Just ran 1st analysis and could really use assistance

CCleaner for Windows
1

Hello, I'm brand new to Ccleaner and have just run my first analysis.

The results show 443.3 mb to be removed, this includes all kinds of " Ink " files

and " Lnk " files some of these include lead lists I have recently purchased, as well

as tutorials I'll need etc.

My question is : If these files are removed do I lose all the info that I want to retain

or are these just non-essential "redundant files", or non-essential links to these files???

There are also tons of " Log " files, " idx " files, " jpg " files, " gif " files, " sol " files,

lots of spybot search and destroy .log and .txt files

as well as about a kajillion " windows defender\Scans\History\Results\Resource" files.

Now the latter I'm pretty sure I could do with out ( please confirm), but

there is a lot of info in the former I don't want to loose.

Please advise

Thanks,

Frank

ps. Is this forum super slow to load or is my pc that jammed up?

2

Your assumption is quite correct, the .lnk files are shortcuts to recently accessed files, and not the files themselves. LNK seems to come from Office, and lnk from recent documents. They are safe to remove. You can right click on any individual option in the Cleaner section and press Analyse, which will show you what comes from where.

With its default settings the Cleaner section of CC should be safe to run. I would not run any other part of CC until you are familiar with what you are doing. You can run Analyse on the Registry section for Saturday evening entertainment, but don't run Fix Issues until you are sure you know what is being fixed. It's not essential that the reg is squeaky clean.

PS The forum is not usually slow.

3
Your assumption is quite correct, the .lnk files are shortcuts to recently accessed files, and not the files themselves. LNK seems to come from Office, and lnk from recent documents. They are safe to remove. You can right click on any individual option in the Cleaner section and press Analyse, which will show you what comes from where.

With its default settings the Cleaner section of CC should be safe to run. I would not run any other part of CC until you are familiar with what you are doing. You can run Analyse on the Registry section for Saturday evening entertainment, but don't run Fix Issues until you are sure you know what is being fixed. It's not essential that the reg is squeaky clean.

PS The forum is not usually slow.

Thanks for the response Augeas, I was certainly hoping that was the case.

Much Appreciated!!!

4

Hi Teleman

Welcome to the forum

You should go around Pirifom docs to get familiarized with CCleaner

I have the link down there ;)

5

Thanks for that tip metalj, there's some good info there.

6

Frank

Did you sort this out?

Generally, CCleaner will only select for cleaning, files that are considered safe; temps, links missing targets and so on.

However if you're nervous you might want to backup any particular folder you are concerned about prior to cleaning.

Also, if you have ID'd files you want to keep then use the Advance Options /Exclude feature.

In every case it is always wise to use the Registry backup.

For the first few times I made sure I saved a system Restore Point befoe using the program. (I actually made an image!)

I've used the program several times day (paranoid) for a long time now and never had a problem.

Best of Luck

BJ452

7

Can I just add, for anyone feeling a bit nervous about running CCleaner (or any other type of cleaner) for the first time and who is worried about what will happen to their files, folders, pictures, documents etc:

If you have important documents on your computer BACK THEM UP! Not just because you are going to run a cleaning program for the first time but simply because it's an important part of computer maintenance. Without sounding all doom and gloom, what would you do if your hard drive failed? Or your computer wouldn't boot one day? Or a thousand other things that could befell the computer?

I back up all my documents to DVD once a month and my most important ones to a small USB flash drive almost every day. Perhaps that may be considered overkill by some but I learned the hard way what happens if nothing is ever backed up - my hard drive failed a few years back and I lost everything, all my pictures, documents, music files... CCleaner is a good program to use as part of your computer maintenance regime but so is backing up on a regular basis any important files you have...