redwolfe_98

in ccleaner's "options," try adjusting the settings, there. if ccleaner is opening automatically, you must have some automatic cleaning enabled.

here is a related article about windows defender's ransomware protection: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3665694/windows-controlled-folder-access-think-twice-before-deploying.html i read part of the article, but not all of it. my impression of what it said was that windows defender's ransomeware protection can cause a LOT of endless problems. also, that it really was only for experts who can spend a LOT of time testing it and endlessly tweaking things to try to minimize the number of problems that it causes. i think it would be a good idea to stay away from enabling windows defender's ransomeware protection, unless you are a very, very advanced expert who can spend a LOT of time testing it and a LOT of time tweaking things, to try to minimize the problems that it causes, before actually deploying it.

i am going to step away from my computer for a few minutes but i will be back.

i am thinking that you guys use the "spybot s&d" program and that it is generating a HOSTS file that is causing the problem by blocking internet-connections to "piriform.com."

no, that is a different file. the hosts file is named "hosts" are you not seeing the hosts file in the "etc" folder? if not, use windows "search" to search for the HOSTS file.

check to see if your HOSTS file is causing a problem by blocking internet-connections to "piriform.com." you can temporarily disable the HOSTS file by renaming it to "nohosts." you can change it back to "HOSTS" after you have finished troubleshooting. the HOSTS file is located at "c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc." i have said before that it might be necessary to change file explorer's view settings to "show hidden files" in order to view the HOSTS file but apparently that is not the case. it is not necessary to enable "show hidden files" in order to access the HOSTS file. if you need help with managing the HOSTS file, you can use google-search to find information about that. https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+manage+hosts+file i would say that the best way to manage the HOSTS file would be to use either notepad or notepad++ with administrator privileges to open the HOSTS file and then edit it as necessary. again, you can temporarily disable the HOSTS file by temporarily renaming it to "nohosts."

apparently the problem is being caused by the HOSTS file. if you cannot access your HOSTS file, adjust file explorer's view-settings to "show hidden files." one way to nuke the HOSTS file is to rename it to "nohosts." you can change it back to "HOSTS" after you've finished your troubleshooting.

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simply rightclick on it and select "exclude." that regkey is a known issue. it is automatically regenerated by windows after it has been removed by ccleaner.

i am not an expert. just my comment. maybe you uninstalled "dell support assist"? or, if you used "adwcleaner" from malwarebytes, often it removes software like "dell support assist"? i don't think that ccleaner's regcleaner would have removed those regkeys unless the "dell support assist" program had already been uninstalled, one way or another. i've been using ccleaner and its regcleaner for a long time and it has never caused a problem for me.

to unbrick your computer(s), try "clearing the nvram." that is done in different ways with different computers. likewise, there are ways to clear a bios password. use google-search to find information about "clear nvram" and "reset bios password," or "clear bios password." here is one related article: https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001302.htm

here is a related thread: https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/63026-ccleaner-gui-takes-too-long-to-launch-try-this/

the plus version includes some additional programs like speccy and recuva.

they were just asking, "how did 'firefox' generate files to clean when it was never run?" well, it was being run, by scheduled tasks.

the problem seems to be with the "sentry_temp" folder, within the "c:\windows\temp" folder. so, it is related to whatever program that you have installed that is using that "sentry_temp" folder. you could go to ccleaner's "options"/"exclude" and "exclude" the "sentry_temp" folder from being cleaned, assuming that the program that is using the "sentry_temp" folder is legitimate and that it is something that you want to continue using.

i forgot that mozilla added that to firefox (build 90). apparently it also is run by a "scheduled task": https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-background-updates-firefox-windows

use ccleaner's "custom clean" for removing junk files and, in the settings for "edge chromium," untick "saved form information" so that it is not cleaned.

firefox has a "scheduled task" that runs once every 24 hours, supposedly. if you haven't disabled the scheduled task from running, that could be why ccleaner finds something related to firefox to clean. here is an article about firefox's "scheduled task" that runs once every 24 hours: https://www.ghacks.net/2020/04/09/mozilla-installs-scheduled-telemetry-task-on-windows-with-firefox-75/ you can disable the firefox scheduled task, or delete it. i delete it. it would be a good idea for you to go through firefox's settings and adjust them all to your liking. the same with the microsoft edge-chromium browser and the google chrome browser. you said that you use the microsoft edge-chromium browser, so you should be aware that the microsoft edge-chromium browser has processes that run in the background, unless you have disabled them. the same goes for the google chrome browser. other than firefox's scheduled task that runs once every 24 hours, that i mentioned, i am not aware of firefox's having any processes that run in the background.

i suggest that ccleaner add the MS edge-chromium browser to ccleaner's "tools"/"browser plugins."

i think you are wrong, that the warning message pops up when one ticks the box to enable "clean other explorer MRUs." since you say that you are not seeing the same problem that i am, my guess is that that is because something carried over from an earlier version of ccleaner, which functioned properly, due to your updating ccleaner as opposed to doing a clean install of ccleaner build 6.00.9727. i think that, if you did a clean install of ccleaner build 6.00.9727, you would see the same problem that i am where the warning message, saying "windows explorer must be closed to clean the other explorer MRUs," is not popping up as it should, when ticking the box to enable "clean other explorer MRUs."

the reason that i asked you to test to see if a warning message popped up when enabling "clean other explorer MRUs" was to confirm that that was what normally happens. incidentally, the OP did mention the warning message where they said that they checked the box for "do not show me this message again." apparently the warning message popped up, for them. on my computer, with ccleaner build 6.00.9727, when i enable "clean other explorer MRUs," the warning message, saying "windows explorer needs to be closed to clean other explorer MRUs," is not popping up. this seems to be a bug, a new bug. JLS said that MRUs weren't being cleaned. i considered that maybe the two were related, that maybe the reason i was not seeing a warning message saying that explorer must be closed, when cleaning MRUs, was because MRUs were not being cleaned.

nukecad, i saw where you said, recently, that you tested some things, using older versions of ccleaner. for testing, you could run an old version of ccleaner and enable "clean other explorer MRUs" and see if a warning message doesn't pop up, saying that the computer will have to be restarted in order for the cleaning to take effect, or something like that.

i am not an expert. i could be wrong, but i think that, in the past, when i would enable "clean other explorer MRUs," a warning message would pop up, saying that the computer would have to be restarted in order for the cleaning to take effect, or something like that. i am not seeing that, now, when i enable "clean other explorer MRUs," so something is different, there. because of the warning message, saying that the computer would have to be restarted, or something like that, i always have left "clean other explorer MRUs" disabled. i don't have ccleaner set to use an ini file. i just use the normal settings.

it took me a while to understand what you were saying.

now that you have uninstalled the pro version, try installing the free version. someone found that the driver-update-backups, used by the pro version, were causing ccleaner to open slowly: https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/63026-ccleaner-gui-takes-too-long-to-launch-try-this/