what are INI files? and what are.........?

[marthara]

Hello everybody

i am kinda new to CCleaner and pretty naieve to all the techi ins and outs of computing but my love (obsession/ addiction lol ) of the internet has evoked a curiosity and i would love to startto understand exactly how my beloved machine works. Hopefully i will one day but for now it is a mystery i was hoping someone here cld start to help me solve part of! I have downloaded CCleaner in the hope it will make my computer faster and keep it healthy

I'm not quite sure what i have deleted!I have just done a full clean and erased all the cookies and even ran the registry cleaner in the hope that my computer will be less cliuttered, thanks to the registry prompt i backed up the ergistry files- at least i hope i did, well i saved the file in documents. I hope i haven't deleted anything crucial! Howveer i am not quite sure what it means to do a back up - is it like a restore point?

So while finding my way around CCleaner i noticed in the advanced settingss the option to save all settings to an INI file.

What will this do and what r the benefits?

What is an INI file ?

What does INI stand for?

What kind of programs use INI files?

 

whats a cookie? ( other than the familiar chocolate chip variety )

What purposes do the tempory files and cookies and registry entries serve?

What r the benefits of deleting them,?

are there risks to leaving them?

can viruses hide in cookies and tempoary internet files?

thanks curious

marthara

[Mr. Zero]

What will this do and what r the benefits?

There is no real benefits. It just a matter of prefer. Don't like programs to store keys and info in your registry base? Check it. From then CCleaner will store settings in a .ini file. Also to make it more "portable".

 

What is an INI file ?

.ini files often contains settings or program information for a program. But basically it is a text file.

 

What does INI stand for?

Not sure. Google says ("define: ini") it's a text file with variables.

 

What kind of programs use INI files?

Any kind of programs can use it.

 

whats a cookie? ( other than the familiar chocolate chip variety )

A cookie is a text file which stores information from websites you visits. Like Google. What websites stores in those cookies is up to them. Often it's for tracking purposes and therefore many people don't want them to hang around your computer. Cookies can also store login sessions.

 

What purposes do the tempory files and cookies and registry entries serve?

Temporary files is what the name implies. It is temporary files that system just need for a while and now just stores them until you delete them. Like cookies. Often temporary files is downloaded files.

Registry is your main variable database. It contains lot of information about the system and various things. But registry base is mainly for programs and your operating system.

 

What r the benefits of deleting them,?

Cookies and temporary files is just filling space once they are not needed anymore. Therefore delete them will clear up space.

Deletion of registry keys is often due to broken keys or bad links.

 

are there risks to leaving them?

Depends on what you are doing. Delete cookies if you feel your been watch on the internet. Delete temporary files on the other hand might be a good idea. It clear up space and potential unwanted files. Registry keys should be handled with care. Delete the wrong key and you might not see the next reboot. So make sure what keys you delete.

 

can viruses hide in cookies and tempoary internet files?

Not in cookies but temporarily files is possible. Normal you have to "invite" them first but some abuses activex plugins and javascripts to force their way in.

 

Hope you got the basic of what I said. English isn't my natively language .

[davey]

Hello everybody

thanks curious

marthara

Hello marthara,

Welcome to the forum!!!

Full of questions aren't we.That's great.

Mr. Zero has done a good job.Even though English is not his native language.I can tell that he is an experienced PC user.

I think you have more experience than the average new user.

When I use the term "new user" I am talking about those like you,who have yet to learn some of the basic things that they need to do before gaining more experience.I may be entirely wrong about you but these things are important and you will learn some new things.

 

The Internet is the greatest source of information that has ever been.You also know by now that this information can be good or bad.On this forum we will always try our best to give you good information and advice.

Since you are new to CCleaner the first link you need is to the CCleaner Guide.

http://www.ccleanerbeginnersguide.com/ Bookmark it.You will need it often for awhile.

 

I have found Wikipedia to be the quickest and best way to learn about new terms.

I use it even for just a refresher.Save this link to your Favorites.

You can search for "system restore","reboot",".INI files","cookies" and such.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Searc...arch=&go=Go Wikipedia Search

 

To help you in your searches of the forums,try this fun link.

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?s=&amp...ost&p=99958

Then you can do a search on "new users advice" including the quotes.This is the important step for you.

 

You are always welcome to the forums and ask whatever you like.We are all learning here.

Use the Software forum for software questions and advice.Hardware etc.

You can always find something interesting in the Lounge forum.

Good Luck,

davey

P.S. Yes,turn on the option to Save settings to INI file.This will put a text file called (cc)leaner.ini into the CCleaner folder at C:\Program Files\CCleaner .Once you get all your normal settings set-up then copy that file to My Documents.If you ever have to uninstall CCleaner,then you will lose all your settings.

With a backup copy you can put a copy back into CCleaner folder and all your settings will be restored.

Edited May 25, 2008 by davey