Initial scan has disappeared

[No Middle Name 2]

Hello.

I have installed and run CCleaner Free earlier today. It seemed that everything went as expected. However, after copying and pasting the .txt file of the initial scan, I returned to the initial scan proper. This is the section that allows you to select the duplications and manually delete the chosen duplication(s). I then pressed the icon in the task bar only to find that it disappeared. 

Is this so? If not, can someone inform me how I can recover/access this? There's an awful lot of stuff there that really needs to be removed, and I would like to begin as early as possible. It seems that I am unable to do this with the .txt file that I have.

 

Thanks

[nukecad]

On 18/12/2022 at 04:46, No Middle Name 2 said:

This is the section that allows you to select the duplications and manually delete the chosen duplication(s). I then pressed the icon in the task bar only to find that it disappeared. 

Is this so? If not, can someone inform me how I can recover/access this?

So you were using the Duplicate Finder.

Your first issue is the part I've bolded in quote above - pressing/clicking the icon on the taskbar.
It isn't a bug, that's simply the way that Windows is meant to behave with apps that are showing on the taskbar.

Any app that is open will show an icon on the taskbar.

Once an app is open then if you click it's taskbar icon whilst it is open it will minimise  to the taskbar.
It is still open, it has just been temporarily moved off the screen - and clicking the icon again will restore it exactly as it was.
(Give it a go with any app that you have open and showing on your taskbar, you'll see that clicking it's taskbar icon just minimises and clicking the icon again restores it).

Your second question was regarding the .txt file you can output from Duplicate Finder.
That file is just for your reference, it can help you look at each set of duplicates and decide which you want to keep.
It can be handy if there are a lot of duplicates - but see below if you have a lot of duplicates found.

You cannot 'Import' such a .txt file back into Duplicate Finder, it's designed like that for a very good reason.
There is no way that CCleaner can know if that txt file is still valid, since you made the txt file you may have deleted some duplicates or made some more.
For that reason you have to do a new scan for duplicates each time you use Duplicate Finder.

 

Quote

There's an awful lot of stuff there that really needs to be removed

That statement concerns me a bit, I suspect that "awful lot of stuff" may be system file duplicates that need to be there; removing them could cause your computer to stop working properly.

Please read this:

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There are a few things to be aware of when using Duplicate Finder:

• It's main use is to find duplicates of your own files, photos, documents, music, etc. that you may have saved or copied to more than one place.
   
• You should leave the system files alone, always set duplicate finder to ignore them. (unless you have a specific problem with some system files).
• Many system files need duplicates in different places, and if you delete those duplicates some things may/will stop working properly.
   
• Even with your own files remember that 'photo 01' in one folder may not be the same as 'photo 01' in a different folder - so it's usually best to untick 'name' and search on file size/contents rather than name.
   
• Only delete something if you are certain that you don't need/want it.
   
• If you don't know exactly what any duplicate file found is then it's best to leave it alone.

You can output a list of what has been found to a textfile if you want to check them out further before deciding if you want to delete them.
 You cannot import that textfile back into duplicate finder, things may have changed since you made that textfile so a new scan is needed each time you use duplicate finder.
Once you have decided which, if any, files to delete then you can use the tickboxes to delete one (or more) of the duplicates.

When using the tickboxes then you have to select them one by one, there is no 'Delete All' button - that would be just too dangerous and you could very easily delete (hundreds of) things that you want or need.

There is more information on using Duplicate Finder here:
https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/204950144-How-do-I-use-CCleaner-for-Windows-Duplicate-File-Finder-#duplicate-finder-only-searches-for-files-via-the-categories-you-select--0-2

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Personally when using the Duplicate Finder I usually use these settings:
This is set to search my C: drive for my 'true' duplicates, not just files that happen to have the same name.
In fact files with the same name will not be found unless their contents are identical.
It's set to ignore the System files - as well as ignoring empty, hidden, or write protected files.

Note in particular those "Ignore's" - those are as important if not more important than the "Match by's".

[No Middle Name 2]

12 hours ago, nukecad said:

 

Thanks very much for this comprehensive answer.