Registry cleaning? Bytes? Disk Space?
/confused
@Nergal: MSP = managed services provider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managed_services)
In other words, we're planning tasks which will run at a scheduled time or startup/logout for remote users in multiple companies which don't have internal IT/Network Admin.
(Just a little comment on slim/full version. You're defition is 50% true. Yes the slim one don't have the toolbar + don't have shortcuts on desktop & start menu. So if we don't go into Program Files, or registry, we can't know CC or defragler are installed. For me, this usage is typically for admin whp wants to do some background jobs.)
"If you really want your computer's users to have no control over cleaning do the following
Install CCleaner with the option to save the options in the ini file. place the CCleaner.ini file in the c:\program files\CCleaner\ folder and place a shortcut to CCleaner.exe -auto in the all users start up folder."
They don't need to have control, they're users not admins ;p
I don't want to change all ini files on each PC using TeamViewer & Cie. I can do a BATCH file to move it & change it but it looks like a very bad patch.
Another comment on third party files. Cleaning all users temporary files don't need really to run as a service. Program MUST run as SYSTEM that's all. So if a third party program (like Kaspersky Network Agent from AdminKit8) already run as service with SYSTEM credentials, when the agent launch another process (CC for example), the new process will run under SYSTEM.
The only thing to keep in mind is to disable all interactive desktop communication (i.e. no message box or anything display to screen) because of Windows Vista/7 security.
On this approach, I don't think there's much work to do. If you can get current user folders to clean, it's quick to loop for other accounts isn't it ?
@Alan_B :
"otherwise I ALWAYS launch CC in /AUTO /SHUTDOWN mode so that much more than %TEMP% is purged,"
because you're doing it on your PC. You need to understand that we've hundreds of PC running at different days a time. If we've planned to clean every month all temp' files on all computers with different accounts & password, your method don't work.
(Remember that the cleaning task remote computers will run will start under SYSTEM so %TEMP% will be %WINDIR%\TEMP.
Yes we can create a scheduled task on all computers to do this. (and we can install this task using our network agent. It was the first idea). But the main problem with this method is that we have no return on it in our console (success, failed, pending...).
I've never had a missing executable at startup or missing DLL event after uninstalling software (and I do install/uninstall a lot).
I have far less experience at uninstalling software, but I have experienced abominable disaster.
A Patch Tuesday update to .NET Framework just would not take.
I wasted Time and money emailing and phoning M.$ tech support and nothing worked.
They eventually said I would have to remove the entire .NET stuff,
commencing with the latest increment and working down to the oldest,
and then I could re-install and that should accept all updates.
Windows could NOT uninstall .NET 2, and gave absolutely no reason or excuse for its failure.
Many people had similar problems with that particular Patch Tuesday.
Eventually some-one published a tool that could tear .NET framework out of XP,
and it provided a log which showed that Windows refused to allow removal,
and Windows told the tool what it NEVER told me or M.$ tech. support,
which was that it had lost some Catalogue file/data that should tell it the order of removal of various components.
The tool then took the game up a notch and did not ask nicely, it just deleted the stuff Windows was retaining.
Eventually .NET junk was removed.
Unfortunately when I used CC to LOOK AT but not clean the registry there were thousands of missing shared DLL's.
I installed all the .NET stuff and as hoped that put back DLL's that had gone missing, BUT NOT ALL OF THEM.
I learnt that shared DLL's have some sort of counter which is incremented when an extra application etc. is added to the system and requires use of that DLL, and upon application removal the counter should be decremented. When a badly written application forgets to decrement the counter when it is removed, this leads to an error and I believe CC fixes the error by simply zeroing the counter.
I was concerned that perhaps when the removal tool tore .NET out of the system it may have ignored the counters,
and just possibly it could have deleted DLL's that other applications needed, in which case those applications would be broken and would stay broken after CC had zeroed the counters.
I chose to restore the disc partition image I created as a precaution before I ever used the tool,
and to depend upon Comodo and ESET to defend me from the vulnerabilities that M.$. had created and could not fix.
I now think of .NET as a vertical shanty town,
a high rise building composed of garden sheds loosely balanced on one another ! !
I always get a startup error described as
The HID Input Service service terminated with the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.
I do not know how to fix this, but I am not worried because :-
It only started when I added a USB connected keyboard because I did not like the Laptop's built in keyboard;
and I know it cannot be malware because I did not need to install any software for it.
I have experienced other start-up errors in the past,
but this has only been when I correctly uninstalled some application via Add/Remove,
and the people that threw the software together had forgotten to delete some of the start-up links.
Regards
Alan
@Alan_B :
You need to understand that we've hundreds of PC running at different days a time. If we've planned to clean every month all temp' files on all computers with different accounts & password, your method don't work.
O.K., I accept that your needs as a system administrator are different from mine.
Now I am retired I naturally think of my situation,
and would not wish a different user to clean my profile.
I would also note that cleaning Temp files can damage installation / removal of applications that need a reboot.
They may well leave in the TEMP folders something that should be RUNONCE on the next start-up to complete what could not be done under Windows.
I assume that you prevent your users from installing or removing their own software on systems you are responsible for,
so you suitably synchronise all cleaning and software changes to avoid any clash.
Regards
Alan
I use ERUNT to create a backup every morning, and I may use NTREGOPT perhaps once or twice a year.
I do not expect that deleting old keys gives even a 1 byte improvement to free space on the HDD, but will create more empty space in the registry hives and this translates into more HDD free space when NTREGOPT is run
Sorry you fail to understand my motivation. Let me spell it out for you.
When I uninstall an application I want it to go away, every wretched bit of it.
I do not want its remnants cluttering up my HDD and wasting my free space.
I do not want to have start-up delays as the computer tries to launch executables that are not present.
I do not want missing dll events in the system event logs burying any problems I should focus on.
I do not want registry keys and values left behind.
I DO WANT to know of any significant change to the registry that might indicate a recent abnormality.
By keeping a clean registry that is free of any issues, I immediately spot when something has changed which might warrant investigation.
I accept that I.T. has the authority to impose policies,
but my immediate superior was the Technical Director and a member of the board,
and he was the one who found and downloaded the tool for killing Panda so that his work was not disrupted,
and he copied it to me and authorised me to use it also.
The Technical Director and I.T. had a head to head and we came out on top.
I.T. then changed to something better than Panda which did NOT destroy a morning's work whilst it updated virus signatures for viruses that never arrived - we had no USB ports for flash drives on our machines, and we had no Internet other than emails that were processed via company firewalls and servers - the Internet was one P.C. in the corner behind the Technical Director.
Regards
Alan
Alan, earlier he stated that if CCleaner ran as a service, or at least had that capability, it would be able to clean all user accounts. Normally, I might would deny that, but seeing that Handy Recovery (a data recovery software) can & does either remove the password protection, or access the OS from a lower level than regular Windows Explorer, he may be on to something.
I see nothing wrong with all users/temp folders being cleared (why would you wanna keep trash, besides the fact that CCleaner doesn't remove the last 24 hours by default?
I don't think anyone was saying they wanted it to clean the registry too, but only temp files (100% safe to delete, 100% of the time on all user accounts...)
This would eliminate much click & clean sessioning!
@Alan-B
Alan, I can understand your concern over loss of control, of your own machine, but you have to remember that the OP only wants the ability to remove temp files (as pointed out by Mr Don).
Furthermore, I fail to see the relation between your – admittedly – gruesome experience with .Net and CCleaner's cleanup of unnecessary temp files and MRU registry entries.
Just put yourself in the position of a computer-savvy father (or mother) of 3 children, with one standard user profile for each child and one for his wife (or her husband), who doesn't wish to waste 5 minutes logging on to each profile (supposing the children haven't changed their passwords) and running CCleaner for it, but still wishes to prune temp files before running the weekly anti-malware scan (what's the point in wasting time scanning expendable harmless temp files?)
The problem is we're using cleaning tools in different ways.
Home: today. childrens are being go with computers when their parents are lost. So we must manage this from a higher level to avoid 'errors'
Small Office: end users only. They aren't aware of PC maintenance. Of course they don't because there is an IT tech' so we must do something ;p. Letting them admin on their computer is dangerous but we can't take remote control machine per machine.
Medium-big office: Here, users are more the previous cases end users with no control on software/hardware.
Some companies want to externalize their IT management and wer want to help them to do this ^^
@Alan-B
Furthermore, I fail to see the relation between your ? admittedly ? gruesome experience with .Net and CCleaner's cleanup of unnecessary temp files and MRU registry entries.
Just put yourself in the position of a computer-savvy father (or mother) of 3 children,
I did not describe my gruesome experience in relation to temp files and MRU.
You previously said
"I've never had a missing executable at startup or missing DLL event after uninstalling software (and I do install/uninstall a lot)".
Although I have done far less uninstalling than you, when I had to uninstall .NET I had tons of those errors,
so you have been lucky.
I do have 3 children, and our daughter still lives with us and has a profile on my P.C.
Neither I nor my daughter shut down the computer with :-
Start => Turn off Computer => Turn Off (why does it waste my time and offer Standby or Restart ! ! !).
That wastes precious seconds with loading up and presenting a sequence of menus.
We just double click a special shutdown icon I placed on the desktop in "All Users" profile and the job is as good as done.
We abandon the computer as CCleaner is /AUTO launched with a configuration that purges the current users profile of Firefox etc. caches, and does a very light clean of a few system logs I never need or want, and then does SHUTDOWN - all without further user interaction.
I use a different CCleaner INI configuration when I manually launch CC to more thoroughly purge the Operating System that contains our profiles.
The desktop icon is a much quicker and less annoying way to close down the computer.
The desktop icon gives me MUCH MUCH more free space.
Multi Gigabytes of music videos she watched on-line will never accumulate in her caches.
My daughter's profile remains private to her, and is clear of junk without needing me to invade her privacy.
This is the way I like it.
I accept that you have valid reasons for how you administer a company network for which you have responsibility.
I accept that company administrators cannot allow users to do what they like,
and may as part of their duties have to inspect and report anyone that has "illegal material" on a computer.
Regards
Alan
but only temp files (100% safe to delete, 100% of the time on all user accounts...)
I agree that it is safe for an administrator to do - but only because he can do no permanent harm to the user.
It should be part of his contract of employment that what he breaks he must mend.
I agree that it is safe for an administrator to do when he has control of a network of users who never install/remove software, users with no control over security patches because I.T. test the effects first before they risk losing everything.
I disagree over 100% safety for the situation of myself and other private computer owners that have another user.
I have installed and uninstalled several dozen applications and it is NOT 100% safe to zap %TEMP%.
I use RegShot so that I know what changes are made.
I have seen that when a reboot is required to complete the (un)installation there may be a file put in %TEMP%.
I assume the file is there to do something special upon reboot,
and if the file is not present upon start-up then completion will not be achieved.
I consider it safe for me to shut-down and to postpone start-up till after a good night's sleep,
but if my daughter logged in before me, and used CCleaner, and purged that special file in my %TEMP%,
then my world will collapse when I next log in and reboot completion fails.
When I use a Portable Application, it may "borrow" the registry and my profile in a non-portable fashion because that is how it was designed.
It is made "portable" with the addition of a small launcher that creates a registry etc. backup file on the flash drive, and then over-writes the relevant keys with what settings I had set the last time I used the application, and when I close the application then it stores on flash a new backup of the keys it has been using, and restores the registry from the backup it made when I launched it.
One extra nitty gritty detail - whilst the application is running there is some small executable held in %TEMP%.
I think this is required for the application to gracefully close and do the final registry backup and restore operations. I would not be happy if a system administrator decided to launch a purge that disrupted the application and corrupted the registry by purging this special executable.
What happens on Patch Tuesdays or when restoring the system to an earlier date ?
I know they often require a reboot to achieve completion,
and after shutdown they wait for a logg-in with administrator privilege before completion.
It is O.K. for a non-admin user to log in, so long as they do not destroy information needed for completion.
I assume that a user running CCleaner with the power to erase my private %TEMP% files could damage completion.
I always shut down the computer via CCLEANER /AUTO, with the special exception when Reboot is required for completion.
Regards
Alan
@Alan_B: Removing temp files is 100% safe as long as you do it upon login, not at shutdown time the way you have set it up. When I shut down my computer, I also use a desktop (actually, taskbar) icon I've set up and which runs the command "shutdown -s -t 0". Yes, it does take a few extra seconds, but it also takes care of flushing the disk write-behind cache the way it's designed to be.
@Alan_B: Removing temp files is 100% safe as long as you do it upon login, not at shutdown time the way you have set it up. When I shut down my computer, I also use a desktop (actually, taskbar) icon I've set up and which runs the command "shutdown -s -t 0". Yes, it does take a few extra seconds, but it also takes care of flushing the disk write-behind cache the way it's designed to be.
I quite agree.
Simply running a cold shutdown command that immediately "and more efficiently" shuts down a computer can harm applications. Particularly those situations wherein a word document is open, or Windows is processing a command to a program but you run a "brute force" shutdown utility which causes it to lose all data in processing...
This may or may not cause immediate problems, but over time, it is downright dangerous. I agree that it is much safer to do a shutdown that takes a few seconds longer, but does a proper shutdown that closes running apps first.
Additionally, CCleaner has the option not to remove temp files unless they are over 24 hours old. The way I see it, is if you are going to take the responsibility to run CCleaner on reboot, do not blame CCleaner for removing files that are 48 hours old simply because you waited 48 or even 96 hours to reboot the pc!
This may be room to present an idea, that a user can set the length of time that CCleaner will preserve temp files, be it 24 hours, all the way up to a year if so desired by someone. While I see no reason to preserve junk for a year, people like you may well wish to. Additionally, if CCleaner is setup to clean multi-user profiles, it is highly customizable to the point that you can select & unselect nearly anything you do not wish for it to remove.
That said, I do not know the reason you are so against this, when CCleaner is so customizable that were it capable of cleaning multiple user accounts, you would be able to set it to clean or not to clean whatever you wanted from all the accounts. Additionally, if your daughter ran CCleaner knowingly like that, it would just indicate that she wanted to clean the computer traces she had on the web, etc...
If you really wanted to spy on her web activities, there are free key logger applications for that...
I am at this point, a bit confused by your attachment to temp files seeing the customizable functionalities of CCleaner that would make it clean or not clean nearly anything you decided it should...
Am I missing anything here? I believe it would be safe to say that a multi-user account cleaner would be 100% safe, since any user running it is obviously running it for 1 reason... to remove trash, & that since it may be customized to remove as little or as much trash as desired, there is no conflict in multi-user environments that could not be easily solved by simply setting CCleaner up to clean what you do or don't want it to clean.
Correct me if I am missing anything here, but I don't see anything I am missing, & I believe I have covered all the bases so far on this "issue" you seem to be having concerning CCleaner being "unsafe" to clean all user accounts!
Some would even argue that using CCleaner might cause their computer to burst into flames, as the increased processor time could heat up their processor & cause it to overheat (with all this hot weather!), therebye destroying their computer!
You could take the option that CCleaner is unsafe, but I have not seen where it is so when used properly.
Registry cleaning? Bytes? Disk Space?
/confused
He was saying that the amount of disk space you save with cleaning a few bytes of registry data is minimal compared to the potential damage you may do to it in the process.
NTREGOPT is what he recommended to recreate registry hives from scratch so the computer loads faster (reg optimization, slack space removal)
@Alan_B: Removing temp files is 100% safe as long as you do it upon login, not at shutdown time the way you have set it up. When I shut down my computer, I also use a desktop (actually, taskbar) icon I've set up and which runs the command "shutdown -s -t 0". Yes, it does take a few extra seconds, but it also takes care of flushing the disk write-behind cache the way it's designed to be.
I agree that to preserve the ability to (un)install applications by clearing temp files at login is better than doing so at shutdown.
I am sure it is safe for the user to do this manually after they have control following login.
I do have a concern that (un)install may occur immediately after login,
and if Temp files are also automatically cleared at login there could be a race hazard.
Regards
Alan
if your daughter ran CCleaner knowingly like that, it would just indicate that she wanted to clean the computer traces she had on the web, etc...
If you really wanted to spy on her web activities, there are free key logger applications for that...
You have this totally wrong.
I am not aware of my daughter running CCleaner to hide her web activities.
So far as I know the only thing she does is use the convenient shut-down link I placed on the All-User desktop,
and that does all her cache cleaning without further interaction from her.
I have never wanted to spy on my daughter.
She is an adult and I trust her.
Please read again what I said, i.e.
"My daughter's profile remains private to her, and is clear of junk without needing me to invade her privacy.
This is the way I like it."
I am at this point, a bit confused by your attachment to temp files seeing the customizable functionalities of CCleaner that would make it clean or not clean nearly anything you decided it should...
I disagree.
I can customize CCleaner only by using a batch script to look at %USERNAME% and select the customized CCleaner.ini that purges Firefox caches etc. for that user.
The alternative is to use the installed CCleaner which uses individual user registry keys,
and any adjustment to that requires me to :-
Change her from User to Administrator status;
Shut down and wait for her to login (I do not want to know her password);
and then I can configure CCleaner so that her registry stipulate for her profile a very safe cleansing that is fit for her profile.
Then I can shut down.
I must remember to login to my account and drop her from administrator status to user level,
otherwise the system is at greater risk if she clicks on the wrong pop-up.
Even more hazardous as the possibility that the next time she plugs in her IPOD or downloads more music,
if she still has administrator authority then Apple may seize control and install more of their unwanted rubbish.
Why on earth would any-one want to have Apple Bonjour service seizing 90% of all processor cycle ?
Am I missing anything here? I believe it would be safe to say that a multi-user account cleaner would be 100% safe, since any user running it is obviously running it for 1 reason... to remove trash, & that since it may be customized to remove as little or as much trash as desired, there is no conflict in multi-user environments that could not be easily solved by simply setting CCleaner up to clean what you do or don't want it to clean.
What you are missing is your understanding of why a user would enable CCleaner to remove trash.
To me it is obvious that there is MORE than the one reason you can think of.
I want to IDENTIFY all POTENTIAL trash, and scrutinise the results of Analyze,
and if I see something I do not recognise I wonder why it is there and Google.
I may decide that CCleaner got this one wrong, in which case I protect from deletion.
I have not yet found evidence that a new bit of junk is the result of malware,
and through "trust but verify" I am more confident of my protection by Comodo.
Regards
Alan
You have this totally wrong.
I am not aware of my daughter running CCleaner to hide her web activities.
So far as I know the only thing she does is use the convenient shut-down link I placed on the All-User desktop,
and that does all her cache cleaning without further interaction from her.
I have never wanted to spy on my daughter.
She is an adult and I trust her.
Please read again what I said, i.e.
"My daughter's profile remains private to her, and is clear of junk without needing me to invade her privacy.
This is the way I like it."
I disagree.
I can customize CCleaner only by using a batch script to look at %USERNAME% and select the customized CCleaner.ini that purges Firefox caches etc. for that user.
The alternative is to use the installed CCleaner which uses individual user registry keys,
and any adjustment to that requires me to :-
Change her from User to Administrator status;
Shut down and wait for her to login (I do not want to know her password);
and then I can configure CCleaner so that her registry stipulate for her profile a very safe cleansing that is fit for her profile.
Then I can shut down.
I must remember to login to my account and drop her from administrator status to user level,
otherwise the system is at greater risk if she clicks on the wrong pop-up.
Even more hazardous as the possibility that the next time she plugs in her IPOD or downloads more music,
if she still has administrator authority then Apple may seize control and install more of their unwanted rubbish.
Why on earth would any-one want to have Apple Bonjour service seizing 90% of all processor cycle ?
What you are missing is your understanding of why a user would enable CCleaner to remove trash.
To me it is obvious that there is MORE than the one reason you can think of.
I want to IDENTIFY all POTENTIAL trash, and scrutinise the results of Analyze,
and if I see something I do not recognise I wonder why it is there and Google.
I may decide that CCleaner got this one wrong, in which case I protect from deletion.
I have not yet found evidence that a new bit of junk is the result of malware,
and through "trust but verify" I am more confident of my protection by Comodo.
Regards
Alan
I am a little confused. You have not yet found evidence that a new bit of junk is the result of malware? Are you trying to say that CCleaner is also a malware detector, or that malware uses the windows temp folders when unloading?
CCleaner is not a malware cleaner. It is a temp files cleaner. It works differently from other temp cleaners as it does not search for .TMP files or other "trash" file extensions as this could end up deleting even files such as calendar .TMP (template) files & cause problems!
CCleaner has the locations of the temp files it needs to clean written in embedded .ini files that are built into the .EXE.
/me thinks Alan_B is training to be a lawyer (or maybe he's one already? ): he's straining at gnats (the next exercise is swallowing camels
)
The proposed function that would let CCleaner remove the trash from all accounts in one fell swoop, like all other options in CCleaner, doesn't have to be activated, this is left to the computer owner's – or administrator's – choice. If we allowed every possible risk, however remote, to stop us from going forward, we'd never get anything done. Just remember this: by today's standards, we wouldn't have Aspirin.
/me thinks Alan_B is training to be a lawyer (or maybe he's one already?
): he's straining at gnats (the next exercise is swallowing camels
)
The proposed function that would let CCleaner remove the trash from all accounts in one fell swoop, like all other options in CCleaner, doesn't have to be activated, this is left to the computer owner's ? or administrator's ? choice. If we allowed every possible risk, however remote, to stop us from going forward, we'd never get anything done. Just remember this: by today's standards, we wouldn't have Aspirin.
I 100% agree with you. That is exactly what I would have said, only you beat me to it.
I am a little confused. You have not yet found evidence that a new bit of junk is the result of malware? Are you trying to say that CCleaner is also a malware detector, or that malware uses the windows temp folders when unloading?
CCleaner is not a malware cleaner. It is a temp files cleaner. It works differently from other temp cleaners as it does not search for .TMP files or other "trash" file extensions as this could end up deleting even files such as calendar .TMP (template) files & cause problems!
CCleaner has the locations of the temp files it needs to clean written in embedded .ini files that are built into the .EXE.
You are very confused.
CCleaner removes trash. As has been said before, this is not restricted to TEMP files.
I am concerned that some files that have a single shot purpose of being available upon Reboot may be put in TEMP,
and if TEMP is purged at some time after they were placed there and before shutdown, that purpose will not be achieved.
I know some applications depend upon this completion on reboot technique, and would fail if TEMP was zapped.
I know that Windows Security patches often depend upon reboot for completion, and these often fail by themselves, so clearing TEMP would NOT assist completion.
Though to be fair it is possible that completion would not fail when Temp is zapped ! !
Malware can live in TEMP files.
In this very forum I have read that some malware deliberately cripples CCleaner so it will not be swept away.
My focus is upon ANYTHING that may be unusual, and may merit further investigation.
IT IS NOT JUST TEMP FILES.
Nasty stuff goes everywhere.
I include in my definition of malware anything that comes from Apple.
Just because my daughter plugs her IPOD into a convenient socket for a recharge does NOT authorise Bonjour to attack my use by stealing 90% of the processor cycles after she has logged out of her account.
Microsoft Patches are also malware that do damage.
Sometimes they crash entire company networks.
A security patch included Silverlight.
A long time before I learnt not to trust M.$ and I now leave Windows Updates fully blocked.
A few days after Patch Tuesday etc. I will search for any patch disasters and decide upon things I do not need or want,
then I allow it to NOTIFY but not install.
They included Silverlight as what purported to be part of a batch of security updates,
and I deleted it from what they proposed to download.
I did a custom install so I could supervise each thing they planted.
After a reboot completion I used CCleaner and it showed me nothing to worry about.
After this I compared all files and folders with an image captured the previous month.
This is a regular check to ensure that no significant changes have occurred without my notice.
I was surprised at the M.$ audacity that even though I expressly forbade the installation of Silverlight,
they still download a lengthy Silverlight EULA which authorised M.$ and their partners (any website that uses Silverlight ?) to extract unspecified information from my P.C. and to share it amongst themselves, and also to install unspecified applications without further notice or permission.
I do NOT use CCleaner to detect malware,
but when CCleaner analyzes and finds stuff that I recognise as being found everyday and have determined as of no significance,
then I know that all is well in my world, which means everything seem to be the same as normal,
and it was convenient to express this as another day free from malware, but there is so much more that I look for,
and it only takes a couple of seconds if today is the same as always.
Windows 7 has been installed together with EasyBCD, but I still favour XP.
Something went wrong with the Comodo installation, so as a quick bodge Norton was added.
A week later I compared the XP partition with the previous image and found two new items in System Volume Information, a file and also a heavily protected folder.
I googled the names and found they came from Norton and most google results were questions and complaints about the difficulty of removing these pests, and how their presence prevented defragging the HDD.
Comodo protects my XP partition, and would have blocked these pests if only it had been running.
Norton audacity horrified me, but came as no surprise.
I like to know what changes have happened to my system so I can neutralise anything I do not like.
I spend just two seconds checking that today's cleanup will do the same as yesterday,
and if not I investigate the reason.
The reason could be :-
something new on the system that causes no concern once identified,
something new change on the system that might need fixing,
Something new in CCleaner's targets that now hits something it never hit before.
CCleaner has new targets every month, otherwise why does CCleaner get frequent updates ?
Only 10% of the CCleaner boxes delete anything from my system.
80 % of the CCleaner boxes almost never delete anything from my system,
and if Analyze finds some such thing I cautiously evaluate for myself whether on my system this would be a good thing to do.
I really want to zap maximum junk,
hence 90% of the tabs are checked so I know when CCleaner will do a more effective job for me,
BUT I DO NOT LET IT HAPPEN UNTIL I HAVE VALIDATED FOR MYSELF.
It is a stupendously bad idea to have one person use CCleaner to the maximum available extent upon another users profile, especially since the maximum extent may change with each CCleaner update, and also the maximum extent may do far more damage to the other user's profile.
Cleaning all users profiles I will agree to when performed by some-one who knows what they are doing, and is responsible for everything that is installed, and responsible for restoring normality when things go belly up.
It is dangerous when multiple account users sharing a common computer may use CCleaner on the understanding that the more boxes they check the better, and we all need Wipe Free Space ! ! !
I would suggest that very much less than 10% (perhaps only 0.1%) of the CCleaner users are System Administrators or other professionals who frequently clean multiple accounts on many P.C.s.
The rest are probably split 50/50 between those with only one profile for whom this topic is totally irrelevant,
and those who share a computer with multiple profiles and only use CCleaner because a friend recommended it.
I accept that Cleaning all accounts will be useful to a very small percentage of people,
and suggest the average use who has problems with CCleaner as it stands should be protected from extra danger.
People download CCleaner from anywhere and use it without visiting this forum until they have "killed the computer". They often check all the Advanced options for maximum cleansing.
I strongly recommend the average user be protected from themselves by only enabling "Clean All Users" for those who are registered as per
http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=29093
Regards
Alan
/me thinks Alan_B is training to be a lawyer (or maybe he's one already?
): he's straining at gnats (the next exercise is swallowing camels
)
You are so wrong about me.
I am now retired, but still have my skills and attitude as a professional software engineer.
I aim to always be correct and to cover every eventuality for failsafe or failsoft operation.
Before Microsoft, I designed an 8 bit microprocessor real time operating system with interfaces for protecting buildings and property from fire and theft by monitoring detectors and issuing warnings to manned stations for appropriate response - up to and including the sending of armed guards at nuclear research facilities.
My computer never had a BSOD or a reset from any fault in the software.
Problems only arose when the microprocessor went wrong,
e.g. After a "process shrink" to get more processors on a silicon die there was a race hazard,
and for a few batches Motorola 6800 had the feature that an external asynchronous interrupt had a 0.01% chance of causing the processor to only save 3 or 4 of the 7 registers on the stack, and when the interupt service was completed the processor pulled the top 7 values of the stack and put them in its 7 registers, so that instead of continuing at the point where it had been interrupted, it went off into never never land.
I had not anticipated such a disaster, but I had protected against ANY disaster. The program counter ran through address space doing nothing, and a timer interrupt (synchronous) detected a lack of health checks from the main code, so a full restart was initiated. Full Normality returned within a few seconds of the failure, and the security guard was notified of the restart.
It is my habit to anticipate potential disaster and, where appropriate, defend against it.
I often saw dangers that perhaps have not yet transpired, but I have averted some major calamities.
I was the "go to guy" when other engineers had major problems.
After many weeks of other engineers trying to fix a network system.
When contract penalty clauses on a nuclear submarine base of ?100,000 per day were starting,
although I had no previous involvement I was sent on site,
and I identified and fixed the problem within about 3 hours.
I always look out for possible problems and for that purpose I need to be correct.
I am not pedantic for the sake of being pedantic.
What is a gnat to you could well be a mosquito or tsetse fly delivering death to some one else.
The proposed function that would let CCleaner remove the trash from all accounts in one fell swoop, like all other options in CCleaner, doesn't have to be activated, this is left to the computer owner's ? or administrator's ? choice.
You are so horribly disastrously wrong.
If a system administrator chooses then let it be on his own head - he will have to fix any problems.
Most people who use CCleaner do not register on this forum until they have "killed the computer",
often because they have checked every box they can see for maximum effect.
What is trash to one person is NOT trash to another.
CCleaner itself is not so foolhardy, it lists POTENTIAL trash for consideration,
but does not clean until authorised (unless you choose /AUTO mode)
If we allowed every possible risk, however remote, to stop us from going forward, we'd never get anything done. Just remember this: by today's standards, we wouldn't have Aspirin.
Yes, Aspirin is good,
but so was Thalidomide - if only I had been there to warn them ! ! !
As I said in my previous post, naive users should be protected from this sort of power,
e.g. by restricting it to those who are registered as per
http://forum.pirifor...showtopic=29093
They will know what to do with such power.
Regards
Alan
@Alan_b:
Ok, so your personal history is one of extreme caution and utmost technical accomplishment ? or the other way around . You're not the average user, point well taken.
Given that, I wonder why you use any software not written by yourself to do sometyhing so risky as removing trash?
For the rest of us, however, CCleaner is quite useful and, used with ordinary caution, could be made to remove the temp files and MRU entries from all existing profiles on the local computer without bringing down the wrath of the Gods upon the local administrator, and that, as I recall it, was the suggestion of the OP?