CCleaner Keeps Deleting The Winsock Catalog

Compliments on a useful application, which at the moment is causing me a headache.

Within the last two weeks, CCleaner v4.19.4867 seems to be deleting the winsock catolog, when I run the Cleaner, not the registry tool. I must then reset the winsock catalog, so my computer can access the internet (winsock is the list of instructions which allows my computer to establish a network connection). Then my browser works well, until I run CCleaner again. It has never done this before.

This problem began about the time I downloaded the current version of CCleaner.

My impression is that CCleaner shouldn't remove anything that would stop my computer from connecting to the internet.

Could it be that CCleaner doesn't work on an antiquated machine like mine?

Firefox 33.1

Bitdefender 1.0.21.1099

XP3 Home

AMD Sempron 2500+

3 GB RAM

NVIDIA GeoForce FX 5200

CenturyLink C1000Z

There is no way this should happen. If you click on Analyze only (not Clean) and look through the list does anything stand out? Don't forget you can highlight each entry and right click on it for a detailed look.

Do you have monitoring turned on in CCleaner?

Just to reinforce a little, I am running very similar setup, doesn't happen here.

If there is something I can do to help diagnose, you or Hazelnut say so & I’ll try it.

Windows XP Home Edition 32-bit SP3

AMD Athlon 64 X2

4.00GB RAM

ASUSTek Motherboard

ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series

Realtek AC’97 Audio

Firefox 32.2

Avast!

SpywareBlaster

CCleaner runs fine on WinXP so the OS isn't the issue. Although I could imagine a possible malware infection causing this, i.e.; you run CCleaner which "may delete some file the malware has stored in say a temp folder" and it causes your Internet connection to fail.

To rule out malware look at item #10 in the forum rules and choose a malware removal forum/site that will help you for free:

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showannouncement=15&f=13

Something else to try (although I don't know if it will remedy the issue):

1. Make sure you aren't using any unofficial add-ons to CCleaner that add more cleaning.

2. Restore the default settings by going into: Options -> Advanced, then click Restore default settings

Thank you all, for your timely and courteous replies.

I ran Malwarebytes, updated, which found and quarantined the following:

Trojan.Agent, C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\AIH.714e7278dae86a3ba9d9d86878394814b68f93ae\gtbcheck.exe,[f0194df14f2d0c2a479d9d4b99681ae6]

I am not using add-ons to CCleaner, and have restored to default settings, including monitoring, which was not running before.

After clicking "Analyze Only", and highlighting individual entries, I did not see anything out of the ordinary, nor any references to "winsock", so I allowed cleaning to commence.

I have re-started between each of these actions.

My problem still exists, that after running CCleaner, my machine cannot find the internet after restarting, until I enter "netsh winsock reset catolog" into "Command Prompt."

I'm using Spyware Blaster, updated to the current version.

If nothing else, I have learned to control my impulse to throw my computer out the window.

it's not ideal but if you untick all CC boxes and run it, to confirm winsock is not effected, then one by one, re-tick a box, run CC again and test your web connection each time until you hit the culprit causing your grief.

that will pinpoint the area in CC that can either remain unticked in future runs or it will give you an avenue to chase down a better solution.