the delayed start, like the one you describe, is common when using winapp2.ini due to its size and the sheer time taken to process its contents.
but this shouldn't be your issue.
as a first try, I would rollback to an earlier version (personally, try v5.40 first) and see if that helps.
uninstall your current version first.
then go into the Program Files folder for CC and delete its contents
(keep the .ini file if you have customised settings)
download the latest build from here; <a href="https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds" rel="external nofollow">https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds</a> (or use FileHippo for previous versions)
reboot the PC then install CC from your downloaded file.
if you need to convert this Free version to the Pro, go to Options > About and enter your license key.
The one thing we both have in common when I re-read your first post in this topic is we both use an SSD. I find it very odd that CCleaner (I'm using the portable version) takes longer on my laptop to launch when on an SSD and it doesn't matter if it's my Micron M.2 256GB SSD boot drive or my secondary internal backup drive Samsung 860 EVO 1TB SSD it takes about 5-10 seconds just like you mentioned in the first post.
Now when I launch CCleaner from my Seagate Expansion USB 3.0 2TB external hard disk it loads within 1 second. Also on another laptop with Win10 and a just a traditional spinning 1TB hard disk it also loads within 1 second.
I've fixed the slow loading for myself, and in an unexpected peculiar way:
* I moved my 79 KB winapp2.ini file out of the folder where CCleaner Portable is located, and then launched CCleaner which loads in about 1 second.
* I then moved that same winapp2.ini file back into the folder with CCleaner, and it now launches in about 1 second, no more delay.
I don't understand how that would fix the slow loading but it did.
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If the SSD causes this, why didn't it occure from the very first time/version of ccleaner?
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I wonder if it's some sort of caching thing, either something Windows does, or something the SSD does. But how could it survive shutdown and reboots of the PC, either way I haven't a clue.
I think another contributing factor to it loading slower and slower is they keep adding more stuff into it rather that be features or images, etc., it takes time to load all that stuff. When I initially first tried the newest v5.54 it took forever to load, subsequently I downgraded allot all the way back to v5.40 and it loads nearly instantly.
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I think another contributing factor to it loading slower and slower is they keep adding more stuff into it rather that be features or images, etc., it takes time to load all that stuff. When I initially first tried the newest v5.54 it took forever to load, subsequently I downgraded allot all the way back to v5.40 and it loads nearly instantly.
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Please could you use an app like https://www.passmark.com/products/apptimer.htm to record how long it's taking CCleaner to launch to an interactive state? If Smart Cleaning is enabled, please ensure that CCleaner is closed from both the system tray icon and the main window.
When I run this*, CCleaner v5.54.7088 launches in 0.0270s.
* Launching CCleaner64.exe using a system with Windows 10 Enterprise, i7-7600 CPU, 16GB RAM & SSD storage @ 10-15% CPU usage, 52% memory usage.