CleanUp

[markem]

I'm sure someone else has already made this suggestion but on the off chance they haven't....

 

CCleaner can run the uninstaller and it can clean your registry and remove temporary files. But what it won't do is to run the uninstaller, go look for and remove any/all files and/or directories the application made, and remove it completely from the registry - at the touch of a button.

 

How would it know if a particular file, directory, or registry entry was associated with a given program? It can make smart decisions but what I am thinking is that it just produces a list of possible files/directories and allows the user to select which ones they want to get rid of and then do the same for the registry entries.

 

For example, I just uninstalled BitDefender. I also had to go in and look for all files and directories named BitDefender and remove them. Then I went through the registry and looked for and removed all entries named BitDefender too. It would have been nice to just click a CleanUp or CleanItUp button and have CCleaner do these steps for me. Especially since CCleaner is probably a whole lot faster than the Windows Search program or the registry's search facility.

 

Just an idea. Otherwise - terrific product!

 

Mark

[Winapp2.ini]

This has indeed been suggested, but most seem to feel that this is not ccleaner's place, and that you'd be better off with a dedicated smart uninstaller like Revo

[Andavari]

For example, I just uninstalled BitDefender. I also had to go in and look for all files and directories named BitDefender and remove them. Then I went through the registry and looked for and removed all entries named BitDefender too. It would have been nice to just click a CleanUp or CleanItUp button and have CCleaner do these steps for me.

 

Problem with attempting to remove security-related software (anti-virus, anti-malware, firewall, etc.,) via a third party uninstaller is that the security software will often fight back and win leaving a mess on the system. To more completely remove security software visit the vendor website and look for an official remover/uninstaller from them which can remove as much as possible, practically all anti-virus vendors have such a tool freely available.

[mta]

more people than I would have thought seem to get into trouble with what CC can do for them as it is. (reg cleaning, wipe free space, to name a couple)

add a 'scorched earth' function to nuke an installation completely and I'd guess there would be significantly more.

 

I think it would make CC too aggressive for the average user who, more often than not, just runs this sort of software without understanding potential risks.

 

personally, the idea has merit, but it's not the job of CC, especially when there are already great uninstallers out there. (as Winapp2 stats; Revo does an outstanding job at this)

[Guest Keatah]

CCleaner can run the uninstaller and it can clean your registry and remove temporary files. But what it won't do is to run the uninstaller, go look for and remove any/all files and/or directories the application made, and remove it completely from the registry - at the touch of a button.

 

How would it know if a particular file, directory, or registry entry was associated with a given program? It can make smart decisions but what I am thinking is that it just produces a list of possible files/directories and allows the user to select which ones they want to get rid of and then do the same for the registry entries.

 

For this to work, CCleaner needs to be running and watching in the background what the installer is doing to the system. And even then it would only be partly effective. There's no telling what a given application will do after it is fully installed. It might create other registry entries outside of its assigned space or create other directories and files. And what about user-generated files?

 

If I have photoshop installed, and generate a lot of work with it. Then I go and un-install it in preparation for updating, I wouldn't want any installer erasing all my work just because it was made with what I'm uninstalling.

 

The best solution for you would be one of those time-machine programs that let you reverse any changes to your system by way of calendar date, like a system restore. Or better yet, just backup your system via disk imaging prior to experimenting around. Any changes can be wiped out by reverting to yesterday's backup for example.

 

But in the spirit of uninstallers like Revo Uninstaller, CCleaner is not this style of utility and I don't think this functionality you speak of would ever be implemented.