Clean for all accounts on local computer

[PierreS]

@Alan-B

Alan, I can understand your concern over loss of control, of your own machine, but you have to remember that the OP only wants the ability to remove temp files (as pointed out by Mr Don).

 

Furthermore, I fail to see the relation between your – admittedly – gruesome experience with .Net and CCleaner's cleanup of unnecessary temp files and MRU registry entries.

 

Just put yourself in the position of a computer-savvy father (or mother) of 3 children, with one standard user profile for each child and one for his wife (or her husband), who doesn't wish to waste 5 minutes logging on to each profile (supposing the children haven't changed their passwords) and running CCleaner for it, but still wishes to prune temp files before running the weekly anti-malware scan (what's the point in wasting time scanning expendable harmless temp files?)

[nolme]

The problem is we're using cleaning tools in different ways.

 

Home: today. childrens are being go with computers when their parents are lost. So we must manage this from a higher level to avoid 'errors'

 

Small Office: end users only. They aren't aware of PC maintenance. Of course they don't because there is an IT tech' so we must do something ;p. Letting them admin on their computer is dangerous but we can't take remote control machine per machine.

 

Medium-big office: Here, users are more the previous cases end users with no control on software/hardware.

 

Some companies want to externalize their IT management and wer want to help them to do this ^^

[Alan_B]

@Alan-B

Furthermore, I fail to see the relation between your ? admittedly ? gruesome experience with .Net and CCleaner's cleanup of unnecessary temp files and MRU registry entries.

 

Just put yourself in the position of a computer-savvy father (or mother) of 3 children,

 

I did not describe my gruesome experience in relation to temp files and MRU.

You previously said

"I've never had a missing executable at startup or missing DLL event after uninstalling software (and I do install/uninstall a lot)".

Although I have done far less uninstalling than you, when I had to uninstall .NET I had tons of those errors,

so you have been lucky.

 

I do have 3 children, and our daughter still lives with us and has a profile on my P.C.

 

Neither I nor my daughter shut down the computer with :-

Start => Turn off Computer => Turn Off (why does it waste my time and offer Standby or Restart ! ! !).

That wastes precious seconds with loading up and presenting a sequence of menus.

 

We just double click a special shutdown icon I placed on the desktop in "All Users" profile and the job is as good as done.

We abandon the computer as CCleaner is /AUTO launched with a configuration that purges the current users profile of Firefox etc. caches, and does a very light clean of a few system logs I never need or want, and then does SHUTDOWN - all without further user interaction.

 

I use a different CCleaner INI configuration when I manually launch CC to more thoroughly purge the Operating System that contains our profiles.

 

The desktop icon is a much quicker and less annoying way to close down the computer.

 

The desktop icon gives me MUCH MUCH more free space.

Multi Gigabytes of music videos she watched on-line will never accumulate in her caches.

My daughter's profile remains private to her, and is clear of junk without needing me to invade her privacy.

This is the way I like it.

 

I accept that you have valid reasons for how you administer a company network for which you have responsibility.

I accept that company administrators cannot allow users to do what they like,

and may as part of their duties have to inspect and report anyone that has "illegal material" on a computer.

 

Regards

Alan

[Alan_B]

but only temp files (100% safe to delete, 100% of the time on all user accounts...)

I agree that it is safe for an administrator to do - but only because he can do no permanent harm to the user.

It should be part of his contract of employment that what he breaks he must mend.

 

I agree that it is safe for an administrator to do when he has control of a network of users who never install/remove software, users with no control over security patches because I.T. test the effects first before they risk losing everything.

 

I disagree over 100% safety for the situation of myself and other private computer owners that have another user.

 

I have installed and uninstalled several dozen applications and it is NOT 100% safe to zap %TEMP%.

I use RegShot so that I know what changes are made.

I have seen that when a reboot is required to complete the (un)installation there may be a file put in %TEMP%.

I assume the file is there to do something special upon reboot,

and if the file is not present upon start-up then completion will not be achieved.

 

I consider it safe for me to shut-down and to postpone start-up till after a good night's sleep,

but if my daughter logged in before me, and used CCleaner, and purged that special file in my %TEMP%,

then my world will collapse when I next log in and reboot completion fails.

 

When I use a Portable Application, it may "borrow" the registry and my profile in a non-portable fashion because that is how it was designed.

It is made "portable" with the addition of a small launcher that creates a registry etc. backup file on the flash drive, and then over-writes the relevant keys with what settings I had set the last time I used the application, and when I close the application then it stores on flash a new backup of the keys it has been using, and restores the registry from the backup it made when I launched it.

One extra nitty gritty detail - whilst the application is running there is some small executable held in %TEMP%.

I think this is required for the application to gracefully close and do the final registry backup and restore operations. I would not be happy if a system administrator decided to launch a purge that disrupted the application and corrupted the registry by purging this special executable.

 

What happens on Patch Tuesdays or when restoring the system to an earlier date ?

I know they often require a reboot to achieve completion,

and after shutdown they wait for a logg-in with administrator privilege before completion.

It is O.K. for a non-admin user to log in, so long as they do not destroy information needed for completion.

I assume that a user running CCleaner with the power to erase my private %TEMP% files could damage completion.

 

I always shut down the computer via CCLEANER /AUTO, with the special exception when Reboot is required for completion.

 

Regards

Alan

[PierreS]

@Alan_B: Removing temp files is 100% safe as long as you do it upon login, not at shutdown time the way you have set it up. When I shut down my computer, I also use a desktop (actually, taskbar) icon I've set up and which runs the command "shutdown -s -t 0". Yes, it does take a few extra seconds, but it also takes care of flushing the disk write-behind cache the way it's designed to be.

[mr don]

@Alan_B: Removing temp files is 100% safe as long as you do it upon login, not at shutdown time the way you have set it up. When I shut down my computer, I also use a desktop (actually, taskbar) icon I've set up and which runs the command "shutdown -s -t 0". Yes, it does take a few extra seconds, but it also takes care of flushing the disk write-behind cache the way it's designed to be.

 

 

I quite agree.

 

Simply running a cold shutdown command that immediately "and more efficiently" shuts down a computer can harm applications. Particularly those situations wherein a word document is open, or Windows is processing a command to a program but you run a "brute force" shutdown utility which causes it to lose all data in processing...

 

This may or may not cause immediate problems, but over time, it is downright dangerous. I agree that it is much safer to do a shutdown that takes a few seconds longer, but does a proper shutdown that closes running apps first.

 

Additionally, CCleaner has the option not to remove temp files unless they are over 24 hours old. The way I see it, is if you are going to take the responsibility to run CCleaner on reboot, do not blame CCleaner for removing files that are 48 hours old simply because you waited 48 or even 96 hours to reboot the pc!

 

This may be room to present an idea, that a user can set the length of time that CCleaner will preserve temp files, be it 24 hours, all the way up to a year if so desired by someone. While I see no reason to preserve junk for a year, people like you may well wish to. Additionally, if CCleaner is setup to clean multi-user profiles, it is highly customizable to the point that you can select & unselect nearly anything you do not wish for it to remove.

 

That said, I do not know the reason you are so against this, when CCleaner is so customizable that were it capable of cleaning multiple user accounts, you would be able to set it to clean or not to clean whatever you wanted from all the accounts. Additionally, if your daughter ran CCleaner knowingly like that, it would just indicate that she wanted to clean the computer traces she had on the web, etc...

 

If you really wanted to spy on her web activities, there are free key logger applications for that...

 

I am at this point, a bit confused by your attachment to temp files seeing the customizable functionalities of CCleaner that would make it clean or not clean nearly anything you decided it should...

 

Am I missing anything here? I believe it would be safe to say that a multi-user account cleaner would be 100% safe, since any user running it is obviously running it for 1 reason... to remove trash, & that since it may be customized to remove as little or as much trash as desired, there is no conflict in multi-user environments that could not be easily solved by simply setting CCleaner up to clean what you do or don't want it to clean.

 

Correct me if I am missing anything here, but I don't see anything I am missing, & I believe I have covered all the bases so far on this "issue" you seem to be having concerning CCleaner being "unsafe" to clean all user accounts!

 

Some would even argue that using CCleaner might cause their computer to burst into flames, as the increased processor time could heat up their processor & cause it to overheat (with all this hot weather!), therebye destroying their computer!

 

You could take the option that CCleaner is unsafe, but I have not seen where it is so when used properly.

[mr don]

Registry cleaning? Bytes? Disk Space?

 

/confused

 

He was saying that the amount of disk space you save with cleaning a few bytes of registry data is minimal compared to the potential damage you may do to it in the process.

 

NTREGOPT is what he recommended to recreate registry hives from scratch so the computer loads faster (reg optimization, slack space removal)

[Alan_B]

@Alan_B: Removing temp files is 100% safe as long as you do it upon login, not at shutdown time the way you have set it up. When I shut down my computer, I also use a desktop (actually, taskbar) icon I've set up and which runs the command "shutdown -s -t 0". Yes, it does take a few extra seconds, but it also takes care of flushing the disk write-behind cache the way it's designed to be.

I agree that to preserve the ability to (un)install applications by clearing temp files at login is better than doing so at shutdown.

I am sure it is safe for the user to do this manually after they have control following login.

I do have a concern that (un)install may occur immediately after login,

and if Temp files are also automatically cleared at login there could be a race hazard.

 

Regards

Alan

[Alan_B]

if your daughter ran CCleaner knowingly like that, it would just indicate that she wanted to clean the computer traces she had on the web, etc...

 

If you really wanted to spy on her web activities, there are free key logger applications for that...

You have this totally wrong.

I am not aware of my daughter running CCleaner to hide her web activities.

So far as I know the only thing she does is use the convenient shut-down link I placed on the All-User desktop,

and that does all her cache cleaning without further interaction from her.

 

I have never wanted to spy on my daughter.

She is an adult and I trust her.

Please read again what I said, i.e.

"My daughter's profile remains private to her, and is clear of junk without needing me to invade her privacy.

This is the way I like it."

 

I am at this point, a bit confused by your attachment to temp files seeing the customizable functionalities of CCleaner that would make it clean or not clean nearly anything you decided it should...

I disagree.

I can customize CCleaner only by using a batch script to look at %USERNAME% and select the customized CCleaner.ini that purges Firefox caches etc. for that user.

The alternative is to use the installed CCleaner which uses individual user registry keys,

and any adjustment to that requires me to :-

Change her from User to Administrator status;

Shut down and wait for her to login (I do not want to know her password);

and then I can configure CCleaner so that her registry stipulate for her profile a very safe cleansing that is fit for her profile.

Then I can shut down.

I must remember to login to my account and drop her from administrator status to user level,

otherwise the system is at greater risk if she clicks on the wrong pop-up.

Even more hazardous as the possibility that the next time she plugs in her IPOD or downloads more music,

if she still has administrator authority then Apple may seize control and install more of their unwanted rubbish.

Why on earth would any-one want to have Apple Bonjour service seizing 90% of all processor cycle ?

 

Am I missing anything here? I believe it would be safe to say that a multi-user account cleaner would be 100% safe, since any user running it is obviously running it for 1 reason... to remove trash, & that since it may be customized to remove as little or as much trash as desired, there is no conflict in multi-user environments that could not be easily solved by simply setting CCleaner up to clean what you do or don't want it to clean.

What you are missing is your understanding of why a user would enable CCleaner to remove trash.

To me it is obvious that there is MORE than the one reason you can think of.

I want to IDENTIFY all POTENTIAL trash, and scrutinise the results of Analyze,

and if I see something I do not recognise I wonder why it is there and Google.

I may decide that CCleaner got this one wrong, in which case I protect from deletion.

I have not yet found evidence that a new bit of junk is the result of malware,

and through "trust but verify" I am more confident of my protection by Comodo.

 

Regards

Alan

[mr don]

You have this totally wrong.

I am not aware of my daughter running CCleaner to hide her web activities.

So far as I know the only thing she does is use the convenient shut-down link I placed on the All-User desktop,

and that does all her cache cleaning without further interaction from her.

 

I have never wanted to spy on my daughter.

She is an adult and I trust her.

Please read again what I said, i.e.

"My daughter's profile remains private to her, and is clear of junk without needing me to invade her privacy.

This is the way I like it."

 

 

I disagree.

I can customize CCleaner only by using a batch script to look at %USERNAME% and select the customized CCleaner.ini that purges Firefox caches etc. for that user.

The alternative is to use the installed CCleaner which uses individual user registry keys,

and any adjustment to that requires me to :-

Change her from User to Administrator status;

Shut down and wait for her to login (I do not want to know her password);

and then I can configure CCleaner so that her registry stipulate for her profile a very safe cleansing that is fit for her profile.

Then I can shut down.

I must remember to login to my account and drop her from administrator status to user level,

otherwise the system is at greater risk if she clicks on the wrong pop-up.

Even more hazardous as the possibility that the next time she plugs in her IPOD or downloads more music,

if she still has administrator authority then Apple may seize control and install more of their unwanted rubbish.

Why on earth would any-one want to have Apple Bonjour service seizing 90% of all processor cycle ?

 

 

What you are missing is your understanding of why a user would enable CCleaner to remove trash.

To me it is obvious that there is MORE than the one reason you can think of.

I want to IDENTIFY all POTENTIAL trash, and scrutinise the results of Analyze,

and if I see something I do not recognise I wonder why it is there and Google.

I may decide that CCleaner got this one wrong, in which case I protect from deletion.

I have not yet found evidence that a new bit of junk is the result of malware,

and through "trust but verify" I am more confident of my protection by Comodo.

 

Regards

Alan

 

I am a little confused. You have not yet found evidence that a new bit of junk is the result of malware? Are you trying to say that CCleaner is also a malware detector, or that malware uses the windows temp folders when unloading?

 

CCleaner is not a malware cleaner. It is a temp files cleaner. It works differently from other temp cleaners as it does not search for .TMP files or other "trash" file extensions as this could end up deleting even files such as calendar .TMP (template) files & cause problems!

 

CCleaner has the locations of the temp files it needs to clean written in embedded .ini files that are built into the .EXE.

[PierreS]

/me thinks Alan_B is training to be a lawyer (or maybe he's one already? ): he's straining at gnats (the next exercise is swallowing camels )

 

The proposed function that would let CCleaner remove the trash from all accounts in one fell swoop, like all other options in CCleaner, doesn't have to be activated, this is left to the computer owner's – or administrator's – choice. If we allowed every possible risk, however remote, to stop us from going forward, we'd never get anything done. Just remember this: by today's standards, we wouldn't have Aspirin.

[mr don]

/me thinks Alan_B is training to be a lawyer (or maybe he's one already? ): he's straining at gnats (the next exercise is swallowing camels )

 

The proposed function that would let CCleaner remove the trash from all accounts in one fell swoop, like all other options in CCleaner, doesn't have to be activated, this is left to the computer owner's ? or administrator's ? choice. If we allowed every possible risk, however remote, to stop us from going forward, we'd never get anything done. Just remember this: by today's standards, we wouldn't have Aspirin.

 

I 100% agree with you. That is exactly what I would have said, only you beat me to it.

[Alan_B]

I am a little confused. You have not yet found evidence that a new bit of junk is the result of malware? Are you trying to say that CCleaner is also a malware detector, or that malware uses the windows temp folders when unloading?

 

CCleaner is not a malware cleaner. It is a temp files cleaner. It works differently from other temp cleaners as it does not search for .TMP files or other "trash" file extensions as this could end up deleting even files such as calendar .TMP (template) files & cause problems!

 

CCleaner has the locations of the temp files it needs to clean written in embedded .ini files that are built into the .EXE.

 

You are very confused.

CCleaner removes trash. As has been said before, this is not restricted to TEMP files.

I am concerned that some files that have a single shot purpose of being available upon Reboot may be put in TEMP,

and if TEMP is purged at some time after they were placed there and before shutdown, that purpose will not be achieved.

I know some applications depend upon this completion on reboot technique, and would fail if TEMP was zapped.

I know that Windows Security patches often depend upon reboot for completion, and these often fail by themselves, so clearing TEMP would NOT assist completion.

Though to be fair it is possible that completion would not fail when Temp is zapped ! !

 

Malware can live in TEMP files.

In this very forum I have read that some malware deliberately cripples CCleaner so it will not be swept away.

My focus is upon ANYTHING that may be unusual, and may merit further investigation.

IT IS NOT JUST TEMP FILES.

Nasty stuff goes everywhere.

I include in my definition of malware anything that comes from Apple.

Just because my daughter plugs her IPOD into a convenient socket for a recharge does NOT authorise Bonjour to attack my use by stealing 90% of the processor cycles after she has logged out of her account.

Microsoft Patches are also malware that do damage.

Sometimes they crash entire company networks.

 

A security patch included Silverlight.

A long time before I learnt not to trust M.$ and I now leave Windows Updates fully blocked.

A few days after Patch Tuesday etc. I will search for any patch disasters and decide upon things I do not need or want,

then I allow it to NOTIFY but not install.

They included Silverlight as what purported to be part of a batch of security updates,

and I deleted it from what they proposed to download.

I did a custom install so I could supervise each thing they planted.

After a reboot completion I used CCleaner and it showed me nothing to worry about.

After this I compared all files and folders with an image captured the previous month.

This is a regular check to ensure that no significant changes have occurred without my notice.

I was surprised at the M.$ audacity that even though I expressly forbade the installation of Silverlight,

they still download a lengthy Silverlight EULA which authorised M.$ and their partners (any website that uses Silverlight ?) to extract unspecified information from my P.C. and to share it amongst themselves, and also to install unspecified applications without further notice or permission.

 

I do NOT use CCleaner to detect malware,

but when CCleaner analyzes and finds stuff that I recognise as being found everyday and have determined as of no significance,

then I know that all is well in my world, which means everything seem to be the same as normal,

and it was convenient to express this as another day free from malware, but there is so much more that I look for,

and it only takes a couple of seconds if today is the same as always.

 

Windows 7 has been installed together with EasyBCD, but I still favour XP.

Something went wrong with the Comodo installation, so as a quick bodge Norton was added.

A week later I compared the XP partition with the previous image and found two new items in System Volume Information, a file and also a heavily protected folder.

I googled the names and found they came from Norton and most google results were questions and complaints about the difficulty of removing these pests, and how their presence prevented defragging the HDD.

Comodo protects my XP partition, and would have blocked these pests if only it had been running.

Norton audacity horrified me, but came as no surprise.

 

I like to know what changes have happened to my system so I can neutralise anything I do not like.

 

I spend just two seconds checking that today's cleanup will do the same as yesterday,

and if not I investigate the reason.

The reason could be :-

something new on the system that causes no concern once identified,

something new change on the system that might need fixing,

Something new in CCleaner's targets that now hits something it never hit before.

CCleaner has new targets every month, otherwise why does CCleaner get frequent updates ?

 

Only 10% of the CCleaner boxes delete anything from my system.

80 % of the CCleaner boxes almost never delete anything from my system,

and if Analyze finds some such thing I cautiously evaluate for myself whether on my system this would be a good thing to do.

I really want to zap maximum junk,

hence 90% of the tabs are checked so I know when CCleaner will do a more effective job for me,

BUT I DO NOT LET IT HAPPEN UNTIL I HAVE VALIDATED FOR MYSELF.

 

It is a stupendously bad idea to have one person use CCleaner to the maximum available extent upon another users profile, especially since the maximum extent may change with each CCleaner update, and also the maximum extent may do far more damage to the other user's profile.

 

Cleaning all users profiles I will agree to when performed by some-one who knows what they are doing, and is responsible for everything that is installed, and responsible for restoring normality when things go belly up.

 

It is dangerous when multiple account users sharing a common computer may use CCleaner on the understanding that the more boxes they check the better, and we all need Wipe Free Space ! ! !

 

I would suggest that very much less than 10% (perhaps only 0.1%) of the CCleaner users are System Administrators or other professionals who frequently clean multiple accounts on many P.C.s.

The rest are probably split 50/50 between those with only one profile for whom this topic is totally irrelevant,

and those who share a computer with multiple profiles and only use CCleaner because a friend recommended it.

 

I accept that Cleaning all accounts will be useful to a very small percentage of people,

and suggest the average use who has problems with CCleaner as it stands should be protected from extra danger.

People download CCleaner from anywhere and use it without visiting this forum until they have "killed the computer". They often check all the Advanced options for maximum cleansing.

 

I strongly recommend the average user be protected from themselves by only enabling "Clean All Users" for those who are registered as per

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=29093

 

Regards

Alan

[Alan_B]

/me thinks Alan_B is training to be a lawyer (or maybe he's one already? ): he's straining at gnats (the next exercise is swallowing camels )

 

You are so wrong about me.

I am now retired, but still have my skills and attitude as a professional software engineer.

I aim to always be correct and to cover every eventuality for failsafe or failsoft operation.

Before Microsoft, I designed an 8 bit microprocessor real time operating system with interfaces for protecting buildings and property from fire and theft by monitoring detectors and issuing warnings to manned stations for appropriate response - up to and including the sending of armed guards at nuclear research facilities.

 

My computer never had a BSOD or a reset from any fault in the software.

Problems only arose when the microprocessor went wrong,

e.g. After a "process shrink" to get more processors on a silicon die there was a race hazard,

and for a few batches Motorola 6800 had the feature that an external asynchronous interrupt had a 0.01% chance of causing the processor to only save 3 or 4 of the 7 registers on the stack, and when the interupt service was completed the processor pulled the top 7 values of the stack and put them in its 7 registers, so that instead of continuing at the point where it had been interrupted, it went off into never never land.

I had not anticipated such a disaster, but I had protected against ANY disaster. The program counter ran through address space doing nothing, and a timer interrupt (synchronous) detected a lack of health checks from the main code, so a full restart was initiated. Full Normality returned within a few seconds of the failure, and the security guard was notified of the restart.

 

It is my habit to anticipate potential disaster and, where appropriate, defend against it.

I often saw dangers that perhaps have not yet transpired, but I have averted some major calamities.

 

I was the "go to guy" when other engineers had major problems.

After many weeks of other engineers trying to fix a network system.

When contract penalty clauses on a nuclear submarine base of ?100,000 per day were starting,

although I had no previous involvement I was sent on site,

and I identified and fixed the problem within about 3 hours.

 

I always look out for possible problems and for that purpose I need to be correct.

I am not pedantic for the sake of being pedantic.

 

What is a gnat to you could well be a mosquito or tsetse fly delivering death to some one else.

 

The proposed function that would let CCleaner remove the trash from all accounts in one fell swoop, like all other options in CCleaner, doesn't have to be activated, this is left to the computer owner's ? or administrator's ? choice.

You are so horribly disastrously wrong.

If a system administrator chooses then let it be on his own head - he will have to fix any problems.

Most people who use CCleaner do not register on this forum until they have "killed the computer",

often because they have checked every box they can see for maximum effect.

 

What is trash to one person is NOT trash to another.

CCleaner itself is not so foolhardy, it lists POTENTIAL trash for consideration,

but does not clean until authorised (unless you choose /AUTO mode)

 

If we allowed every possible risk, however remote, to stop us from going forward, we'd never get anything done. Just remember this: by today's standards, we wouldn't have Aspirin.

Yes, Aspirin is good,

but so was Thalidomide - if only I had been there to warn them ! ! !

 

As I said in my previous post, naive users should be protected from this sort of power,

e.g. by restricting it to those who are registered as per

http://forum.pirifor...showtopic=29093

They will know what to do with such power.

 

Regards

Alan

[PierreS]

@Alan_b:

Ok, so your personal history is one of extreme caution and utmost technical accomplishment ? or the other way around . You're not the average user, point well taken.

Given that, I wonder why you use any software not written by yourself to do sometyhing so risky as removing trash?

 

For the rest of us, however, CCleaner is quite useful and, used with ordinary caution, could be made to remove the temp files and MRU entries from all existing profiles on the local computer without bringing down the wrath of the Gods upon the local administrator, and that, as I recall it, was the suggestion of the OP?

[Alan_B]

@Alan_b:

Ok, so your personal history is one of extreme caution and utmost technical accomplishment ? or the other way around . You're not the average user, point well taken.

You do not risk using the registry cleaning option - You are more cautious than I ! !

 

Given that, I wonder why you use any software not written by yourself to do sometyhing so risky as removing trash?

Now I am retired my focus is no longer ensuring non-stop continuous and reliable monitoring and reporting on various types of nuclear installations, and important commercial applications such as the protection of the central headquarters of large banks, and large shopping centres.

I now run risks I would not have considered as a professional engineer.

I even run Windows - but I do NOT trust it and always take a disc image backup before accepting a Microsoft security patch.

 

I am happy to use CCleaner - but I never trust the latest version until I have created a lot of junk and then run both the previous and the latest versions to analyse BUT NOT CLEAN. I compare the results and investigate the cause of any difference between the results.

Perhaps CC is cleaning deeper than before - so I decide whether this is good or bad for my specific sytem.

Perhaps CC no longer cleans something - perhaps the developers have refrained from zapping something that may be needed.

There are "bug reports" where a user claims to have lost something after upgrading to a later version, but I have not and will not be amongst their ranks.

 

It does not take me very long to launch a spreadsheet and use it.

It does not take me long to be satisfied that it gives the correct answers.

Therefore I feel no urge to waste my time writing software for my own spreadsheet.

 

Because I am able to safely use software that may be unreliable,

I have the time to investigate black holes in Windows 7 -

places where you can store files and not be able to find them ! ! !

 

For the rest of us, however, CCleaner is quite useful and, used with ordinary caution, could be made to remove the temp files and MRU entries from all existing profiles on the local computer without bringing down the wrath of the Gods upon the local administrator, and that, as I recall it, was the suggestion of the OP?

Why do you keep on banging on about how it is safe to remove temp files.

 

I keep on telling you about important "completion on reboot" files which should ONLY be removed after use upon reboot. What do you not understand.

Have you never seen complaints by many users that something failed due to CCleaner.

Have you never seen the recent complaints that standard junk cleaning has removed the logs of some A.V. product.

 

You show no care or regard for the many people who vastly outnumber you, and do NOT know the need for caution,

and having downloaded CCleaner they promptly tick all the boxes to get maximum benefit, and damage/kill the computer. After this they make their first visit to this forum to be told the things they never knew they needed to know.

 

It is with their needs in mind I have suggested, and will suggest again, that anything that permits one person to "clean" another person's profile without seeing what he is doing should NOT be a standard feature for the average home user, but ought to be restricted to registered business users.

 

Alan

[PierreS]

You do not risk using the registry cleaning option - You are more cautious than I ! !

Not really. I just don't see the point in removing registry entries that do no harm and only use up a few hundred bytes at most.

 

I keep on telling you about important "completion on reboot" files which should ONLY be removed after use upon reboot. What do you not understand.

Have you never seen complaints by many users that something failed due to CCleaner.

Have you never seen the recent complaints that standard junk cleaning has removed the logs of some A.V. product.

 

You show no care or regard for the many people who vastly outnumber you, and do NOT know the need for caution,

and having downloaded CCleaner they promptly tick all the boxes to get maximum benefit, and damage/kill the computer. After this they make their first visit to this forum to be told the things they never knew they needed to know.

 

It is with their needs in mind I have suggested, and will suggest again, that anything that permits one person to "clean" another person's profile without seeing what he is doing should NOT be a standard feature for the average home user, but ought to be restricted to registered business users.

 

Alan

Alan, as you must be aware by now, good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement ? with some luck.

 

As for the needs of other users, unlike what you seem to think, they're my bread and butter and have been for many years. If you go back through this thread, you'll see that I suggested that the ability to clean all profiles on a computer should respect each individual profile's settings. I also mentioned, although maybe not clearly enough, that this boot-up cleansing should only remove temp files and MRU entries. CCleaner by default does not remove temp files that are younger than 24 hours. Thus, cleaning them at boot or login time will not have any impact on newly installed software: even the most uncautious of people do not wait for a full day before rebooting after being prompted for it.

 

Finally, my experience tells me that the average business user is just as stupid as the average home user, computer-wise ? after all, they're the same people, in a different environment. IMO the person responsible for maintaining the home computer should be given the same liberty as the corporate IT administrator ? or more, because there may be children at stake; while the children may be more computer-savvy than their parents, they don't often have good judgement yet.

[Alan_B]

As for the needs of other users, unlike what you seem to think, they're my bread and butter and have been for many years. If you go back through this thread,

And the more damage inflicted by CCleaner the more bread and butter for some ! !

 

you'll see that I suggested that the ability to clean all profiles on a computer should respect each individual profile's settings.

You DO NOT RESPECT my profile settings when you blindly trash my computer simply because I have configured CCleaner to SHOW me SUSPECTED BUT UNCONFIRMED TRASH. I demand the right to evaluate any unexpected new arrivals.

 

I also mentioned, although maybe not clearly enough, that this boot-up cleansing should only remove temp files

YOU ARE WRONG

You have moved the goal posts.

This topic did NOT start with a focus on BOOT-UP cleansing.

I will concede that automatic BOOT-UP cleansing is safer BUT :-

There could be race hazards upon Boot-up if CCleaner is zapping temporary files that are needed for "REBOOT COMPLETION" as the final stage of (de)installation or post-operation clean-up; and

ONLY EXALTED system administrators are likely to have the ability to remotely BOOT-UP a computer that has been shut-down for the night.

 

I know that Windows Security Patches often require "REBOOT COMPLETION"

I know that Comodo Security Installation DOES require "REBOOT COMPLETION"

I know that Comodo Security Removal DOES require "REBOOT COMPLETION"

I suspect many other products (both security and "office document" applications) require "REBOOT COMPLETION".

I do not know which will fail if the "reboot signals" are destroyed during BOOT-UP.

Do you have absolute knowledge that all "reboot signals" will be used before BOOT-UP destroys them ?

 

You are so focussed on your specific WANTS you forget the average home user and his NEEDS.

You seem to have hijacked a topic which asked for one person to :-

BOOT-UP and upon completion LOGIN to then clean the profiles of other users

How is BOOT-UP cleansing relevant to any home user ?

 

You should NOT remove files that are ESSENTIAL to the computer and its health,

and sometimes important things do get held in temp files,

and when the thing that needed them has done with them it will clean-up in its own good time.

 

CCleaner by default does not remove temp files that are younger than 24 hours. Thus, cleaning them at boot or login time will not have any impact on newly installed software: even the most uncautious of people do not wait for a full day before rebooting after being prompted for it.

You are wrong.

The same as you, I remember 24 hours, BUT it is now 48 hours according to

http://docs.piriform.com/ccleaner/ccleaner-settings/changing-advanced-settings

It is now controlled by editing in CCleaner.ini the variable DelayTemp

 

I have just checked and my CCleaner.ini hold "DelayTemp=1"

so I have the default which should protect recent temp files

 

I launched Portable Apps ready to use various applications.

I have launched CC and run analyse, and I saw the usual junk that is safe to go.

I launched several Portable applications

I did another analyse and found in addition to the usual junk

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsd1D.tmp\FindProcDLL.dll 3.50KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsd1D.tmp\newadvsplash.dll 8.50KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsd1D.tmp\nsExec.dll 6.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsd1D.tmp\registry.dll 16.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsd1D.tmp\splash.jpg 46.14KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsd1D.tmp\System.dll 10.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsp19.tmp\FindProcDLL.dll 3.50KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsp19.tmp\newadvsplash.dll 8.50KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsp19.tmp\nsExec.dll 6.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsp19.tmp\registry.dll 16.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsp19.tmp\splash.jpg 47.94KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsp19.tmp\System.dll 10.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsq13.tmp\FindProcDLL.dll 3.50KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsq13.tmp\newadvsplash.dll 8.50KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsq13.tmp\splash.jpg 44.79KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsq13.tmp\System.dll 10.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsu16.tmp\FindProcDLL.dll 31.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsu16.tmp\newadvsplash.dll 8.50KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsu16.tmp\splash.jpg 43.95KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsu16.tmp\System.dll 11.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsuF.tmp\FindProcDLL.dll 31.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsuF.tmp\newadvsplash.dll 8.50KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsuF.tmp\nsExec.dll 6.50KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsuF.tmp\registry.dll 16.00KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsuF.tmp\splash.jpg 39.71KB

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\Local Settings\Temp\nsuF.tmp\System.dll 11.00KB

 

Please note that all the above are about to be zapped by CC even though you might expect 24/48 hour protection.

All ...\Temp\*.tmp\ folders have created and modified time stamps with today's dates

I checked the contents of several of those folders, and all the DLL's have today's time stamps.

The splash.jpg files however carry the dates when the applications were downloaded and unzipped.

 

I have now closed the various Portable Applications, and all the ...\Temp\*.tmp\ stuff has been automatically deleted.

 

Many applications are designed to use the registry, and may do other things not appropriate for a Portable Application.

Non-portable applications may be considered Portable if they leave no permanent effect on the files or registry keys, and to this end may include a "launcher" which :-

A) copies to the portable folder archive "A" any system files and keys which will be used ;

from the portable folder archive "D" transfers to the system files and keys their previous configuration of the application ;

C) launches the application, and upon closing the application ;

D) copies to the portable folder archive "D" the system files and keys which have been used ;

E) from the portable folder archive "A" transfers to the system files and keys their original values so full normality is achieved.

F) deletes all the ...\Temp\*.tmp\ stuff it put in the temp files.

 

I have Winmerge installed and carefully configured to do exactly what I want most of the time.

At other times I have significant different and varied needs,

then I launch Portable Winmerge, and possibly change the settings it remembers from before.

When I have finished I close it, and Archive "A" makes everything good and ready for installed Winmerge.

 

Normality is NOT reached if the temp files are deleted before they are used.

 

If the system suffers a crash it will still have portable configuration.

After a reboot then normality should be restored by completing the outstanding actions D),E), and F).

If CC erases ...\Temp\*.tmp\ upon BOOT-UP then D) and E) cannot happen, and normality is destroyed for ever.

 

Finally, my experience tells me that the average business user is just as stupid as the average home user, computer-wise ? after all, they're the same people, in a different environment. IMO the person responsible for maintaining the home computer should be given the same liberty as the corporate IT administrator ? or more, because there may be children at stake; while the children may be more computer-savvy than their parents, they don't often have good judgement yet.

You are arguing in favour of giving a stupid computer ignorant father the ability to blindly damage the profiles of his knowledgeable children.

This may be good for your business if you live by fixing computer mishaps,

but is not appropriate for a system cleaner with an emphasis upon safety,

and was not intended to punish users for their ignorance.

 

I repeat my view, it MAY be dangerous, and is not needed by the large majority that download CCleaner.

It would be a kindness to the novice if the more dangerous actions were only available by paying for business user privileges.

 

Incidentally, but very importantly,

I see little use for wasting time having CCleaner trawl through all user profiles on BOOT-UP.

If the CCleaner is configured to clean at BOOT-UP, does the main user need to wait for CCleaner to trawl through and purge ALL occasional user profiles - each profile will get its cleanup when its user BOOTS-UP,

 

I really believe the optimum is to put on the desktop a short cut that very conveniently launches CC in /AUTO /SHUTDOWN mode.

It is no more dangerous that some-one else doing it under blind remote control;

It gives the user the ability to refrain from cleaning when it is better to refrain;

For me it gives far more free disc space to every-one because only the current user will accumulate junk, all the other users profiles were cleaned when they launched shutdown.

 

Regards

Alan

[PierreS]

@Alan_B:

 

You're willfully distorting what I'm saying to accomplish your own agenda. It all started with a simple suggestion that CCleaner should be able to clean up all existing profiles on a given computer, remember? You don't want it, so be it. If that feature gets implemented, you don't have to use it, I don't have to use it, nobody has to use it. But anyone who wants/needs it can use it. That's all there is to it.

 

Now get off your high horse and stop insulting me. I will thereafter no longer respond to any of your posts, you've wasted my time enough.

[Alan_B]

And you wilfully ignore my points that

Important TEMP files are NOT protected by the 24/48 hour time limit

Sometimes "Completion on Reboot" requires that certain TEMP files should not be deleted until they have been used.

 

I agree, we cannot agree, and I see no point in continuing to explain what you insist upon ignoring.

 

Regards

Alan