reset Hardware Configuration. This is a very dangerous feature if you don't know what you are doing. This feature is meant for those who are about to reinstall windows because of hardware related problems. After you use this feature you will have to reinstall all the device drivers and please notice that it's very likely that your CD-ROM drive doesn't work when Windows prompts you for drivers after you have restarted your computer. (This feature is only for Win9x-based operating systems).
  • Remove custom software... Allows you to search for and remove entries from software which are not anymore present in the list of installed software. This feature is a bit more safer to use for novice users compared to the registry finder, but still you should only use the feature if you know what you're doing.

Special features

  • The Age system. If the age system is enabled (Preferences > Age system > "Enabled") you will see an age column in each list. The age system can be used in manual or in automatic mode. By default it's in manual mode. In manual mode you can mark specific items as old using the Mark As Old button. In automatic mode all items are automatically marked as old after you have seen them. This feature allows you easily to see the new items in each lists, it doesn't in any way attempt to identify items that obsolete or in any way safe to remove.

  • The comment system. If the comment system is enabled (Preferences > Comment system > "Enabled") you can write comments to each items to help you to remember what some items are. You can write a comment to a specific entry by first clicking the item once, and then clicking the comment part under the Comment column.

  • The Special Select menu (Select > Special Select). This feature allows you easily find certain items from the lists, such as items that should be safe to remove.

  • Uninstall Menu settings (Settings > Uninstall menu). This feature allows you to choose whether you want to see hidden entries in the Uninstall menu or not. By default you can see only normal entries, just the same as Windows' own Add/Remove programs shows you.
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