CCleaner

[SD]

Would appreciate any comments for or against regarding CCleaner. Not
confortable with programs that deal with registry.
Thank You.

 

[db]

I'm a proponent for registry cleaners

but in your case

i wouldn't recommend it....

-db
Would appreciate any comments for or against regarding CCleaner. Not
confortable with programs that deal with registry.
Thank You.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Would appreciate any comments for or against regarding CCleaner. Not
confortable with programs that deal with registry.
Thank You.

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.

CCleaner's main 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 better or worse than 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

 

[caver1]

I'm a proponent for registry cleaners

but in your case

i wouldn't recommend it....

-db

Would appreciate any comments for or against regarding CCleaner. Not
confortable with programs that deal with registry.
Thank You.

You don't have to use the registry cleaning part of CCleaner if you
don't know how. Its a great program. As db states if you don'tknow the
registry stay away from it. You can use CCLeaner to clean out all temp
files ect.

 

[peter]

the program works great....it cleans the crap off your system and also has
the ability to check your registry for broken links/content
peter

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

***All*** so called Registry 'cleaners' can be more trouble than they are
worth - including making a system completely unbootable. May I suggest that
you let XP manage the Registry by itself.

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Shell/User
Please reply to the Newsgroup


Please reply to the Newgroups

 

[Rock]

Would appreciate any comments for or against regarding CCleaner. Not
confortable with programs that deal with registry.
Thank You.

You are wise to stay away from registry cleaners. They cause more harm than
good. CCleaner has some nice features though, apart from registry cleaning
which you don't have to use. It removes quite a few temp files, and works
well for that. Just don't use the registry cleaning function, though as
such cleaners go it is more benign (less aggressive) than most in what it
deletes in the registry. Still you are better off not using it.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I'm a proponent for registry cleaners

But why? They do absolutely *NO* good, and their use carries no small
amount of risk. What is the point of using a "utility" that has no
benefit, but provides a very real risk of trashing the OS?


--

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

 

[SD]

To all who replied, many many thanks.

My reason for posting the question,
This months Maximum PC Magazine has a short comment article regarding
CCleaner, recommending it's use once a month.
Checking CCleaner web site it does mention it's function regarding the
registry which made me suspicious of it's use.
Thanks again all.

 

[Mistoffolees]

Would appreciate any comments for or against regarding CCleaner. Not
confortable with programs that deal with registry.
Thank You.

There are tools and utilities that are best left in the hands of the
technical experts. IMO, registry cleaners fall into this category.
They are really great for those who know and understand the Windows
Registry entries for diagnosising and fixing problems manually.

 

[db]

there is much benefit from removing
corrupt registry keys from the registry.

Microsoft did this with their regclean
then they did with scanregw in windows
me.

further, microsoft is aware of the problem
with corruption of the registry for example during a
power outage when the reg file inflates abnormally
if information is being written to it at the time.

however, microsoft's resolution for the above is to
manually replace the corrupted registry with a previous
version stored in the system folder. But a
registry cleaner would remove the corrupted keys
easily and conveniently and without being a registry
hacker.

further, the registry files accumulates information
like a database and doesn't discard unneeded or
invalid keys. This is a no-no for privacy as well.

And though I admire your convictions with
registry cleaners, I am not one to deny anyone
with the priviledge of learning about the registry
or use helpful tools that were initially designed
by microsoft and taken to new heights by todays
savvy genuises who designed better ones.

The issue of registry cleaners was started with
microsoft via their regclean program. Therefore,
the answer you may be seeking can only be
provided by their programmers.

Between microsoft old registry cleaners,
registry tweaking like tweak ui and
registry hacking via regedt32
microsoft has made "no" commandmants
against using the registry at the users
convenience or risk....

- db

I'm a proponent for registry cleaners

But why? They do absolutely *NO* good, and their use carries no small
amount of risk. What is the point of using a "utility" that has no
benefit, but provides a very real risk of trashing the OS?


--

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

 

[Bruce Chambers]

there is much benefit from removing
corrupt registry keys from the registry.

True, but one certainly doesn't need to use a registry "cleaner" for
that purpose; in fact, such products are eminently unsuitable to that
particular task. One would instead use Regedit to excise the problem
entry, without having to worry about a registry "cleaner's" almost
inevitable collateral damage.

Microsoft did this with their regclean
then they did with scanregw in windows
me.

What does WinMe have to do with anything? In case you hadn't noticed,
this is a WinXP newsgroup. Why in the world would you expect WinXP to
behave like WinMe? It's a completely different OS. For your future
reference, comparing WinXP to WinMe is a lot like comparing a Lexus to a
Yugo -- any similarities are entirely superficial and mostly coincidental.

further, microsoft is aware of the problem
with corruption of the registry for example during a
power outage when the reg file inflates abnormally
if information is being written to it at the time.

Yes, single registry entries can be damaged by abrupt power outages.
So can any other open files. We know how the registry can be damaged;
the question you're so far failing to address is why oner would use an
automated registry cleaner to fix it.

however, microsoft's resolution for the above is to
manually replace the corrupted registry with a previous
version stored in the system folder. But a
registry cleaner would remove the corrupted keys
easily and conveniently and without being a registry
hacker.

So you argument is that, because Microsoft recommends carefully
manually editing the registry, it'd be better to use a registry
"cleaner's" shotgun approach? What kind of "reasoning" is that?
You're actually arguing against yourself.

further, the registry files accumulates information
like a database and doesn't discard unneeded or
invalid keys.

Yes, that's the way a database works. So what?

This is a no-no for privacy as well.

How so? And even if one were to concede the point, this still does
nothing to justify the use of an automated registry "cleaner."

And though I admire your convictions with
registry cleaners, I am not one to deny anyone
with the priviledge of learning about the registry
or use helpful tools that were initially designed
by microsoft and taken to new heights by todays
savvy genuises who designed better ones.

Don't you mean "tools" long abandoned by Microsoft as ultimately
unsafe, and now sold only by snake oil scam artists? And just how, pray
tell, would one learn anything about the registry by using an automated
registry "cleaner?" Wouldn't the exact opposite be true, in actuality?

The issue of registry cleaners was started with
microsoft via their regclean program.

And long abandoned as a bad idea.

Therefore,
the answer you may be seeking can only be
provided by their programmers.

No, I'm asking *you* why *you* recommend the use of registry
"cleaners." So far, you've utterly failed to offer even the slightest
rational reason for doing so.

Between microsoft old registry cleaners,
registry tweaking like tweak ui and
registry hacking via regedt32
microsoft has made "no" commandmants
against using the registry at the users
convenience or risk....

They also made no "commandments" against shooting oneself in the foot;
so what? Do people really need to be "commanded" not to do something
that's harmful?


--

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

 

[Alias]

Would appreciate any comments for or against regarding CCleaner. Not
confortable with programs that deal with registry.
Thank You.

I've used it on three machines and I always fix the Issues found,
backing them up, although I have never had a problem or had to use a
back up. Same is true for its clean up feature.

You can tell it not to delete cookies you want to keep and configure the
clean up to suit your needs.

Excellent program and I wouldn't install Windows without it.

Alias

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Would appreciate any comments for or against regarding CCleaner. Not
confortable with programs that deal with registry.

My experience with CCleaner is that it's generally a good program. However I
strongl;y recommend that you do *not* use its registry cleaning function.

Routine cleaning of the registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the
registry alone and don't use a registry cleaner. Despite what many people
think, and what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you
of, having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit it may
have.

 

[caver1]

there is much benefit from removing
corrupt registry keys from the registry.

Microsoft did this with their regclean
then they did with scanregw in windows
me.

further, microsoft is aware of the problem
with corruption of the registry for example during a
power outage when the reg file inflates abnormally
if information is being written to it at the time.

however, microsoft's resolution for the above is to
manually replace the corrupted registry with a previous
version stored in the system folder. But a
registry cleaner would remove the corrupted keys
easily and conveniently and without being a registry
hacker.

further, the registry files accumulates information
like a database and doesn't discard unneeded or
invalid keys. This is a no-no for privacy as well.

And though I admire your convictions with
registry cleaners, I am not one to deny anyone
with the priviledge of learning about the registry
or use helpful tools that were initially designed
by microsoft and taken to new heights by todays
savvy genuises who designed better ones.

The issue of registry cleaners was started with
microsoft via their regclean program. Therefore,
the answer you may be seeking can only be
provided by their programmers.

Between microsoft old registry cleaners,
registry tweaking like tweak ui and
registry hacking via regedt32
microsoft has made "no" commandmants
against using the registry at the users
convenience or risk....

- db

"Bruce Chambers" <[email protected]



But why? They do absolutely *NO* good, and their use carries no small
amount of risk. What is the point of using a "utility" that has no
benefit, but provides a very real risk of trashing the OS?


--

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

I agree. But if you blindly trust something because you don't know you
are asking for trouble. I use a registry cleaner to find bad entries
then I make the decision if they are to be deleted. If you use a
registry cleaner make sure you know what you are doing.

 

[Hertz_Donut]

Would appreciate any comments for or against regarding CCleaner. Not
confortable with programs that deal with registry.
Thank You.

CCLeaner is one of the worst pieces of malware on the market. It does not
evaluate dependencies of the changes it makes to the registry. On the other
hand, I do make a respectable amount of money repairing computers on which
it has been used.

All I can tell you is this: if you decide to use it, do a complete, total
backup immediately before using it. It is very likely that it will do far
more harm than good.

Honu

 

[Alias]

CCLeaner is one of the worst pieces of malware on the market. It does not
evaluate dependencies of the changes it makes to the registry. On the other
hand, I do make a respectable amount of money repairing computers on which
it has been used.

All I can tell you is this: if you decide to use it, do a complete, total
backup immediately before using it. It is very likely that it will do far
more harm than good.

Honu

Can you please explain, then, why, after using Crap Cleaner on three
machines for years and removing every single issue, I have not only had
no problem, all three machines run like silk? Not only that, I have a
friend who is a repair tech and he has used it on hundreds of machines
with no negative results, only positive ones.

I suspect the machines that you fixed were compromised by something
other than Crap Cleaner.

Alias

 

[Rock]

You are wise to stay away from registry cleaners. They cause more harm
than good. CCleaner has some nice features though, apart from registry
cleaning which you don't have to use. It removes quite a few temp files,
and works well for that. Just don't use the registry cleaning function,
though as such cleaners go it is more benign (less aggressive) than most
in what it deletes in the registry. Still you are better off not using
it.

You're welcome.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I agree. But if you blindly trust something because you don't know you
are asking for trouble. I use a registry cleaner to find bad entries
then I make the decision if they are to be deleted. If you use a
registry cleaner make sure you know what you are doing.

I think very few of us here who recommend against registry cleaners would
have a real quarrel with someone who knows what he is doing using one the
way you do. Doing what you do probably doesn't help you, but if you are
sufficiently careful, it's at least unlikely to hurt you.

However the problem is that few people understand the issues, and simply put
their trust in the software, blindly accepting its recommendations. Those
people here who recommend using registry cleaners very seldom qualify their
recommendations to say anything like "Warning! Use this product only if you
know what you are doing and carefully evaluate its recommendations before
accepting them." The great majority of people here have no ability to do
that, and for them, these products are extremely dangerous.

 

[caver1]

I think very few of us here who recommend against registry cleaners would
have a real quarrel with someone who knows what he is doing using one the
way you do. Doing what you do probably doesn't help you, but if you are
sufficiently careful, it's at least unlikely to hurt you.

However the problem is that few people understand the issues, and simply put
their trust in the software, blindly accepting its recommendations. Those
people here who recommend using registry cleaners very seldom qualify their
recommendations to say anything like "Warning! Use this product only if you
know what you are doing and carefully evaluate its recommendations before
accepting them." The great majority of people here have no ability to do
that, and for them, these products are extremely dangerous.

I agree with you. Many times I'm not sure so I ignore what the registry
cleaner wants.