gbjennings

I'm wondering if perhaps we will end up needing different versions for different operating systems. Could be my paranoia, but it seems to me some of these problems were introduced during the period of making this rascal more 'Vista compatible.' Hope I'm wrong, but for now, V1.38 does everything I want and need, with the exception of secure file name erasing...

Interesting that someone else is having a problem with secure deletion. It at least runs for me in the last two versions, but compared to 1.38 they are ohhhhh-sooooo-slow. Whatever was done to 'enhance' secure deletion in 1.39 and later sure slowed it considerably. TOO much to be worthwhile, IMHO. If only CCleaner would have the option to erase file tips (instead of the entire file) during single pass deletion, I have no doubt that execution speed would not be an issue. Better still, add 'file tip erasure only' to the list of options under secure deletion. Thanks for listening.

Has anyone else noticed that the last two releases of CCleaner run much slower (all settings being equal) than V138.485 ? I'm running the portable version with Secure Deletion with 1 pass Simple overwrite and there is a huge difference in 'time to execute' between 138 and the newer versions, including the latest V140. Sticking with V138 until V2 is released. Praying it will run as briskly as V138. :-)

THANK YOU, TwistedMetal. Your explanation helps immensely. Wish I had known this before. Without this knowledge, it was easy for users to 'assume' that many of the things being written and suggested here simply didn't warrant changing or improving. Thanks again !

I also tested this latest version and I must agree. Seems to run MUCH slower than the last version and 'securely deleted' file names are indeed still visible with a good undelete application. Will file names ever be overwritten by CCleaner in the future ? I agree it would be a great improvement. One other thing to consider to speed up 'secure deletion' would be to simply overwrite the first and last 2kb of a file. This renders the file 'virtually' unrecoverable, but makes erasing super fast. Keep up the great work on this great product !

I'm running the Portable version also, and on Win 98SE. It runs like a charm. Download the latest version, 1.38.485, from here: http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=5707 (unless you made a typo - you are not running the latest version), and be sure 'Save all settings to INI file' is checked under Options/Advanced.

The latest version, 1.38.485, will destroy content, but again as in the last version, not file names when Secure Deletion is selected. In addition, and perhaps this is normal behavior (but I doubt it), in order to get Temporary Internet Files SECURELY deleted, I must UN-tick Temporary Internet Files under Internet Explorer (that option deletes the temporary internet folders, as well) and insert my Temporary internet folder names under Options/Custom in order to get the files erased. Again, even though the content is destroyed using this method, the file names remain. Seems to me that normal behavior would be that ticking Temporary Internet Files in the main window should accomplish this, but indeed the files are recoverable unless I follow the method described above. Would really like to see file names destroyed, as well as content. Not sure if this shows up under XP - I'm running FAT32. Thanks for listening.

Of course the ability to delete all (*.*) or selected, (e.g. *.bak) files in a specified folder is there now, but I concur that the ability to add sub-folders to the argument in winapp2.ini would be nice.

Sorry I missed that - much appreciated. Fantastic addition. My only hope is that the wipe feature erases file names as well as content. Currently CCleaner does not. Content cannot be (easily) recovered, but file names remain in tact even after erasing them. Hopefully this will be remedied in the soon to be released version... Thanks ! !

Tried the new skin for several days - definitely prefer the old one. Agree with the person who said the new one is too light and bright....

It would be fantastic if, after searching for deleted files, users had the option to either recover these files, leave them 'as is', OR WIPE them clean, including file names, for security reasons.

To expand a bit on my previous post - I use an undelete utility to identify all deleted filenames before using CCleaner. My HD is completely free of recoverable files. Then I open IE just to populate the Temporary Internet folders. Close IE and run CCleaner. It destroys the temporary internet files, as well as the folders, but when I run my undelete utility again - there are all the file names I just 'erased.' Indeed the contents are not recoverable, but the filenames are totally intact.

Sorry to have to tell you this, but this version of 'Portable' is not nearly as 'clean' as the last version - 1.36.430. For openers, it is dependent on folder name - e.g. CCleaner.exe must reside in a sub-folder (CCleaner) of CCleanerPortable. This is not the case in the last version. Portable.exe could reside in the CCleaner folder itself. Secondly, is it absolutely necessary to write all of those registry entries, then delete them on exit? Would be more desireable if you did not have to touch the registry at all. Thanks for listening.

I also found a bug in this new version. It still does not destroy the file names of erased files. The files are destroyed after running CCleaner, but the file names still exist and untouched. This may be happening only on FAT32 systems. Options I have 'checked' are 'secure file deletion / simple overwrite (1 pass)' and I do not have 'Only delete files in Windows Temp folder older then 48 hours' checked. CCleaner indeed destroys the contents of the Temporary Internet files (as it always has), but it still leaves the overwritten files' names intact.

Re: File name wiping... I have tested the latest version for the past couple of hours, and it is still not wiping file names of wiped files - at least not in FAT32. May work great on NTFS, but I see virtually no difference in FAT. Thought you would want to know. Don't think I am missiing the obvious in settings.

I use a FAT file system, therefore no MFT. The file names are visible in almost any 'undelete' utility. Most erase utilities destroy the file name as well as the contents. CCleaner destroys the contents to 'X degree', but the file names remain intact. It is relatively easy to erase file names as well as overwriting their contents. Just a suggestion for future releases. Certainly destroying file content is the primary goal, but it is normally desireable to delete names as well when 'erasing' files. Thanks for listening.

I find that CCleaner does a decent job of erasing so that files are not recoverable - at least by a novice. However, CCleaner does not go far enough and destroy the file NAME as most erase utilities do. This would be a marvelous improvement for a future release of CCleaner - to destroy wiped file names as well as their contents. Thanks ! ! !

Just want to add my .02 of agreement to this topic. If CCleaner is going to do a 'secure' file delete, it might as well do a first class job and get rid of the file name it currently leaves behind. This would be a HUGE improvement (and the only one I can currently think of) for this wonderful utility. Thanks for listening.

This is a similar, but separate issue regarding secure file deletion. CCleaner overwrites files as many times as you specify in Options/Settings, and if you try to recover a file that CCleaner has overwritten, you will indeed find that it has been 'destroyed' (to some degree.) The problem is that the file name itself remains intact. Many other secure file deletion utilities destroy the file name completely, as well as overwriting the data. I, for one, would prefer that people could not recover my files OR read the file names that I have overwritten. Just a suggestion for future releases. This program remains on the top of my 'Favorites' list! Please keep up the GREAT work ! !

Just want to close out this bug report and say that the latest version - 1.36.430 fixed the problem. THANK YOU ! ! !

Surely someone in your office can show you how to do a system restore. That basically puts your system registry 'back where it was' at a given point in time - before you ran CCleaner. Good luck. Everything should be OK. Please come back here and let us know how it goes. thanks.. ;-)

Same for me - both *.log and *.txt files won't delete under this new version. Problem is definitely in the ccleaner.exe file. Back to the older version for me, as well.

Version 135.424 leaves two files in my windows folder that were previously always deleted. The files are ndislog.txt and ios.log. The problem is in the EXE itself and not in one of the INI files. Cannot even get rid of these 2 files by adding them to my winapp2.ini. :-(

There are only two features I can think of that would be absolutely wonderful to have in CCleaner. 1. As many have already requested - the ability to do a secure (minimum 3X overwrite) deletion of files - at least the recycle bin. 2. The ability to delete wildcard files in subfolders - for example to delete all *.GID files on the entire drive with one entry in the winapp2.ini. Thanks for listening. Gary

It really looks GREAT - with one tiny exception. I have tried every resource I know before writing this, but I can't find anywhere how to use tne new 'REMOVESELF' parameter... Could someone please post a simple example ? THANKS ! ! !