CCleaner Free Basic/Lite version suggestion

[Andavari]

I'd like to have a CCleaner Free Basic/Lite version, a very stripped down to basics no fluff version that rolls the clock way back to a similar feature set that earlier retro versions of CCleaner had (i.e.; CCleaner 2.34 or earlier) while still supporting Winapp2.ini, and while also still providing a portable ZIP build and installer build.

CCleaner Free Basic/Lite version wouldn't have:
Drive Wiper/Wipe Free Space, Duplicates Finder, Registry Cleaner, Smart Cleaning, and Software updater. Sure some people like having a "Swiss Army Knife" of a cleaning tool, but if allot of those features are rarely or never used I don't see the point of having them.

The update release cycle for a CCleaner Free Basic/Lite version could be more "glacially slow" (say no more than 2 to 4 updates per year) when compared to the full Free/Paid Pro versions which are released monthly.

Although I'd imagine that it would likely create extra work.

Here's to hoping. And I know a "basic" or "lite" version has been requested before.

[Dave CCleaner]

This has been pondered before in the context of a "legacy" version for the folks on antique licences. Don't think it went anywhere. Couple of questions:

On 15/11/2020 at 14:34, Andavari said:

CCleaner Free Basic/Lite version wouldn't have:

Aside from the installer being a smidge smaller, how would you see this differing from setting Custom Clean as your home screen and ignoring the other buttons?

On 15/11/2020 at 14:34, Andavari said:

no more than 2 to 4 updates per year

With the moving target of constant updates to browsers, and other software that we clean, even if we did absolutely nothing new we'd probably still average something like a half dozen releases per year to ensure compatibility. Only 2-4 releases per year would make it dependent on 3rd party add-ons to keep the cleaning up to date, and make this one strictly for the hobbyists who are happy to tinker with winapp2.ini.  I suspect we already have a little enclave of Windows 7 users on CC5.42 doing exactly that.  Would you envisage the "lite" version essentially operating the same way?

On 15/11/2020 at 14:34, Andavari said:

Although I'd imagine that it would likely create extra work.

We already have a dozen different flavours of CCleaner desktop to maintain and that I'd quite like to prune.  So yes, that is a factor ...

[Andavari]

6 hours ago, Dave CCleaner said:

Aside from the installer being a smidge smaller, how would you see this differing from setting Custom Clean as your home screen and ignoring the other buttons?

The difference would be no accidental running of something, and it might be useful for those new to CCleaner who shouldn't use the Registry cleaner especially on Windows 10. How CCleaner can guess a disk drive incorrectly would also mean no potential to use Drive Wiper/Wipe Free Space on an SSD.

Ignoring the other buttons is one thing. Maybe less work for Piriform if parts of CCleaner that will be unused by someone could perhaps just be hidden instead in the settings, I've seen programs do that before with the obvious being photo/image editing software, i.e.; don't want the color wheel or tools, just exit/hide them.

As for the release cycle, 2 to 4 times per year as I suggested is probably unrealistic especially with Windows 10 and browsers being a constant moving target to be made compatible with. And no I'm not down with a version merely for tinkering by self-maintaining cleaning entries via winapp2.ini, it would more-or-less stay the same where someone could add in their own entries via winapp2.ini to clean more obscure things such as portable programs that don't have a known default directory.

Edited November 17, 2020 by Andavari

[Dave CCleaner]

12 hours ago, Andavari said:

Registry cleaner

Moving this off the main menu has been on the to do list for quite a while.  It is not commonly used (most users seem to pretty much live in either the "Health Check" or "Custom Clean" areas) but does not sensibly belong where a user might potentially perceive it as a "thing to do every day" activity.  It would be there already, but there needs to be some rethinking around how it is laid out for it to fit in the available space in a submenu under Tools to actually be able to read the results, eg:

 

12 hours ago, Andavari said:

parts of CCleaner that will be unused by someone could perhaps just be hidden instead in the settings

Conceptually, that is what Health Check was supposed to be a step towards - but we had to fit it into the existing navigation structure.  Changing the console so that it can be made to feel like each user will feel like it is the "right fit" for them is one of the thing being researched by the "CCleaner 6" project.  Sounds like if we get it right, it should achieve the objective that you had in mind - albeit in a different way.