nukecad

The Moderators here are not employees. We are knowledgeable members who have shown a willingness, and more importantly an ability, to help others. If such members are good, and/or if a new member of the moderation team is wanted/needed then they will get invited to do a bit extra to help people. So although we appear on the list of 'staff' we are not employees. We do have a bit of a 'more listened to' voice though and we we can encourage changes. At times we moderators may not agree with company policy, to give credit to Piriform we can do that on the open forum. But in the end it is their company and so their decision.

OK you have a storage full issue. TBH it probably means that you need a bigger Hard Drive, or a second hard drive But let's see what can be done before that. The first thing to say is untick 'System Files' in Duplicate Finder. The system often needs certain files to be duplicated to work properly, if you delete those system duplicates then if you are lucky Windows will put them straight back. Following on from that, have a read of the second part of this about files that come back after cleaning: Personally though I think that you just don't have enough free space left on your storage drive(s), so whatever you clean and get back to free space will just quickly fill up again. Can you tell us how much free space you have on your drive(s)? In File Explorer right-click on the drive and select 'Properties' to see how much is used and how much still free.

I guess that it was the 'Recent Files' list then. Good to hear it's now as you want it. Just for general info: Health Check doesn't clear the Wordpad recents list, Custom Clean will clear it if you have it ticked there.

Please give more details. Is it finding any drivers to update? If it is finding some to update then what is happening when you try to update them? What Windows version are you using? What antivirus are you using if not Windows Defender?

Just a quick test, but it always defaults to "Documents" on opening, regardless of where it had last opened from or saved to the last time you closed it.

Wordpad is a single document application, you can only have one document open at once in Wordpad. You save Wordpad documents if you want to keep them, if you haven't saved then when you close wordpad it asks if you want to save your work. If you close it without saving then the work is lost. So where are you saving your recipe, etc. files to that they are dissapearing from? CCleaner wouldn't normally remove wordpad files unless they are saved in a location where they shouldn't really be saved. Or do you mean something else, and not files dissapearing?

I did some testing, but I cannot replicate your issue here. I installed an old version of Irfanview, and the previous version of Recuva Software Updater was then showing me Zoom, Irfanview, and Recuva as having updates available. I unticked Zoom and Irfanview, leaving just Recuva ticked. (The button changes from 'Update all' to just 'Update'). I clicked Update and only Recuva was updated. Close and reopen CCleaner, back to Software Updater. I unticked Zoom, leaving just Irfanview ticked, I clicked Update and only Irfanview was updated. To finish I ticked Zoom, clicked Update (it was 'Update All' as Zoom was now the only one left) and it updated without problem. So all behaved for me as it should do. Your situation does seem odd though, you say that: I can understand if Software Updater is not able to update something because of connection or permission issues. But it shouldn't try to update things that are unticked. Unless I am misunderstanding what you are saying? Is it actually trying to update the unticked softwares? or is it only trying to update one or more others that you still have ticked?

Ah, so it is Software Updater that you are using and not Health Check. That '60 days' would have been v6.09 (February) when 50 more softwares were added to what it can update. https://www.ccleaner.com/knowledge/ccleaner-v6-09-10300 I know what you mean about ignore, but I'd guess that unticking it, or not running Software Updater at all, would be considered the ignore option. Are you saying that as well as unticking those 5 there are others that you do want to update, and so you are clicking on the 'Update' button? And then it tries to update even the unticked ones too? I only have Zoom of those on your list, and it is showing an available update here. I might see later if I can roll something else back and do some testing with the ticks/unticks in Software Updater.

That's a generic message that you still see in some parts of CCleaner, and it's inaccurate. It doesn't actually mean that you are 'not connected' but simply that a connection to the target server could not be made for whatever reason. Being offline is only one of the possible reasons. It's also possible that the server itself is down, or it could possibly be that your AV/Firewall is blocking that particular connection. They have changed that generic message in various places in CCleaner to say that it's a particular server that can't be contacted, but they haven't changed them all yet. For example they have changed it in the Health Check software updater, but not in the stand alone Software Updater yet:

I assume that you are talking about Health Check which in the Pro version automatically runs a software update check. (There's also a seperate Software Updater in Tools, if you don't touch it won't run). I'm not sure just which boxes you are unticking? If Health Check Pro automatically finds software to be updated then you have to click on 'Security' in the scan results and untick the boxes there if you don't want any update that has been found. And yes, occasionally a software update will hang if it needs an extra input from the user which Health Check can't give it. The most common one is if you are not running CCleaner in a Windows Administrator account and so Windows asks for extra permission to install the update which CCleaner can't give it. The simple solution is to use Custom Clean and not Health Check. Custom Clean does not do an automatic software update, so it won't bother you unless you run Health Check Pro or the Software Updater in Tools. To set Custom Clean as the default that CCleaner shows you change Options>Settings>CCleaner Home Screen PS. What software is it that CCleaner is trying to update for you? If we know that then someone can double check that there isn't a problem with the update itself.

Fair enough, and good that there is no issue there. It was worth checking from what you described with Windows startup hanging if the external drives are connected. That hanging on startup usually indicates an issue with the computers Boot configuration, (or possibly with the drive itself, or maybe with certain files in the drives root directory). This explains more, be aware that the 2 main checks/fixes involve accessing the BIOS/UEFI and making changes in there. https://helpdeskgeek.com/help-desk/unable-to-boot-windows-with-external-hard-drive-attached/ That doesn't realy explain though why CCleaner would also hang but only if/when the external drive is connected, although I suspect that's just a symptom of a wider issue? As far as I know the only thing that CCleaner would normally access to clean on an external drive is the Recycle bin on the drive. And even a corrupted recycle bin doesn't prevent Windows from booting. For the CCleaner the next thing I would try is, with the external drive connected, run Custom Clean rather than Health Check. Do an Analyze first, if that completes then 'Run CCleaner'. If Custom Clean also freezes then it should say at the top of the results window what it was scanning/cleaning when it froze. That information could help point to where the issue lies. You could also try the Windows built in Disc Clean-up, being sure to select the external drive to clean. If CCleaner is getting stuck on clearing a particular file then Disc Clean-up can often delete that file and clear the blockage. Then try Health Check again. However as I say i think that it's a wider issue and not CCleaner itself. Of course it could also be 2 seperate issues that just happen to look similar because each only happens if/when a drive is connected by USB. PS Is there anything out of the ordinary about the external drives?

For recovering from a crashed drive you should set Recuva to scan for non-deleted files. Normally most people want to scan for and recover files that have been (accidentally) deleted and ignore all the non-deleted files that are still there so don't need to be recovered. But when the files have become lost in something like a crash (or a reformat) they have never been marked as deleted, and because there is no deleted mark Recuva sees them as still being 'live' and ignores them. So you have to set Recuva to do the opposite to what it normally does, that is set it to ignore the deleted files and find the non-deleted ones instead. See this for how to do that: https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/360048890271-Recovering-files-from-damaged-or-reformatted-disks-with-Recuva#to-set-recuva-to-recover-files-from-damaged-or-reformatted-disks--0-1

I understand. Unfortunately there hasn't been a Recuva portable on the builds page for some years now. I've sent you a PM.

It sounds as is something has gone awry with your USB connection or controller(s), particularly as you say that Windows itself will not start if devices are connected to USB. It isn't common but it does happen. I assume that you have tried a different USB port, checked the ports/plugs for dirt, checked the cables, etc.? I'd look at the USB controller drivers. Right-click the Windows icon on the taskbar and select Device Manager. Look at the USB controllers and see if there is a yellow warning triangle next to one or more. (There isn't one here, this is just to show where they are). If there is a warning then personally the way I'd fix it is to right-click the problem controller and "Uninstall device". Don't worry it will be put back by the next steps. Next 'Restart' Windows. When the computer restarts, Windows should find the device and reinstall a new copy of the latest driver for it. If for some reason Windows does not reinstall it automatically on a 'Restart' then use 'Check for Updates' which should then find it. Note that if you do use 'Check for Updates' it may find the driver as an 'Optional Update' which you will then have to click to install. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I actually had to do that process myself last week for the Intel Trusted Execution Engine Interface driver which had gone bad and was showing a yellow triangle in Device Manager, I did need to 'Check for Updates' after the restart, and it was found as an 'Optional Update'. I had first noticed there was a problem when Windows suddenly wouldn't give my external USB backup HDD a drive letter when I plugged it in, but why that particular Intel driver should cause a USB HDD issue I have no idea.

We are not trying to "hack" anything or "bypass security". (I wouldn't help anyone trying to do that). But if your system isn't working as it should to allow installs then I would have thought you would have wanted to get it working properly? If however this is something such as a works machine where software installs are not allowed by company policy then using portable versions will also (usually) be prohibited by that policy.

So it's a permissions issue that prevents you installing anything. Is this your own computer, works computer, university computer, something else ...? What Windows version is it running? Are you logged in as an Administartor account or a standard user account?

You hadn't said that you had lost the one that you had before. Can you say more about why you can't simply install Recuva on this machine? If it's because you are running Windows S mode and so can only install apps from the Microsoft Srore then Recuva is available on the MS store https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/recuva/XP8LGT18LSS4QS As are Speccy and CCleaner itself: https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/speccy/XPFFT31D40MGFQ https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/ccleaner/XPFCWP0SQWXM3V If there is another reason why you can't install apps then we may be able to suggest some other way if we know what that reason is?

You stated in your first post of this thread that you already have Recuva portable. So you can use that - it's portable. Portable just means that it is meant to be carried round from machine to machine on a USB stick so that there is no need to install it on each machine. If you want it on the machine itself rather than on a stick then just copy/paste it onto the machine, it's portable so it doesn't need to be installed.

It sounds as if Windows may be seeing the card reader as being idle (even though it is being accessed) and so putting it into sleep mode; and once it's in sleep mode Recuva can no longer access it to complete the scan of the card. You sometimes see that with long scans on external drives. There should be a setting to stop Windows doing that and never put it to sleep, but I'm not sure where it would be for a SD card. "Devices and Printers" maybe, or perhaps in "Device Manager"? Look for the card reader and right-click it to access the properties/settings.

Thanks @APMichael I'd forgotten about that bug in Winapp2. (well TBH I'd thought that it had been fixed).

If CCleaner is hung then you can usually close it by using the 'X' at the top right of the CCleaner window. (You could also open Task Manager, right-click on ccleaner there and 'End Task'). That should save you having to do a restart. Is this CCleaner Free version or the Pro version trial? Which one it is could help point to why it is hanging for you. Also please tell us what version of Windows you have, and if you are using an Ativirus other than Windows Security then what that AV is and what version it is. To try and work out what may be happening and so fiix it for you:- Firstly try running an 'Analyze' in Custom Clean instead of using Health Check. If the Analyze completes then click 'Run CCleaner'. If Custom Clean also hangs then please post a screenshot of it in the hung state. If Custom Clean runs OK, and if you have the CCleaner Pro trial, then try disconnecting from the Internet before running Health Check. If Health Check runs without the internet connection then that will help point to the issue. Let us know how those go and we can advise what to do next.

When you say that passwords are being deleted do you actually mean that you are being logged out of websites? I ask because we often get a post saying that saved passwords have been deleted when they haven't been. It's a missunderstanding. On further investigation the saved passwords are still there, the user is simply cleaning the browser session and so being logged out of websites. If you are being logged out of websites, but don't want to be logged out of them, then untick 'Session' for Chrome so that the session doesn't get cleared.

We don't usually bother. But I'll change the title to better reflect the issue and that it's solved.

Make sure that it is not ticked here: (Wipe Free Space is not something that is usually needed. It's an advanced option for particular situations. It takes a long time to do so you don't want to be doing it everytime that you run a Custom Clean). If you already have that unticked then please explain more just what it is that you are seeing happening.

You don't say if you are using Health Check or Custom Clean? Health Check is the 'simple' option for non-advanced users, it does a basic clean and removes the junk that most people would want removed. Health Check does it's own thing and there are very few things that you can change in Health Check. Custom Clean is for more advanced users and can be customised as to what it cleand by deafult simply by ticking/unticking boxes. There are also Include and Exclude options where you can tell CCleaner to clean things that it wouldn't normally do, or to leave certain things alone that it would normally clean. https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/360048231491-Select-files-and-folders-to-clean-with-CCleaner-for-Windows#include-files-or-folders-in-the-custom-clean-process--0-4 https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/360047757492-Choose-files-you-don-t-want-to-clean-with-CCleaner-for-Windows#what-excluding-a-file-folder-or-registry-key-means--0-1 More advanced users can even add more tickboxes to Custom Clean, for cleaning apps that are not included as standard options in Custom Clean. To do that they use the Winapp2 community extension. https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/32310-winapp2ini-additions/ It is for advanced users, so not everyone would want/need to add it to their Custom Clean.