lmacri
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Posts posted by lmacri
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Hi MsGail:
What is your Windows operating system, and what is the full name and version number of your CCleaner software (e.g., CCleaner Free Portable v6.15.10623, CCleaner Professional v6.15.10623, etc.)?
If you are using a Portable edition of CCleaner please see my 08-Aug-2023 post in tkrojam's Windows 10 No Window But Ccleaner Running in Task Manager. CCleaner Portable is designed to be run from a removable USB stick *** and you should not be running the CCleaner executables from your Windows desktop.
*** Note: if you don't have a removable USB stick then create a subfolder called CCleaner in your Downloads folder (e.g., C:\Users\<yourusername>\Downloads\CCleaner) and unzip the ccsetup6xx.zip file there.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.0.277-1.0.2114 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.15.10623 -
On 15/06/2023 at 08:29, mogli said:
The new "Windows Defender Backup" rule doesn't delete anything here (Windows 11), any ideas?
(That's kind of expected as the folder should have a strong anti-tampering protection.)Hi mogli:
I just updated to CCleaner Free Portable v6.15.10623 today and noticed that Custom Clean no longer has a checkbox for Windows Defender Backup on the Windows tab under "System". Compare this with the third image in my 26-Jun-2023 post <above> of the CCleaner v6.13.10517 interface.
There a Windows Defender checkbox on the Applications tab under "Utilities" but I don't know if this Windows Defender checkbox is new or if I just never noticed it before. I have no idea what files it is supposed to clean because if if I enable that option and click Analyze it doesn't find anything to remove (note that I use Microsoft Defender as my antivirus). Note that the second image in my 26-Jun-2023 post <above> shows I can use Windows 10's built-in Disk Cleanup to clean non-essential Microsoft Defender files if I wish, and Disk Cleanup shows I currently have ~ 9.0 MB of Microsoft Defender files that could be removed that aren't being detected by CCleaner v6.15.If someone can't provide further insight I'll just leave that Windows Defender option unchecked.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.0.277-1.0.2114 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.15.10623 -
Progress at last, even though customer support never responded to email I sent to support@ccleaner.com on 18-Aug-2023 about this.
As of 24-Aug-2023 the Download Builds page at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds and direct download link at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/download/portable are finally offering the Portable ccsetup615.zip file (released 16-Aug-2023). The release notes for the latest v6.15.10623 have also been posted at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/version-history, https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/download and https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/release-notes.
The Download Builds page at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds now correctly shows that v6.15.10623 is the latest version.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.0.277-1.0.2114 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
2 hours ago, Wisewiz said:
The whole organization seems to be on holidays lately. The CC builds page, which always has the very latest versions the same day they're released, doesn't any more. 10584 is still there after at least a week.
HI Wiisewiz:
See my 17-Aug-2023 thread Version Confusion - 6.14.10584 vs 6.15.10623. The Download buttons for the Free and Slim installers on https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds will actually offer an installer for CCleaner v6.15 (i.e., ccsetup615.exe; ccsetup615_slim.exe) but that download page is still offering the old ccsetup614.zip file CCleaner Portable v6.14.
I sent an email to support@ccleaner.com last week about discrepancies between their documentation and what software versions are actually be offered at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds (and several other pages on their website) but haven't heard back from them.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.0.277-1.0.2114 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
34 minutes ago, Wisewiz said:
... I still haven't received a peep of any kind from them. And when I try the support page at support.ccleaner.com, I get this over and over again on successive attempts on successive days ...
Hi Wizewiz:
Do you mean that's what's you see after you click the "Send Me My License Details" button at https://support.ccleaner.com/ and enter your email address?
I don't have a Pro license but the reCAPTCHA challenge worked and when I clicked "Submit" the lookup correctly reported that Avast / Piriform can't find my license. Perhaps clearing your browsing history (including your cookies) might get this working again. If that doesn't help try temporarily disabling your browser extensions.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.0.277-1.0.2114 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
On 30/07/2023 at 07:53, lmacri said:
It's been over a week since I emailed support@ccleaner.com about the portable build creating dozens of unnecessary registry entries in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner and haven't had a response, and I didn't even get an auto-reply with a ticket number that I can reference. Perhaps someone with a Professional license will have better luck getting customer support to respond to a request for support....
Hi Wisewiz:
I don't know if you ever got a response from Customer Support, but for future reference the link at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general is correctly displaying an online support request form for me today. That link was posted in nukecad's 21-Aug-2023 reply in TonyN's Can't turn off auto extension!, so I assume it replaces the old URL at https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/requests/new that now throws a "secure connection failed" error in all my browsers.
I'm not entirely clear if both Pro and Free users can use this "general" form (it doesn't require users to enter a product key), but Avast / Piriform have completely ignored the last two emails I've sent to support@ccleaner.com so I might try that online form the next time I need to contact support and see what happens. I have no idea why Avast / Piriform can't just include a link at https://www.ccleaner.com/contact to their online support request form and stop making it so difficult for users to contact them.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.0.277-1.0.2114 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
To make matters even more confusing, the MajorGeeks download site at https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/ccleaner_portable.html is currently offering CCleaner Portable v6.15.10623 (I unzipped the ccsetup615.zip file hosted by MajorGeeks and ran CCleaner64.exe just to confirm it launched the v6.15.16023 interface) even though Avast / Piriform's official Download Builds page at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds and direct download link at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/download/portable are still downloading ccsetup614.zip. Softpedia's US mirror <here> has also been offering ccsetup615.zip since 16-Aug-2023.
I also found a few more web pages on the CCleaner site like https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/download where the release notes show the old CCleaner v6.14.10584 (rel. 19-Jul-2023) is the latest available version (even though the "Free Download" button on that page offers the ccesetup615.exe installer), so I sent a support request to support@ccleaner.com on 18-Aug-2023 to ask for clarification about the correct version number for the Portable build and the outdated release notes on many of their web pages. As usual, I didn't get an auto-reply with a ticket number that I can reference, and based on past experience they won't bother to reply to my request for support anyway. As far as I can tell the Avast / Piriform employees have stopped providing support in this forum as well, which doesn't bode well for the future of CCleaner.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.0.277-1.0.2114 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
51 minutes ago, redwolfe_98 said:
to pull up the releasenotes, go to "ccleaner.com/about us/release announcements":...
Hi redwolfe_98:
Thanks for the links to the correct v6.15 release notes.
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Hi nukecad:
The release notes at both https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/release-notes and https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/version-history both currently show that v6.14.10584 (rel. 19-Jul-2023) is the latest available version so someone from Avast / Piriform needs to fix this.
If I recall correctly, it's been a few years since the version of the Portable build at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds (e.g., ccsetup6xx.zip) lagged behind the version of the .exe installers. Hopefully it's just another oversight on the part of Avast / Piriform and doesn't mean that the release of ccsetup615.zip was delayed or pulled because of (yet another) bug.
If you're certain the .exe installers for v6.15 are the correct version and haven't been pulled you might want to read 00829955's post yesterday in PLCMAN's Installation Error: V6.09.10300 -- 0X6 This handle is invalid. I recall you posted a workaround for this error that seemed to work for other users and you might be able to help user 00829955.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.34.275-1.0.2102 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
What is the latest available version of the stable release of CCleaner?
The release notes at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/version-history currently shows that v6.14.10584 (rel. 19-Jul-2023) is the latest version, and this is also the version shown on the Download Builds page at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds . However, if you click the Download buttons for the Free and Slim installers on that download page you will actually be offered an installer for CCleaner v6.15 (i.e., ccsetup615.exe; ccsetup615_slim.exe). Note that the Download button on that page for my CCleaner Free Portable is still offering the ccsetup614.zip file released in July.
I don't know if someone at Avast / Piriform has accidentally posted v6.15 beta versions of the .exe installers on the download server before they were ready for wide release, but I only noticed this discrepancy because my SUMo (Software Update Monitor) utility has been recommending that I update to v6.15.10623 for at least two days now.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.34.275-1.0.2102 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 * SUMo Free Portable v5.17.9.541 -
8 hours ago, 00829955 said:
I selected Run as Administrator for starting ccleaner, and the issue has not been solved.
Hi 00829955:
There appears to be a problem with the timing of the release of the new CCleaner v6.15 update this month. The release notes at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/version-history currently shows your v6.14.10584 build (rel. 19-Jul-2023) is the latest release, and this is also the build listed on the downloads page at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds . However, if you click the download buttons for the Free and Slim builds on that download page you will actually be offered an installer for CCleaner v6.15 (e.g., ccsetup615.exe).
I don't know if someone at Avast / Piriform accidentally posted a beta version on the download server before it was ready for wide release, but hopefully this mismatch in version numbers will be fixed in the next day or two and your "0X6: This handle is invalid" error will disappear on its own. My image below was captured today (16-Aug-2023):
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.34.275-1.0.2102 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
5 hours ago, tkrojam said:
I copied and pasted the portable ccleaner folder to a USB drive first then I run the .exe directly and the main window can prompt!
I found it created subfolders and files (e.g., ...\Data, ...\Log, ...\Setup, ...\x86, ...x64, ...\Lang and the ccleaner.ini file) inside the USB drive.
I tried to copy that portable ccleaner folder back to my desktop and run the .exe directly from desktop and the main window can also prompt!...
Hi tkrojam:
That's good news. However, I would still advise that you do not run CCleaner Portable from your desktop. If you don't want to run it from a removable USB stick then you should run it from a location on your hard drive like your personal Downloads folder (e.g., from C:\Users\<yourusername>\Downloads\CCleaner) as I suggested <above>.
On 08/08/2023 at 08:18, lmacri said:... Also note that CCleaner Portable is designed to be run from a removable USB stick. You should not be running CCleaner Portable or any other portable application from your desktop.... [Note: if you don't have a removable USB stick then create a subfolder called CCleaner in you Downloads folder (e.g., C:\Users\<yourusername>\Downloads\CCleaner) and unzip it there]. Then run the CCleaner64.exe file, and you should see something like this after the ccsetup614.zip file is deleted (Note: at this point I usually delete a few unnecessary files and folders I don't need like the 32-bit CCleaner.exe but I can post back about that later if necessary)...
Further to my post <above>, this is what my CCleaner Free Portable files look like on my removable USB stick after I have launched CCleaner64.exe for the first time and deleted the files and subfolders I don't need:
After launching CCleaner64.exe for the first time I normally delete:
- The 32-bit CCleaner.exe executable and ...\x86 subfolder because I don't have a computer with a 32-bit operating system.
- The ...\Lang subfolder because I use the English version of CCleaner (you must keep this subfolder if want to use a non-English interface).
- The ...\x64 subfolder (which contains CCleanerBugReport.exe and CCleanerDU.dll) because I don't want the CCleaner Bug Reporter collecting and sending telemetry data back to Avast (see xClean's 22-Sep-2022 C:\Program Files\CCleaner\CCleanerBugReport.exe as Part of v6.04 Pro) and I don't want CCleanerDU.dll (part of the CCleaner Driver Updater) because CCleaner Driver Updater is buggy and unsafe - see the user feedback in the CCleaner Driver Updater board, and note that you must purchase a CCleaner Professional license to unlock all the features of CCleaner Driver Updater.
As I previously noted, I only use the Custom Clean feature of CCleaner Portable for disk cleaning and have Options | Settings | CCleaner Home Screen set to Custom Custom as shown below. I never run Health Check on my system since the default PC optimization settings are too aggressive and can make unwanted changes to your system, and most features are locked unless you purchase a Professional license. I will run the registry cleaner on occasion but only if a software program I have uninstalled (e.g., a third-party antivirus) leaves behind remnants in the registry that prevents other software from running correctly. I never allow the registry cleaner to clean all the "stray" registry entries it finds because these registry entries are almost always harmless and deleting all "stray" registry entries can sometimes damage installed software. The support article Clean the Windows Registry warns that "We've made CCleaner's fixing options... to help reduce potentially harmful results. It’s always safer to leave an entry than to remove it if you’re not 100% sure".
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3208 * Firefox v116.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.9-1.1.23060.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.34.275-1.0.2102 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
Hi tkrojam:
If you go to Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features can you see CCleaner listed as an installed product? If so, the high CPU usage you see in your Task Manager may be a scheduled task that is running in the background by your "regular" installed CCleaner software, and not CCleaner Portable. I do not have a "regular" version of CCleaner installed on my system, so I only see CCleaner listed in my Task Manager after I launch Cleaner Free Portable.
This is what I see when I run CCleaner64.exe to launch CCleaner Free Portable and the interface is opened but idle (Note that I have disabled both settings at Option | Update so CCleaner doesn't automatically check for updates, and I only run Custom Clean - I never allow CCleaner to run a Health Check on my system) ...
... and this is an example of what I see when I go Custom Clean and click Analyze to check what items need to be cleaned.
Also note that CCleaner Portable is designed to be run from a removable USB stick. You should not be running CCleaner Portable or any other portable application from your desktop since this will create subfolders and files (e.g., ...\Data, ...\Log, ...\Setup, ...\x86, ...x64, ...\Lang and the ccleaner.ini file) on your desktop.
I created a folder called E:\Portable\CCleaner on a removable USB stick and I unzip the ccsetup6xx.zip file there. When I want to run CCleaner I plug that USB stick into my computer and run the CClean64.exe executable. When I want to update CCleaner Free Portable I delete all the files and subfolders in E:\Portable CCleaner except ccleaner.ini (you want to keep this ccleaner.ini file since this is where your configurations settings are stored), download the latest ccsetup6xx.zip from https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds and save it to that E:\Portable\CCleaner folder, and then unzip to re-create all the necessary files on my USB stick.
I suggest you uninstall any "regular" versions of CCleaner from Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features (if present) and delete all traces of CCleaner Portable from your desktop. Then download a fresh copy of ccsetup614.zip from https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds and save it to a removable USB stick in a folder your created (e.g., something like D:\CCleaner or D:\Portable\CCleaner) so all the files and folders you need to run CCleaner Portable are created in their own folder [Note: if you don't have a removable USB stick then create a subfolder called CCleaner in you Downloads folder (e.g., C:\Users\<yourusername>\Downloads\CCleaner) and unzip it there]. Then run the CCleaner64.exe file, and you should see something like this after the ccsetup614.zip file is deleted (Note: at this point I usually delete a few unnecessary files and folders I don't need like the 32-bit CCleaner.exe but I can post back about that later if necessary):
Once you have unzipped CCleaner Portable on a removable USB stick then use Task Manager to see if you are still seeing high CPU usage by CCleaner64.exe. If you are then tell us what task you are running with CCleaner Portable when this high CPU usage occurs.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3208 * Firefox v116.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.9-1.1.23060.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.34.275-1.0.2089 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
Hi RgoELC:
Thanks for posting those logs.
As nukecad noted <above>, many of those behaviours won't come as a big surprise to long-time CCleaner users (e.g., creation of the CCleaner Update task in Task Scheduler, configuration of CCleaner64.exe to evade UAC) but I'm very curious as to why ccsetup614.exe would need to monitor user keystrokes during installation. I don't know if a keystroke logger could be used for the benefit of users with disabilities who use Windows "Ease of Access" assistive technologies during installation, but it sounds very odd that an installer would need to monitor keystrokes.
This is just one more reason why I now run the Portable build of CCleaner from a removable USB stick and will never install the "regular" edition of CCleaner on my hard drive again. Fingers crossed that Avast / Piriform figures out how to prevent the Portable build from creating dozens of unnecessary registry entries (see Crni's 23-Jul-2023 post on page 5 of Wisewiz's Welcome Back to CCleaner Professional ??? about remote connections to shepherd.ff.avast.com) or I won't be using the Portable build much longer either.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3208 * Firefox v116.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.9-1.1.23060.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.33.272-1.0.2069 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
1 hour ago, Wisewiz said:
Would you be willing to post a copy of your note to them for me to copy?...
Hi Wisewiz:
It's a fairly long email (I included the steps I used to perform a clean reinstall of CCleaner Free Portable as well as a few images I've already posted in this thread) so I sent it to you via a private message.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3208 * Firefox v115.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.9-1.1.23060.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.33.272-1.0.2069 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
On 22/07/2023 at 08:54, lmacri said:
...I sent a support request to support@ccleaner.com and asked if creation of all these registry entries at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner is now the expected behaviour for CCleaner Portable v6.x or a bug,. I'll post back once I have an answer from customer support.
On 24/07/2023 at 15:01, Wisewiz said:... I hope Piriform knows this is a serious issue.
Hi Wisewiz:
It's been over a week since I emailed support@ccleaner.com about the portable build creating dozens of unnecessary registry entries in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner and haven't had a response, and I didn't even get an auto-reply with a ticket number that I can reference. Perhaps someone with a Professional license will have better luck getting customer support to respond to a request for support.
I don't recall seeing a post in this forum by an Avast / Piriform employee in over two months (see nukecad's 05-Jul-2023 post in mogli's "Windows Defender Backup" Rule Not Working about recent staff layoffs) so I have no way of knowing if an employee is even monitoring this thread, but it doesn't look like customer engagement is a priority at the moment.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3208 * Firefox v115.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.9-1.1.23060.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.33.272-1.0.2069 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
On 20/07/2023 at 16:43, lmacri said:
Hi Wisewiz:
... I'm not sure if I missed a step in your instructions, but I don't know why you only have the four registry values in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner that are shown in your 13-Jul-2023 post <here> when I still have ~ 50 ...
On 20/07/2023 at 17:02, Wisewiz said:Me, neither! I tried to be precise in my description of what I did, but it's possible that either you or I missed a step ....
On 23/07/2023 at 08:13, Crni said:... simply deleting everything from the registry and blocking access to "shepherd.ff.avast.com" is sufficient to prevent CCleaner Free Portable to add any of the problematic entries back into registry. If you have an advanced router you can do it there, or can add an entry to the firewall, or simply add this to your hosts file:
0.0.0.0 shepherd.ff.avast.com ...
Hi Wisewiz:
According to your 14-Jul-2023 post <here> on page 3 of this thread you added 0.0.0.0 shepherd.ff.avast.com to your hosts file. Could that be the missing step in your 19-Jul-2023 instructions <here> that will prevent the registry entries from being re-created?
___________________________________________________Could someone provide instructions for blocking shepherd.ff.avast.com in my Windows Firewall? For example, do I need to block both incoming and outgoing connections?
I created a custom rule in my Windows Firewall a few years ago to block all outbound traffic from CCleaner64.exe executable of my CCleaner Portable [Control Panel | System and Security | Windows Defender Firewall | Advanced Settings | Outbound Rules | New Rule | Rule Type = Program; This Program Path: E:\Portable\CCleaner\CCleaner64.exe; Action: Block the Connection; Profile: All (Domain/Private/Public)] as instructed in the How-To Geek article How to Block An Application from Accessing the Internet with Windows Firewall to try and prevent CCleaner Portable from sending telemetry back to Avast / Piriform. However, it sounds like I need to plug yet another backdoor that allows Avast to create an inbound connection from shepherd.ff.avast.com and make unwanted changes to my registry. It's like playing whack-a-mole - you make one change to make CCleaner Portable more secure and behave more like a "true" portable app and Avast finds another way to circumvent it.
I ditched Norton Security as my antivirus after their parent company Gen Digital began adding all sorts of unnecessary bloat (e.g., Software Updater, Driver Updater, Norton Crypto, etc.) that they ported over from Avast Antivirus Free and other software programs that Gen Digital has acquired in recent years. Perhaps the time has finally come for me to ditch CCleaner Portable as well and move on to BleachBit Portable.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3208 * Firefox v115.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23060.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.33.272-1.0.2069 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
4 hours ago, hazelnut said:
Hi hazelnut:
Thanks for those links. Perhaps my CCleaner Free Portable has been creating registry entries in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner for a long time now and I just didn't notice it until the experimental "Welcome to CCleaner" startup window appeared in my GUI a few weeks ago.
Andavari posted on 06-Jun-2023 post in mogli's 5.92 Portable Broken [Download 5.91 from Website] that launching CCleaner.exe or CCleaner64.exe should not create registry entries as long as the portable.dat file (which contains the single entry #PORTABLE#) is located in the same folder as the executable(s). I haven't bothered checking my registry since I installed CCleaner Free Portable v6.03 (which supposedly contained the bug fix for the mess created by v5.92) because my portable build seemed to be working as expected until this unwanted "Welcome to CCleaner" startup window appeared out of the blue.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3208 * Firefox v115.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23060.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.33.272-1.0.2069 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 -
1 hour ago, nukecad said:
IIRC there was an issue back in 2021 with the portable creating registry entries (something to do with updates?).
That would tie in with the dates that @AnaRon says he has...
Hi nukecad:
Are you sure you aren't thinking about the bug in CCleaner Portable v5.92 (rel. 11-Apr-2022) that I described <above> in my 21-Jul-2023 post?
The only problem I can recall with CCleaner Portable v5.85 (rel. 14-Sep-2021) was that the download link on the official download page at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds was broken for a few days (see my 15-Sep-2021 thread Can't Download CCleaner v5.85 Portable / Slim Builds) but once the ccsetup585.zip file was finally posted on CCleaner's download servers it didn't cause any problems on my system that I was aware of.
AnaRon would have to tell you if they were using a "regular" installed version of CCleaner prior to Oct 2021 that might have left orphaned files on their hard drive after it was uninstalled or if they got their CCleaner Portable v5.85 from another source like PortableApps.com.
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18 hours ago, AnaRon said:
Never thought about that so I hit the registry and found bunches of entries for my portable CCleaner/Piriform ...
Hi AnaRon:
I agree. It completely defeats the purpose of using a portable app if it creates registry entries to store configuration settings when launched. The last thing I want to do is plug my removable USB stick into someone else's computer, run CCleaner Portable, and leave behind dozens of orphaned CCleaner registry entries on their system.
I don't have any other portable app that stores configurations settings in the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ (I just tested the current BleachBit Portable disk cleaner app and it doesn't) so I don't know if Avast / Piriform is just too lazy to modify the CCleaner.exe and CCleaner64.exe executables for the Portable build to prevent this from happening, or if they deliberately create these registry settings so they can push out experimental features like the "Welcome Back to CCleaner" startup screen to Portable builds (which, again, is not something you want if you are running a portable app on multiple systems from a removable USB stick).
I sent a support request to support@ccleaner.com and asked if creation of all these registry entries at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner is now the expected behaviour for CCleaner Portable v6.x or a bug,. I'll post back once I have an answer from customer support.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3208 * Firefox v115.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23060.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.33.272-1.0.2069 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 * BleachBit Portable v4.4.2 -
1 hour ago, nukecad said:
... The Welcome screen on my CCleaner Pro has gone all on it's own....
Hi nukecad:
Has the value of (Cfg)WelcomeScreen changed back to 0 in your registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner as shown in my 20-Jul-2023 image <here> on page 4 of this thread?
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15 hours ago, lmacri said:
...I tried your workaround (i.e., deleting the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Piriform registry keys; there were no Piriform / CCleaner files to delete in C:\Program Files, C:\Program Files (x86) or the hidden C:\Users\<myusername>\AppData since I've never installed a "regular" version of CCleaner Free or Pro on the hard drive of my Win 10 Pro machine) ...The good new is that I'm no longer seeing the "Welcome to CCleaner" startup screen (at least not for now). The bad news is that all ~ 50 registry values were re-created in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner, which is what Crni reported in their 13-Jul-2023 post <here> ....
Hi Wisewiz:
What really concerns me is that a Portable build of CCleaner should not need to create all these registry entries in the first place.
I'm beginning to wonder if this has something to do a with bug in CCleaner Portable v5.92 (rel. 11-Apr-2022) that incorrectly added a task called "CCleaner Update" in Task Scheduler that tried to run the emergency updater CCUpdate.exe (a file that normally isn't bundled with the Portable build) and added all sorts of unwanted garbage to the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner- see my 20-Jun-2022 post in Ollie_S's CCleaner 6.00/6.01 Portable Not Available and my 04-Jun-2022 post in mogli's 5.92 portable broken [download 5.91 from website]. Avast / Piriform had to pull the Portable ccsetup592.zip file and supposedly fixed the problem in CCleaner Portable v6.03 (rel. 22-Aug-2023), but there's nothing in the v6.03 release notes <here> except a cryptic "We fixed an issue that would cause a loss of settings in CCleaner Portable."
After this buggy Portable v5.92 was released and users began reporting creation of dozens of registry entries in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner Avast / Piriform employee Dave CCleaner agreed on 04-Jun-2022 in mogli's 5.92 portable broken [download 5.91 from website] that "Having the Portable edition write preferences to the registry seems like a recipe for unintended consequences...".This is just speculation on my part, but perhaps there still some remnant of that buggy Portable v5.92 build on my system that's causing these registry entries to keep re-appearing in my registry. Either that, or Avast / Piriform has deliberately made a change in a recent release of CCleaner Portable v6.1x that creates all this garbage in the registry so that they can force changes like the new "Welcome Back" screen onto users of the Portable build.
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On 19/07/2023 at 13:48, Wisewiz said:
... I got tired of fighting with the Welcome screen and the registry, so I uninstalled CCleaner Professional (it was the Portable, but I entered my license), took all of the traces out of File Explorer, deleted both Piriform keys in the registry (HKCU and HKLM) completely, and then installed the (then) latest Portable and did not enter my license key,...I launched the program about ten times (with no Welcome screen in sight) and then checked my registry and found only two Dword values (the old Cfg ones) in HKCU and only four in HKLM, no "(Cfg)Welcome Screen" among them....
Hi Wisewiz:
Partial success.
I tried your workaround (i.e., deleting the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Piriform registry keys; there were no Piriform / CCleaner files to delete in C:\Program Files, C:\Program Files (x86) or the hidden C:\Users\<myusername>\AppData since I've never installed a "regular" version of CCleaner Free or Pro on the hard drive of my Win 10 Pro machine). I then deleted all my old CCleaner Free Portable v6.13 files on my removable USB stick (except ccleaner.ini) and downloaded and unzipped a fresh copy of the latest ccsetup614.zip on my hard drive. I then cut and pasted three "essential" files (CCleaner64.exe, portable.dat and license.txt) to my removable USB stick in the same folder as my old ccleaner.ini file (this is what I always do when I update CCleaner Free Portable - I don't run automatic checks for new versions of CCleaner and don't need or want the rest of the unzipped files), and launched CCleaner64.exe a few times. The folder now looks like this:
The good new is that I'm no longer seeing the "Welcome to CCleaner" startup screen (at least not for now). The bad news is that all ~ 50 registry values were re-created in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner, which is what Crni reported in their 13-Jul-2023 post <here> . Here's a partial list of my current registry values, and note that "(Cfg)WelcomeScreen" now has a value of 0 instead of 1 since the clean reinstall, although I don't know how long that is going to last.
I'm not sure if I missed a step in your instructions, but I don't know why you only have the four registry values in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner that are shown in your 13-Jul-2023 post <here> when I still have ~ 50. I don't think the fact that I used the latest ccsetup614.zip for my clean reinstall should make a difference.
I did check at Options | Advanced and confirmed that "Save all settings to INI" is checked, although that option is greyed out and cannot be unchecked. Perhaps that's because I've always used the Free edition of CCleaner Portable - greyed out options typically mean the option can only be changed in Pro editions of CCleaner.
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2 hours ago, Wisewiz said:
Just updated my Portable install to V.14.x. I still have only four (LM) and two (CU) entries in CCleaner in my registry, and there's still no Welcome Back screen.
Hi Wisewiz:
Do you mean that you updated to CCleaner Free Portable v6.14.10584 (rel. 19-Jul-2023) and the Welcome Back screen still doesn't appear as long as the registry edit you suggested in your 24-Feb-2023 post <here> to change the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE | SOFTWARE | Piriform | CCleaner | (Cfg)WelcomeScreen from 1 to 0 is still 0?
Have you tried updating your CCleaner Pro v6.13 to 6.14 to see if the value of (Cfg)WelcomeScreen reverts back to its default value of 1?
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Windows 10 No Window but ccleaner running in task manager
in CCleaner
Posted
Hi MereFouras:
Have you recently changed the location where your CCleaner files are located? For example, have you unzipped your CCleaner files in a different folder than you usually do, or have you started using a different removable USB stick?
Try the following to troubleshoot your problem.
Unplug your removable USB stick, open Task Manager, and make sure that you right-click on each instance of your CCleaner64.exe executable and choose End Task to make sure that CCleaner is no longer loaded in memory.
Next, plug in your removable USB stick and see what drive letter your computer automatically assigns (e.g., D:\, E:\. etc.). Disk Management (Start | Windows Administrative Tools | Computer Management | Storage) shows the USB stick I use to run CCleaner Portable is always recognized as E:\ drive.
Then open a Run dialog box (Windows key + R) and enter regedit to open your Windows registry. Browse to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner and make sure the drive letter and location of your current CCleaner64.exe executable matches the path in registry values for DataFolder and ProgramFolder. Note that my CCleaner Portable files are currently located in a folder I created on my removable USB stick at E:\Portable\CCleaner.
If the path in your registry is correct then try launching CCleaner64.exe from your removable USB stick again and see if your CCleaner interface opens correctly.
I ran into a similar problem as you last week because I copied all my portable apps (including CCleaner) from an 8 GB USB 2.0 stick to a faster 16 GB USB 3.0 stick. All my other portable apps ran correctly, but CCleaner would not launch from the new USB 3.0 stick even though I could see CCleaner64.exe running in Task Manager and consuming high amounts of CPU and memory. I eventually realized that the problem occurred because the new USB 3.0 stick was assigned the drive letter D:\ when it was plugged in and my CCleaner program was now in D:\Portable\CCleaner, which did not match the expected location in my registry of E:\Portable\CCleaner. This is one of the many problems that can occur when a portable app like CCleaner creates registry entries instead of storing all necessary data in the local ccleaner.ini file (see my 21-Jul-2023 post about this in Wisewiz's Welcome back to CCleaner Professional ???).
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Just an aside , but your Windows 10 OS is currently at Build 19045.3393, which is the KB5029331 (OS Build 19045.3393) Preview released on 23-Aug-2023. Is there any specific reason why you are installing optional Preview builds for your Windows OS? These preview builds are beta versions released for early testing that could include bugs, and I generally avoid installing any Preview builds on my system.
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