What's the best free Fix-It program?

Thanks for the tip about AVG PC TuneUP 2011. I'll give it a try.

What I regularly use is PC ReImage.
It's a paid-for program that analyses your Windows operating system drive, digging out malware and replacing corrupt files. It even applies the necessary updates, sometimes correcting Microsoft's 'oversights' in their routines that may make your system vulnerable (all done with Microsoft's permission). It costs $69.95 per year for a single PC or $99.95 for up to three PCs and you can use it as often as you like within that year.
At the end of the year you'll get a reminder to renew two weeks before your license expires. Wait a week and they offer you 10% discount but hold out to the last day and they give you 20% off.

The AVG routine will be useful to me to trim out the chaff and tweak the registry before the Reimage or just to get rid of those annoying shortcut arrows.

Sounds like AVG would be useful for routine maintenance with Reimage in reserve for crashes and misbehaviour.

Just read the Cnet reviews - the AVG program gets 3 stars, with one person saying his DVD burner no longer worked after running it, because it removed too much stuff.

CClenaer wont remove any registry keys it thinks may be linked to something.

In that way, it is "safe" to use....
Not all registry keys dredged up by other commercial cleaners are that invalid, they may belong to a piece of software you have not used for some time, or may be part of settings saved by software, such as printing preferences saved by your photo editing software....
CCleaner looks to make sure the software exists before it marks a registry key invalid.
In that way, because its a gentle cleaner, its much safer.

I have a program called Baku, that is the wire wool of Registry cleaners, but I wont be recommending it here, because its a complicated process of checking each registry key it flags before you let it rip them out, and certainly not for everyone to use... it WILL cause damage if used incorrectly.
For that reason, its also hard to find on the internet....

Beware of those that offer "Free" scans...

The term for them in the Tech-Help world s "Scare-ware"....
They scan you for "Free", then ask for an almost unbelievable amount to "Fix" those problems... most of the thousand or so problems they will report to you are not to be fixed if you want to use your computer again, they are just "Invented" during the free scan to make you scared.

DO NOT download anything that reports to have already scanned your computer and found problems... ask how it did that already?... is it because you visited a certain site?... dont visit that site again..........

The reason CCleaner is held in so high regard by tech-help sites is the fact its a gentle cleaner, and although it prompts you to make backups, you rarely ever have to use them, because it wont ever remove anything that is important... however rarely you may use the linked software, if its linked to something valid, it wont remove it....
And in that way, until you know more than the programmers that make CCleaner, you shouldnt remove anything it leaves behind either?....

Tinkering under the hood of XP is a good hobby....
But its one that should be done on a "Do a backup FIRST" method....
I have many years experience of doing that, yes you can get surprising results, I have lightened my whole XP installation by almost a third of its initial disk space by removing stuff that isnt needed....including a whole duplicate directory of the initial instalation that hides in XP....
Do Not go looking for the directory unless you have a wish to do a re-install.

In the advanced settings of CCleaner, there is the ability to remove installation files left behind after XP does its monthly update... removing them lightens the load, but removes the ability to roll back to before that update, because it contains data of what changed.....
So unless you have a backup, should you remove those files?....
Well, you should have a backup anyway.....
There are various settings under CCleaner to give a deeper result, but, what it is is a tool to remove pure crud.
What it removes you really do NOT need... that is all it says it will do and all it will do.


Can I advise on anything that is better than CCleaner?...

Yes.

Are any of them a "One button" fix everything?...

No.

There are many and varied tools that will do certain things, if you think you have a problem, ask, someone here may be able to advise, but in my estimation, "One button fix everything" programs that advertise as such should be avoided ... they are possibly more harmful than a landmine....

Please dont think we are in any way decrying THAT program...
If its by AVG, its half decent.

However, beware of ANYTHING you have never heard of before....

If you do see stuff, and you are not sure, ask here....

If we dont know it, its probably suspect, if we say its not that good, take that as a "Caveat Emptor", buyer beware, but dont think we have the last say....

However....

I know of one or two VERY dangerous places?... if I, or anyone else, says "RUN AWAY", please give us the credit that that kind of advice is usually backed up with evidence from (In my case) Norton Community watch, and possibly several other well respected sites that say its bad news?....
This whole section, Technical Aid, is so that all of the members of the board can chip in with well respected advice.

The DVD Burner problem that Blazerose mentioned, I have seen this before, and I cant remember the exact, but if I can remember, its linked to one particular DVD burner, it may be a "Light-scribe", that PRINTS labels on the DVD's.....
The software that runs that tends to "Fall over" if a powerful cleaning program is run.

Major Geeks, good clean "Hosting" site to get hold of software you know you want...
You can be sure that the software it hosts does not come with any hitch-hikers either....
It doesnt vouch for any of its software, so google for reviews before you blindly download.

Yep... "X software found 4853 problems and fixed 32... to fix the remaining and improve performance by X%, please subscribe." testicles !

"How did it do that already?" ... indeed.

If you're running anything beyond a Commodore 64, registry errors (unless virus driven) mean nothing. They're merely "pointers", some of which no longer have a purpose, yet occupy space... a micro, nay... nano space on your GigaByte machine. Comparably, you gather more harmless "occupants" under your fingernails by running your fingers through your hair.

Sure, regular maintenance is a good thing, preventative maintenance is even better.

Hell, my car, when waxed and polished... "feels" a little faster.

If you're trying to remove malware but your resident AV program is less than effective, check out this article.

A dozen tools for removing almost any malware.

I have momentarily revived this thread to rescind my recommendation of Reimage.

Having allowed my previous subscription to lapse, I belatedly renewed it having acquired and removed an intrusion by that infamous three-letter American online espionage organisation.

Their scans refused to run correctly depriving me of the opportunity to use any license keys they had issued.

Their responses to my reports of problems met with sluggish and ineffectual responses, dragging the process out for over a month.

Pointing out that their advertising guff promised "Guaranteed instant results or your money back, no questions asked" prompted them to cycle me around their complaints procedure from the beginning with their same stock responses that had failed to produce results the first time around.

Insisting that they honour their advertised commitment merely prompted them to issue the same stock responses rather more rapidly in their efforts to avoid issuing the required refund.

They have wasted more than a month of my twelve month paid subscription (the period runs from date of purchase rather than first successful use).

I am currently at loggerheads with them over their inadequate customer support and their withholding of my refund.

It would appear that the standards of the company that I so highly regarded have slipped dramatically and I can therefore no longer recommend their services to anybody.

If I have any further updates on the situation, I shall post them here.