What's up with CCleaner?

So I was manually removing some old software stuff from the registry last night and started thinking I should see what all the CCleaner hype is about. I'm not quite sure I want to use it on the registry since it's a fairly new Vista x64 machine but I was interested more in its cleaning features and temporary file removal.

It seems like many of the basic Windows cleaning settings in CCleaner are what's available in the Windows Vista disk cleanup. Under the 'Applications' tab, I don't understand how programs like 7zip and MS Paint would leave file fragments that need to be removed. I set both my browsers (Opera and Firefox) to remove ALL cookies and session data on close. Does CCleaner just list all the installed apps and remove any .tmp files...or something? Flash player remnants would be in the cleared browser cache, Media Player Classic shouldn't leave anything behind..what could CCleaner possibly do to MS Wordpad? Is cut and copied text stored after program closing?

Also CCleaner lists some Adobe programs as startup programs (Bridge, ARM and a few others) that are not listed in running processes in task manager. I do have Photoshop installed but use it and Adobe Reader only. Nor are Bridge and ARM in the Startup tab in Administrative tools/System Configurate. CCleaner lists these under HKLM: Run but that key is not under my HKLM tree.

It all seems really redundant and/or unnecessary in some places. Remove Window Size/Location Cache info?? Seriously??

I must be missing something unless this is one of those placebo programs. I read on NBR that MANY people use it so I wasn't expecting this.

Anyone with more know than I care to comment?

 

CCleaner is the best product since windows XP. Just do regular cleans and registry cleanups and your PC will remain pretty damn mint. Thats all there is to say.

CCleaner forever!

Also I know I really didnt answer your question, but I feel no need to explain such an amazing program. CCleaner > Jeebus.

 

Heh, that made me do the LOL thing.

 

The thing is that sometime, programs which startup with Windows will not necessarily show up in MsConfig startup tool.
TuneUP utilities was good at detecting these hidden programs, however, ever since the 2009 version came out it became severely bloated.

Ccleaner is just as efficient in detection of these startup programs while being extremely fast and light.

It also has a pretty good tool for cleaning up the registry (even though it never does anything for system performance).
I used it's cleaning tools on numerous desktops and laptops (x86 and x64 - new and old) without any issues.

Microsofts cleaning utilities can be fine and highly efficient if you know your way around the OS, but Ccleaner makes things easier for most users.

 

CCleaner is the best product ever you 7W47! Go figure

 

I don't at all dispute the hundreds of NBR users that CCleaner works well for with light registry issues. It's the other half of the program I was surprised to learn about.

I put CCleaner onto my mom's Dell Latitude with WinXP and the clean function at the standard settings removed about 430mb of stuff while Windows Disk Cleanup only offered 178. However, about 152mb of that was freed by compression which CCleaner either didn't do or didn't tell me it did (which is unlikely).

On my much better maintained Vista x64 laptop, CCleaner right now offers to free 18mb and Disk Cleanup offers 10. CCleaner touches into the system temp and log files while Disk Cleanup does not.

I do have a registry question though. If a key says 'value not set' does that mean it's dormant, neither on nor off?

 

Value column is empty! / Empty string.

 

So then are these unset values/empty strings some of the things that registry cleaners remove?

 

The general rule you should follow with CCleaner is that unless you know exactly what's going on in the backend (ie, what's being deleted) for all the checkmarks you select, you should not have those items selected. It can be a useful tool for freeing up some diskspace and removing unnecessary clutter, but it can also increase boot and application launch time by deleting important cache files, and in more rare instances, can even break applications by mistakenly deleting necessary registry keys.

 

it is also great to use to secure deleted data as well...if your a NSA worry wart freak than it cna be handy with wiping all your free space ^^....i do that monthly...but i dont worry about the NSA......or do i......

 

Be careful on using CCleaner. CCleaner cleaned so well it deleted the activation code on one of my program and rendered it useless.

 

I use CCLeaner on every Windows machine I touch. I installed in on my Dad's, Father-in-Law's, and Brother-in-Law's machine as well.

I wish they had a Mac version, as I'm incredibly anal about keeping my machines spotless.

The trick is to know which items to check. I typically don't check: "desktop shortcuts, start menu shortcuts, History, Autocomplete form history, or Wipe Free Space".

I also think its prudent to run the Registry cleaner several times over until it detects no errors, as some things it removes will expose other invalid entries once deleted.

I've used the file and registry cleaner on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and 2008 (even R2's) and Windows 7 and I've NEVER had any issues with giving the machine a thorough scrub down.

You can even set it to start automatically with Windows for a boot time cleaning. This only works for the file clean, and won't clean your registry or startup.

The other great feature is full control over startup programs, system restore, and Un-installers. You can manually uninstall any program, or delete uninstaller entries that didn't go away when you removed an app.

I also highly recommend going through the Cookies and Include/Exclude settings to save any folders/cookies you don't want touched, or specify any you want cleaned that may not be in the default. For example, I "force include" the following folders and their subfolders to keep system temp files and old WU downloads off my machine once installed:

C:\Windows\Temp\*.*
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\*.*

In addition, I force the system to keep cookies to websites that I actually login to (like NBR forums!) and I told settings to delete even TEMP files and folders that were under 24-hours old, to get max cleaning.

All in all my systems always perform like new, and I never have any cache problems. My relatives that I've "hooked up" also stopped calling about their machines running slow and needing cleanup. It's effectively put me out of the family IT business, which I don't hate.

 

You usually don't check all of the options on the first page of CCleaner. The only time I've flagged every option was to wipe an OS prior to a reformat for a paranoid user (myself) prior to selling a laptop. Typically only the default settings are needed.

 

i used the reg cleaner in ccleaner and it made my asus g73 slower. dont use the reg cleaner if ur not experienced (im not )

 

The general rule is: Stay away from registry cleaners. For those who understand the registry enough to know the function of the keys in there, they serve no useful purpose. For anybody else, they are just dangerous. In either case, "cleaning" the registry has no tangible benefits. None.

 

I know enough about the registry to remove fragments of old applications left over from uninstalls and installer references. The vast majority of the issues the program brings up with my registry are missing file extensions and missing shared dll's. Some of the stuff left over from an iPod I'll get rid of (Holy CraP! Getting rid of Apple programs is like trying to pull gum out of hair!) but I have no system problems so I'm just doing this out of OCD comp cleanliness, boredom and to learn something new.

What does it mean to 'wipe' a section of HDD?

 

Normally, when a file is deleted off a hard drive, its entry is simply deleted from the Master File Table, permitting the area that the file took up on the HD to be used for other purposes. The 0s and 1s on the hard drive, however, are technically still there, and can be recovered until another file is written over that patch of 0s and 1s.

What CCleaner does is secure-delete the file by writing random data (or 0s, depending on user preferences and settings) over that patch of 0s and 1s where the file used to be, permanently and irrecoverably deleting it.

 

How would I go about running CCleaner off a USB flash drive so I wouldn't need to install it on a handfull of different computers?

Is it as simple as installing it on to the drive or is there more to it than that? The USB stick is FAT32 format.

 

CCleaner is one of the best softwares ever created. I experience a very noticeable increase in system responsiveness every time I run the app cleaner and the registry cleaner. I've NEVER had a problem using this software on any of my 10 machines! I'm shocked that's still free. How cool is that?

 

Placebo effect. On a normal machine, CCleaner has no effect whatsoever on "system responsiveness". None at all. The very thought of gaining any kind of benefit from deleting, say, a couple of dozen registry keys out of a half million is ludicrous. Same with temp files. They take up disk space, but have no effect on the speed of your system.

But if it makes you happy...

 

You're right! A cluttered registry does not affect system performance at all. That's why Windows always runs fast and never slows down over time.

 

Also +1 =P

 

[Shrug] Of course I'm right. It's a simple matter of being able to understand the numbers, plus a minimum amount of knowledge about the registry. If you remove a thousand unnecessary keys out of the roughly 500,000 keys that are present in your typical registry, the effect will be zero.

Oh, and my machines do not slow down over time, since I know what is started at logon. But, like I said, feel free to continue believing in the tooth fairy.