I wonder what the feeling are about using CCleaner.

[Cal Who]

I wonder what the feeling are about using CCleaner.

I analyzed files using it and it suggested removing 4G worth of files.

The Registry analysis shows pages of entries that can be removed. Some I
reconize as being related to uninstalled software.

Has anyone had bad experiences?


Thanks

 

[Paul]

I wonder what the feeling are about using CCleaner.

I analyzed files using it and it suggested removing 4G worth of files.

The Registry analysis shows pages of entries that can be removed. Some I
reconize as being related to uninstalled software.

Has anyone had bad experiences?


Thanks

Nope, I always use it to remove temp files etc. Altho the registry
option isnt the best. But I still use it. And have had no probs with it

 

[Bob I]

File removal, fine. As to Registry removal as long as you would delete
the keys in question manually then no problem. DO NOT allow "auto" to
delete everything suggested, as it can set you up for later problems.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]]

I wonder what the feeling are about using CCleaner.

I analyzed files using it and it suggested removing 4G worth of files.

The Registry analysis shows pages of entries that can be removed. Some I
reconize as being related to uninstalled software.

Has anyone had bad experiences?


Thanks

No bad experiences with it to date but I am a uber highly experienced
power user and use it's backup functions.

- Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]

 

[Bill in Co.]

I wonder what the feeling are about using CCleaner.

I analyzed files using it and it suggested removing 4G worth of files.

The Registry analysis shows pages of entries that can be removed. Some I
reconize as being related to uninstalled software.

Has anyone had bad experiences?

With registry cleaners? You bet. Lots of people have posted about this
in here, and the consequences of using them.

In general, it's best not to use them unless you specifically know which
items you are *manually* going to remove, and that are safe to remove (like
windows history list items, etc).

 

[Jose]

I wonder what the feeling are about using CCleaner.

I analyzed files using it and it suggested removing 4G worth of files.

The Registry analysis shows pages of entries that can be removed. Some I
reconize as being related to uninstalled software.

Has anyone had bad experiences?

Thanks

I have used tens of registry cleaners just to see what they do and to
help people when their questions start with:

"I used this registry cleaner and now my system will not..."

CCleaner is not in my top drawer for registry reporting, but it is
okay.

Before use, make a good plan regarding restoring your registry to the
before state if your system does not behave when you get done. Test
your recovery plan for soundness first.

A popular registry backup and optimizer (read how it works) is:

http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

They do have a bad reputation sometimes and are easy to turn into a
scapegoat for problems when the troubleshooter can't figure out what
the real problems is and how to fix it. It is a quick and safe out.
Never had a problem personally and have never measured a appreciable
difference (in tenths of seconds) even with pages of "problems"
totaling in the thousands (with some cleaners).

I do now remember some suspicions with Registry Mechanic, but it
always turned out not to really be RM... I will have to try that
again some day - still, not top drawer though.

 

[Nil]

I wonder what the feeling are about using CCleaner.

I analyzed files using it and it suggested removing 4G worth of
files.

That's a lot, but consider carefully about what they are before you let
the program delete them.

The Registry analysis shows pages of entries that can be removed.
Some I reconize as being related to uninstalled software.

I use it to point out things I can consider "fixing". It's easier than
finding them manually. If I don't understand the files or registry
settings it proposes to delete are, I leave them alone or do some
research before I take the suggestion.

Deleting keys from the registry may make you feel more organized, but
it's going to do little or nothing to improve the computer's
performance.

Has anyone had bad experiences?

Yes, there are many such stories.

 

[Cal Who]

Thanks for the input.

As to backing up the registry, isn't creating a Restore point good enough?

Thanks again

 

[Jose]

Thanks for the input.

As to backing up the registry, isn't creating a Restore point good enough?

Thanks again

SR will do the registry and a bunch of other things, so if the only
thing you are doing is changing the registry a bit, it is less trouble
to undo the changes by just copying back the saved files.

The 5 files that that come into play are in the c:\windows
\system32\config folder and they are:

default
sam
security
software
system

ERUNT will backup just those 5 for you (try it) and if something goes
haywire, just copy the unchanged ones back from the ERUNT folder to
the c:\windows\system32\config folder, reboot and changes are undone.

You can also export all or part of the registry to your desktop (or
some folder) temporarily before making the changes and import them
later overwriting the changes with the export if you change your mind
about something. It is also a good reference to look at with a text
editor before/after so you can understand what you are doing.

You cannot view the 5 registry or ERUNT files with a text editor
though.

Google the registry key names as you go along, etc. and you will
become all knowing.

 

[Bill in Co.]

Thanks for the input.

As to backing up the registry, isn't creating a Restore point good enough?

Thanks again

Yes and no. Those Restore points will only stick around a week or two, and
then they're gone (due to the limited space used for them).

And then you may find out later that there is a problem when you open
another program, but by then it's too late, since those restore points are
all gone.

The best advice is to not use Registry Cleaners; you gain nothing, but
potentially risk a LOT. And if you don't know your way around regedit,
it's best to completely forget them.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I wonder what the feeling are about using CCleaner.

I analyzed files using it and it suggested removing 4G worth of files.

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. It differs from the native Windows tool in that it allows more
granular control and you can specify which folders you want scanned. For
instance, WinXP's disk cleaner will examine only the profile folders of
the user who is running the utility. On a single-user machine, this is
fine, but on a family or other mult-use machine, the ability to clean
temorary files from all of the user profiles at once is a great time saver.

The Registry analysis shows pages of entries that can be removed. Some I
reconize as being related to uninstalled software.

I've tested the most recent recent version (with all updates) 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, where
none could possibly exist, making it clearly a *worthless* product, in
this regard. (Not that any registry cleaner can ever be anything but
worthless, as they don't serve any *useful* purpose, to start with.) As
a registry cleaner, CCleaner's no better than any other Snake Oil
product of it's type.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Thanks for the input.

As to backing up the registry, isn't creating a Restore point good enough?

Assuming that the registry "cleaning" leaves the computer in a
condition where it can still boot, which doesn't always happen, it might be.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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

 

[Twayne]

In

I wonder what the feeling are about using CCleaner.

I analyzed files using it and it suggested removing 4G worth of files.

The Registry analysis shows pages of entries that can be removed.
Some I reconize as being related to uninstalled software.

Has anyone had bad experiences?


Thanks

Not here. Just for your own protection, backup the registry before you run
it, which will alllow you to restore everythign if the need arises or it
becomes useful for troubleshooting.
Registry backup can be done by setting a Restore Point manually.
Personally I use ntbackup to do a "system state" backup because it's more
thorough. But I've never needed them.

 

[Daave]

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. It differs from the native Windows tool in that it allows more
granular control and you can specify which folders you want scanned.
For instance, WinXP's disk cleaner will examine only the profile
folders of the user who is running the utility. On a single-user
machine, this is fine, but on a family or other mult-use machine, the
ability to clean temorary files from all of the user profiles at once
is a great time saver.

From the FAQ:

Does it clean all the user accounts on the computer?

At the moment CCleaner supports cleaning the current user's account
only. This may change in a future release

http://www.ccleaner.com/help/faq/using/does-it-clean-all-the-user-accounts-on-the-computer


* * * * *

(I seem to recall *earlier* versions of Ccleaner allowed to clear temp
files from multiple accounts.)

 

[Jose]

    CCleaner's only real strength, and the only reason I use it, liesin
its usefulness for cleaning up unused temporary files from the hard
drive.  It differs from the native Windows tool in that it allows more
granular control and you can specify which folders you want scanned. For
instance, WinXP's disk cleaner will examine only the profile folders of
the user who is running the utility.  On a single-user machine, this is
fine, but on a family or other mult-use machine, the ability to clean
temorary files from all of the user profiles at once is a great time saver.


        I've tested the most recent recent version (with all updates) 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, where
none could possibly exist,  making it clearly a *worthless* product, in
this regard.  (Not that any registry cleaner can ever be anything but
worthless, as they don't serve any *useful* purpose, to start with.)  As
a registry cleaner, CCleaner's no better than any other Snake Oil
product of it's type.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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

The registry cleaner will report othe things besides orphaned entries
of course.

Over a hundred you say? I just ran it on my system and it found 4
entires all of which are easily explained and I haven't installed XP
on my system in 4+ years. I install and uninstall third party
software frequently. I have CCleaner installed but do not use it
except to understand it. It find's my registry quite boring
apparently after my usual methods.

I hear CCleaner does a swell job on temp files though.

 

[Toni]

I wonder what the feeling are about using CCleaner.

I analyzed files using it and it suggested removing 4G worth of files.

The Registry analysis shows pages of entries that can be removed. Some I reconize as
being related to uninstalled software.

Has anyone had bad experiences?

For the novice, I always recommend the free Windows Live OneCare scanner to clean the
registry.
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

I trust Microsoft to know what is and isn't safe to delete from the registry.

 

[Carl Kaufmann]

...

For the novice, I always recommend the free Windows Live OneCare scanner to clean the
registry.
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

I trust Microsoft to know what is and isn't safe to delete from the registry.

You shouldn't. It killed my UltraVNC install. MS knows _nothing_
about what other companies put and take out of the registry.

 

[Daave]

...

For the novice, I always recommend the free Windows Live OneCare
scanner to clean the registry.
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

I trust Microsoft to know what is and isn't safe to delete from the
registry.

Your trust is misplaced!

 

[Toni]

You shouldn't. It killed my UltraVNC install. MS knows _nothing_ about what other
companies put and take out of the registry.

DOH!

 

[Bob I]

...



For the novice, I always recommend the free Windows Live OneCare scanner to clean the
registry.
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

I trust Microsoft to know what is and isn't safe to delete from the registry.

bad idea