Hello, I have a big problem with CCleaner. I’ve always used the portable version, but recently I’ve encountered a terrible issue.
I just downloaded the portable version from here:
The first time I launched it, everything seemed normal, but then it suddenly started installing CCleaner 7 on its own.
I was shocked that the portable version downloaded software without my permission and installed it on my PC without my consent. This is illegal, violates all laws, and is highly questionable.
After CCleaner 7 automatically installed itself on my PC, I removed it via the Control Panel. After restarting the portable version, CCleaner 7 was suddenly installed on my PC again, once more without my permission! I don’t want it installed on my PC and I never agreed to it!
What’s the point of this practice? Is CCleaner suddenly a virus that spreads itself on the system? You can’t even close CCleaner 7, and the program runs constantly. I feel completely ripped off by Priform!
How can I use only the portable version without this crap automatically installing itself every time?
Avast / Piriform will not be offering a portable build for CCleaner v7.00 and higher. The CCleaner Portable v6.39 file (ccsetup639.zip) available <here> on the official downloads page will be the final portable build released for CCleaner. See employee MrA’s 08-Oct-2025 post in my topic Builds Download Page Offering Outdated CCleaner Portable v6.39 for further details.
If you want to continue to use CCleaner Portable v6.39 make sure that you remove all traces of CCleaner v7.x first ***, and then disable automatic updating at Options | Updates | Control Product Updates for CCleaner immediately after you have unzipped ccsetup639.zip and launched CCleaner Portable v6.39 for the first time (see image below). If you see a button on your CCleaner Portable v6.39 interface or on a pop-up ad that says something like “Try our new CCleaner” DO NOT click the button to accept the upgrade, since this will install the full “standard” edition of CCleaner v7.x in C:\Program Files.
*** NOTE: I’d suggest you use Revo Uninstaller Free in Aggressive Mode to uninstall CCleaner v7.x, which should remove additional files and registry entries that are often left behind from a “normal” uninstall from Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features.
Thank you. I had to delete the temp_ccupdate folter, which is dowloaded on the first start automatically and uncheck the boxes, to stopp it from doing that. I hope that helps.
I had to delete the temp_ccupdate folter, which is dowloaded on the first start automatically and uncheck the boxes, to stopp it from doing that.
Hi Kiri:
If I unzip a fresh copy of the portable ccsetup639.zip downloaded from the official builds page <here> there is no file named CCUpdate.exe. If you can find a file called CCUpdate.exe on your system (e.g., at C:\Program Files\CCleaner\CCUpdate.exe) just go ahead and delete it.
CCUpdate.exe (a.k.a. the CCleaner emergency updater) could be a remnant left behind by your accidental upgrade to the “standard” version of CCleaner v7.x or from an older version of CCleaner Portable. For example, see my 21-Jul-2023 post in Wisewiz’s Welcome back to CCleaner Professional ??? about a buggy CCleaner Portable v5.92 (released 11-Apr-2022) that incorrectly added a task called “CCleaner Update” in Windows’ Task Scheduler that would try to run the CCUpdate.exe emergency updater.
Open Task Scheduler and look for that scheduled task named “CCleaner Update”. If present, just right-click and choose “Delete” from the pop-up context menu to remove the task and stop it from running. Here’s an old image I captured in January 2021 when I was using CCleaner Free Portable v5.76 that shows that task.
it’s not there when you download the zip file, but as soon as you run the exe, all the junk is downloaded automatically.
Hi Kiwi:
I did some additional testing and was able to reproduce your findings. In both tests described below I saved the portable ccsetup639.zip file in a folder named E:\Portable\CCleaner on a removable USB stick.
TEST 1: If I unzip a fresh copy of ccsetup639.zip and immediately run CCleaner64.exe this automatically starts a Health Check scan at launch (which I quickly aborted; I never allow Health Check to run on my system), creates a new ccleaner.ini file, and creates the tmp_ccupdate subfolder containing a file named ccudpate702_free.exe.
TEST 2: If I unzip a fresh copy of ccsetup639.zip and immediately copy and paste an older ccleaner.ini file (e.g., the ccleaner.ini file previously used with CCleaner Free Portable v6.38 that contains my custom settings) into E:\Portable\CCleaner then the first time I run CCleaner64.exe this opens my Custom Clean window and no tmp_ccudpate subfolder is created.
I used the method described in TEST 2 to update my CCleaner Free Portable from v6.38 (rel. 23-Jul-2025) to v6.39 (rel. 20-Aug-2025) back in August 2025 (i.e., by keeping the existing ccleaner.ini file to preserve my custom CCleaner Free Portable settings), which probably explains why I’ve never seen the tmp_ccudpate subfolder before.
Just FYI, I stopped using CCleaner Free Portable v6.39 after Avast / Piriform announced it would not be releasing a portable edition of CCleaner v7.x and I am now using a different disk cleaner program.
The crucial question is why Priform is acting so unscrupulously.
A portable executable should never download a setup file for installation, that makes no sense. I use a portable app for a reason and don’t want to install anything. The new version of CCleaner is trash, you can’t even close it and it runs constantly without the user’s permission.
Software should never automatically download anything without the user’s consent.
Software should absolutely not perform an automatic installation without the user’s permission.
Software should never even consider downloading a setup file from another piece of software and secretly installing it without the user’s consent. That’s a virus and anything but legal in the country where I live!
I am deeply disappointed and shocked by the approach being taken here!
I completely agree with you. This is a dishonest and unethical business practice and probably violates GDPR data privacy and security laws in the EU and other regions. I hope employee @Laurence_CCleaner is monitoring this topic and will pass our comments on to the higher-ups at Avast / Piriform who think it is acceptable for the portable ccsetup639.zip file to behave this way.
Just FYI, I posted a comment today on page 12 of anon’s Wilders Security Forum topic CCleaner v6 to warn other CCleaner Portable v6.3x users about your findings.
I’m afraid I don’t even know who the “relevant authorities” are.
I can’t tell you if anyone in the EU has filed a GDPR complaint or how the telemetry data that CCleaner v7.x collects is used, but I do know that Avast has a reputation for misusing user data and has been fined in the past by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - see the 22-Feb-2024 BleepingComputer article FTC to ban Avast from selling browsing data for advertising purposes.
However, I believe that CCleaner v7.x meets some of the criteria listed <here> that Malwarebytes uses to determine if software should be classified as a PUP (potentially unwanted program) - see my 30-Dec-2025 comments <here> in the Comments and Suggestions board of the Malwarebytes forum.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.6691 * Firefox v146.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.25110.6-1.1.25110.1 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.4.5.226-146.0.5441 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.39.11548 * HDCleaner Portable 64-Bit v2.095
The CCleaner 7 update is being downloaded because, by default, auto-updates are enabled when you extract the portable ZIP files. To prevent this, you’ll need to disable auto-updates.
Option 1: Disable Auto-Updates After Extraction
Open CCleaner.
Go to Options > Updates and turn off auto-updates however the update may already have been downloaded but not installed.
Option 2: Disable Auto-Updates Before Extraction
Extract the ZIP file, Run CCleaner, and disable Auto updates under Options> Updates. Then locate the CCleaner.ini file in the extracted folder.
