Ccleaner shows Google Chrome although it's not installed! Why?

CCleaner for Windows CCleaner Windows Bug Reporting
1

It's a mystery why free Ccleaner 5.35 recently starting showing Google Chrome in its lists of apps to be cleaned...

I've NEVER installed Google Chrome browser on this W8.1 Pro computer. Firefox is my default browser along with native IE11. I've searched and there no remnant on this machine--in the registry, or in any likely location. I ran the Google Chrome removal tool and it found nothing. I also uninstalled/reinstalled Ccleaner.

Yet apparently it's seeing something... Google Chrome still appears; and when I ran Ccleaner, it deleted 1 Google Chrome cookie.

2

You have Chrome installed and just don't know it, many programs use Chrome, Steam for example uses it, so if you have Steam you have then have Chrome registry files showing CCleaner that you have it installed.

3

It's a mystery why free Ccleaner 5.35 recently starting showing Google Chrome in its lists of apps to be cleaned...

I've NEVER installed Google Chrome browser on this W8.1 Pro computer. Firefox is my default browser along with native IE11. I've searched and there no remnant on this machine--in the registry, or in any likely location. I ran the Google Chrome removal tool and it found nothing. I also uninstalled/reinstalled Ccleaner.

Yet apparently it's seeing something... Google Chrome still appears; and when I ran Ccleaner, it deleted 1 Google Chrome cookie.

Do you perhaps have a Chromium-based browser?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_(web_browser)#Other_browsers_based_on_Chromium

4

and if you run CC with the /export switch, it should list the trigger event that makes it believe you have Chrome installed.

5

No. Never on this W8.1 Pro computer.

6

and if you run CC with the /export switch, it should list the trigger event that makes it believe you ha...

Thanks. Tried that. It generates 3 .ini files in the CC folder. Looked through them. but didn't see anything that struck me as being an "event trigger". That's unfamiliar territory, so will zip and attach if it lets me.

Also looked with regedit again: There's a HKLM\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome key but without any data. Don't know what's relevant/possible but might try deleting that empty Chrome key in HKLM. Shouldn't hurt anything. Searching further I find "chrome" mentioned several times in Adobe Acrobat Reader as part of a .dll name, etc. Getting too far afield for me wee noggin. ;)

CC.zip

7

if there is a registry key for Chrome, that would suggest it was somehow installed on your PC in the past (another user, CC embedded offering, as some examples).

so there is no Chrome, or Chrome clone, lurking in Program Files, or Task Manager, or in CC > Tools > Startup, in either the Windows tab or Scheduled Tasks tab?

8

if there is a registry key for Chrome, that would suggest it was somehow installed on your PC in the past (another user, CC embedded offering, as some examples).

so there is no Chrome, or Chrome clone, lurking in Program Files, or Task Manager, or in CC > Tools > Startup, in either the Windows tab or Scheduled Tasks tab?

Not that I'm aware. Were my zipped .ini files of any help?

9

no they weren't. :unsure:

although I was surprised to see Google Chrome in your ccleaner.ini file, again suggestion it was there at some stage.

you may as well remove those entries.

10

First turn off Hidden Files and Folders here's how to do that.

Then go looking about through the user profiles on your system in particular the AppData ("Application Data") folders since Chrome is known to install into a non-conventional location (at least it was in the past) compared to other Windows programs.

If you find Google Chrome related files then it has been previously installed on your system, or could be currently installed.