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How to disable pre-launching and pre-loading so CCleaner can fully clean Edge


Moondoggy

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When I tried to clean my PC and my laptop today.  I was alerted to the fact that CCleaner could not fully clean EDGE because of certain settings controlled by the registry and/or group policy.  I was linked to the following page https://www.ccleaner.com/docs/ccleaner/troubleshooting/how-to-disable-pre-launching-and-pre-loading-so-ccleaner-can-fully-clean-edge which gave instructions on how to change the registry to avoid this problem.  However, when I tried following the instructions for the registry changes on my laptop the registry key mentioned does not exist. Specifically the MicrosoftEdge key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge\Main is not present.  I had changed my settings on my Windows 10 Pro desktop by following the group policy instructions but the same key is not there on that machine either.  Both my laptop and desktop are Windows 10 1809.  Can anyone enlighten me on what to do since the instructions are in error?

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Special Note:
Scroll to the end of this post for a ZIP download that contains inside it a .reg file that will automatically apply the fix for you. The ZIP download fix doesn't require any registry editing knowledge and is the easiest way to apply the fix.

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Old obsolete manual instructions for the fix:
To allow CCleaner to properly clean Edge without an error dialog displayed by CCleaner these keys must be present in the registry to prevent Edge from pre-loading, the keys do not exist by default and have to be created.

1. Copy the information in the code below, and paste it into an empty Notepad window.
2. Save the file in your documents folder using the following file name including the quotes:
"Microsoft Edge Browser - Disable Pre-Loading.reg"
3.
Double-click the .REG file, allow the UAC prompt, and then it will be imported. It's recommended that you restart your computer after importing the .REG file.
 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Microsoft Edge browser disable pre-loading after Windows 10 (October 2018 Update).
; This allows CCleaner to properly clean Microsoft Edge after Windows 10 (October 2018 Update).

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge\Main]
"AllowPrelaunch"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge\TabPreloader]
"AllowTabPreloading"=dword:00000000

 

---------------------------------------------

Then there's also this:
Internet Explorer and Edge will typically (at least in my case) have no issue being cleaned if you do the following:
1. Start Microsoft Edge.
2. Immediately close Microsoft Edge.
Side Note: Do not End Task Microsoft Edge from within Task Manager since doing that "may corrupt its databases."
3. Clean with CCleaner. It will spend a few seconds cleaning Internet Explorer however it should be able to successfully clean both it and Edge without any error text stating they're being skipped.

---------------------------------------------

ZIP download automatic fix:
To make this even easier, just download the attached ZIP archive named "MicrosoftEdgeBrowserDisablePreLoading_36992e405e1fd1501a0c2bf75ca146ba.zip" it contains the .REG file and a brief readme document. The MD5 hash of the download is included in the file name for verification.

Simple instructions:
Download it, unzip it, and finally run the included .reg file.

Download:
MicrosoftEdgeBrowserDisablePreLoading_36992e405e1fd1501a0c2bf75ca146ba.zip

VirusTotal scan result:
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/06a8e3cf98ad2710a581adb89ec45a1152a1fde662dc65e019bdb7094e50605c/detection

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  • Andavari pinned this topic
  • 1 month later...

As Moondoggy stated, they do not have the key that you reference, therefore can't follow this direction. " Specifically the MicrosoftEdge key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge\Main."

I, too am having this problem - the key you reference doesn't exist. Please help with an alternative method. I'm using Windows 10 Home and do not have access to gpedit, either.

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The .reg file I posted above I've tested and it works on Win10 Home, i.e.; import the .reg file (perhaps reboot although I don't know if that's necessary). Then launch CCleaner, and it no longer will have the pop-up dialog complaining about Edge.

Edit:
Those registry keys don't exist, which is what the .reg file I supplied will create.

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  • 1 month later...

Here's what I did to get it to clean Sessions....I was having that pop up telling me it could not clean sessions...so I figured the file was not there to clean..so I clicked on the edge browser (..Firefox is my default..)   as soon as it opened up I clicked it off...I ran CCleaner and lo and behold it cleaned Edge sessions...my take on this is just ignore the popup...because it's not there to begin with...not a computer expert BTW

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  • 2 months later...
On 12/28/2018 at 23:24, Andavari said:

To allow CCleaner to properly clean Edge without an error dialog displayed by CCleaner these keys must be present in the registry to prevent Edge from pre-loading, the keys do not exist by default and have to be created.

1. Copy the information in the code below, and paste it into an empty Notepad window.
2. Save the file in your documents folder using the following file name including the quotes:
"Microsoft Edge Browser - Disable Pre-Loading.reg"
3.
Double-click the .REG file, allow the UAC prompt, and then it will be imported. You "may or may not have to restart your computer" for the change to apply.


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Microsoft Edge browser disable pre-loading after Windows 10 (October 2018 Update).
; This allows CCleaner to properly clean Microsoft Edge after Windows 10 (October 2018 Update).

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge\Main]
"AllowPrelaunch"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge\TabPreloader]
"AllowTabPreloading"=dword:00000000

 

This did not work for me, even after creating the keys. Copying the info above into a reg file gave me an error. See image

RegEdit error.png

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What's in the code box in my post is all that goes into the .REG file. And you'll have to have admin privileges to import it. Perhaps start RegEdit.exe on your system using Run as administrator, and then in file menu click: File > Import

You are likely missing this at the top of the .REG file:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

--------------

Since everyone is having issue with this I zipped the .REG file, it's at the bottom of my original post here.

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/21/2019 at 01:39, Andavari said:

The .reg file I posted above I've tested and it works on Win10 Home, i.e.; import the .reg file (perhaps reboot although I don't know if that's necessary). Then launch CCleaner, and it no longer will have the pop-up dialog complaining about Edge.

Edit:
Those registry keys don't exist, which is what the .reg file I supplied will create.

Just applied latest Microcrap patches & fixes? on my Win10 Home version and did get the popup. The initial instructions CCleaner provides should be changed to point to this post as the registry keys don't exist. I used the copy/paste into notepad, saved the .reg file and imported the new entries into the registry. CCleaner then worked and cleaned all of the crud MS wanted to keep on my system. No reboot was necessary. Good job by CCleaner - best $20 I've spent.

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  • 1 month later...

I recall going through the registry procedure described in this post a few months ago when the error message in ccleaner appeared.  The procedure worked.  Since then, windows 10 has updated a few times.  I currently have 10.0.18362 build 18362.

Now, all of a sudden the error message in ccleaner has returned.  Relative to what the other posters here are saying about the registry, the Key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge " doesn't exist (or no longer?? exists).  Thus, you can't "navigate" to this key per the instructions @ https://www.ccleaner.com/docs/ccleaner/troubleshooting/how-to-disable-pre-launching-and-pre-loading-so-ccleaner-can-fully-clean-edge. 

Can/should you create a whole key in the Registry and add the DWord and value to the new key? 

 

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11 hours ago, Watt said:

... Can/should you create a whole key in the Registry and add the DWord and value to the new key?

Yes, because there is no default policy for Edge. You must add the registry keys and values yourself.

Or you could do it like this:
https://forum.piriform.com/topic/53177-how-to-disable-pre-launching-and-pre-loading-so-ccleaner-can-fully-clean-edge/?tab=comments#comment-302353

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  • 1 month later...
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