Windows Repair 4.0 released: repair Windows software
Windows Repair 4.0 is the newest version of the popular repair software for Microsoft Windows that is available as a free and professional version.
The program, which the developers recommend to run in safe mode with networking, is designed to fix numerous issues that Windows users may experience on their Windows machines.
We reviewed one of the first versions of Windows Repair back in 2011. A lot has changed since then.
Windows Repair fixes issues with Windows programs and settings, and advanced issues such as file permission problems.
The application is offered as a portable version and a version that needs to be installed. A Pro version that adds additional features such as running custom scripts or improving performance is available as well.
Tip: Check out Windows Repair Toolbox, a free repair program
Windows Repair 4.0
Windows Repair 4.0 groups the repair process to make things easier for users. The three main stages are pre-repair steps, backup tools and repairs - Main. Professional users gain access to advanced repairs and advanced tools on top of that.
The first two steps, pre-repair and backup tools, are designed to eliminate issues that may prevent repairs from being applied successfully, and to create backups for restoration purposes should things turn out wrong.
All of these are optional, but it is recommended to run some of them at the very least. You can check the drive for errors and run a file system integrity check under pre-repair steps for instance, and backup the Registry, and create a system restore point under backup tools.
The repairs section of Windows Repair lists six options. All of these options will open the list of available repairs, and they differ only in what is preselected when you open the repairs.
The five presets that you find listed on the page -- all repairs, common repairs, malware cleanup repairs, permissions only and Windows updates -- have certain repairs selected automatically when you make use of them.
Note that you can select these on the page that lists all repairs as well.
A total of 33 different repair options -- some with sub-options -- are listed on the page. This ranges from repairing Internet Explorer and Windows Firewall to fixing file associations and resetting all Windows Services to their default startup states.
The repairs require elevated privileges, and you will notice that additional options are displayed on the screen. Free users may select to restart or shut down the machine after running the repairs.
Pro users get additional options, for instance to run custom scripts as well.
One issue that you may have on this page is that the program does not provide information on the repairs. While some are self-explanatory, repair print spooler for instance repairs printing on the device, others such as restore important Windows services may require further explanation as you don't really know what they do. Windows Repair ships with a help file, but it does not reveal the information either.
You may create your own presets using the program. This can be useful if you run into issues regularly that are fixed when you run some of the available repair routines that the application ships with.
A log file is created automatically when you run repairs so that you know what is done to the system.
The Pro part of the program comes with several interesting tools. Windows Firewall Cleanup for instance returns firewall rules that are invalid. This is the case for instance when programs are no longer available on the game but have firewall rules associated with them.
Verdict
Windows Repair 4.0 is a powerful repair tool for Microsoft Windows devices. The program comes with backup options, which is always a good thing, and a large number of fixes that you can run.
The information it presents in the interface and help file are not covering all options and repairs however, and it is sometimes not clear what a particular fix will do because of that. All in all though this is an excellent tool to have.
Now You: Do you use repair software for Windows?
i will give a subtle reply:
if you “use” a repair tool that suppose it’s often
if you “got” a repair tool that’s in case
so to make a story short i used to repair windows but never with a repair soft like this
I won’t play games:
Macrium Reflect
Boot with recovery media
Restore Image
Option 2:
Boot to Windows Install Media
Select Repair Option
Always:
Run your browser, email client, media player, etc. inside SandboxIE (Sandboxie.com) or a Virtual Machine and prevent the unwanted changes that screw things up. You can download and run Sandboxie without a license and try it minus certain customization features. The protection is there. Pro version is 20 USD for one year, 35 for life.
PanamaVet!! you are right on. i do exactly that and do tons of stuff everyday and we havent had any problems in 8 years…. macrium and sandboxie are tops. Clas
Solid advice. Save my hot buns several times. MR is overdue for ver 7 but 6.x seems ok but to take extra mins longer as ver rises.
Used Windows Install Media other day too first time for Win 10 x64 Pro and ok result when couldn’t even get into MR via dvd boot. Could have used this other day when Outlook 2016/Office 2016 refused to run. Had to reinstall Office and let MS site work its magic. Saw several posts on Net ties that to the latest Win Upgrade. Appears it went deep into system. That kept me from just restoring via MR weekly backup and have WU snarf me again.
Don’t understand what you are trying to say.
This is an excellent, reliable tool to use. No need to re-install/restore Windows every time something goes wrong, or install draconian sandboxing measures.
About the information, the repairs are fairly well explained within the program (Repairs/Repair Info tab) and not the help file. I hate the drop-down interface there though, terribly clumsy to use.
I don’t trust “repair” of “performance” apps for Windows and never used any since day one of Dos 1.0
I had maybe 2-3 sever problems in the last 25 years with Windows that required restore from image backup and I have never re-installed Windows.
You generalise way too much. This is not such an app, its repairs are based on Windows itself. It’s not using any dirty hacks.
Is this applicable for Windows 7 or 10 only?
Yeah, what versions of win does it try to repair?
We use the older versions 3.9.xx to mostly repair broken Windows 7 updates. After running this tool, available updates show up within a couple of hours, sometimes minutes. It works better than running the multiple KB’s, that Microsoft put out, that are supposed to fix Windows Update, but sometimes do nothing, with no updates showing up for a day or more.
i have windows 8.1.what kind of problems will it solve? mozzlafirefox says that some of windows upgrade,etc.does not work with their programs/adobe flash player.i’ve noticed acouple of windows upgrades i had to delete because it played havock on my computer.i’m not that savy with these “new fangled inventions” thanks for any help.
That crap program screwed my Windows 8.1 64-bit so bad I had to use a restore point to get back where I was,
I mean… if it creates a restore point before attempting any repairs, and you can easily use that to undo any changes it makes, that’s exactly what you’d want from such a tool, right?
No software that involves this kind of low-level system manipulation can *guarantee* that nothing will ever go wrong, in any situation — the way you can tell the good ones from the bad is, the good ones are very up front about that, and always give you a way to back out in case of problems.
I HAVE USED THIS PROGRAM MANY YEARS, WIN 7, AND IT HAS SAVED MY BUTT NUMEROUS TIMES. ALWAYS RUN IT IN SAFE MODE WITH ADMIN. PRIVILEGE. IT HAS NEVER SCREWED UP MY COMPUTER, NEVER. IF YOUR SYSTEM IS NOT WORKING AS IT SHOULD IN MOST CASES THIS PROGRAM WILL CORRECT THE PROBLEM. THERE IS JUST ONE THING THAT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF, SINCE THIS PROGRAM RESETS WINDOWS SETTINGS TO THERE DEFAULT SETTING. ITEM #4 RESET HOST FILE SHOULD BE UNCHECKED IF YOU ARE USING AN EXPANDED HOST FILE. THIS IS MY FAVORITE GO- TO PROGRAM TO FIX PROBLEMS.
PATRICK
PS: I TYPE IN CAPS BECAUSE I HAVE MACULAR DEGENERATION AND CANNOT SEE WHAT I AM TYPING IF NOT IN CAPS.
SORRY, THAT SHOULD READ #9 REPAIR HOST FILE.
@Al
I think another program already screwed your Windows 8.1 64-bit before you ran Windows Repair.
What were you trying to fix?
It’s only been out for a year, so saying many many years is inaccurate which makes it sound like you’re just attempting to boast the client without any knowledge……