Andavari
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Posts posted by Andavari
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Norton is what I'd consider a PUP ("Possibly Unwanted Program") in my opinion, and I've had that opinion since the late 1990s, but they've gotten way worse since then but people keep buying it.
Use it until the license expires to fully experience the annoyance of it and to get your money's worth, or ask for a pro-rated refund which I'd think is within your rights since it's annoying you. After the license is expired then uninstall it and instead use what's built into the OS Microsoft Defender Antivirus which isn't annoying at all.
Most paid antivirus has a bunch of fluff added onto it nowadays to make it seem necessary and so that it can still exist to some extent.
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Makes me think they don't have a single clue what the they're doing! I'm not even going to bother reading their article because I've seen a countless variety over the years claiming such. They obviously don't know what they're doing as in at all when using an unsupported OS, what did they do install it fresh and then leave it as is connected to the Internet waiting to be auto-infected, hell when Microsoft supported it just like their current OSes Windows is just a malware magnet.
XP can still be locked down allot to not get infected at all, and it doesn't need any modern annoying s**t like UAC which doesn't actually protect the OS. Number one thing is don't browse websites with it at all since all web browsers for it are also ancient and unsupported, unless of course it's to a security software related vendor, i.e.; anti-virus/anti-malware although security software can be downloaded on a modern
protectedsystem and copied to a USB Flash Drive to feed an old unsupported OS.There's still a very small handful of real-time protection up-to-date anti-virus/anti-malware that can be installed on WinXP (Panda Dome, aka Panda Free Antivirus is what I've used for over a decade), HOSTS file(s) to lock down the security and auto-protect from some malware, making sure the one-way Windows Firewall in it is actually working, setting Internet Explorer to Work Offline mode and not allowing it to ever connect to websites, etc. Should anyone bank or buy something using XP absolutely not with the OS being unpatched since 2014 (other than Microsoft patching a handful of some things later on that couldn't be ignored).
My Win10 laptop is my main computer, however I do still have an old XP Dell desktop that gets started daily (old hardware doesn't usually like being turned off for too many days within a 7 day period), and that old XP system hasn't been infected with anything (verified umpteen times by unpacking the disk image backups I make of my XP system and letting my modern Win10 laptop virus scan it), and it can still do some things and/or use some software that modern Win10/Win11 can't.
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On 13/05/2024 at 23:28, Nergal said:
To make it fully portable (no reg entry no app data) place an empty text file called portable.dat (not portable.dat.txt make sure explorer is set to show file extensions) in the directory with the recuva exe files.
I'm not sure we're supposed to be telling people how to do this, but the portable versions were available before so anybody with some knowledge should/would know how to create there own from the setup files.
Also that portable.dat file isn't actually empty, it's supposed to have just this inside it:
#PORTABLE#----------
Also if copying Recuva to for example a USB Flash Drive and thinking, it works just fine without being installed you must be aware that without the portable.dat file in the same folder as recuva.exe and recuva64.exe it will write settings into the Windows registry instead of an INI file (recuva.ini), and it won't be 100% portable but more like a standalone.
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In Firefox Plugins settings click the three dots [···], and make sure the plugin(s) are set to Always Activate. Then restart Firefox and see if that fixes it or not. If it doesn't work, the setting may be in the registry where it's being blocked from working.
Screenshot:
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Easiest way to disable it is to create a block on the .EXE files (CCleaner.exe, CCleaner64.exe) in Windows Firewall (or other software firewall).
Note that blocking .EXE files that are typically always trying to phone home which you have no control over via their GUI can cause them to have an unreasonable delay when opening the program each and every time. Using the now very old version of CCleaner Portable (official portable, not the one from PortableApps.com) that I continue to use I haven't encountered that at all, however with Recuva Portable it's a rather massive delay before the GUI displays.
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If that would've been a laptop mobo I would've guessed either a socketed or soldered on Wi-Fi card, but with a desktop no.
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Google Chrome / Chromium Based Browsers:
As for all Chromium based browsers it nuked Comodo Dragon so bad (over a decade ago on my old XP PC) it never worked correct afterwards and even a clean re-install didn't work. I found out that certain browser profile folders located in sub-folders named 'Extension State' and 'Local Extension Settings' had to be excluded. I exclude both whole folder locations in any Chromium browsers profile folder after the Comodo Dragon incident and it hasn't broken a Chromium based browser since then for 12 years. They can be excluded in CCleaner at 'Options > Exclude'.
Example using Microsoft Edge Chromium I exclude these two paths (in Windows 10):
* C:\Users\UserProfileName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Extension State
* C:\Users\UserProfileName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings----------
Mozilla Firefox / Firefox Based Browsers:
This info is many years old however after having it brick a Firefox profile I always have these disabled/unticked in CCleaner under the Firefox section so that it never cleans them:
* Session
* Site Preferences (this is possibly the most important one)I also have it exclude various things in Firefox (Firefox Portable ESR is what I use), this is primarily because of what I mentioned in the Chromium based browsers comment for paranoia's sake - now rather these are necessary in Firefox I don't know, but I'm not taking any chances:
..\PortableApps\FirefoxPortableESR\Data\profile\*\|*.sqlite-shm;*.sqlite-wal
..\PortableApps\FirefoxPortableESR\Data\profile\browser-extension-data----------
Edit:
If you use the community Winapp2.ini file (https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/32310-winapp2ini-additions/#comments) that might possibly clean too much.
Edit 2:
You must use Custom Clean in CCleaner in order for it to honor exclusions, and not clean what you've disabled/unticked! If you have it just automatically clean it doesn't use any user preferences.
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If it's a Chrome/Chromium based browser look to see if it's in the community Winapp2.ini - https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/32310-winapp2ini-additions/
If it isn't in Winapp2.ini, and if you know where to find where the files are stored you can modify a pre-existing Winapp2.ini entry to clean it. Note: If you go that route it's highly recommended that you backup (copy to another folder, or ZIP) your web browser profile before cleaning it, that way any issues that can or may arise can be quickly and very easily undone.
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Other than the GDPR licensing updates which they would've been forced to update for I think the fair answer is they're way more involved with continued development of CCleaner, and the other software suffers being neglected because of it.
As for a freeware alternative to Speccy there's HWiNFO and HWiNFOPortable (from PortableApps.com), and others that are kept up-to-date with current hardware.
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Modern SSDs at least 2016 and newer models don't need wipe free space/drive wiper tools ran on them since they can use TRIM which is built into modern OSes. Old SSDs from reading now ancient articles online people used to use such tools when TRIM wasn't available in the OS.
As for needing/wanting to secure wipe an SSD you need to use the manufacturer provided SSD toolkit to "safely" do it, some call it Sanatize. Big enough and reputable brands such as Crucial/Micron, Samsung, etc., have such capabilities in their free SSD toolkit. Note this is not a wipe free space, it will destroy all data on the SSD, such as when wanting to completely retire the SSD or sell it.
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For restoring web browser data you would've needed to have already made a recent profile backup before the issue to fully restore from. You could try Piriform Recuva to see if it can restore the data.
Making regular web browser profile backup to a ZIP or other archive format (say once per week) is an important task to do. It's important in case of corruption which can on rare occasions happen during updating a browser to a new version that introduces an incompatibility with old profile versions, and in that event you'd at least be able to restore some of a profile (not necessarily all of it) such as the bookmarks.
Manual Backup To Local Disk:
https://www.startpage.com/do/dsearch?q=how+to+backup+google+chrome+profile+dataSync Backup:
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+backup+google+chrome+profileAs for the custom fonts listed on that website you linked to:
If the fonts weren't installed on the system per the normal way of installing fonts then you'd have to re-configure whatever it is that website does. -
I've been using SumatraPDF Portable (https://portableapps.com/apps/office/sumatra_pdf_portable) for several months and like how simple it is. It's not bloated at all, has a no-frills easy to use GUI, and it's Open Source (GPL).
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Was the recovery partition the last partition on your drive? If so, that's probably why it was successful if they've magically auto-resized it.
Speaking of 3rd party tools like AOMEI, etc., supposedly according to info online when cloning a disk they don't copy the OEM recovery partition that's used to reset a PC back to the factory default image.
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I had downloaded something (don't remember exactly what it's called at this time) to disable that particular update, and two supposed driver updates; 1 from Acer which I have a years newer version of already installed, and 1 from Intel that has no description.
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A possible workaround is to create a "protection" file in that folder location, it could be named anything such as DoNotDelete.txt, ProtectedFolder.txt, and then type in an brief description so you know why it's there in the future, i.e.; Protects this folder from being deleted by 3rd party cleaning tools.
Then set the file attribute to read-only (and possibly also set it to hidden and system). Then input the file as an exclusion in CCleaner in 'Options > Exclude' to prevent the whole folder from being deleted, and the added benefit is you may not have to mess around with editing winapp2.ini files to fix CCleaners behaviour. I personally do this in some folders that I want it to clean, but where the folder must remain intact, i.e.; for audio and video encoding, etc., that programs expect to always exist.
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That isn't going to work with the quotes around the command:
4- Add Exclude Rule: "%APPDATA%\Discord\Code Cache\*.*"See if these work:
4- Add Exclude Rule: %APPDATA%\Discord\Code Cache\*.*
4- Add Exclude Rule: %APPDATA%\Discord\Code Cache\|*.*||0|0|24 -
GRC ValiDrive
License: Freeware
Publisher: Gibson Research Corporation
Supports: Microsoft Windows XP SP3, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11
Website: https://www.grc.com/validrive.htmOverview:
Validate USB mass storage drives. Helps determine if USB mass storage drives are fraudulent/fake/counterfeit. Quickly spot-check any USB mass storage drive for fraudulent deliberately missing storage.Note:
USB mass storage drives with low quality NAND flash (many are even from known brand names) will take a considerable amount of time to validate vs. high quality NAND flash which validates quickly. -
On my Win10 Home v22H2 laptop that's located in:
C:\Users\UserProfileName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\IndexedDB\I only have 2 folders with 3 files in each folder, totaling 78 bytes in size. It seems like a database/logs for extensions. That whole IndexedDB folder and all of its contents on my system is 128 MB in size. Edit: However I do NOT use Edge Chromium, and only have uBlock Origin installed as an extension that I occasionally check for updates. If you regularly use it perhaps that's the cause, but it seems like too much.
You having 52+ GB in size would make me wonder if it isn't some sort of bug in Edge Chromium, perhaps not properly self-cleaning itself, or perhaps you've found a bug that can be reported to Microsoft.
As for controlling the size of that folder there's 'Options > Include' in CCleaner. I've noticed that none of the Edge Chromium cleaners that I use from the community Winapp2.ini and those I've made myself don't target that folder at all.
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On 05/03/2024 at 08:50, nukecad said:
You really. really, don't want to stop a drive wipe other than by using the Cancel button on the CCleaner UI, and then waiting for it to tidy up and then stop.
Exactly.
Some drive wiper/wipe free space programs (not referencing CCleaner in particular with this comment) have the potential of damaging the drive contents (files, and the filesystem) that they're wiping free space on such as the Windows OS drive if exited in an incorrect way such as forcing them to close. I had such a thing happen over 20 years ago (not with CCleaner), and I found myself minutes later reinstalling the Windows OS.
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uBlock Origin Users Start Regularly Checking Your Trusted Sites List:
I discovered that over the last week of looking for a new TV that some (not all) display manufacturers have automatically without my express permission added themselves into the uBlock Origin Trusted Sites list.I definitely didn't manually add them into the Trusted Sites list (like how it's supposed to work) especially for a one time visit to look at the specifications of a particular TV.
I would consider this a security violation.
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The problem you had years ago with SSDs is understandable and is documented online with some SSD controllers having serious issues, etc., or drives wiping themselves clean leaving nothing on themselves for no apparent reason. More modern name brand SSDs (avoid no-name/no-brand drives) from 2018 to current are much better than SSDs released for example 10 years ago when they were overly expensive and some having serious issues.
SD Cards just like USB Flash Drives are unreliable, slow, and very easy to loose slow SSDs that don't feature TRIM to help speed them up after so many writes start to make them unbearably slow! SSDs with a DRAM Cache are going to be way more reliable.
SD Cards and USB Flash Drives are alright for temporarily storing files and then moving files around from one system to another, but nowhere near as reliable as HDD for archiving purposes. But as always multiple copies of each disk/drive are going to be required in case one fails.
The first HDD I've ever had fail was running nearly non-stop for 13 years 2 months, just happened January 2024.
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On 06/02/2024 at 04:52, nukecad said:
When something already works as well as it can then there is nothing to be fixed or 'made better'.
Unless the technology of spinning drives has a startling new innovation
HDD technology will of course continue, and that's why defrag software also needs to keep up with advances instead of having some old versions that don't properly work or just barely work with modern HDDs.
Some defrag tools take too long to just Analyse an HDD, let alone defragment one sometimes with rather outdated algorithms in my opinion such as; "why is it even bothering to move that" and "why isn't it moving that at all" comes to mind.
Something a few years old at this point in papers is the use of Zoning in HDDs, and some can take advantage of a TRIM command. Then there's also the supposed upcoming speed increase that will get some of them near enough to SATA 6gbps SSD speeds (probably only sequentially).
But then comes the noise levels, I look at my Disk Network set top box and think it makes so much noise and it's because of the HDD inside it constantly making allot of clatter.
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Allot of defrag tools are now several years old at this point. Be happy that it still works in modern OSes, and in particular if it doesn't crash. The crashing is why I don't bother with Defraggler at all, although I do have it archived on several external backup disks.
Perhaps the lack of updates in many defrag tools has something to do with the adoption of SSDs, and their price drop over the years.
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Possibly something to do with Explorer in Windows not refreshing and updating the view.
Try This:
* Sign Out, and then Sign In to your Windows user account.
* If that doesn't work Restart the computer.
CCleaner does not detect/delete folders with long paths
in CCleaner Bug Reporting
Posted
It also doesn't delete certain registry keys either in "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001" even when the keys have been set with admin privileges and can be manually deleted in RegEdit or via a .REG file deleter. Although could be how modern Win10/11 works and a cleaning utility can't work around the fundamental failings of the OS.