ESET Cleared CCleaner out of my PC

[TheGent2U]

ESET decided CCleaner was a threat. It cleared all of CCleaner - All 5 Apps - out of my PC. Has anyone else had this happen? If so, what is the fix?

[nukecad]

There has been something going on this week with Microsoft flagging the installers for CCleaner and the other Piriform apps as PUA's (Potentially Unwanted Applications).
It was only the installers, not the apps themselves, and  MS Defender didn't go as far as removing anything.

It's ostensibly to do with the offers in the 'Standard' installers and nothing to do with the apps themselves once installed.

It's supposed to have been sorted out with MS, at least partially, and the 'Standard' CCleaner installer has been slightly altered as well.

Yours is the first report I've seen of any AV actually removing the apps themselves, I've left an alert about it for the staff.

I'm guessing it's a knee jerk overreaction on the part of ESET.

Try downloading and installing CCleaner using the 'Slim' installer from here (not the Standard installer):
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds

However ESET may block it or simply remove it again, at least until ESET have a rethink and put their definitions back as there were.

Please let us know how it goes.

[Dave CCleaner]

ESET has not liked the free Defraggler, Recuva or Speccy full installers for a while due to the lingering presence of the Google toolbar for IE offer in the full installer - but the apps themselves have always been fine with them.  For CCleaner, the toolbar (which was there since CCleaner 3.09) was removed from CCleaner as of version 5.58 (see https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/version-history).

[Donkey King]

TechRadar: Windows 10 is warning users not to install CCleaner.
https://www.techradar.com/news/windows-10-is-warning-users-not-to-install-ccleaner

I think it's more than just some "offer" in an antiquated build.

[Dave CCleaner]

7 hours ago, Donkey King said:

I think it's more than just some "offer" in an antiquated build.

Nope.  The flagging by Defender is not of a "threat" but a "PUA" advisory that the free installer contained an offer for Chrome ... which had been there since CCleaner version 3 back in late 2010.   In other breaking news, Eyjafjallajoekull is disrupting air travel, they got the Chilean miners out, and Samsung and Apple have new phones out - but no way either of them could ever knock Nokia off their perch as the #1 mobile phone brand.  

[Neil brock]

Launched CCleaner on my PC as normal yesterday and it prompted me to say that there as a new version. So I downloaded it

However my ESET flagged the install as having issues - I opted to run 'clean' file but then the installer says it is the 32bit version & I need the 64bit version

I use the free version of CCleaner

 

Edited August 3, 2020 by Neil brock

[nukecad]

ESET is currently doing that.

You should note that the detection says 'Potentially unsafe application' which does not mean that what it is flagging is unsafe.

AV's use that wording when there is something in the file that you may not want, although normally they say 'Potentially unwanted application'. (ESET likes to be dramatic).

At the moment a few AV's have taken issue with the fact that the Standard CCleaner installer contains a 'bundled' offer for other software.
Many free-to-use programmes (and some paid ones) include offers like that, it doesn't make them unsafe - If you don't want the offered software then simply don't accept the offer.

Some AV's have also suddenly decided to take exception to CCleaner itself because it contains a Registry Cleaner - which can cause damage if used unnecessarily or incorrectly.

(Some AV's are getting a bit "Granny knows best" overprotective).

You can either tell ESET to ignore the warning, or try using the 'Slim' installer (which is the same but doesn't contain offers) from here:
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds

PS. The CCleaner installers work on both 32-bit and 64-bit, one installer does both - another indication that ESET may be being overzealous?

[Andavari]

ESET had detected it for years even before other AVs did, and it seems like most versions of CCleaner released will get someone posting about ESET blocking it, however ESET is likely trying to protect their users from accidentally clicking Ok/Yes in a software installer that contains additional 3rd party offers of potentially unwanted software. Your best bet is to use the link Nukecad posted, and bookmark it, so that you can always download the Slim setup file.

[Neil brock]

6 hours ago, Andavari said:

ESET had detected it for years even before other AVs did, and it seems like most versions of CCleaner released will get someone posting about ESET blocking it, however ESET is likely trying to protect their users from accidentally clicking Ok/Yes in a software installer that contains additional 3rd party offers of potentially unwanted software. Your best bet is to use the link Nukecad posted, and bookmark it, so that you can always download the Slim setup file.

Cheers guys much appreciated. Have made a note of the URL for the slim setup