Wisewiz Posted October 18, 2023 Author Share Posted October 18, 2023 @Crni, @lmacri, and others interested in the registry problem: An alternative I've just tried today. Runs exactly like the portables from the Builds page, but makes NO REG ENTRIES AT ALL. John Haller does a great job with portable versions. I copied my CC.ini to the new folder, in the Data folder, and it works perfectly. I deleted all the usual stuff, and it continues without blinking. Might be worth switching for those of us who hate the registry-polluting behavior of the Portables from the Builds page. Worth consiidering, anyway. I have about twenty utilities on my machines from PortableApps.com, and I've never had a problem with any of them. https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/ccportable Wisewiz To those who have virtually none, even a little knowledge of computing seems like wizardry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmacri Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 22 hours ago, Wisewiz said: I have about twenty utilities on my machines from PortableApps.com, and I've never had a problem with any of them. https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/ccportable Hi Wisewiz: Does that mean that you use the PortableApps.com Platform to manage downloading / installing / updating of all the portable apps you use from that site? I've never tried a "tweaked" app offered by PortableApps (I prefer to use software that's released and supported by the original developer) but if you've installed the PortableApps.com Platform then I'm guessing it creates it own registry entries, even if ccPortable doesn't. Regardless, it would be nice if someone from Piriform / Avast could modify CCleaner Portable v6.x so it doesn't create all this garbage in my registry, or at least explain why it's impossible to create a portable version of CCleaner v6.x that doesn't do this. When I choose to use the portable build of any software I personally don't expect it to have all the "bells and whistles" of the full installed version, and I'd be willing to sacrifice features like Health Check and Driver Updater (which I don't use anyway) if it meant that CCleaner Portable could be deleted without leaving behind orphaned registry keys. ------------- Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3570 * Firefox v118.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23090.2008-1.1.23090.2007 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.4.286-1.0.2163 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7690 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.17.10746 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisewiz Posted October 19, 2023 Author Share Posted October 19, 2023 @lmacri, l, I decided a couple of years ago not to use the PA Platform, and I've never regretted that decision. All of my PA programs update through their internal updaters without issue. I've never (so far) had to go back to PA to get the next updated version of anything. And this freedom from the PA Platform means I can put my portables wherever I want them, without regard to the needs of the Platform to have them in a manageable folder. My Resource Hacker, Thunderbird, Autoruns, CrystalDiskInfo, Everything (Search), Firefox, HWInfo, IrfanView, Audacity, VLC Player, LibreOffice Fresh, and PDF X-Change Editor all update internally without any screw-ups. That said, I have only a couple of days of experience with CC Portable from PA, and we'll have to see what happens, but I suspect that when the next CC update is announced, Haller will post an updated version on PA.com, and that will install without changing anything. I wouldn't let CC update itself, because that would really pile the junk on my machine, write like crazy to the reg, and change my portable to installed. I don't think there's any doubt about that with the portable CC from the Builds page, either. It's a simple, quick, easy DIY project to put in the updated exe. The updates from PA are almost that easy. Download, run, done. Wisewiz To those who have virtually none, even a little knowledge of computing seems like wizardry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisewiz Posted October 19, 2023 Author Share Posted October 19, 2023 Oh, in case someone's counting, the others I've always updated by installing the next portable version from PA.com. Quick and easy. Wisewiz To those who have virtually none, even a little knowledge of computing seems like wizardry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Nergal Posted October 19, 2023 Moderators Share Posted October 19, 2023 I use many Portable (large P) Apps apps without PA platform and update them via the webpage for the portable app. It should be noted that not all regular portables (small p) are stealth (leaving no traces). Ccleaner was stealth but no longer, still works well portably without PA wrapper. ADVICE FOR USING CCleaner'S REGISTRY INTEGRITY SECTION DON'T JUST CLEAN EVERYTHING THAT'S CHECKED OFF. Do your Registry Cleaning in small bits (at the very least Check-mark by Check-mark) ALWAYS BACKUP THE ENTRY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL BREAK IF YOU DON'T. Support at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/?language=en_US Pro users file a PRIORITY SUPPORT via email support@ccleaner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisewiz Posted October 20, 2023 Author Share Posted October 20, 2023 Well, an update: I'm on my third day of CCPortable from Portable Apps, and I've run it many times and checked for updates in it many times, and I've even registered my license with it (successfully) and turned it into CCleaner Professional, and it still hasn't produced a single Piriform registry entry. Zero. There is no Piriform in my registry, in either CU or LM, just to make myself clear. I've removed the lic. file from the directory and returned to CCleaner Free, because the old problem I've complained about to CC Support -- with my license activated, the utility takes at least 8, sometimes as much as 15, seconds to open; without the license, it opens in a second flat -- was back as soon as I activated. I had thought to copy my original .exe file back to the directory to get the Free (portable) back, but it turned out, not very surprisingly, that all you have to do is delete the lic. file. The same .exe is apparently used for installed Professional, installed Free, and portable Free. I'm continuing to run CCPortable from PortableApps.com repeatedly, and check for updates (because that check could be counted on to produce a line change in the registry when I was using the portable from the Builds page) and so far, so better-than-good. Excellent! Oh, the portable.dat file must be in the CC directory. Don't forget that detail. Wisewiz To those who have virtually none, even a little knowledge of computing seems like wizardry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisewiz Posted October 21, 2023 Author Share Posted October 21, 2023 BTW, I am not shilling for PortableApps.com. I donate to them; they pay me nothing. But, for those who, like @lmacri, "prefer to use software that's released and supported by the original developer," a note on ccPortable from PortableApps: "This is an online installer that will download CCleaner during setup." The installer file downloads the base files from Piriform, and adds its own supporting files for the portable installation. It creates no registry entries, and does not register the app as an Installed App in Windows. Wisewiz To those who have virtually none, even a little knowledge of computing seems like wizardry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmacri Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 42 minutes ago, Wisewiz said: ... The installer file downloads the base files from Piriform, and adds its own supporting files for the portable installation ... Hi Wisewiz: ... which I'm sure violates the CCleaner EULA . That's why I've never been keen on using ccPortable (although I'm having second thoughts now given the current state of CCleaner Portable ). ------------- Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3570 * Firefox v118.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23090.2008-1.1.23090.2007 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.4.286-1.0.2163 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7690 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.17.10746 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisewiz Posted October 21, 2023 Author Share Posted October 21, 2023 I dunno. Piriform is advertising CCleaner heavily on PortableApps.com presently. Mebbe there's an arrangement. Wisewiz To those who have virtually none, even a little knowledge of computing seems like wizardry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Nergal Posted October 22, 2023 Moderators Share Posted October 22, 2023 As far as i know PA has the developer's permission (at least they used to have it in the piriform days) ADVICE FOR USING CCleaner'S REGISTRY INTEGRITY SECTION DON'T JUST CLEAN EVERYTHING THAT'S CHECKED OFF. Do your Registry Cleaning in small bits (at the very least Check-mark by Check-mark) ALWAYS BACKUP THE ENTRY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL BREAK IF YOU DON'T. Support at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/?language=en_US Pro users file a PRIORITY SUPPORT via email support@ccleaner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisewiz Posted October 22, 2023 Author Share Posted October 22, 2023 Thanks, @Nergal. I figured Avast wouldn't place ads right on the download page for ccPortable if anything unacceptable to Avast/Piriform were going on. The ads seem to be an attempt to lure users to the installed versions of CCleaner, where Avast has a foothold on the program and the registry, but most experienced users of PA.com will know that they want the PA version anyway. I think Haller and PA.com are scrupulously honest about what they're providing in all the cases I've seen. Wisewiz To those who have virtually none, even a little knowledge of computing seems like wizardry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisewiz Posted November 8, 2023 Author Share Posted November 8, 2023 UPDATE: Three weeks on CCPortable on two computers, with activated licenses and (later) deleted .lic files (so it returns to Free) and many checks for updates, and STILL there is no Piriform in either HKCU or HKLM. Looks like a success story to me. Wisewiz To those who have virtually none, even a little knowledge of computing seems like wizardry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmacri Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 On 21/07/2023 at 08:03, lmacri said: What really concerns me is that a Portable build of CCleaner should not need to create all these registry entries in the first place. Just an FYI that APMichael reported that CCleaner Portable v6.18 will crash if the registry entries at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner are deleted before ccsetup618.zip is downloaded from https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds and unzipped. See their 24-Nov-2023 topic at CCleaner v6.18 Portable Crashes Immediately. I don't know if this has anything to do with the two new executables named wa_3rd_party_host_32.exe and wa_3rd_party_host_64.exe (components of the OESIS V4 SDK developed by OPSWAT, Inc. - see TheOwner's 23-Nov-2023 topic What is wa_3rd_party_host_64.exe in CCleaner Folder?) that have been added to ccsetup618.zip but it's another example of an unexpected problem that can occur when data for a portable app is stored in the registry. ------------ Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3693 * Firefox v120.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23100.2009-1.1.23100.2009 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.6.294-1.0.2189 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7690 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.18.10838 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisewiz Posted November 26, 2023 Author Share Posted November 26, 2023 @lmacri Yeah, noticed that new file in my 64 folder. Now that I've seen your post, I thought I'd see what happened if I deleted it. Answer: Nothing. I've put it back, JIC, but I have no idea what it's doing in there. Or why. Wisewiz To those who have virtually none, even a little knowledge of computing seems like wizardry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmacri Posted November 26, 2023 Share Posted November 26, 2023 12 hours ago, Wisewiz said: Yeah, noticed that new file in my 64 folder. Now that I've seen your post, I thought I'd see what happened if I deleted it. Answer: Nothing.... Hi Wisewiz: Moderator nukecad speculated in TheOwner's 23-Nov-2023 topic What is wa_3rd_party_host_64.exe in CCleaner Folder? that these OESIS V4 SDK files might be needed for the "new and improved" Software Updater that is starting to roll out to a small number of users for testing (see the release notes at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/version-history) but no one is sure what their purpose is yet. I have a 64-bit OS and after downloading the "official" ccsetup618.zip from https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds and unzipping I did the usual cleanup I mentioned in my 10-Oct-2023 post <above>. I deleted everything but CCleaner64.exe, portable.dat and License.txt and copied over my ccleaner.ini file containing the configuration settings from my previous CCleaner Portable version before launching CCleaner64.exe ***. My CCleaner Free Portable v6.18 still runs correctly after the \x86 and \x64 subfolders are deleted (which include files like CCleanerBugReport.exe, wa_3rd_party_host_64, CCleanerDU.dll, etc.) but I should add that I don't use Health Check, Software Updater or Driver Updater. The only features I need are Custom Clean and the registry cleaner (which I rarely use) and they still work correctly. *** The first time you launch CCleaner64.exe this creates the \DATA and \LOG subfolders, but I no longer see the \Setup subfolder that was created with previous versions of CCleaner Free Portable v6.x. If you use a non-English version of CCleaner Portable do not delete the \Lang folder. ------------ Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3693 * Firefox v120.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23100.2009-1.1.23100.2009 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.6.294-1.0.2189 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7690 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.18.10838 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators hazelnut Posted November 26, 2023 Moderators Share Posted November 26, 2023 @lmacri In the link I posted above this is what Palo Alto uses it for Quote Answer "wa_3rd_party_host_32.exe" and "wa_3rd_party_host_64.exe" are OPSWAT binaries used by Global Protect to perform posture assessment. Global-protect works with Opswat (the engine that Global-protect uses to collect and patch HIP data) to get information regarding various 3rd party software. Once the client connects to the gateway, the Global-protect client generates a HIP-report from the client. wa_3rd_ processes in GP is only to collect information, it will not do a patch update. It checks the windows server with current patch so that policy can be enforced. And more info here https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/general-topics/use-of-binaries-in-global-protect/td-p/430692 and this very interesting read. https://www.file.net/process/wa_3rd_party_host_32.exe.html Support contact https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general or support@ccleaner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisewiz Posted November 26, 2023 Author Share Posted November 26, 2023 Thanks, @lmacriand @hazelnutfor those interesting posts. My wa_3rd ... 32 and wa_3rd ...64 are now gone and everything seems okay. They're obviously not essential additions. Wisewiz To those who have virtually none, even a little knowledge of computing seems like wizardry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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