CCleaner doesn't seem to be totally uninstalled since it keeps reading the disk drive when powering up and down. I can hear the chatter of the drive being read and then half the time the system won't shut down. I'm not sure what to look for that still needs to be uninstalled. ty-
what makes you think that ccleaner is reading the disk?
Check C:\Program Files\CCleaner. If CCleaner is still on your system, it will be there.
thanks - searched and destroyed!!
so deleting the Program File folder for CCleaner has stopped some sort of extra disk activity when you start & stop your PC?
how did you know there was 'extra' disk IO and that it was CC?
hello mta - I guess that I spoke too soon since deleting the files didn't fix the prob. I am assuming that CCleaner caused this problem since it never happened before I ran this scan and now it won't quit scanning the disk drive on startup and shutdown. Plus, half the time it stops the shutdown process and I have to turn off the surge protector to shut it down. thanks for your help-
It is FAR MORE likely that some other software has updated and had a bad effect
Microsoft Patch Tuesdays trash Windows quite frequently and I have to restore a pre-patch partition backup.
Another distinct possibility is malware. It might be appropriate for you to use one of the sites suggested here
@Carrob242, you need to explain better what you mean by "it won't stop scanning the drive at startup and shutdown"
there is no way you can tell with any certainty what program is causing the HD light to flash at any given time, let alone during startup & shutdown (when you can't access Task Manager).
one certainty is that if CC has been uninstalled, it won't be that.
go into msconfig and check what programs are listed to run during startup. (or CC can show you the list if you reinstall it)
go through your Add/Removed Programs list and see what you have installed.
and as @Alan_B said, run AV and malware scans.
What I mean is the disk drive is being read for a few seconds each and every time I turn on or turn off my PC. It seems that the scanning of the disk drive is interfering with the shut down process but not every time I want to turn off my PC so that I have to manually switch it off. I'm not sure if the scanning of the disk drive on startup is affecting anything since my PC is behaving much better after using CCleaner except for this disk drive scanning still happening. I will go ahead and check out using another av/malware scan. thanks again-
What operating system are you using?
Also it's normal for hard disk activity during shutdown since Windows is saving your user settings.
Andavari - I'm using IE8 and this disk drive reading didn't start happening on startup and shutdown until after I ran CCleaner. I just ran another malware scan last night and discovered something when I turned on my PC this morning. I also have McAfee as my main AV program and I got a message from McAfee about this other scan program being installed and it read the disk drive at the same time! I had already noticed that the drive was read on startup so I think this problem might be from McAfee and I'm going to pursue that angle.
when you say that McAfee is your main AV program, I take it you mean it is your only AV program
Ad-Adware is the last program I downloaded and it is called antivirus. I considered keeping it since I was informed that it would be "compatible" with McAfee but I received an error message anyway so I uninstalled it.
i stopped using Ad-Aware in 2009 when they brought out a 2008 Anniversary Edition that made all the PC's I put it on go really slow.
since then it's been MWAB and CC as my non-AV protection/maintenance.
i didn't realise Ad-aware was anything more than a adware/spyware cleaner, but having just checked out the Lavasoft web site, it seems they have joined the big boys and turned it into an all-seeing-all-dancing AV suite.
so you were right in removing it - never a good idea to have more than 1 AV software running. and maybe check their site for a 'removal program' to double check all traces of it are gone, in case that is causing your weird 'reading disk drive' problem.
I'm using IE8
IE8 tells me nothing at all, it's the web browser not the operating system! I was asking what operating system you had because shutdown problems in Windows XP are well known and can be fixed by installing Microsoft User Profile Hive Cleanup Service. However that won't fix the problem of having two antivirus programs installed.
I suspect your problem has nothing to actually do with CCleaner but instead your use of two antivirus programs McAfee Antivirus, and Ad-Aware which is now a full blown antivirus.
Even if you uninstall an antivirus (that's any antivirus software) you may need a remover for it, so look on the official website for a remover and hopefully they'll have one because parts of antivirus software can still be lingering on your system.
EXCUSE ME for answering wrong about the operating system which is Windows XP. I didn't install Ad-Ware until I was advised by this forum to run another av/malware scan but that didn't resolve the problem. I will checkout the MS cleanup service recommended and contact McAfee and post the results here.
I didn't install Ad-Ware until I was advised by this forum to run another av/malware scan but that didn't resolve the problem.
In post 6 Alan_B gave you this link that has links to other sites/forums which can help you step-by-step with guidance on running specialized anti-malware software to find and remove some types of malware. Installing another antivirus software such as Ad-Aware in this case may not detect the malware, or be able to get rid of it if that's what's causing your problem. The only way to determine if it's malware related and give you piece of mind is to actually ask for help on one of those sites/forums that specialize in malware removal. Again that link is: http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=34786
I will checkout the MS cleanup service
That Microsoft User Profile Hive Cleanup Service is essential to Windows XP systems in my opinion!
ok - so it turned out to be a McAfee issue. I discovered after getting help from Dell and uninstalling McAfee that my PC shut down fine and all was good. Then we reinstalled McAfee and got the same problem again. So I contacted McAfee and they couldn't give me a good answer after running their Virtual Technician so I uninstalled McAfee again and went with another av program that seems to be running just fine. I should say that I'm not sure if CCleaner or Malwarebytes caused this problem to begin with since I didn't mention that I had run a Malwarebytes scan prior to using CCleaner. maybe a combination of both...who knows - thanks for the advice
Glad you posted back with the results. At least now your system isn't acting up.
it would still be interesting to know what McAfee was doing that caused the extra I/O.
purely as a curiosity exercise - but sometimes we just have to build a bridge and move on...