After cleaning the Registry, would it not be wise to create a Restore Point so as to "save" the cleaned up version? Since CCleaner does not do it or offer that feature, I use System Restore in XP. I think it would be a good feature to have instead of having to use another program (System Restore).
I have noticed that when I delete all but the last Restore Point using the System Restore button in the Tools section, that the size of the file "System Volume Information" for each of my drives doesn't decrease as much as it should. If I use the program "Disk Cleanup" in XP and go to More Options tab and click on Clean up... in the System Restore section (delete all but the most recent restore point), I further reduce the size of the file "System Volume Information" for each of my drives to a more appropriate size. If there's only one Restore Point, then the file size should be around 100 MB for drive C: and very small (22 KB) for the other drives. I stumbled unto this after I deleted all but the most recent Restore Point using CCleaner and the file size of "System Volume Information" in drive C: was still over 1 GB ! After using "Disk Cleanup", the file size dropped to just over 100 MB. Why does CCleaner not do a better job?
I have no great opinion on creating a restore point after reg cleanup, I just have the Windows default daily point creation.
CC has the option of deleting any restore point, which means you can have 'before and after' restore points still existing and usable. To run a sys restore from (or to) a point before the deleted point Windows needs the info in the deleted point. CC will delete only the log entry for the point, making it inaccessible, whilst leaving the bulk of the backed up data for Windows to access should it be necessary. Thus you will get very little space freed after using CC to remove restore points.
Thank you, Augeas, for your explanation on how CCleaner's deletion of Restore Points works. Since CCleaner's "mission" is to cleanup the harddisk as much as possible to produce free space, wouldn't it be better to have just the same feature as Windows "Disk Cleanup" and delete ALL but the most recent Restore Point thereby freeing up as much space as possible in one operation and under one program? Perhaps this question is more suited for the "CCleaner Suggestions" board?
After DELETING a R.P. it is utterly pointless to retain previous R.P.
Previous R.P will retain valid snapshots of the registry hives as they were,
but the deleted files/folder data can NOT be reconstituted.
CCleaner does NOT delete any R.P. - it merely purges the registry hives,
so you still have a valid restoration chain of all files.
Typically it will on my XP remove from an average R.P. a 55 MB registry snapshot,
but leave a residue of 10 MB of modified/deleted files available for restoration.
Alan
Thank you for a better insight as to the workings of CCleaner with Restore Points. I will continue using "Disk Cleanup" to delete ALL but the most recent Restore Point but would prefer if this were possible within CCleaner. Does the Piriform team read these posts or should I post this issue in the "CCleaner Suggestions" board?
They do read them, and I like the suggestion as well.
It's a pain going through the Windows "Disk Cleanup" process, which I've just done on my sons laptop.
is it possible to do a restoration within the CCleaner program to undo what it has done? I am a bit desparate to determine what happened to the remember me username and password on a site containing vital health info.
You can undo what the registry cleaner did, but only if you allowed it to create the .reg file backup when prompted. The default location for that .reg file(s) backup(s) would be in the Documents / My Documents folder.
As for restoring site details such as cookies in a web browser that remember you so you don't have to login everytime you'll unfortunately have to login to those websites again for the cookie to be saved onto your computer again. After doing that you can go into CCleaner and then configure which cookies to keep which should then ignore deleting those cookies in your web browser(s). Note that it also depends upon how the site in question is configured, some require you to login each time such as bank sites, etc., and I'd imagine a medical records website wouldn't want that info easily compromised either in the event a computer was stolen, etc.