I use Registry Mechanic, which has never given me problems. However, after a couple of days and reinstalling several programs, everything appears to have tempered down. Photoshop and a couple of others don't respond as well as they had, but nothing major. Seems to be a memory thing where they can't remember the settings I designate.
Still not thoroughly happy, but at least I'm getting some work done. Will do a clean install this weekend when I have some time.