nukecad

There appears to be a Startpage hijack campaign/attack ongoing, we have had a few users report the same thing happening. https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/detections/hijack-startpage I'd try first using AdwCleaner, it's free from MalwareBytes and can remove such browser hijacks. https://www.malwarebytes.com/adwcleaner If ADW does't clear it for you then I'd step it up the the Free (or paid) version of Malwarebytes itself and run a threat scan with that. A scan with Malwarebytes Free will not interfere with your usual antivirus. (If you want to run Malwarbytes Pro in real time alongside another AV that can also be done but may need some settings changes). https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download Note that the two can find different things, so to be doubly sure run both ADW and a MB Threat scan. If that still doesn't clear it from your machine then see here for advice on how to clear it manually: https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/28136-abstract-start-page-browser-hijacker (For CCleaner Browser use the 'Chrome' advice/options). That talks about "Abstract Start Page browser hijacker", but it sometimes calls itself "Perfect Start Page browser hijacker", and I wouldn't be surprised to see other name variants.

As far as I know v 2.18.073 fixed the Sonoma issue. (For most users). So if you are still having a problem then yours may be a different issue. Sorry but your console output means nothing to me, I'm not a Mac user - Have you raised a support ticket and given them those logs? You can use the form here: https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

CCleaner's Software Updater just fetches the update from the web and tells Windows to install it. So if/when you see something like that it's usually one of two things happening: The server hosting the update is not responding, or not downloading the requested update, so CCleaner is waiting for a response. (Agreed there should be a timeout on that if it happens). The update has been fetched but Windows is asking for some input during the install of the update, input which CCleaner can't give it. Something like the UAC asking you for Admin permission, or simply the update having finished and waiting for you to click 'Finish', or 'OK', or 'See release notes online'. Sometimes if that happens then if you minimise the CCleaner Window you will see a box that was hidden behind it and is waiting for you to click a button. Your screenshot shows 'Installing' so that would indicate the second one may have been the issue. As it seems that your Office was updated then I'm guessing it was probably just a button waiting for a click. There again Office 365 updates itself by default, so I'm not sure why CCleaner would be doing it unless you have updates turned off in Office?

It looks like there may be a startpage hijack campaign going on. See if the removal advice in the link here helps:

You are not showing a full screenshot there, is the CCleaner UI off the bottom of your screen? We do sometimes see that happen and it's usually either because of a Windows resoultion setting, or because the user has manually moved the CCleaner window down. That pop-up does have a cancel button to close the popup when you have finished adding websites - but if it's off the bottom of the screen when the pop-up takes focus you won't be able to move it back up and get to the button.

Please post in English (use Google translate) and explain more clearly just what it is that you are wanting to do.

If you just disable it then it will be re-enabled with the next CCleaner update, so it's better to set it to run at startup as explained above.

Microsoft release updates on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, it commonly called 'Patch Tuesday'. Most peoples computers will the apply the updates when they are next switched on on the Wednesday. Those Windows updates include needed security updates, some MS app changes, and usually a run of the "Malicious Software Removal tool" Windows 10 and 11 will automatically apply the uptates unless you have told it not to. There are options to change and delay when the updates are delivered/installed. In Win 10 go to Settings>Update and Security>Windows Update, In Win 11 it's just Settings>Windows Update, See: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/windows-update-faq-8a903416-6f45-0718-f5c7-375e92dddeb2 In the past Windows Patch Tuesday updates the MSRT has been known to get overzelous and remove CCleaner, but it's been a few years since we have seen that happen. (and if it was happening again then more people would be shouting about it). So like you I would suspect that Lenovo Vantage is doing it. You can easily stop Vantage from running automatically at startup, this video shows you 2-ways to do that,

Strange one, when you say 'automatic update' do you mean a CCleaner Update, Windows Update, or something Lenovo, Vantage maybe? If it's a Lenovo app doing it then you could try AdwCleaner from Malwarebytes which can find and get rid of such unwanted/uneeded manufacturers pre-installed software, although I'm not sure if Lenovo Vantage is one. https://www.malwarebytes.com/adwcleaner I'm not familiar with Lenovo Vantage but a quick look round online suggests that it may be difficult to get rid of once you have it on your machine. (If it won't uninstall as normal because of a permissions issue then there are ways round that, but not easy ones).

The icon in the System Tray will ony show for a moment (and be flashing) if you have CCleaner set to do a clean on startup, CCleaner runs a clean in the background and the icon closes once the clean has been done. I believe that is also what the /AUTO command line option now does, it's just a different way of triggering it on demand rather than at startup. (Originally it was /AUTOS for a 'silent' background run but I believe that got changed sometime ago and now /AUTO runs in the background) Because it's running in the background it has not loaded the user interface, so if you do click the (flashing) icon it will show an empty window. The CCleaner icon will remain in the tray (not flashing) if you have either or both Smart Cleaning or Automatically update CCleaner enabled.

Tasks sometime get 'stuck' either on or off in Windows itself, it's not just CCleaner it can happen with any task. Toggling the switch for the task off/on a few times (or enabling/disabling a few times in Task Scheduler) will usually unstick them.

CCleaner Professional will work on your computer anyway. However when you have purchased a licence then that licence account is tied to the email that you used when purchasing. To change that you will have to contact support giving both the old email that you used when purchasing and the new email. Of course if you contact them from your new email it will not be registered as a purchaser, and so it will take longer to get a reply. The contact form is: https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

It sounds that you have got a redirect/hijack from somewhere. (Probably too late now to work out just how/where from) See if this helps get rid of it: https://www.techsupportall.com/how-to-remove-search-startpage-com-homepage-removal-help/ I can't vouch for their automatic tool, I don't know it, - but the manual removal instructions look comprehensive. (CCleaner Browser is Chromium based, so the removal from Chrome is probably what you want).

I'd suspect the usual Windows reasons for not deleting them, eg. File open in something, File needs Admin permission to delete. Make a note of one of the ones it wouldn't delete (after deleting run the same search again to see which those were) and try deleting it in File Explorer, that should give you a clue what the problem is.

@renevdlee You had posted this in an old thread, the Driver Updater has changed since then (and Dave no longer works at CCleaner). I have split it out into a new thread of your own, Hopefully someone who can help will be along soon. Alternatively you could raise a support ticket. You can contact CCleaner support by emailing: support@ccleaner.com Or by using the form here: https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

Sorry I don't know exactly why that is, but I'd say it is Windows that is doing it. I can replicate it and see the same thing happening here. The Automatic Update is actually a scheduled task , so it should be shown in the Scheduled Task list along with Crash Reporter and Skip UAC. You can see that in Windows own Task Scheduler, but note that it does have one of it's triggers set to be 'At system startup'. So it may be Windows itself that is showing Smart Cleaning as a startup task for CCleaner, it's 'best guess' at a name because it's the only startup task it can find for CCleaner? Windows can often do odd things like that, as I'm sure you know.

I did say that above, (and gave a screenshot), and said that you should turn automatic updates off as well as smart cleaning if you don't want to see the icon in the system tray. Do you have them BOTH turned off now? and has the icon gone?

I see. In that case I would first try the following: Enable Smart Cleaning, for both Junk and Browsers. Close CCleaner, restart the computer. Disable Smart Cleaning, for both Junk and Browsers. Close CCleaner, restart the computer. Sometimes task settings in Windows do get stuck in one state, and toggling the task on and off like that can unstick them again. If that still hasn't cleared it then, I'd make a note of your licence key and name, and you custom settings, uninstall CCleaner, restart the computer, reinstall CCleaner. I'm sure that you are doing this already, but just to note that it should be a 'Restart' and not a 'Shutdown/reboot).

Your screenshot shows that you are asking about getting a CCleaner logo in the system tray. That is caused by either Smart Cleaning which you already have turned off, or by 'Keep CCleaner updated automatically' in Options>Updates. PS. It isn't a bug in CCleaner, it's just Windows doing what Windows does. Turn off the automatic updating (as well as smart cleaning) and that icon should no longer appear in the tray. For the other running tasks that you mention (these DON'T put an icon in the tray): The crash reporter task does run by default. It runs at a set time each day and checks if there are any CCleaner error logs to report. If there are then it sends them, if not then it waits until you next have your computer on at the same time. It does briefly flash a command window on screen when it runs, which can be puzzling/annoying. You can prevent seeing that flash window by going into Windows Task Scheduler and setting the trigger to 'Startup' rather than a set time each day. For how to do that see: https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/63929-ccleanercrashreporing-sheduled-task-issue/#comment-341743 The SkipUAC task runs if you have set it in CCleaners Options>Advanced.

It does sound like an FP, but: It may just be possible if you have previously had a malware (a worm) that had been automatically removed/deleted by Windows Security. (or your antivirus if you run a different one). You may not have even noticed that when it happened. Recovery of deleted files might then bring that deleted malware's files back - and so Windows Security saw it again, warned you, and removed/deleted it again. Which is a reassurance that your Windows Security is working as it should do. ie. WS had at some time deleted the worm files, - you then recovered them, - so WS promptly deleted them again. The second two are just what you describe as happening. What is a computer worm? https://www.malwarebytes.com/computer-worm If you are still worried then the malware checking/removal experts at Malwarebytes can/will check your machine over for free. You need to start a topic on the Malwarebytes forum, provide them with some logs, and then follow their instructions carefully. If in doubt about anything they want you to do then ask for clarification before doing it, they won't mind. If you do want to do this then start here: https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/9573-im-infected-what-do-i-do-now/ Other forum websites offer the same free checking and removal service, in fact it's often the same malware removal experts helping on multiple fora. Only work with one at once.

Can you explain more what you are meaning by that? ie. What are you doing and what are you seeing? We may be able to help here on the forum, it's what we do - for both Free and Paying customers. You can contact CCleaner support by emailing: support@ccleaner.com Or by using the form here: https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general If you have bought CCleaner Premium then you also have access to 24/7 live chat: https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/chat-services Note that the support is part of what you are paying for when you buy a CCleaner licence/subscription. They will help non-paying users too, but of course paying customers come first and Free users are at the back of the support queue for help. Often we can resolve issues more quickly here on the user forum - for both Free and Paying customers

I do hope that you do get your files back, especially if you are paying for a recovery app. I do worry though that they may just be empty filenames (zero bytes) which is why Recuva was ignoring them because there is nothing to recover other than the name. Some trial versions will show you things that have no real chance of being recovered, simply to persuade you to buy, You will only find out for sure after paying paying for the software and trying the recovery. Of course one app may be sucessful where another isn't, that's why there are different ones.

Sorry I don't know of any way of viewing a cache on Android. I have Firefox on my phone set to clear history on quit, but as I rarely quit Firefox then I just clear the history from the 3-dots menu in Firefox. You can also go to settings there and 'Delete browsing data' if you prefer. Alternatively in the 3-dots menu go to Settings>Private Browsing, set 'Open links in a private tab' then 'Add private browsing shortcut' to your homepage. Use that shortcut icon to then only ever open Firefox in private mode which will clear search and browsing history from tabs when you close them (or when you quit) so that no-one else using the device can see what you did. Personally I don't have CCleaner Android I tried it didn't like it, uninstalled it. I'll stick with it just for PC.

The simplest way to check would be to clean and then look if the history is still in the browser or not. Remember that if it is synced then anything that CCleaner clears from the device will be put straight back from the cloud by the syncing, that's what syncing does.

The 'ignored' files may also be being ignored because they are zero-bytes, or are System files. Although they are unlikely to by system files on a USB stick, You could try ticking 'Search for Zero-Byte files' in the 'Actions' to see if it will then display them.