nukecad

Did you run the Registry Cleaner in CCleaner? If yes then did you make a backup when it asked you? Can you open the Start Menu, if so then your first step would be to do a 'Restart' of your computer.

Andavari's method works to 'hide' the search engines in Firefox itself, but it doesn't actualy remove them and CCleaner will still see them. It's just a quirk that happens with Firefox. it doesn't affect the running of your computer. PS. I'll edit that whitespace out of your original post seeing as you didn't mean it to be there.

As said above it is a system file that Windows needs (Whether it is 64 bit or 32 bit, Windows needs it):

Presumably it's Firefox, this is a known issue with the Firefox search engine extensions. They are links to the browsers default search engines and are not a problem, if you don't use them then they don't load the search engine and don't take up any resources. CCleaner is doing what it is expected to do and disabling the search engine extension links when you tell it to - the issue is that, since about Firefox v75, Firefox is simply re-enabling them again as soon as you launch Firefox. There is nothing that CCleaner can do to stop Firefox from doing that, there is nothing that anyone other than Mozilla can do about it, shout at Mozilla (or just ignore the extensions).

As you are running only CCleaner's Health Check almost everyday we can rule out that CCleaner is causing your problem. It will clean the same things everytime that you run it. It wouldn't suddenly do something different every three or four months. (Unless you suddenly run the reg cleaner or something else). Those Google accounts are not something that CCleaner Health Check would remove, and it certainly wouldn't remove Lastpass passwords. It's the Lastpass problem that is the more worrying here, from a security point of view.. Sorry, but I don't know what is causing your google account list and Lastpass passwords to be removed. But you can be pretty sure that it isn't CCleaner that is doing it. My best advice is to have your machine checked over for free by an expert. We are not allowed to do that here but we can point you to where to get it done, they mainly help to remove malware and viruses but do check for other problems as well. See section 10 of the forum rules here for six websites who will check your machine for you and fix any problems, just follow their instructions to the letter: https://community.ccleaner.com/announcement/15-forum-rules%20/ The guys and gals who do this work usually work on more than one of those sites so which you use is up to you. Your machine may well be clean of malware, but when strange things are happening it's a good idea to have it checked over.

Where were these folders located on your disc? As Dave rightly says CCleaner would not touch a users normal files or folders. But I have seen one case where a user was storing all their files under the recycle bin for some strange reason. Obviously emptying the bin deleted all their files. TBH what you are describing sounds more like the actions of a ransomware infection gradually encrypting your files over time. (or possibly some other malware) Have any strangely named files/folders been appearing on your disc? (Change File Explorers 'View' to show hidden files). You may want to run a scan with something like Malwarebytes to make sure you are not infected. Or have your machine checked over for free by an expert. We are not alowed to do that here but can point you to where to get it done - see section 10 of the forum rules here for six websites who will check your machine for you: (Only use one at any time or the help may start to clash, many of the experts work on more than one of these sites so which you choose is up to you). https://community.ccleaner.com/announcement/15-forum-rules%20/ Your machine may well be clean, but when strange things start to happen it's a good idea to have it checked over.

We all have our own opinions, and respect each others opinions, mine is based on the official Microsoft stance on Reg Cleaners and Win 10. I don't say reg cleaners should never be used with Win 10. Just that they shouldn't be used blithely, and certainly not in the expectation that it will 'speed up' your computer. The advice in Nergal's signature for using a reg cleaner is good advice. But Windows has changed a lot since the early 2000's and reg cleaning is not usually necessary with Windows 10. Unlike Andavari I don't see Microsoft blacklisting ALL reg cleaners, because they are still useful tools when used correctly in the right circumstances. I do see them blacklisting the more troublesome or aggressive ones, and as we have seen they sometimes regard CCleaner's reg cleaner as troublesome - that is not because it's bad, simply because it is so widely distributed and often used when not needed. Let's face it, most CCleaner users wouldn't even have a reg cleaner if it wasn't included with CCleaner.

'Security' in Health check is the Software Updater for certain apps that are installed on your machine, it needs to access a server to check version numbers. Just to make sure first - what version of CCleaner are you using? (There was a bug in some earlier versions where in certain circumstances it would say 'server not found' even when it was found). If/when it genuinely can't access the server that's normally because of a Firewall setting, or because your antivirus is blocking the connection. Have you changed your firewall settings? What antivirus are you using and what version is it at? What Windows version do you have?

CCleaner for Android is a seperate licence that is only available through the google play store. You should be able to use the same licence on Windows or Mac, but not on Android. https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028350711-How-many-computers-can-I-install-CCleaner-Professional-Plus-on-#ccleaner-products--0-2 Complain to google about their licencing policy. (You won't get anywhere, they listen to money not users).

One interesting thing I have noticed. Because I'm tethering through the phone on a limited data plan I've been keeping a daily record of mobile data usage. Looking back through that record, whilst I have been using the Phone as a mobile hotspot since the start of February its been clocking up 1.5x to 2x extra data usage compared to USB tethering. I'm not doing anything different, nobody else can use that wifi except my laptop, so I'm wondering just why that extra use should be. Maybe it's other passing phones trying to connect to the mobile wifi and so sending data back and forth? That doesn't sound right but I do live in the towns market place, so even in lockdown there are a lot of passers by. I may test that by turning on the hotspot, not connecting myself, and seeing what it does to data usage.

I'm not sure what you are meaning by "I lose the google list off accounts"? Do you mean that you are being logged out of websites? Can you tell us if you are using Health Check or Custom Clean in CCleaner? And it always helps it you tell us your Windows version and which antivirus you use. How often are you running CCleaner? If running CCleaner doesn't normally cause a problem then it wouldn't suddenly do something different (unless you told it to). CCleaner would not touch Lastpass. If something is deleteing your Lastpass master password then you may have a bigger problem.

I believe that you need to download the FREE version of each one seperately and then go to Help/Options, click 'Upgrade to Pro' and enter your 'Bundle' licence into them. That way you only download/install the ones you want to use. https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy/download https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva/download https://www.ccleaner.com/defraggler/download eg. for Defraggler you would install the FREE version and then go to Help>About and click the Upgrade to Pro:

Are you using Health Check or Custom Clean? You can't change what Health Check cleans as standard, but can change what Custom Clean does. You can set Custom Clean to be your default screen by changing Options>Settings>CCleaner Home Screen. Once using Custom Clean you have to find the files associated with the app and 'Exclude' them. In CCleaner set Options>Advanced to show the File List rather than the Advanced Report In Custom Clean right click each of the entries that you currently have ticked and 'Analyze' from the popup menu. Then look at the files found for anything obviously related to the app. When you see a file that is obviously related right click on it and 'Add to Exclude list'. Go through them all one -by one (except the browsers) because there may be related files in more than one category. (You can do all the ticked categories at once by using the big blue 'Ananyze' button, that would include the browsers and could give a lot of files to look through at once though). Once Excluded Custom Clean will leave those files alone. (Health Check will still clean them).

It sounds as if it's being blocked by an AntiVirus or firewall. You say this is a work computer, and that you "purchased CCleaner through work". Is this a works networked computer connected to a server, do you have an IT department?

Good to hear that you found the files to Exclude and sorted it out. When you find the specific file if you could post what/where it is (replacing your name with [user name] of course) it may save others having to search in future. I don't know why photoshop is not in the standard CCleaner. That's a Piriform management/developer decision. Obviously they can't include everything or CCleaner would get too big and too slow. There is a solution for that though: The 'winapp2' addon. Winapp2 adds cleaning for most apps out there, so if using it you should 'trim' it to remove things that are not installed on your computer or as said above cleaning gets too slow. It's not developed or supported by Piriform it's a user developed tool, it is 'approved' by Piriform and has it's own user development/support thread of this forum. It's meant for advanced users, you may want to take a look: https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/32310-winapp2ini-additions/ Photoshop cleaning is in winapp2 but I'm not sure that adding winapp2 would stop standard CCleaner from clearing your fonts link though.

@Gregarious Greg What you describe with the Purchase,/Register/Cancell screen is what you see if you you click on 'Upgrade to Pro' from the Options>About screen. (You also see it if you have used the Pro installer download when not already registered). Are you saying that you are seeing it when clicking from somewhere else? To your install problem: That would seem to be the key to why you are having a problem. It indicates that there was a problem with the internet download, or that something on your computer is blocking the installation. To find out which it is then follow Andavari's suggestion and download the installer from the 'builds' page he links. I suggest downloading the 'Slim' installer. It's the same CCleaner just a different installer. If that downloads OK then double click on 'CCsetup577', or 'CCsetup577_slim' if using the slim, to install CCleaner free. If it downloads but won't then install that indicates that something is blocking the install and we can sort out what that is. In your next post could you tell us what Windows version you have (if it's Win 10 then which version of Win 10) and what antivirus you are using. PS. The reason you are not seeing the '.exe' on the files is simply because you have the View settings in File Explorer set to not show any file extensions.

To answer your question first: While the browser is not closed then it will be building up junk files on the system, even if not being used browsers are doing things like pre-loading in the background. If you have Smart Cleaning enabled the that junk will be cleaned if/when it builds up to the junk limit specified. For CCleaner Free that limit is fixed , with CCleaner Pro you can change it to whatever you want. So to solve your issues simply turn off Smart Cleaning and it won't clean anything so won't notify you of anything. Everything else that you are asking for is already there on the Smart Cleaning page. Turning Smart Cleaning on/off, and turning on/off the notifications that you are complaining about can both be done in CCleaner Free. With CCleaner Pro you can set everything that you ask for above. You can set the level of junk that builds up before Smart Cleaning cleans, with extra options as to whether it gives you an on screen notification or not. (In the screenshot below it's set to clean when junk builds up to 1 GB, clean with no notification) Automatic browser cleaning cleans a browser when you close it - if you set it to do so. You can customize it for each browser you use to clean on closing or not, notify you or not. You can set Junk and Browser cleaning on or off independently, so you can have one but not the other. Or you can turn Smart Cleaning off altogether.

There is a new update just out, as to why you are being informed have a read of this: https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052107891-Why-have-I-been-updated-to-CCleaner-v5-74-#1-to-ensure-your-pc-gets-the-deepest-and-safest-clean--0-2 Also you will find in todays release notes: Of course if you don't update then you won't get that fix.

Health Check does it automatically but you can stop it as you know. You have to stop it everytime you run Health Check though, you can't change the Health Check default settings. (If you could change them then it would become just a different version of Custom Clean). If you change to using Custom Clean instead of Health Check then the Software Updater won't even run unless you run it yourself from Tools. You can set Custom Clean as the default when you open CCleaner by going to Options>Settings and changing the 'CCleaner Home Screen'

Don't know the answer, just letting you know I removed that other post in the wrong forum for you.

LOL, I got the same thing with Irfanview last time it had an update available. CCleaner installed the 32 bit rather than updating the 64 bit. The staff know about it.

When you say opening do you mean actually showing the CCleaner window on screen? Or do you mean giving you a prompt to clean or a notificatification that it has cleaned? The first shouldn't happen, the second could happen depending on your Smart Cleaning settings. If it's the second then you can either turn off Smart Cleaning altogether, or change the option so that it just cleans junk without showing you any notification. You can also set a level for junk before it will be cleaned. You can do the same for browser cleaning, turn it off for all, or set different options for each browser:

Oh well, it was a first guess because Registry Cleaner will clear font references. Just to be sure here, you are certain that it is CCleaner that is removing them? From my reading it seems that the favourite fonts not working as it should and losing it's 'stars' is not an uncommon problem in photoshop. Assuming that it is CCleaner removing them: I take it that the fonts themselves are not being removed and having to be reinstalled, just the favourite links to them are going missing? In which case it's a matter of finding out where photoshop is saving those links and then making them (or the folder) an exclude in CCleaner. From a quick online search I believe that it's in the folder- C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop <version>\CT Font Cache\ See: https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-fonts-photoshop.html (You will have to turn on 'hidden items' in File Explorers View menu to see the 'AppData' folder and below in File Explorer). So make that folder an Exclude in Custom Clean: https://www.ccleaner.com/docs/ccleaner/using-ccleaner/excluding-files-folders-and-registry-entries Note that Excludes, and Includes, only work in Custom Clean, Health Check ignores them. Alternatively, (or if Excluding that folder doesn't work): In CCleaner set Options>Advanced to show the File List rather than the Advanced Report In Custom Clean right click each of the entries that you currently have ticked and 'Analyze' from the popup menu. Then look at the files found for anything obviously photoshop related. When you see a file that is obviously photoshop related right click on it and 'Add to Exclude list'. Go through them all (except the browsers?) because there may be photoshop stuff in more than one category.

Mmm, it could well be those background tasks that are building up caches, etc. and slowing things down if they are not cleaning themselves. CCleaner (or Disk Cleanup) won't be able to clean them while they are running in the background. A restart may well clean them up. If you have multiple instance of the same thing running at the same time then it could be fighting against itself? Obviously it's not our place to say what you should have running on your machine, but do you realy need them all? (I only have 2 enabled in Startup, and 3 in Scheduled tasks). I'm not sure what all those you list are but (my view): Windows Update will take care of any driver updates needed. Software Updaters are marginal use - do you need to update softwares that are on your machine but that you don't use often? Anything you do use often should prompt you itself when there is an update available or at least have a 'check for updates' button. Skip_UACs are only useful for apps that you open regularly, if you are not opening them that often then what's an extra click or two? If you want to cut them down then I suggest you start by using AdwCleaner from Malwarebytes. It's designed to remove unwanted/uneeded bloat, stuff that came bundled from the machines manufacturer, stuff you've downloaded, and even some of the Microsoft bloat. After scanning (it's very fast) it gives you a list of what it found so you can chose whether to keep it or junk it. Take a look for yourself: https://www.malwarebytes.com/adwcleaner/

I found the problem, the Remote NDIS Network Device had gone totally missing from Device Manager. After a bit of head scratching on how to get it back I reset the phone (actually I took the battery out to force a full reset), plugged it back into the laptop USB and turned on tethering. Bingo, a new, phone specific, RNDIS in device manager and USB tethering working again.