CCleaner taking forever to analyze System Temp files under Windows 10

[AKD666]

My apologies if this has been asked/answered before - but my Search didn't find anything.

I have used CCleaner for years, and had the Professional version, when it started struggling with analyzing System Temp files under Windows 10 - I mean hours - where it never had a  problem before. I eventually found that if I uninstalled CCleaner, and then re-installed it, it would work just fine the first time I ran it, but the second time I used it it would again take hours.

Has anyone else experienced this, and, if so, what was the fix, please?

I'm actually wondering if it has anything to do with Windows 10 updates, which have been reported to be buggy - although I haven't had any apparent problems with them. I cancelled my Pro subscription, since I shouldn't have to pay if it doesn't work, and now use the free version.

Thanks - I have started  just going in to the System Temp folder and deleting any temp files from previous dates. The system seems to speed up after that - but I loose all the other cleaning ...

[nukecad]

It could be a few things causing this. Which CCleaner version are you using BTW?

One that seems to be a regular culprit is a corrupt recycle bin.
It happens and is fairly easy to fix: https://forum.piriform.com/topic/42673-corrupted-recycle-bin-fix/

Some have reported that running Windows built in Disk Cleanup will often clear whatever System File blockage it was that was causing CCleaner to take so much time, and CC runs more quickly afterwards.
Run Disk Cleanup once for 'normal' files, and then again but this time select 'Clean up System files'.
Both will take quite a long time.

If CCleaner is still slow then try running checkdisk with the fix option:
Open a command prompt as administrator and type in

chkdsk /f C:

Or you can right click on the drive icon in file explorer, select Properties, then the Tools tab, then Check

Again it will take a while to check the disk and filesystem for any errors, once it's finished Restart (not Shutdown/boot) your machine.

[Andavari]

Could make a difference upon how many physical files regardless of filesize exist in the system temp folder (assuming this is C:\Windows\Temp), and especially if on a hard disk drive instead of an SSD, although too many files can even be bothersome for an SSD. A ton of tiny files could take a long time but not hours which is unacceptable. Since you're already looking in that folder if there's a ton of files being created it could be from a program you have installed. I've personally never seen Windows (any version over the last 22 years) cause issues on its own in the system temp folder.

I know some antivirus' will create thousands upon thousands of .tmp files in C:\Windows\Temp supposedly due to virus scanning archive files like 7z, ZIP, etc., one in particular is Panda Dome ("Panda Free Antivirus").

Edited January 30, 2020 by Andavari

[John Sandstrum]

CCleaner taking forever to analyze System Temp files under Windows 10, software will not load

John P. Sandstrum (phone? number removed, and font size reduced - nukecad)