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Computer died after CCleaner


kever

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Hi,

I downloaded and ran CCleaner yesterday on my laptop. It was running slowly and I have been trying a lot of different things like ad-aware and spybot. It was working slowly, but still working until I ran CCleaner. I restarted the computer after I ran the program and not it won't go past the black windows screen with the blue scrolling bar (I'm running XP home). I tried starting it with last known good configuration, the same thing happens. I tried safe mode, and a bunch of stuff scrolls down the screen then it just stops and it won't go past a DOS screen. I tried putting in a boot disc and that will not load past the blue screen that says windows is loading setup (or something like that). I've let it wait for a few hours and it just won't go past windows loading in any setting. Does anyone have an idea if my system is recoverable, or did CCleaner kill it? Any help or tips are very much appreciated.

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Hi,

I downloaded and ran CCleaner yesterday on my laptop. It was running slowly and I have been trying a lot of different things like ad-aware and spybot. It was working slowly, but still working until I ran CCleaner. I restarted the computer after I ran the program and not it won't go past the black windows screen with the blue scrolling bar (I'm running XP home). I tried starting it with last known good configuration, the same thing happens. I tried safe mode, and a bunch of stuff scrolls down the screen then it just stops and it won't go past a DOS screen. I tried putting in a boot disc and that will not load past the blue screen that says windows is loading setup (or something like that). I've let it wait for a few hours and it just won't go past windows loading in any setting. Does anyone have an idea if my system is recoverable, or did CCleaner kill it? Any help or tips are very much appreciated.

 

I have a feeling that you may have cleaned too much! Did you just clean temp files, cookies and such, or did you have it also remove programs? Maybe you removed a startup program under "Tools" that you needed to keep in the startup sequence. Somebody more tech savvy would have to go through the process of helping you decipher what is in the DOS listings you mention, but I think that once you're able to get that analyzed, someone can get you up and running. At this point, it doesn't sound like you can access the place to reinstall Windows, but I hope you don't have to totally reformat your drive! Hope you'd backed up all your data.

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Try booting to Recovery Console. Most likely Recovery Console isn't installed on your disk so you need to boot it from the Windows XP CD, but if it is installed you can boot it from the same menu as safe mode. In Recovery Console you need to "login" to your windows installation with your administrator password.

 

Once you get in to Recovery Console run "CHKDSK /p". If CHKDSK finds problems and fixes them, you're in luck. :)

 

More on Recovery Console:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058

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I didn't change a single default setting on the program.

I can't get to the recovery console because the computer stops right before that option. The blue screen that says "windows setup" on top, and "setup is starting windows" on the bottom. It won't go past that point.

My computer was running poorly before I ran CCleaner, but it was still running.

Thats for the replies so far. Is there any hope?

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Unless you removed stuff from CCleaners tools section (Uninstall or Startup) it's extremely unlikely CCleaner is responsible, though there is a slim chance it pushed an existing major problem over the edge. Sounds like your only option, unless someone else can suggest otherwise, is a reinstall. You might get lucky and be able to do a repair installation of Windows (and not lose all your data). But if your computer was a mess beforehand a reformat and clean install might be a good idea.

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I tried putting in a boot disc and that will not load past the blue screen that says windows is loading setup (or something like that). I've let it wait for a few hours and it just won't go past windows loading in any setting.
JD is right Im affraid. If setup does not proceed from the boot CD then its not software problem. When booting from the CD and at the point that Windows is starting setup/copying files, your not in the user enviroment of your current windows install.

 

You could try unplugging all hardware\devices (printer, scanner and other USB items) then retry booting from the CD. I once had a bad cluster on my drive that prevented me from booting into Windows and I couldnt install from the CD.

 

From the command prompt I used: chkdsk c: /p /r Just for reference.

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IF you changed the default settings and allowed CC to clean program folders,

THEN you are screwed.

IF you did not change the default settings,

THEN something other than CC is in your PC.

 

I just downloaded and installed CCleaner on my desktop, changed the default settings, selected everything (thought i'd give my pc a thorough cleaning), and now it doesn't start(get to windows). Windows login and user interface errors are shown while booting up, same effect when trying to restore from last known config, or safe mode... Only dos drive loads, and I don't know how to use dos. Is there anyway i can access my windows documents/files through dos create a backup, and then reinstall all software again (windows)? If anyone can help, I'd be realllllllllllllllllly grateful. thanks

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The only time I had that same problem was when I had stupidly removed some critical registry items from the registry of Windows XP.The most I'd get is the desktop and background, but no icons or the Toolbar would not appear. My computer, pretty much, died.

 

Did you happen to run the registry cleaner? I don't know if that's the problem, but it should not be because it removes things that are safe to remove from your system.

 

What exactly did you do before you ran CCleaner?

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I can only think of two solutions. One is get a copy of Linux with a Live CD capability (I know Ubuntu has it), have the disc in when you boot up your computer so you can run Linux off of the disc. Use a partitioner (Ubuntu does have a partitioner when using the Live CD, I know because this is how I put it on my desktop to try it out) to make a new, decent partition on your hard drive. Then install Windows to that new partition (check to make sure you'll have enough room). Now your computer should boot from the new partition and give you access to everything on the original partition. This is probably the best option as it would possibily cost nothing, though I'm not sure how you're going to get a copy of Linux, as you need a computer to download and burn it to a disc. Maybe a local library can help.

Here's the second idea. If you can't get it to much I suggest you get a cheap new hard drive to add to your computer or a replacement for your laptop's hard drive and a drive enclosure (make sure it can interface with the drive). What you can do for a desktop, where two hard drives are attached, is install Windows on the new hard drive, allowing you to boot your computer. You will have to make the old hard drive a slave in that case, I think but I'm not sure, and I unfortunately don't know how to do that. It shouldn't be hard to find out. For a laptop you will probably need to put in the new hard drive, which may be best done by a computer store, as that may keep from voiding the warranty (contact wherever you got it from to find out about that), and then install Windows on the new drive. Hook the old drive up to the drive enclosure, which will make it into an external hard drive. What this does for you is gives you back your computers without losing any data, though programs will have to be reinstalled on the new drives. By having the old drives hooked up you can copy all of your files to the new ones.

In any case, good luck, and hopefully there is something less drastic than what I've suggested that will work.

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We had over 20 pc's fall to their knees after running CCleaner this past weekend. We have been using CCleaner for almost 2 years now for providing weekly cleaning maint for pc's. Over the past couple months we have started to see weird things happen like desktop icons being removed, files on the desktop being deleted, etc. This past issue has been almost cleared by running a system restore point, but the overall question is why..

 

Presently we are using ver 2.0.0.0 (full install), here is the ini file. I'm open for thoughts on this as I would like to continue to use CCleaner but unless I can find good evidence, I can't put our company at risk.

 

Don

 

[Options]

WINDOW_HEIGHT=629

WINDOW_WIDTH=632

WINDOW_TOP=316

WINDOW_LEFT=279

WINDOW_MAX=0

(App)Temporary Internet Files=True

(App)Cookies=True

(App)History=True

(App)Recently Typed URLs=True

(App)Delete Index.dat files=True

(App)Last Download Location=True

(App)Autocomplete Form History=False

(App)Recent Documents=True

(App)Run (in Start Menu)=True

(App)Search Assistant Autocomplete=True

(App)Other Explorer MRUs=True

(App)Empty Recycle Bin=True

(App)Temporary Files=True

(App)Clipboard=True

(App)Memory Dumps=True

(App)Chkdsk File Fragments=True

(App)Windows Log Files=False

(App)Old Prefetch data=False

(App)Menu Order Cache=False

(App)Tray Notifications Cache=False

(App)Window Size/Location Cache=False

(App)User Assist History=False

(App)IIS Log Files=False

(App)Hotfix Uninstallers=True

(App)Custom Folders=True

(App)Adobe Reader 8.0=True

(App)Windows Media Player=True

(App)Office XP=True

(App)Adobe Flash Player=True

(App)MS Management Console=True

(App)MS Paint=True

(App)Nero Burning ROM=True

(App)Sun Java=True

(App)Windows Movie Maker=True

(App)RegEdit=True

(App)VNCViewer 4=True

(App)DVD Shrink=True

(App)Grisoft AVG 7.0=True

UPDATEKEY=3/22/2007 10:54:05 AM

UpdateCheck=0

SecureDeleteType=0

SecureDeleteMethod=0

HideWarnings=1

DelayTemp=1

AutoClose=1

BackupPrompt=1

IEDetailed=1

FFDetailed=1

CustomFolders=C:\Temp|

(App)Missing Shared DLLs=True

(App)Invalid File Extensions=True

(App)ActiveX and Class Issues=True

(App)Applications=True

(App)Fonts=True

(App)Application Paths=True

(App)Help Files=True

(App)Installer=True

(App)Obsolete Software=True

(App)Run At Startup=True

(App)Start Menu Ordering=True

(App)MUI Cache=True

(App)Start Menu Shortcuts=True

(App)Desktop Shortcuts=True

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This is computer science not computer superstition.

 

Most of what CCleaner does can be seen from the ini files. Some if it is internally programmed and cant be viewed, but that stuff is mostly to do with browser cleaning. Its far too easy for modern society to blame someone else than to take responsibility for themselves, or indeed to study the problem in proper depth. What CCleaner does can be studied in some detail.

 

A default CCleaner install has no possibility of doing anything remotely close to turfing a system in cleaning mode. If a user conducts *administrative* work using the tools like unistall/startup changes then they need to take responsibility for doing so.........

 

Dont blame incompetence or unidentified malware on CCleaner.

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Hi,

I downloaded and ran CCleaner yesterday on my laptop. It was running slowly and I have been trying a lot of different things like ad-aware and spybot. It was working slowly, but still working until I ran CCleaner. I restarted the computer after I ran the program and not it won't go past the black windows screen with the blue scrolling bar (I'm running XP home). I tried starting it with last known good configuration, the same thing happens. I tried safe mode, and a bunch of stuff scrolls down the screen then it just stops and it won't go past a DOS screen. I tried putting in a boot disc and that will not load past the blue screen that says windows is loading setup (or something like that). I've let it wait for a few hours and it just won't go past windows loading in any setting. Does anyone have an idea if my system is recoverable, or did CCleaner kill it? Any help or tips are very much appreciated.

 

 

Ok, not much info is given on whether people are running reg cleaning functions or just CCleaner itself.

 

Here is the lowdown:

 

CCleaner itself does not cause computer problems that I know of.

Startup items cannot cause a computer to fail to boot, although it may cause you to lose, say, access to a printer, scanner, whatever. But a computer can boot with 0 startup items. Startup items are simply there to allow you to run things after windows loads IN ADDITION to windows itself, such as a scanner or printer program.

 

What CAN cause a computer to fail to start is:

Running CCleaner's registry tool. That is probably the most unsafe part of CCleaner, although usually if you untick the top 2 entries before running it, you have no probs. CCleaner itself is generally safe & only cleans where you tell it.

 

But if you use the reg cleaner function, or if you get into a "clean it all" attitude and use msconfig or another tool to remove not only startup, but device drivers etc etc, or if you got malware, viruses, OR if you install an update such as service pack 2 (Do you have auto update turned ON?) Recommended updates turned off. Right click my computer, properties, check the turn updates off button under automatic updates tab.

 

Updates, using reg cleaning, or removing services & other things from startup is what causes the most of these problems. Service pack 2 & other updates can contain drivers that conflict with hardware on your system causing it NOT to load. I had a laptop bluescreen me when service pack 2 was applied due to a driver conflict in what it installed.

 

UPDATES ARE DANGEROUS on some systems, & also slow your pc all to hell. If you have auto updates on, it may have downloaded and applied it before you rebooted, so you saw the problem AFTER booting up. (Startup items & BHO are totally safe to remove, but just may cause certain features or programs not to work or load like normal)

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CCleaner itself does not cause computer problems that I know of.

Startup items cannot cause a computer to fail to boot, although it may cause you to lose, say, access to a printer, scanner, whatever. But a computer can boot with 0 startup items. Startup items are simply there to allow you to run things after windows loads IN ADDITION to windows itself, such as a scanner or printer program.

 

...

 

What CAN cause a computer to fail to start is:

Running CCleaner's registry tool. That is probably the most unsafe part of CCleaner

 

Depending on specifics, failed startup items can crash the kernel with user mode driver framework type apps

 

Ive never seen ccleaners regcleaner come up with any important reg entries

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Ive never seen ccleaners regcleaner come up with any important reg entries

Same here, the CCleaner registry cleaner doesn't go deep, just gets obvious, noncritical, entries. Primarily I get installer references and extensions popping up in the list. The references are if I had an exe somewhere, ran it, then moved it and the extensions will be replaced if I do anything with that file type again. But then, that's me, may not be the same for everyone.

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Concerning DBONLINE

 

There hasn't been an update to CCleaner in a few weeks. It does not make sense that all of a sudden, 20 PC's in your business/corporation suddenly are affected. I have to side with Caldor on this, because CCleaner cannot take out anything serious unless changes have been made so that CCleaner cleans more than advised.

 

AJ

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And, important windows files in windows are protected by the operating system anyway. This is why virus' died out and the new wave started of worms and botnets - because protected systems files prevented virus' taking them over and fiddling with them. Malware had to resort to fiddling with browsers and with user mode type stuff because the real action on kernel mode in ring 0 cannot be messed with by a virus. Or for that matter, any win32 application like CCleaner cannot destroy/modify kernel mode protected system objects.

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