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You also get a real disk defragger, much better than the one in Windows.
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Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983
T e c h n o f i l e
Repeated Registry corruption can be repaired by Fix-It for Windows
Oct. 2, 2005
By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, The Post-Standard
For years, I've been recommending an outstanding utility program for Windows called Fix-It. Although no program could correct the basic flaws in Windows, Fix-It came as close as possible to making Windows behave.
Mijenix, the company that developed Fix-It, sold the rights to the software to VCOM a few years ago. Recently, I had a chance to try the latest version, sold by VCOM as Fix-It Utilities Professional 6. My tests showed that Fix-It remains the best overall Windows-fixing program on the market. if you use Windows, you'd be wise to buy a copy and use it on a regular schedule.
Fix-It Utilities Professional 6 is a standard commercial program, not a shareware download, and can be found at most stores that sell Windows software. You can also order it from the company's Web site. Go to www.v-com.com and click the Fix-It link at the left. Fix-It costs $49.95.
Four functions stand out among dozens of features in Fix-It Utilities Professional 6:
A Registry repair program that can find -- and fix -- scores (sometimes hundreds) of problems even in a brand-new Windows installation. You'll wonder what Microsoft's engineers were thinking of when they designed the Registry if it can get corrupted before you even touch the keyboard. (You might wonder what they were smoking when they designed Windows itself, for that matter.) This alone will make any Windows PC go faster and behave better -- as long as you run it often, maybe once a week, because Windows will keep corrupting itself. (There's no fix for that.)
A Registry pruner that gives you back more working memory. Use this along with another feature, the Registry defragmenter, to bring a snappier response to your PC.
A genuine disk fixer that works. You might already know that the one in Windows, called Scandisk, doesn't work when the computer is doing anything else at the time. The one in Fix-It doesn't have that problem.
A real disk defragger. Some Fix-It users say this is the best part of the software. The defragger in Windows is pitiful by comparison, as you'll see the first time you run the Fix-It version.
Like the Fix-It of previous years, the latest version includes antivirus software. I wasn't able to give it a long-term test, but it appeared to work as well as AVG, my usual virus-protection software, and it updated itself nicely.
A new addition to the latest Fix-It is a spyware-removal program. I'll withhold my judgment on how well it works until a few more weeks have gone by, but it did a good job checking all the files on my Windows 2000 laptop.
I consider Fix-It Utilities Professional 6 an essential suite of programs for any Windows user. The Registry fixer alone makes this software worth the price. When you consider what else comes in the box, you'll have to agree that it's a bargain.
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