If you've been using Windows for a while, you've probably had cause at some point to edit something in the registry. This is the database of settings which Windows uses to control just about every aspect of the operating system and its applications. Although the registry is best left untouched by inexperienced PC users (change the wrong thing and your PC won't work), sometimes the only way to fix a particular problem is to edit a setting in there.

Since Windows 95, when the registry in its current form was first introduced, Microsoft has shipped a tool with Windows called "regedit", which lets you view, search and edit the registry. It does the job, but poorly. You don't realise how poorly, until you start to use a different registry editor which offers more features.

But what more features might you want in a registry editor? How about bookmarks, so you can easily return to settings that you use often (or to the setting that you last changed, in order that you can keep adjusting it)? How about a default set of hundreds of bookmarks, supplied as standard, to lead you straight to commonly-used things? How about built-in descriptions of thousands of entries, so you know precisely what the particular setting does? How about displaying the date that each setting was last changed, so you can track down troublesome bugs?

If this sounds like something you need, then check out a third-party registry editor called Registrar. It's made by Resplendence Software and you'll find it at http://www.resplendence.com/registrar (the download link is in the list at the bottom of that page). The download is 5 MB, and it's free for home use. It works with Windows 7 onwards (including Windows 10, in my experience, though the web page doesn't yet say so).

The program is malware-free according to VirusTotal and Web of Trust.

But remember, folks: poking around in the registry can be enlightening but can cause problems, so don't change any settings unless you know what you're doing.