turning off giving CCleaner permission everytime Windows 10 boots - [Workround]

[Purrceyz]

Is there a way of turning off Windows asking me for permission for CCleaner each time, I reboot/restart the machine? This has only happened since the Oct2020 update & it's annoyance. I do NOT want to disable UAC as a whole.

[nukecad]

There is a switch for this in Options>Advanced -  if ticked it only applies to CCleaner :

 

Although I do note that you say it's only started happening for you with 20H2, which as a full release has only been out today , so something may have changed that needs looking at.

[Purrceyz]

Unfortunately this doesn't help me. There is NO advanced under Tools in my  CCleaner.

 

I have the free version & can't afford to purchase the paid version (retired, low income). Is there another solution? Otherwise, I'll stop using CCleaner.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Purrceyz

[hazelnut]

5 minutes ago, Purrceyz said:

Unfortunately this doesn't help me. There is NO advanced under Tools in my  CCleaner.

 

I have the free version & can't afford to purchase the paid version (retired, low income). Is there another solution? Otherwise, I'll stop using CCleaner.

It's not under Tools it's under Options.. Advanced and then look down the list.

[Purrceyz]

Thank you for your reply.

I looked under options, found it and looked at the "skip  user account control warning" box. It's already checked. Rebooted and it still asked.

 

So I went back to Options so I could uncheck it and recheck it, thinking that might help. When I try to uncheck it, I get the message "The system cannot find the path  specified" (I reinstalled it, used the default settings.)  Rebooted again. So this problem persists. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Purrceyz

[nukecad]

I'll try some testing now that I have 20H2 installed.

Are you using 'Run CCleaner when the computer starts' or 'Smart Cleaning', or both?

[nukecad]

I've done some testing and cannot replicate this UAC problem, so another couple of questions:

Do you have Windows Fast Startup enabled?
Are you using a Windows admin account or a standard user account?

[Andavari]

A couple of times after a big Windows 10 upgrade what I had to do was untick and re-tick that UAC box in CCleaner as shown in nukecad's screenshot then it no longer prompted.

It's a task in Windows Task Scheduler which is perhaps disabled by a major Windows upgrade and it may need to be re-enabled. I think it's sort of a common issue for some types startup items after a major Windows 10 upgrade installed. Speculation: Maybe Microsoft is disabling some things so the Windows 10 upgrade installs without issue. It also happens to some SSD toolbox software that utilizes a non-standard cache system such as Crucial's/Micron's SSD Momentum Cache and Samsung SSD Rapid Mode.

 

[nukecad]

@PurrceyzThe message that you got when trying to untick the option may well point to the Task Scheduler entry being missing. (I suspect that I may also have lost a few during the 20H2 update).

Can you open the Task Scheduler to check if it's there. If I rember correctly the task is called 'CcleanerSkipUAC'.

Give me a shout if you need step by step instructions on how to do that. (On the phone so can't screenshot them at the moment).

[Purrceyz]

Yes, I would appreciate some step by step instructions as it's new to me. 

 

Thank you. 

[nukecad]

Fix/workround -

I've done some more testing and I'm currently seeing the same "The system cannot find the path specified" warning if I try to change the Skip UAC setting in CCleaner.
(I'm also seeing a different error/warning when trying to change the 'save settings to INI file' setting in CCleaner).

Which leads me to believe that it is probabably something that has been changed by Windows in the 20H2 update.
It may be fixed by Microsoft soon,  or it may need the CCleaner developers to fix with an update to CCleaner.
That depends on if Microsoft intended that change(s) or not.
 

Anyway, to go back to the Skip UAC task, and I now have a fix/workround for this issue:

1. Open the start menu (Windows icon on the taskbar) and start typing  the word 'task' (no need to use the searchbox just start typing).
2. A window will open showing various apps/settings connected to tasks - click on 'Task Scheduler' and it will open. (see the screenshot below).
3. On the left select 'Task Scheduler Library' and it will show you a list of the scheduled tasks that have been set up.

If you see it, (you possibly won't), then select 'CCleanerSkipUAC' and then select the 'Actions' tab and see if the command line ends in "$(Arg0)" as shown below.

 

If (as I suspect) you don't see the CCleanerSkipUAC task then try the following (I've triple checked and this works for me everytime).

1. Open CCleaner Options>Advanced and click on the UAC setting to get the error message.
2. Close the message and without doing anything else close CCleaner.
3. Reopen CCleaner and the setting should have been turned off.
4. Click the setting again to turn it on and without doing anything else close CCleaner.

That should now have reset the UAC control and turned it on so that you no longer see the UAC. - If you go back to Task Scheduler and click on 'Refresh' (on the right hand side under 'Actions' - see the screenshot) you should now be able to see the task and it should now be working properly.

 

[Purrceyz]

nukecad, thank you for all your suggestions to resolve this issue. 

 

The workaround did work for me (after rebooting). Do you want to want to report this issue to the developers or would you prefer if I did? (Your explanation would probably be more detailed than mine.)

 

Thank you again for your work. 

 

[nukecad]

I've already reported it to the staff thanks, and another possible 20H2 issue.

It's always going to be an issue - Microsoft changes something and then everyone else has to work out what they have done and catch up.