Alan_B

Without testing I very much doubt that CCleaner became broken - more likely that these Flash cookies have only recently appeared. Perhaps if you download one of the earlier versions of CCleaner you can test whether it really did clean what the latest omits. I do NOT bother the delete individual files / cookies. I zap the entire FlashPlayer junk with this single line in Winapp2.ini :- FileKey1=%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\|*.*|RECURSE N.B. This also cleans the same in my daughter's profile, even though I have no access to her profile. Alan

Look at the Analysis. You are the only one that can clean what is located in your profile eg C:\Documents and Settings\Shibaboy\ Anything else is outside your profile, and assuming your husband is an administrator, you can both see the same and clean the same. If he is NOT administrator then I protest on behalf of men ! ! ! Many programs use the user profile, but some (especially portable applications) do not. Regards Alan

If you do not know what you are doing, think twice and be careful. That especially applies to the Registry. If you used the very strongly recommended option to backup up the registry items when cleaning then :- 1. You would have a high probability of success at restoring the registry back to normality, and 2. By posting the backup as *.txt files some-one here could probably see what might have done damage. If you have no backup I think you MAY have luck be using System Restore to revert back to a date preceeding your adventure. I will not bother with cookies - they will keep for another day. The registry is another matter - if you want to fix it then do so urgently. The longer you leave it the further back System Restore may have to go. Alan.

Microsoft sometimes take zero notice of your selected mode of "Automatic Updates". Either by wilful disobedience or by ?accident?. You then get an UN-expected download without notification. It can even be installed without notice, typically when you shut down the computer. My approach is to NOT shut down the computer myself, but to run Ccleaner in Auto Shutdown mode to purge any lurking downloads and shutdown. If the system is primed to install - tough - nothing left to install ! ! I do of course allow a normal shut down and install when the download has been with my full approval. My Solution is SHUTDOWN.cmd :- COPY Minimal.ini Ccleaner.ini > NULSTART CCLEANER /AUTO /SHUTDOWN The above is placed in the Ccleaner folder, and simply requires that Ccleaner be configured so safely that you trust it without seeing a list of what will be deleted, and you must stipulate in Options / Include / Files and Folders the item :- C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\*.* and then close Ccleaner.exe and rename Ccleaner.ini as Minimal.ini. This works with Portable Ccleaner.ini, and should work with installed Ccleaner if the save to ini option is set. So long as Minimal.ini cleanses the user profile, and each user closes with SHUTDOWN.cmd, then when anyone is logged on they will have maximum free space - there will not be GBytes wasted in all the Firefox caches etc. The above should keep you safe, with all user profiles cleansed, and illustrates the essential features. My current solution is a more complex SHUTDOWN.cmd :- IF EXIST %1.INI ( COPY %1.INI Ccleaner.ini > NUL) ELSE ( COPY Minimal.ini Ccleaner.ini > NUL)START CCLEANER %2 %3 On the desktop I have a shortcut link that invokes "H:\New Portable\CCleaner\SHUTDOWN.cmd" - /AUTO /SHUTDOWN that by default uses Minimal.ini, and I also have other shortcuts such as "H:\New Portable\CCleaner\SHUTDOWN.cmd" %USERNAME% and alternative variants of Ccleaner.ini have been created to allow more extreme cleaning that can be entrusted to various users. I am the only one to use a link invoking "H:\New Portable\CCleaner\SHUTDOWN.cmd" Maximal.ini which cleans out the entire system within an inch of its life, subject to my review (no /AUTO mode). End of solution. An "Out-of-cycle" patch is coming this week - BE PREPARED ! ! Background to problems :- Very recent postings :- http://windowssecrets.com/comp/090625, http://windowssecrets.com/comp/090702, http://windowssecrets.com/comp/090723 A couple of years ago it was common for I.T. administrators to set Windows Automatic Updates to Automatic if they Trusted M.S., and the more experienced set "Download but allow me to choose when to Install" so they could first test on a company-non-critical computer. Then M.S. did a secret install in violation of the "... allow me to choose ... " stipulation, and major systems crashed, Whistles were blown, and M.S. explained that the download and installation was vital for the benefit of a future update. Standard wisdom changed to use "Notify but Don't download or install." I however read between the lines. M.S. were saying they had a secret backdoor into your system, but what they planned for the future needed a bigger backdoor. My wisdom became to "Turn off Automatic Updates", apart from when I am fresh, alert, and ready to switch to the "Notify but Don't ..." setting and closely monitor what is on offer. I also realised at the outset, that "Turn off Automatic Updates" is merely a request, and that M.S. can ignore my desires, (and if anything impedes their ability they can fix it through their secret backdoors.) System Updates cannot be installed under my daughter's credentials, but only when an administrator is logged in ? OFFICIALLY. But is that really true, and will it always be true ? Escalation of privileges ! ! Backdoors and trapdoors ! ! I will not risk it ? my protection applies and is just as necessary when my daughter is logged on. Some months ago, on two occasions, I switched to "notify" and was offered Silverlight. I absolutely refused to allow that to be downloaded. I was horrified to subsequently find that even so they downloaded a Silverlight EULA which seems to give an entire group of themselves and "partners" the right to obtain information from my P.C. when I visit any of their sites and to share that information within that group (and I think I remember it could also leak outside that group.) Regards Alan

Not sure. A normal Security patch includes an UNinstal facility, and any code that is replaced is preserved elsewhere, so Control Panel Add/Remove can make everything as it used to be. I believe when SP3 is installed it replaces all existing security patches, and makes no UNinstal provision. Google for REMOVE SP3 The first result is the Microsoft answer to your problem. There are 2,200,000 additional results that may give you pause for thought. I think you will lose security when SP3 is removed, after which you should not use the Internet. If you download security patches AFTER SP3 is removed, you are vulnerable. Removing SP3 is very much a last resort. Try anything else first. Final thought - try http://keepvid.com/ That will (without playing) download from YouTube etc. as a file. Then you can, off-line, try playing that file with both W.M.P. and also VLC. A few simple tests may show if W.M.P has lost capability with some formats, or if your Firewall is blocking you in some situations. Regards Alan

Thank you Alan

I think you will learn nothing about possible registry errors when you do the uninstall. When a system patch is installed folders and files, and also registry keys and values, will be added. When you uninstall these things should be removed - give or take a bit. It is the bit that is NOT removed that gives the CCleaner Registry purger a purpose in life ! ! I recommend that you do not remove all those security patches - if you do then prepare for visiting "Spyware Hell" ! ! I removed 99% of the Google results by searching for XP SOUND KB923561 REPAIR OR CURE -MALWARE -VIRUS i.e. that gives 48 results that may detail how to fix KB923561 issues - better than reading 4900 posts. You can similarly get a much smaller and more useful set of results for your other KB?????? Upon review I see that SP3 was installed at the same time as the security patches. Google found 3,390,000 results for "SP3 Sound" - much worse than any one KB??????. Instead of 48 results for KB923561, I got 49,100 results for SP3 when using XP SOUND SP3 REPAIR OR CURE -MALWARE -VIRUS Conclusion - SP3 is 1000 times more likely to kill sound than the worst of the individual KB security patches. I strongly recommend that you visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307918 for "How to troubleshoot sound problems in Windows XP". If that does not help, then look for how problems were fixed by searching various XP SOUND KB923561 REPAIR OR CURE -MALWARE -VIRUS trying for cures that do not require uninstalling security. Regards Alan

Can you not protect that folder with the Options / Exclude / Files and Folders to exclude ? Alan

Updates are a hazard - but not updating is even more hazardous. M.S. recognise their patches are dangerous, so every patch has a reference identity, e.g. KB923561, and when installed it includes a corresponding uninstaller C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB923561$ that should put the system back as it was. Via Control Panel "Add or Remove Programs" you can see all the Windows and I.E. updates with their reference identities, and you can choose to remove them - BUT NOT YET. I chose KB923561 at random, and Googled for "KB923561 Sound issues", getting 4970 results. Googled for "Sound issues" and got 1,020,000,000 results - most of which are not the fault of KB923561. Googled for " KB923561" and got 24,000 results - most of which are not Sound issues. I suggest for each of your 60 KB?????? updates you do 60 Google searches of "KB?????? Sound issues", only making a note of the number of results, and then return to the high scorers and look for complaints like yours - and see how they fixed them. After "Due Diligence" above, you may know exactly how to easily fix the problem, and if not you have a "hit list" of possible culprits to remove - but wait a few days in case a better suggestion is posted. If you do remove security patches, you increase vulnerability to infection. Only remove the top suspect then retest (after reboot as may be recommended) whether sound is repaired, and if that fails remove the next top suspect. Once you have got your sound back, allow Windows to notify but NOT download updates, and from the list it offers you deselect the patch that killed your sound and allow the rest to be installed. If sound is broken again, remove one at a time until it is repaired, then you know TWO patches that broke your sound. Eventually you will have a list of known sound breakers, and all the other patches will be back in place and protecting you. You should then be able to get specific advice to resolve your particular problems. Living with missing security patches is not recommended, you must decide for yourself what is most important, protecting my identity and credit cards etc., or being able to listen to music ? The above is only theory - after more than 30 years with computers the only security patch problem was with a .NET framework that never installed and could not be removed - I just rolled the system back with an earlier Acronis image. There are more battle hardened warriors here that may offer better advice, and can warn of probable problems. Regards Alan

Andavari Please clarify. I often encounter "unused file extension". I always consider, contemplate, and try to remember what I did and why. Mostly I recognise the extension as belonging to a data file used by a Portable Application, which therefore refrains from disturbing File Associations etc., hence double clicking that data file is not a mechanism for launching the application to use it, but although Portable Applications do not directly alter the registry, Windows is a nosey parker that sees everything that happens, and if a file is opened then Windows makes a note of the extension and records it as something omitted from File Associations. Other times I might wonder about some peculiar file, and if I try to use Notepad to read it, that becomes another "unused file extension". Even if I do NOT try to read it, but merely select it and use context menu "properties", I can get "unused file extension". I never hesitate to purge any errors due to the above, without making a registry backup. If I cannot recognise the cause, I may hesitate, but again I always purge without a registry backup. If "unused file extension" are accompanied by anything else, I deselect the "unused file extension" option, and rescan and make a registry backup and purge, after which I reselect "unused file extension" and scan and purge without backup. If I ever have an "unused file extension" issue, I always remove it without a backup before I close CCleaner. Please advise, is there any danger in always removing such issues without making a backup ? Does "unused file extension" ever indicate that something went wrong ? My belief is that selecting a file for any purpose makes Windows think "why did he do that, what shall I do if he double clicks" ? And if it has no file association Windows creates this waste wasting registry issue. So far as "installer reference" issues are concerned I always worry a bit. I stop worrying when I recognise it corresponds to something I have just removed. I absolutely detest "anonymous" unidentifiable things such as {7B738CD9-D107-48C7-8E65-2E6639A39C8D}, when that installer goes, all the related files are gone, so no clue remains about what has removed. If I determine probable cause I will remove the issue, making a registry backup just in case it might give useful data should a consequent issue be found. BUT I suspect any consequent issue will NOT be resolved by fixing the register - I assume the "missing installer" will need to be retrieved, probably by restoring the entire System C:\ drive from an Acronis disc image of yesterday's fully functional system drive. If I should ever be unable to find just cause I would be VERY worried that 99% of the damage was done by malware/accidental loss of files, and not be concerned about a residual 1% of accidental damage when I remove the issue and forget about it. Should this happen, I will not bother with registry issues or anything else - I will immediately restore via Acronis. Above are my current views. But I am willing to learn more. Regards Alan

I fully agree with you. BUT you misunderstand. I was advocating NOT the use of Ccleaner.ini, BUT the use of Winapp2.ini which DOES correctly deal with " Hist* and Hist*.*, quotation enclosed or not," I created my own Winapp2.ini, with only this :- [*UserProfile]LangSecRef=3024DetectFile=%USERPROFILE%Default=FalseFileKey1=%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\|*.*|RECURSEFileKey2=%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp\|*.*|RECURSE The above demonstrates the understanding of variables, works perfectly with Portable CCleaner, and should also be perfect with Installed CCleaner, both with and without the CCleaner.ini option. I then downloaded the official Winapp2.ini and stripped out 95% that was not relevant to my system. I then added my "[*UserProfile]" and that worked as well. Then to Winapp2.ini I appended one line "FileKey2=%ProgramFiles%\Logmein|dbg*.txt" as per :- [*LogMeIn]LangSecRef=3022DetectFile=%ProgramFiles%\Logmein\x86\LogMeIn.exeDefault=TrueFileKey1=%ProgramFiles%\Logmein|LMI*.logFileKey2=%ProgramFiles%\Logmein|dbg*.txt That last line removed two files :- dbg_LMI_printer.txt dbg_LMI_Proc.txt Regards Alan

Has this problem commenced after something was updated ? Microsoft Patch Tuesday updates are notorious for their disasters, or perhaps you have installed something new. Have you updated CCleaner, if so it may be worth going back to the previous version. You have neglected to state what version is in use. If all else fails you could uncheck half the CCleaner options, and after a few days or a week assess whether the problem remains, and then alter the options and try again. Eventually you may be able to determine which cleansing option is causing you grief. Alan

The purpose of System Restore is to correct accidents. It works for some people - others complain on forums ! ! When you revert to a previous date, it should automatically create another "right now" Restore Point", and this allows you to try out the previous system status, and then to cancel the restoration if it goes wrong. I give no guarantees. Another approach is to load load SAP Logon and install again. Alan

You can untick the cookie checkboxes and ALL cookies will be preserved, or you can stipulate as already advised which specific cookies to keep. Assuming you wish to be selective, you can choose to :- spend a lot of time manually excluding cookies on 50 different P.C.s ; or Manually exclude cookies on only one P.C., and then copy ccleaner.ini to the other 49 computers N.B. ccleaner.ini is ready to go if you use Portable CCleaner, and NON-Portable CCleaner will create it by checking the "Save all settings to INI file" in Options => Advanced Alan

Yes, I am confident of RegShot. Google gave 78,900 results for Regshot. There are likely to be many reviews if you have the patience. I downloaded Regshot in June 2007 from http://www.majorgeeks.com/download965.html There have many posts about Regshot on that site. Another site I visit is http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=297 which has many comments. There are positive comments about REGSHOT There are negative comments about UNDOREG that can process the REGSHOT output file, and based on that can put the registry back as it was. But I suspect those comments came from people who failed to read the documentation. RegShot gives two options for the output report format, but UndoReg is only compatible with one of them. I have full confidence in the Regshot analysis. I really do not care about UNDOREG, even if it works absolutely perfectly :- It will put the registry back as it was ; It MIGHT delete any files and folders that have been added ; I do not see where it could retrieve copies of the files that have been deleted. Regshot tells me all I want to know about any installation etc. If I want to cancel any installation etc. :- it only takes about 10 Seconds plus a reboot to fully restore the registry ; or about 6 minutes to restore an Acronis disc image. Regards Alan

I have VERY recently started to use (and abuse) Winapp2.ini It does things that are impossible with CCleaner.ini One of the entries in Winapp2.ini is [*ESPN Motion Advertisements]LangSecRef=3023Detect=HKCU\SOFTWARE\Disney\DIGStreamDefault=TrueFileKey1=%allusersprofile%\Application Data\DIGStream\ESPNMotion|ad_*.wmvFileKey2=%allusersprofile%\Application Data\DIGStream\ESPNMotion|*promo*.wmvFileKey3=%allusersprofile%\Application Data\DIGStream\ESPNMotion|*commercial*.wmvFileKey4=%allusersprofile%\Application Data\DIGStream\ESPNMotion|*motionbumper*.wmv You can add your own entries using a similar format. If it is valid to use "*promo*.wmv" there should be no problem with "Hist*.*" n.b. I am in a state of shock. I have just done "DIR *jk*.* and it listed 12jk34.TXT, 56jk78.log, etc. I never knew that CMD.exe could do that - and even COMMAND.COM can do that. One other benefit of Winapp2.ini is that you can use variables such as %USERPROFILE% Regards Alan

Dallas, I thank you for not troubling me with something I wouldn't understand, BUT Is that what you are doing, or do you not have the intellectual capability to give a rational explanation ? Also, why are you using CCleaner ? ? ? I would have thought that using CCleaner to delete junk files would violate the ethics of some-one devoted to squandering computer resources ! ! Alan

My general purpose self-help approach when uncertain of the consequences of "something" is :- 8 seconds for ERUNT to backup the entire registry ; A bit longer for Regshot to capture an image of the entire registry and files/folders Implement this "something" Capture a second Regshot image Regshot then lists in a Notepad file all the changes it has observed. That tells me all I want to know (plus more than I want to know) about what has changed. If my "something" is the installation of an application, I am concerned about how deeply it hooks into the registry, If I judge it excessive then I un-install to remove its files, which MAY also undo SOME registry changes - but they never do. Then I conclude by restoring the ERUNT backup. The above is also good for when the "something" is drastic registry surgery.. Regards Alan

How about a simple single line Include29=PATH|C:\Program Files\Windows NT\PORTABLES\PortGoogleCHROME\Profil\Default\|*.* Plus addition to the Options / Exclude / Files and Folders to Exclude to retain what you wish to preserve. Regards Alan

Thank you Nergal I will use your hint of two ** for my creations. On good days my attention span is better than 4 Seconds, but if an application takes 4 seconds before I can use it I could be distracted by something bright and shiny. For me it has been a really good day if I remember what I launched each application for ! ! I will trim out from the official Winapp2.ini everything which cleans things I do not have, and when a new Winapp2.ini is released I will cleanse with my modified version, and then temporarily replace with the latest to see if any of the additions are relevant to my system. Regards and thanks Alan

It is disappointing that the cookies remained after cleaning; but disappointments are par for course with Microsoft; and eight times as much with I.E.8. Perhaps a future update of CCleaner will be better able to deal with the I.E.8 cookie idiosyncrasies. I am unable to advise upon I.E.8. and its cookies. I am happy with my level of ignorance - if I knew any more I would have to print all my files onto paper and replace the computer with a filing cabinet ! ! The Trustchecker files were produced by the action of "RUN Cleaner". I Googled and founded they come from Zone Alarms Obviously a Zone Alarm product is taking an unhealthy interest in what CCleaner does, and might be interfering with cleaning actions. It is possible if you open these log files with Notepad you will find that Zone Alarm protected cookies from deletion ! ! Apart from the cookie problem, everything else is consistent with perfect operation of CCleaner. N.B. You can expect the "Files to be Deleted" to return every time Windows reboots. Regards Alan

Nergal One of us was wrong - turns out it was me. Thank you for correcting me. I was misled by the second post which stated "There are lots of paths using %AppData% in CCleaner's Winapp.ini. Winapp.ini was a red herring that threw me totally off course. I thought this was a reference to the "User provided Extension" that I was previously aware of, so I searched for the quoted Winapp.ini" and downloaded and saw its use of %AppData% etc. I then fully expected that with it present in my CCleaner folder it would increase the amount deleted. It did nothing of the sort. I am puzzled - what is the use of Winapp.ini - CCleaner seems to work the same both with and without it Due to your correction I did further research, and found that what IS relevant to my needs, is not Winapp.ini, but Winapp2.ini. Please advise me on Winapp2.ini 1. When it is NOT present then CCleaner appears immediately upon double clicking. When it IS present there is a 4 second delay. Very little in this Winapp2.ini is relevant to my system. I think I can delete 99% of the blocks of code and expect that should retain better cleaning and restore a fast start-up. Questions Is that safe ? Is there any precaution to observe ? 2. I created a mini Winapp2.in as below to remove items (currently 2 off) from any user profile IS IT SAFE ? Are there any precautions to observe ? When finished, can I append it to my downloaded copy of Winapp2.ini, or do I need to insert it at a particular sorted position [*UserProfile]LangSecRef=3024DetectFile=%userprofile%Default=TrueFileKey1=%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\|*.*FileKey2=%APPDATA%\Adobe\|*.* Alan

I have never dabbled with this, but I think CCleaner Options / Exclude will allow you to omit what you wish Regards Alan

What versions of I.E and CCleaner are you using. CCleaner was not expected to work perfectly with I.E.8 Beta (and in my view anything from Microsoft is still in Beta until they stop "supporting"). They may still be issues to resolve between CCleaner and I.E.8 (which is probably still a moving target.) I almost never use I.E (and then only I.E.7) The first 3 item shown as Marked for Deletion are seen by the operating system as "in use by another process and cannot be accessed", hence CCleaner (and anything else I know of) is unable to delete them. The only action CCleaner can do is "Mark for Deletion", and hopefully something will see the flag and delete them at some future time. I share the fears of Hazelnut that there might be a misunderstanding in the use of CCleaner. Just to be sure, would you please launch CCleaner and in one session perform Analyze, then Screen Capture Run Cleaner, then Screen Capture Analyze, then Screen Capture. and then post the 3 screen captures. Below is my demonstration on my system ANALYSIS COMPLETE - (1.646 secs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 0.41MB to be removed. (Approximate size) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Details of files to be deleted (Note: No files have been deleted yet) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Marked for deletion: C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat Marked for deletion: C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\index.dat C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Recent\Cookies.lnk 561 bytes C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Recent\index.dat.lnk 733 bytes C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\Logs\FrameWork.log 1.09KB C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\Logs\wbemcore.log 9.63KB C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\Logs\wbemess.log 2.80KB C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\Logs\wmiprov.log 201 bytes C:\WINDOWS\0.log 0 bytes Firefox/Mozilla cache cleaning was skipped. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CLEANING COMPLETE - (5.153 secs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 0.41MB removed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Details of files deleted ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Marked for deletion: C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat Marked for deletion: C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\index.dat C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Recent\Cookies.lnk 561 bytes C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Recent\index.dat.lnk 733 bytes C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\Logs\FrameWork.log 1.09KB C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\Logs\wbemcore.log 9.63KB C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\Logs\wbemess.log 2.80KB C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\Logs\wmiprov.log 201 bytes C:\WINDOWS\0.log 0 bytes Removed Cookie: www.google.com Removed Cookie: google.com Removed Cookie: mail.google.com Removed Cookie: aus2.mozilla.org Firefox/Mozilla cache cleaning was skipped. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ANALYSIS COMPLETE - (1.156 secs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 0 bytes to be removed. (Approximate size) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Details of files to be deleted (Note: No files have been deleted yet) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Firefox/Mozilla cache cleaning was skipped. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ N.B. The first two above show a total of 0.41 MB, I actually deleted a few hundred files from my capture before posting above. N.B. Cookies were deleted , even though the Analyze failed to show them. Analyze seems perfect when Firefox is not running. When Firefox is running its cache cannot be cleaned, and both Analyze and "Run Cleaner" show the cache is/will be skipped, but Analyze does not realise that "Run Cleaner" is able to clean cookies (I recently reported as a bug). Incidentally, Analyze took 1,6 and then 1.1 seconds, and yesterday 1.3 Seconds Yours took 9.1 Seconds ! ! ! There are 8 icons (including CCleaner) on my task bar - it has been busier. I have just launched Windows task manager whilst posting this. On Processes tab I selected CCleaner.exe so it has a blue highlight Then I left clicked on the CPU column until System Idle Process was at the top. System Idle Process was bouncing between 93% and 98%. until I hit the CCleaner Analyze button, then the CCleaner.exe jumped to the top with 47% for about 1 second until it completed analysis. If you find CCleaner uses about 8% for its 9 second analysis, then a lot of processor power is being sucked up by something else, possibly video / flash playing on a browser - possibly malware ! ! Alternatives are that your C:\ drive has far more than the 8 GB used space in 50,000 files that I have, or your processor cannot keep up with my 5 year old Laptop with 2.6 GHz Intel Celeron. Regards Alan

You have been busy shopping - Regcure and now Ace Utilities. What else have you bought ! ! I see that buying Ace Utilities entitles you to a free download of Win Control 2002 I cannot find what they claim for the product, but I found on http://www.downloadatoz.com/search.php?q=W...p;type=software "Win Control 2002 allows you to protect your NT/2000/XP PC from vandalism in the systems software, its configuration and from unduly changed passwords." That sounds to me like real-time protection. Years ago I used Adaware. When they changed from on-demand scans to additional real-time interference I kicked it off. Anything which Windows Task Manager can display in the Applications tab or the Processes Tab could be a real-time obstacle. I have configured Task Manager to display CPU Time. Since I switched on :- 3:04:37 System Idle Process 0:16:20 Firefox.exe 0:00:29 nod32krn.exe 0:00:18 cfp.exe nod32krn is my real-time anti-virus, and cfp is my real-time firewall. Only 57 seconds of processor time has been consumed by my real-time protection in over 3 hours. If you can take a snapshot of your Windows Task Manager Processes, and post the image, it is probable that real-time disrupters can be identified by those with more experience than I. But highest priority is a list of the specific items that are not deleted. Some-one here may intermediately recognise what they are, and probable causes of non-deletion, and how to fix - or whether to leave well alone. Regards Alan