I had this over on the Bugs forum, but maybe its working as designed, but I'm not sure.
If I clean Windows/Advnaced/UserAssist History, the programs listed in the Start Menu, Recent list do not clear; they stay on the list until one new program is opened. Then the list clears completely - but it does not start to repopulate until after a complete system reboot. The popup prompt says "this item will clear the most recent used progarms list on the XP Start menu."
If I go to Start, right click and select properties/Start Menu/Customize/Clear List - the list clears immediately and it begins repopulating immediately. That's why I thought CCleaner may have a bug.
Is a system reboot needed for certain items to clean and begin working again? I don't see this in documentation anywhere, so I don't know if this is just my system or "by design."
If its working as designed, maybe it could be tweaked in the next release to work the way the Clear List works in Windows XP??
At this point, I'm confused if it should work this way or not.
Hopefully MrG will pop in and give us a definitive answer to this (and why it is as it is)
I agree - if the Start/Properties/Start Menu/Customize/Clear List doesn't require a reboot, apparently the files aren't in use when Windows clears the list. So, maybe Mr. G can help us understand why CCleaner need the reboot to start the list populating again. Somehow, I think CCleaner may not be clearing the same thing but I thought it was the MRU list keys in both cases.
I've found that by checking both User Assist History and Menu Order Cache the programs listed on the Start Menu Recent list are immediately cleared. The list does not, however, begin to repopulate until after a reboot. I have another program that wipes most recently used lists (MRU Blaster) and that too will wipe the Recent list on the Start Menu, and again the list only repopulates after a reboot. Presumably Windows XPs own feature that wipes the most recently used list must also immediately recreate whatever registry entry is deleted.
I don't know why User Assist History and Menu Order Cache have to both to be run to immediately clear the list. Apart from doing the above, I'm not really sure what the Menu Order Cache is (the prompt says it will reset the Start Menu, which is what I thought the User Assist History does).
I've found that by checking both User Assist History and Menu Order Cache the programs listed on the Start Menu Recent list are immediately cleared. The list does not, however, begin to repopulate until after a reboot. I have another program that wipes most recently used lists (MRU Blaster) and that too will wipe the Recent list on the Start Menu, and again the list only repopulates after a reboot. Presumably Windows XPs own feature that wipes the most recently used list must also immediately recreate whatever registry entry is deleted.
I don't know why User Assist History and Menu Order Cache have to both to be run to immediately clear the list. Apart from doing the above, I'm not really sure what the Menu Order Cache is (the prompt says it will reset the Start Menu, which is what I thought the User Assist History does).
Robbie, I have another program called "Clean Cache 3.0" and it also removes the items in the Start list after one new program is opened; but it does not require a reboot, very similar to how Windows is doing it. So, if these two methods (Windows Start Properties and Clean Cache) work without a reboot, maybe Mr. G and see if CCleaner can be tweaked or at least indicate which items require a reboot.
I kept running CCleaner several times before I realized the reboot was needed.