Can CCLEANER help keep this system running well?

[notaguru]

This laptop with Vista Home Premium is working
perfectly, and I'd like to keep it that way despite
frequent trial installations of various applications and
very heavy usage online. There are no games.

To block malware it depends on Vista's built-in security
plus Avast and Windows Defender, and each week it is
scanned by AV and SpybotSD. It uses Vista's defrag.

My assistant (who is still young enough to know
everything) has proposed a prophylactic addition of
ccleaner to the weekly process. I want to avoid
problems, not create them...

What do you think?

 

[Joseph Meehan]

I don't know if there is a Vista compactable version. If so I would
expect it to work well CC has proven to be a very good product in prior
versions. CC takes care of a lot of the leftovers from those programs
(free trails) you load and unload.

 

[Alias]

This laptop with Vista Home Premium is working perfectly, and I'd like
to keep it that way despite frequent trial installations of various
applications and very heavy usage online. There are no games.

To block malware it depends on Vista's built-in security plus Avast and
Windows Defender, and each week it is scanned by AV and SpybotSD. It
uses Vista's defrag.

My assistant (who is still young enough to know everything) has proposed
a prophylactic addition of ccleaner to the weekly process. I want to
avoid problems, not create them...

What do you think?

The Cleaner is good. Avoid the Registry Issues feature.

Alias

 

[Slap]

This laptop with Vista Home Premium is working perfectly, and I'd like to
keep it that way despite
My assistant (who is still young enough to know everything) has proposed a
prophylactic addition of ccleaner to the weekly process. I want to avoid
problems, not create them...

What do you think?

I use it on my Vista installation. So far no problems. Used it on XP all
the time.

--

 

[Bruce Chambers]

This laptop with Vista Home Premium is working perfectly, and I'd like
to keep it that way despite frequent trial installations of various
applications and very heavy usage online. There are no games.

To block malware it depends on Vista's built-in security plus Avast and
Windows Defender, and each week it is scanned by AV and SpybotSD. It
uses Vista's defrag.

My assistant (who is still young enough to know everything) has proposed
a prophylactic addition of ccleaner to the weekly process. I want to
avoid problems, not create them...

What do you think?

Periodically (monthly should be fine for most purposes) using CCleaner
to clean up and remove temporary files can help keep the computer
performing well.

However, never, ever use it to "clean" the registry. Granted,
CCleaner's registry scanner seems relatively benign, as long as you step
through each detected "issue" one at a time, to determine if it really
is an "issue" or not, and then decide whether or not to let the
application "fix" it. In my testing, though, most of the reported
"issues" won't be issues, at all. I tried the latest version on a
brand-new OS installation with no additional applications installed, and
certainly none installed and then uninstalled, and CCleaner still
managed to "find" over a hundred allegedly orphaned registry entries and
dozens of purportedly "suspicious" files. Its findings were utter
nonsense, in plain terms.

CCleaner's only real strength, and the only reason I use it, lies
in its usefulness for cleaning up unused temporary files from the hard
drive; as a registry "cleaner," it's not significantly different from
any other snake oil product of the same type.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Dave Harris]

I use CCleaner with no problems whatsoever. Regardless of what others say
about the registry cleaner, I use it along with the other utilities in
CCleaner and have not encountered any problems using it with Windows Vista.

 

[Carol in GA]

I use it regularly on Vista AND XP machines and have never had a problem with
it. I use the registry cleaner too and it's never caused a single problem.
It certainly deals with Temporary internet files and cookies a lot better
than the built in IE stuff!

With heavy internet usage, I would run the cleaner once a week... temp
internet files pile up quick.... hubby forgets about it and I wind up
deleting 300mb at the end of the month just from his login. grrrrrrr

 

[Slap]

However, never, ever use it to "clean" the registry. as a registry
"cleaner," it's not significantly different from any other snake oil
product of the same type.

I use the registry cleaner often. Both XP and Vista no problems.

I've often seen posts about this type of program being as you call it 'snake
oil'. Never seen a post from someone using this type of program that had
their machine crash from using it tho. You guys just grab this out of thin
air? Then all the worry worts latch on and she becomes a myth.

The first thing CCleaner will ask you is to do a backup. Hit ok then and do
a backup.

--

 

[caver1]

This laptop with Vista Home Premium is working perfectly, and I'd like
to keep it that way despite frequent trial installations of various
applications and very heavy usage online. There are no games.

To block malware it depends on Vista's built-in security plus Avast and
Windows Defender, and each week it is scanned by AV and SpybotSD. It
uses Vista's defrag.

My assistant (who is still young enough to know everything) has proposed
a prophylactic addition of ccleaner to the weekly process. I want to
avoid problems, not create them...

What do you think?

CCleaner is good at clearing out junk. If it runs
on Vista I don't know.
Look at what PcWorld has to say about Vistas built
in security before you put your trust in it.
caver1

 

[Alias]

I use the registry cleaner often. Both XP and Vista no problems.

I've often seen posts about this type of program being as you call it
'snake oil'. Never seen a post from someone using this type of program
that had their machine crash from using it tho. You guys just grab this
out of thin air? Then all the worry worts latch on and she becomes a myth.

The first thing CCleaner will ask you is to do a backup. Hit ok then
and do a backup.

In all fairness to Bruce, I used to say the same thing as you do and
used CCleaner's Issues feature. I also used SystemSuite's Registry Fixer
and with no adverse affects, or so I thought. I decided to see if there
really was a difference and reinstalled XP Pro on one of my machines
that's used extensively and didn't "clean up" the registry at all. A
month later I see that the machine is running faster than it ever was,
even after a clean install so I don't do registry cleaning anymore. It's
a waste of time and, if you nuke the wrong thing, can lead to real problems.

Alias

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I use the registry cleaner often. Both XP and Vista no problems.

You've been very lucky. But no one has ever claimed that using such
drek will be immediately harmful each and every time.

I've often seen posts about this type of program being as you call it
'snake oil'. Never seen a post from someone using this type of program
that had their machine crash from using it tho.

Then you haven't read very many posts. I've lost count of the posts
that have started out with "I just used [insert snake oil product name]
and now my [insert random device or application] doesn't work ..." or "I
just used [insert snake oil product name] and now my computer won't boot."

And you're completely ignoring the main point: Even if a given
registry "cleaner" does no immediate harm, it does *ABSOLUTELY* *NO*
good to use one. They simply don't do anything useful or that could
possibly improve the performance of a computer. So, given the
repeatedly demonstrated potential for harm, why bother to use one? Do
you like playing Russian roulette?

You guys just grab this
out of thin air? Then all the worry worts latch on and she becomes a myth.

Nope. I derive a significant portion of my income cleaning up behind
registry cleaners in the hands of average consumers. Were I less honest
and more greedy, I'd be recommending people use them, too.

The first thing CCleaner will ask you is to do a backup. Hit ok then
and do a backup.

And just how, pray tell, does one use that backup registry if the
computer's operating system has been rendered completely unbootable, as
frequently happens?



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[David B. Mathews]

Has been working well for me on my new Dell. I have been experimenting with
loading and deleting some new programs and CCleaner has come it handy at
getting rid of the leftover crud.

 

[David B. Mathews]

I've used a few times so far and the reg. part once. I did make a backup of
the reg. before using it and put the backup where I knew I could find it.
Most of these programs that backup the reg. I have no idea where they back
it up to so I manually do it myself. I just feel better this way.

 

[Peter Foldes]

Russian Roulette is putting it mildly. You tell me how do you boot a system to get to your Registry backup that is created with a Reg cleaner when it will not boot because it (reg cleaner) removed a needed line that is needed to boot.

Never use a reg cleaner. I am talking about experience from repairing computers for my clients.