dennphill

Ccleaner is really a nice program...been using it pretty much trouble-free for several years now. Though I've considered the paid rogram, don't see it as any benefit...but keeping open mind. Comment is: thanks - nice utility that's well-behaved! Question is: in running Drive Wipe...used before on occasion with no issues...but now using it on a recently failed (actually, failing) laptop drive that I recently replaced. I wanted to 'clean' it before taking a few drill bits to it before chucking in the trash, so I took it and installed it in an Ineo USB 3.0 HDD docking station I have and connected that with a USB 3.0 cable to my regular PC (not the laptop with the replaced drive). It showed up as drive M: and I first just re-formatted the drive, then decided to try and run Drive Wipe and here I ran into issues. Here's the Question: The Drive Wipe window sees the drive as an SSD - it is certainly not, it is just an old failing Toshiba 2.5 in. HDD - and Drive Wipe will not let me do multiple passes and it will not let me 'wipe the whole drive'...it only allows 'wipe free space' (which should be the whole drive since I just re-formatted it and the OS and all programs should be gone). Anyway, my best guess is since the drive is connected to my (Win 8.1) PC with this USB 3.0 connection and this docking station, that is the reason Ccleaner/Drive Wipe thinks it is an SD connected. Right? And finally, the Suggestion: I noted you recently have a window to configure Google Chrome as default browser. Caught this and un-clicked the default check in the ratio button. I think this is a bad idea to sell out to sadvertisers and hawk products like Chrome to users that may not notice. I suggest you get rid of the Google Chrome thing. thanks again for a great product...and the time to consider these issues.

Thanks again, Augeas. OK, sorry to repeat. I either have found a problem with CCleaner, or it's my 'headspace'. (I am not proud - or a particularly tekkie-geek type. :-) !! I am just trying to get any answer.) I am trying to do this 'full disk erasing' using a WinXPPro SE3 computer that has CCleaner v30.03.1366 just installed. CCleaner says MS Windows Professional SP3, AMD Athlon64 Processor 3000+, 2.0 GB RAM, NVidia GeForce 7600GT, installed. The computer has a Western Digital 250 GB drive (C:) that is the OS drive with most programs, and an installed WD G: drive for, well, backups, data, picture storage, etc. These drives (running under WinXP Pro SE3) are formatted NFTS. When I plug in the Premiertek SATA/PATA/IDE HDD to USB 2.0 adapter, the computer recognizes the drive that is connected through a USB port - and old WD 40 GB HDD that is formatted as FAT32 as a Local Drive H:. Answer to your second question: Using windows explorer, I can see all the old Win98 OS and program files and other data files that are still on this drive. I am trying to use CCleaner to wipe this entire drive. But even though I have selected properly the options to do this (multiple times now), CCleaner only is wiping the free space. I can still see all the old OS files and such the were there before running the wipe. I had another 6GB drive thqt was also FAT32 partitioned, that after the second time of trying to wipe, I finally had success - all files were erased. Answer to your first question: I could see, using windows explorer, that there were no files or directories on the drive anymore. So I took that drive out of the Premiertek adapter, drilled a few holes through the entire drive and threw it in; the trash yesterday. When i tried to do the same thing with the old system disk, I ran into the problem with CCLeaner only wiping free space. 1. If I have a computer with Windows XP and the installed HDDs are NTFS partitioned, and I connect (using a USB adapter) an older drive that is FAT32 partitioned that I want to erase totally, is there a problem with CCleaner doing this Full Disk Wipe? I would think the answer is no, but this is well over my technical level of experience. 2. This seems a waste of time, but I suppose I could set up the H:drive to have a recycle bin, manually delete all files and files from directories and finally all directories and then run Ccleaner on the recycle bin. (Sounds stupid to me, but maybe...?) Alternatively, I suppose I could re-format the USB H: drive (under FAT32..or convert it to NTFS and then format it) - this I know does not wipe files like I want - and then possibly run CCleaner with wipe free space...or I may find that it would then finally Wipe All Data. Waddyathink? Thanks anyway for the attention. V/r, dennphill Notice: Your mouse has been moved. Windows will now restart so this change can take effect.

Hi, Alan - No interface problem. Item is recent pruchase from Mwave (Mwave.com Mwave Part No: AA98891): Premiertek SIDE-0002 USB 2.0 to 2.5" / 3.5" SATA / IDE Hard Drive Adapter(Cable Adapter /Converter), with Auto Backup Button, Full 2A Power Supply. It's a recular windows PC item used (like an external disc enclosure, but no enclosure, just the wiring connection) to connect various intenal HDDs (SATA, IDE, etc. to the computer via USB port. Drives show up as "X:local drive" or similar. Not rocket science; no software or anything needed to use this device. I should be able to to have Ccleaner work on any attached drive. Thanks for the attention. OK, it's 4 hours later - two iterations trying to use Ccleaner again(I guess I should be calling it CCleaner, right?). Anyway, using Simple Erase - 1-pass - it only takes about 1-1/2 hours. Here's what happens: I select the option "ENTIRE DRIVE (All data will be erased)" and in the pop-up window that ells me to type "ERASE", I do that, click OK and the program procedes to "wipe free space" for the hour-and-a-half, then the 2window for wiping stays open, with the dropdown menu saying "ENTIRE DRIVE (All data will be erased)" still, but if I just hit the WIPE button again, I get the same pop-up menu telling me to type "ERASE", I do that, click OK, then it proceeds to just wipe the free space again. THE PROGRAM IS NOT WORKING. (I want to really love this program (well, it's free!) but if it doesn't work, I cannot give it a satisfactory rating on CNET, ezine, or forums on Tom's Hardware or Anand's sites.) It probably wipes disk space well - haven't owned it long enough to find out if registry maintenance and other features work well, but if I can't get it to do a simple disk wipe, when it is set up to do that, well, I am a frustrated user. Thanks for the attention (and any suggestions). V/r, dennphill >>Good judgment comes from experience, Experience comes from poor judgment.

Thanks for the reply, Augeas! :-) Using Win XP, with the drive I want to delete connected through a Premiertek device that hooks a IDE/PATA (or a SATA) drive to USB 2.0 port on my WinXP computer, and using newly D/Led Ccleaner v3.03, I select TOOLS, then DRIVE WIPER, then, from the dropdown window (default is FREE SPACE ONLY) I select "ENTIRE DRIVE (All data will be erased)", and under SECURITY (default is SIMPLE OVERWRITE (1 pass), I select "DOD 5220.22-M (3 passes)". Hitting the WIPE button brings up a pop-up that tells me that to procede I have to type the word "ERASE". I do this, and then it begins to go to 'format' and (several hours later) I the program completes, but data is still on the disk, and the Ccleaner window says that I've successfully wiped free space - not what I wanted to do. I want to wipe all data and have a clean formatted disk (FAT32!). The disk I first first successfully erased (after the seond try) was a secondary HDD that had been operating under Win98SE, FAT32. This second one that will not get more than the free space wiped - and now I've tried three times so far! - is the old primary system disk with WIN98SE installed, also FAT 32. (I should not think that whether it is FAT32 or NTFS should make a difference. I don't think whether it is a data or backup drive, or the primary drive with the OS installed, it should make a difference either. I am trying to overwrite data before destroying these old 6 GB and 40 GB Western Digital drives. I also have two other old 6 GB and a 20 Gig drives, I was planning on also doing the same thing to.) Whether I want 1 pass (Simple overwrite) or 2 passes (DOD security) or a Gutman cleaning, it shouldn't make any difference to Ccleaner, I would think, except for how long it takes. Thanks for any advice or suggestons. I am beginning to think it's either a problem with me (missing something obvious) or there's simply an issue with Ccleaner. V/r, dennphill

OK, I'm new to Ccleaner. Previously used Window Washer....mostly on an old Win98SE machine. Upgraded to a new Win7 PC in my home office, and relegated an older WinXP PC to occasional duty downstairs. I decided Ccleaner at free was better than upgrading WW at $29.99 (or even at upgrade of $19.99). I am trying to erase totally the data on the old HDDs on the old Win98 machine using the WinXP computer, but after one successfull wipe (totally), I find that all I can do on the second HDD is get Ccleaner to wipe the free space! Actually on the first drive erase, even though I thought I initally selected wipe all, not just wipe free space, (and I had to enter the "ERASE" in the pop-up window), after 3-4 hours (for a 8 GB drive), I saw all the files were still there(!), and I re-did it all again taking care to select TOOLS, DRIVE WIPER, then selecting on drop-down menu WIPE ENTIRE DRIVE (and entering "ERASE" again), and 4 hours later finally got that drive wiped. OK, that was the first one. The second one I am trying to erase, however after three tries, it only (again and again) wipes the free space). I select Wipe entire drive, and it goes to format for a while (hours), then it proceeds to wipe just the free space. I've done this twice aready and will let it try to do this over night. And I have two additional drives I need to erase. I see my life going away in 4 hour chunks and I'm getting nowhere - just older. Any help? Am I doing something wrong? I am accessing these drives I want to wipe with a USB thingie that plugs into the old PATA drives, powers em up, and connects to the computer via USB 2.0. What's wrong with Ccleaner? thanks, if somebody can help me.