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General discussion

Scareware - Do you test?

Nov 30, 2010 7:37AM PST

I see from today's e-mail that tech-news has a `special promotion' - somewhat akin to the `liquidation sales' of some stores. It's a product that's been around for some time, for the same price [free], and is absolutely worth every cent.

Some time ago I was looking for registry cleaners. One that caught my attention - for all the wrong reasons - was uniblue/liutilities registry scan. Google links under many names led to a host of differently named sites all looking strangely similar.
They all offered the liutilities `free' scan, which reported hundreds of registry errors, warned me of the dire consequences, and offered to clean them with the paid version.
They also had a driver scanner which did pretty much the same.
The system was a new install of XP, with the latest updates, and the latest drivers for the hardware.
To me, if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I'll expect eggs!
I have regarded Cnet and it's reviews with great respect for many years - but this one is making me wonder...
YMMV
Terry.

Discussion is locked

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I'm not entirely sure what your question is.
Nov 30, 2010 8:18PM PST

Hi Terry.

Not sure what you're asking so let me just say that we rarely, (if ever), recommend registry cleaners and/or 'Optimisers' in these forums. We know that many of the, (less respectable), ones often falsely report massive errors in the Windows registry in an attempt to scare users into purchasing their products. These utilities rarely work as advertised and more often than not cause more problems than before.

In inexperienced hands registry cleaners and optimisers can be dangerous. Experienced users rarely need such utilities.

The Windows registry is best left alone. It is only a glorified database and any unneeded entries are just ignored, and have no effect on performance.

I hope that helps.

Mark

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That's a hard question to answer...
Dec 1, 2010 6:59AM PST

CNET runs all files through a suite of security scanners before offering them for download, and some of the scanners do flag known scareware. However, they don't offer a comprehensive analysis on scareware; most security scanners focus on dangerous code (viruses, worms, etc) rather than code that may make deceptive claims, something that's much harder to pin down. That's especially true in categories such as registry cleaners, where some argue that all registry cleaners are little more than snake oil while others laud the benefits of registry cleaners in general. In the end, such claims are often left to the end user to discern as few security vendors want to argue the reasons for their subjective decisions unless there's a clear case of fraud.

Downloads that are reviewed by the editors, though, are held to a higher standard as they must live up to a person's expectations rather than just passing a computerized bomb detector, so to speak. There you'll find some of the subjective analysis, with the occasional "don't waste your money" recommendation. Combined with those of user reviews, the high star ratings are a good indication of a product worth considering.

Finally, the forums are always a good place to ask. In this case, I'll echo Mark's remarks: Registry cleaners can occasionally resolve issues, but most of their claims regarding increased performance, reduced errors/crashes, etc. are exaggerated at best. In addition, you run the risk of them deleting required entries, causing more harm than good. The analogy I always return to: Would you ask your neighbor to clean your house while you're gone, throwing away everything he/she thinks you don't need? If the answer is 'no,' you'd be better off resolving specific issues you have rather than swatting flies with sledge hammers.

Regards,
John


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