Lost Audio Speakers and Microphone after using CCleaner.

[Steve N]

I have a Dell Laptop dv6-2173 about circa 2010. I have lost all audio (both speakers and microphone). Perhaps this was due to an update of the drivers on this computer by CCleaner. To make matters worse, I recommended CCleaner to two buddies; one with the exact same laptop and another with a Lenevo of about 2015-16 circa. Shortly after activating CCleaner on their computers, the same thing happened to them. We are all running Windows 10 Home 64 bit version. Help! I need to get my speakers and microphone back on my Dell Laptop as well as stay friends with my two buddies. What do you recommend I (we) do?

[nukecad]

2 hours ago, Steve N said:

I have a Dell Laptop dv6-2173 about circa 2010. I have lost all audio (both speakers and microphone). Perhaps this was due to an update of the drivers on this computer ...

This does sound like a Driver Updater issue, so I've moved it to the Driver Updater forum for more focused help.

This link is where you should start, if it doesn't help then use the 'Contact Us' at the bottom of that FAQ page to raise a ticket and get help by email from support.

 

[Dave CCleaner]

You can use CCleaner's own built-in Driver rollback.  If that doesn't work for you, go to the Device Manager in the Windows Control Panel, go to Sounds, video and game controllers, right-click the offending audio device and "Uninstall device"

... then right-click "sound, video and game controllers" and select Scan for hardware changes.

Should take less than a minute all-up, and that will get you back to the factory defaults. 

[Steve N]

Tried Driver rollback, Restore and uninstall Sound Hardware and reinstall. Nothing worked. Haven't heard anything from CCleaner outside of this. My buddies are waiting until I find a solution before monkeying with their PCs. More help please!!!!

[nukecad]

3 hours ago, Steve N said:

 Haven't heard anything from CCleaner outside of this. My buddies are waiting until I find a solution before monkeying with their PCs. More help please!!!!

Have you used the 'Contact Us' button on that FAQ page to raise a ticket with support?

Alternatively you can email them directly at support@ccleaner.com

[Steve N]

Okay, I emailed them. Let's see what they come up with.

[Steve N]

Still nothing. Is this a real product with support or a scam?

[nukecad]

Did you get an automated reply from support when you emailed them?

I've asked @Dave CCleaner to chase up your email.

[Dave CCleaner]

The support queue has not been particularly busy over the past couple of days, since the Boxing Day sale ended.  The oldest paid customer email that has not yet had a personalised response from a support agent is around 2 hours old.

The only ticket that I could locate from a "Steve", "Steven" or "Stephen" over the past couple of days with a Driver Updater matter was raised at 16:19 GMT on Tuesday from a free user who, despite not having access to paid support, nevertheless received a response from 1st line support by 18:06 GMT the same day indicating that the customer's matter had been escalated to 2nd line support, who in turn emailed the customer at 16:26 Wednesday.

Although that may well be a different Steve.

21 hours ago, nukecad said:

Did you get an automated reply from support when you emailed them?

@Steve N: If you didn't receive an acknowledgement of your support request within a minute or two of sending it then either a) check your spam folder for any replies or b) check your sent items to check that you didn't put too many "c"s in support@ccleaner.com.

[Carl M]

Hello - I am one of Steve's buddies referenced in the original post by Steve N.  The audio issue mentioned OCCURRED DURING THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD of CCleaner, on two HP laptops (not Dell), and partially on one Lenovo laptop.  The problem happened sometime 12\2\2021 and 12\17\2021 during the 2 or 3 times the application was run.  Within a few days, all of our laptops started having issues - no audio on the HPs, and no microphone on the Lenovo.  The day after that, at least two of us (maybe all three) started getting marketing pop-ups from CCleaner trying to get up to buy the product.  I was leery about purchasing CCleaner since after running your tool just once or twice I had the first major issue with my HP laptop that I've ever experienced.  While I was trying to figure out what happened to my laptop, and how to fix it, the trial period came to an end.  It was almost as if the product caused the issue to make me HAVE to buy CCleaner to get the issue resolved (which is a form of entrapment, and not legal in the United States).   Today, I decided to reach out to several IT Tech friends on social media about this issue, and learned one of them had issues too.  One of those IT friends works at the National Security Administration in MD.  He had other issues with your product, and just decided to uninstall CCleaner.  He spent an hour on the phone with me today, shedding light on some potential fixes.  For CCleaner to ignore a potential customer during (or just after) a trial period of your product because they are not a current paying customer is surely NOT going to ever convince that person to want to purchase your product, not good customer service (product tech support) and again, sure seems like entrapment.  Right now, I'd just like to have my laptop back to what it was before I ever tried your product.   Adding to my concern is this article I just came across today (from August, 2021)...  Windows 10 is warning users not to install CCleaner | TechRadar    Apparently, the problems noted in the article, etc. appear to still be an issue, and not fixed.  I also came across this article (from July, 2020)... Microsoft now detects CCleaner as a Potentially Unwanted Application (bleepingcomputer.com).   

[nukecad]

Without commenting on your driver issue (I'll leave that to the staff).

If you actually read the (now old) Bleepingcomputer article you will see that Microsoft themselves said that the block by Defender was about bundled offers in the installer and not about CCleaner itself.
(TechRadar were just  reporting/repeating that Bleepingcomputer article).

Microsoft were not even concerned about the bundled software being offered, just about the practice of bundled offers in general.  (Which was/is a bit two-faced considering the offers that Microsoft themselves make):
“While the bundled applications themselves are legitimate, bundling of software, especially products from other providers, can result in unexpected software activity that can negatively impact user experiences.”

So moving on - It was announced this week that CCleaner is the latest 'big name' addition to the Microsoft Store (For both Windows 10 & 11):
https://news.softpedia.com/news/ccleaner-now-available-in-the-windows-11-app-store-534652.shtml
Obviously that's not something that Microsoft would do if they were knocking CCleaner.

[Carl M]

Yes, I was aware that the one article was old (from July, 2020) but was trying to point out that the issue addressed in the article with Windows Defender and CCleaner is still happening for Windows 10 users.   In our cases, the issue with lost audio occurred during the free trial of CCleaner - sometime between 12/2/2021, and 12/17/2021.  I did read on the CCleaner social media pages that an update was released on 12/14/2021 to fix some problems.  Not sure if that is related to the issues we've experienced, or not.  We were just hoping to get some help on this forum, since this all happened during a free trial of CCleaner, and this experience is our first and only impression of CCleaner thus far.   

[nukecad]

Hi Carl,

Unfortunately only the staff and the support teams have the 'inside' knowledge to help with Driver Updater problems.

Unless our username is followed by "CCleaner" (and have the CCleaner logo as an Avatar) then we are not staff, (moderators are knowlegable and trusted users not employees).

From Dave CCleaner's latest reply it seems he is unable to find any support request from Steve N and is waiting for Steve to reply, but -

@Dave CCleaner from the timings it appears that 'Steve N' may well be that user you found a support ticket for, a free user using Driver Updater on a trial rather than a paid licence?

[renevdlee]

I have exactly the same issue and CC cleaner is not offering any support.
 

I received 1 e-mail from CC cleaner. The e-mail did not provide any solution, so I sent a reply and two reminders since it was not followed up..

Resumé: You are a paid user of CC cleaner. You use the driver updater. Some basic functions are lost (no more audio + microphone + Printer driver removed). The recovery function does not help. CCleaner provides no further support. Thanks CCcleaner for destroying some essentials on my PC and not even trying to solve it.