Ccleaner update installed on my PC without my consent.

[Charming_Music9520]

Had installed old version 5.73 and every update setting switched off since long time.

Today somehow there was installed latest version 6.11 without any prompt / consent. After booting the pc, a full screen CCleaner notification about it appeared.

Why is that?

[nukecad]

There is a system in place to periodically update outdated/obsolete versions of CCleaner.

CCleaner versions 5.## have reached End-of-Life and so are currently being updated to the latest version, v6.11.
https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/13760826790669-End-of-Life-of-CCleaner-for-Windows-v5

In particular you should note that CCleaner versions below v5.92 no longer clear cookies effectively, because the major browsers have changed how they handle and store cookies.

You need to keep your CCleaner up to date for it to be effective. Browsers, apps, and Windows change all the time so the cleaning has to change to keep up.

As you were using a very old version of CCleaner you should have been getting notifications that this update would happen soon.
(I have not seen the notifications myself but believe that they would have also told you how to prevent the automatic update if you really wanted to).

This week versions 5.36 to 5.73 that are still in use will be automatically updated to v6.11.
Next week it is intended that versions 5.74 to 6.0 will also be automatically updated to v6.11

As noted - These automatic updates of outdated versions can be prevented by more advanced users, who realise that by doing so their old CCleaner version is unsupported and will not be cleaning things properly.

PS. As moderators we were last week given a 'heads up' that these updates would be happening this week and next.

Quote

After several months of alerts to impacted users, next week this target range will be extended to CCleaner 5.36-5.73 and then up to CCleaner 6.00 the week afterwards to help out those who remain stuck on outdated versions and have not been able to update themselves.

 

[Charming_Music9520]

There was no notification that an update would happen.

All automatic update settings in CCleaner were switched off - due to reasons.

Unacceptable. Uninstalled.

[Dave CCleaner]

There had been several notifications of this, although if you'd blocked CCleaner notifications or hadn't used CCleaner for the past year or so you may not have seen them.  I would assume the latter if you had not noticed that your copy of CCleaner had not been working for the past 16 months or so.  If the update reminded you that you may have old software running on your computer that you are no longer using, I hope you took the opportunity to use CCleaner's software removal tool (Tools > Uninstall) to remove any other unused software at the same time.

CCleaner has a monthly release cycle to keep up to date with changes in where operating systems, browsers, etc store their temp files.  Some of our users may have very good reasons not prefer not to be updated every month and prefer to manually update less frequently and at a time of their choosing.  That's great for us if some people do that - saves us money.  But once you get to 3-6 months out of date you're bound to start seeing some performance degradation. Getting as far as 12 months out of date with any software and you've probably got yourself a security issue.

If you had been actively using a copy of CCleaner that was 2.5 years out of date, I would encourage you to try running a cleanup using the latest version - you'll find that it removes substantially more junk.

[Charming_Music9520]

As already explained, there was absolutely no notification of this.

Automatically installing updates without prior notificaton and without consent and when installing updates it is clearly switched off in CCleaner is totally unacceptable.

And thanks, I already have removed the junk.

If you are afraid that your software could break systems, simply disable it. But do not play nanny games on your users.

[pio]

Absolutely unacceptable to do these forced updates and also display a full screen for Chrome installation...

If i think about it, i guess this whole "to your security benefit" bull, is just a gimmick to hack install some Chrome browsers on people's devices.

I know you need money and try to sell your Pro version, but still not cool what u doing. Maybe Google gives you enough to cover the loses of potential pro users.

This was the one piece of software that i would recommend to anyone and installed on every pc i get my hands on, but i guess bleachbit will do the job as well.

[umarthdc]

Forcing updates is unacceptable.

What I did is uninstall it, reinstall an older version, start it and turn off autoupdates immediately.

Then I disabled the ccleaner_emergency_update task from startup and deleted the ccupdate611_free.exe file from the installation folder in Program Files/CCleaner.

That did it for now.

[Dave CCleaner]

On 12/05/2023 at 13:12, pio said:

Absolutely unacceptable to do these forced updates

If you don't want CCleaner to automatically update, you can switch off automatic updates.  This only gets overridden for emergency security updates or (as is presently the case) the End of Life of CCleaner 5.x - the likes of which you wouldn't be seeing again until about a year after the release of CCleaner 7 (which itself is probably at least a year away).

On 13/05/2023 at 00:07, umarthdc said:

What I did is uninstall it, reinstall an older version, start it and turn off autoupdates immediately.

Then I disabled the ccleaner_emergency_update task from startup

Note that if the older version you installed was CCleaner 5.x then yes you have prevented any updates with those steps.  Although a) if you're on CCleaner 5.88 or below, you'll need to be using a third party source of cleaning rules such as winapp2 for it to keep functioning and b) given that CCleaner 5.x has been End of Lifed, you may start to see some unhandled errors and bits of the infrastructure get switched off.

If the older version that you installed was CCleaner 6.0x then you weren't going to see an override update again until mid-2025 at the earliest, so disabling or removing the emergency updater probably wasn't necessary in that regard.  Unless there's a Windows vulnerability that we need to do a security update for between now and then - in which case you should keep an eye on the https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/version-history after each release to see if need to do a prompt manual update.

On 12/05/2023 at 13:12, pio said:

Absolutely unacceptable to do these forced updates and also display a full screen for Chrome installation...

If you haven't used CCleaner for a while, you may have missed the news that you can switch off the "this update brought to you by" messages under Options > Privacy > Offers in CCleaner.

On 12/05/2023 at 13:12, pio said:

If i think about it, i guess this whole "to your security benefit" bull, is just a gimmick to hack install some Chrome browsers on people's devices.

Not really.  The 2010-2019 approach of forcing everyone to do manual updates every month was far more lucrative - since users had to navigate through multiple "buy me" screens on the website and then view website banner ads in order to get their free update, which would then show a small, banner sized offer for a browser or AV in the installer that some folks would accidentally accept - unless you bought CCleaner Professional that included the automatic updates as a paid feature.  With automatic updates part of the free version since 2020 those steps are removed, the updates are optional, as are the sponsored messages, and the sponsored offers can't be missed and accidentally accepted any more, eg:

[The_Tinkerer]

Found this thread via Google

I had rebooted the PC, noticed that desktop was taking too long to come up, when it did, I was greeted with this CCleaner Update screen.

I was astonished. I had all updates turned off. I had CCleaner.exe, CCleaner64.exe, CCUpdate.exe, and even uninst.exe blocked in Windows Firewall... both inbound and outbound.

Yet somehow, you were able to CIRCUMVENT Windows Firewall, and run something on my system, without my awareness or permission, to update the copy of the program that I SPECIFICALLY WANTED to be on my system.

The is 100% COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.

What if a bad actor at your company or an unauthorized user gets the ability to do what you just did, to run ANYTHING that they wanted? This is a MAJOR SECURITY RISK!!

Besides that, you don't seem to be getting it. It DOES NOT MATTER if it's "End of Life". OBVIOUSLY, if I needed to contact Piriform for support or anything like that, I would NOT EXPECT ANY for an older version. I would in fact ONLY EXPECT IT for the most recent version, so then ***I MYSELF*** would choose whether or not to update it.

This is **MY** hardware, it's **MY** Internet connection, **I PAID** for them, and **I** am the user, so therefore, **I** and **ONLY I** get to decide what runs on it or not, what gets changed or not, or what gets updated or not.

Users such as myself who understand what "User" means have enough problems constantly fighting with software providers who have this "software as a service" mentality who want to take control away from the  user, including WINDOWS ITSELF, to the point of having to spend HOURS to DAYS changing and modifying the operating system to make sure that it NEVER does anything the USER does not want it to without the user's knowledge or consent.

I had always thought of CCleaner as a very pro user application, but that hasn't been the case for a while, and now we all know that it is VERY MUCH not the case.

Because Piriform somehow CIRCUMVENTED Windows Firewall and run something without any knowledge or awareness from the user, I would classify this software as a MAJOR SECURITY RISK from this point forward. I will have to find something else to use.

Edited June 3, 2023 by The_Tinkerer

[The_Tinkerer]

The only thing I can *think* of, is that there is a "CCleaner Update" task in Task Scheduler that is set to run "at system startup", and I *may* have left this enabled... so perhaps Windows Firewall rules don't take effect until *after* scheduled tasks run that are set to run "at system startup". I did have another computer where I had the same executables blocked for both Inbound and Outbound in Windows Firewall, **and** the above mentioned Task Scheduler rule disabled. When I restarted that computer, the CCleaner auto update didn't happen. But, I can't be certain that this is what happened on the first computer, since it's now too late as CCleaner updated without permission, without prompting, and without informing.

Edited June 3, 2023 by The_Tinkerer

[thany2]

Automatic updates must be opt-in only.

Software must NEVER update itself without the user's consent, for security reasons. Any fully automatic updates that I haven't priorly approved, I would consider NOT secure, regardless of your impending endless explanation why I should consider it secure anyway. You cannot convince me.

ME and ONLY ME, decide what goes on my computer.

[Win764Man]

In addition, remember to delete or disable the CCleaner update task in Windows Task Scheduler.  Check out how AskVG at https://www.askvg.com/tip-disable-automatic-updates-for-software-versions-in-ccleaner/ or Bleeping Computer at https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/ccleaner-disregarding-settings-and-forcing-update-to-latest-546-version/.  I searched "CCleaner forces update" on DuckDuckGo.

I actually deleted CCleaner 5.65 because of this.  I am using cleanmgr.exe in Win 7 Pro and run as Administrator. I also use the cleaner under my paid Norton360 subscription.  Do NOT use 'free' security software.  Do NOT save logins/passwords.  Only allow auto updates on your PAID security software.  Important, stay away from Google and MS where possible.  In private browsing with Firefox (I use an older version,) or a browser window with auto history, cookie, and tracker cleaning.  Oh, and use an Ad blocker of some sort.  Equals happy computing. 

The entire freeware universe is becoming nothing but tracking cookies, data selling, and intrusive reporting back to the Mother ship.  Also, I can still use my old Glary with the nag popup.

[Esperanto]

"Automatic updates must be opt-in only.

Software must NEVER update itself without the user's consent, for security reasons. Any fully automatic updates that I haven't priorly approved, I would consider NOT secure, regardless of your impending endless explanation why I should consider it secure anyway. You cannot convince me.

ME and ONLY ME, decide what goes on my computer."

I agree completely. This is a totally abusive business practice. And by doing so, these guys became just like Microsoft: "We know what you need better than you do"... Which is absolute BS!!

And what do you expect Piriform employees to say? They'll say that everything is ok, "leave everything to us and don't worry"... Microsoft style... They'll say that the previous versions of CCleaner have become obsolete so you really need the new version. This is not true. They just want you to install the new version so that they can sell you "new features" and take your money. But: 1) the new versions are heavy on the system, because they have sub-programs running in the background all the time, monitoring all your activity in the computer, thus making the system slow and unstable, and also it'll make your start up time much longer, because those sub-programs will make the computer take a long time to boot... and 2) I have the 5.40 version of the program installed in my computer, and it is much lighter, it doesn't mess with the start up process, and it only does what I need it to do, which is to get rid of the temporary files, clean the registry and keep an eye on the programs that start up with the computer. And I don't need anything else from this program, so I certainly don't need the new versions. And the 5.40 runs perfectly fine and does what I want it to do, so it's not true at all that it's obsolete. The cookies? I have never cared about the cookies because they are not executables, so they can't do any harm.

By the way, do you know how they sneak into your computer even if you expressly tell the program not to install updates? Do you know how they do it? I just realized how. Right after booting, suddenly the new version was already installed! How come, if I have a firewall, and I have blocked the CCleaner from having access to the internet? You know how they do it? They sneak in during boot time... because the firewall has not loaded yet... that's when they sneak in!! The solution? Disconnect the computer from the internet during boot time. Then, make sure that the firewall is fully loaded. Then, and only then, connect the computer to the internet. Of course, the firewall must be on all the time. They cannot sneak in anymore. They wouldn't tell you this. It's not convenient for them to tell you this. Problem solved.

[positron7]

I just wanted to thank Ccleaner for upgrading my internet experience by upgrading my win 7 ultimate

computer without my permission last weekend.

In fact, I tried every method of preventing the upgrade, including firewall both in and out rules but somehow you

"upgraded" my ccleaner in seemingly a most unusual way. Other programs, no problem fire walling etc.

 

I powered on my computer and Ccleaner filled the entire screen, locking my computer, and causing considerable damage,

costing me all week's work, running all sorts of antivirus, frst, frst english, and many other programs trying to get it fixed,

repeating my win 7 System Images back to 2018, but to no avail, and literally costing me hundreds of dollars in my labor

since last weekend, and forcing me to upgrade to a windows 11 computer, even though my win 7 was working just fine.

 

Thanks again for your contribution to improving my internet experience.

positron7

 

 

Edited August 30 by positron7

[nukecad]

Nothing that you say there supports your thought that CCleaner had somehow 'pushed' an unwanted update on you by an 'unusual' method.
If they where doing that then I have no doubt that we would have many complaints here about it from other users, and there aren't any such complaints.

What you describe there sounds more like something, some hardware, in your old Windows 7 machine simply died of old age.
My condolences on your loss of an old friend.

CCleaner filling the screen of the expiring computer being a symptom of that death, not the cause of that death.
It could have been any app that filled the screen like that when the machine broke and froze, it just happened to be CCleaner for you.
Whilst a blank screen is more common on a dead machine, a frozen one is not that unusual on a dying machine.

The fact that you were unable to reload any backup System image supports that something in the computers hardware has died.
The image(s) cannot be restored because the hardware they need is no longer working.

Old computers do breakdown and die suddenly, I've had a few do it on me, and when a computer dies then it's time to fix it or get a new one.

Whatever component it is that gave up the ghost may have been replacable, but as Win 7 is well past End-of-Life that's probably not the best way to spend your money.
(Unless you really, really, NEED to keep running Win 7 say to drive an old CNC machine).

PS. You your new Windows 11 machine will be faster in use, and better protected online.
Once you have got familiar with Windows 11 you'll probably wonder why you stayed with Windows 7 for 4+ years after it had become EOL and unsupported.

PPS. As you have your old Win 7 system images then depending what software you used to create those images you may be able to extract the data (not system) files from one of them and copy those files onto your new machine. Read your imaging softwares' help/documentation for how to do that.
eg If you used Macrium Reflect to make the image then: http://reflect.macrium.com/help/v5/how_to/restore/browse_files_in_backups.htm

[positron7]

15 hours ago, nukecad said:

 

I will attempt to keep this in order for clarity sake for all.

By the way, I am using my Windows 7 ultimate computer, still with software problems right now, and still working on it since last weekend, checking, discussing with others, including professionals.

You have no right in any way to “upgrade” my computer  with Ccleaner 6.11.10455, without my permission. And it is still happening even today to my computer, continue to read all my post folks. First, here is a list of programs checking for any sort of abnormalities in my Windows 7 computer. The computer has to be working to perform these checks.

ADWCleaner.exe                                                                                                                                08921byn.exe                                                                                                       

Malware Antimalware.exe Premium                                                                                         

FRST.exe                                                                                                                               

FRST English.exe                                                                                                                  

Cureit.exe                                                                                                                              

Windows Disk Cleaner                                                                                              

Windows Disk Repair, including Boot repair                                                                                     

Windows Defender                                                                                                               

Glary Utilities                             

And probably more that I have forgotten.                                                                                           

Since the unauthorized “upgrade” of Ccleaner 6.11, I have used my Windows 7 System Image Backups, back to 2018, and the backups did succeed reinstalling previous versions of programs, of Windows 7 Ultimate etc, and it works, but problems with Windows 7 still exist as before the backups.                 I had performed the 'Stop the Upgrades' using multiple techniques the uncheck blocks, Firewalls etc.

Besides that, Ccleaner 6.11.10455 is still in my computer’s HD, even after many System Image Backups that also cleanup.

I am forced to keep Ccleaner 6.11 against my will, unless I do a complete format of the hard drive. (I have the key, but the reinstallation disk has been lost.) I uninstalled ccleaner version  6.11, and 5.8 multiple times from my computer, with the internet disconnected. I then reinstalled ccleaner 5.8 version from my 2 different thumb drives, including an attempt today, and from my large backup drive. In each case, when I rebooted my computer, version 5.8 was upgraded to ccleaner 6.11 without my permission, again without the internet connected.

I only developed multiple problems after unauthorized Ccleaner 6.11.10445 popped up, and locked my computer. As one can see, my Windows 7 computer works as I am able to boot up, open windows 7, perform on the internet, daily tasks, and perform multiple backups during all this week. However, I still cannot get Ccleaner 6.11.10445 out of my computer. So I will never reinstall Ccleaner 5.8 or any other version again. (I am an Electronics Engineer.) 

pos

 

------------------------------------------------------

Nothing that you say there supports your thought that CCleaner had somehow 'pushed' an unwanted update on you by an 'unusual' method.
If they where doing that then I have no doubt that we would have many complaints here about it from other users, and there aren't any such complaints.

What you describe there sounds more like something, some hardware, in your old Windows 7 machine simply died of old age.
My condolences on your loss of an old friend.

CCleaner filling the screen of the expiring computer being a symptom of that death, not the cause of that death.
It could have been any app that filled the screen like that when the machine broke and froze, it just happened to be CCleaner for you.
Whilst a blank screen is more common on a dead machine, a frozen one is not that unusual on a dying machine.

The fact that you were unable to reload any backup System image supports that something in the computers hardware has died.
The image(s) cannot be restored because the hardware they need is no longer working.

Old computers do breakdown and die suddenly, I've had a few do it on me, and when a computer dies then it's time to fix it or get a new one.

Whatever component it is that gave up the ghost may have been replacable, but as Win 7 is well past End-of-Life that's probably not the best way to spend your money.
(Unless you really, really, NEED to keep running Win 7 say to drive an old CNC machine).

PS. You your new Windows 11 machine will be faster in use, and better protected online.
Once you have got familiar with Windows 11 you'll probably wonder why you stayed with Windows 7 for 4+ years after it had become EOL and unsupported.

PPS. As you have your old Win 7 system images then depending what software you used to create those images you may be able to extract the data (not system) files from one of them and copy those files onto your new machine. Read your imaging softwares' help/documentation for how to do that.
eg If you used Macrium Reflect to make the image then: http://reflect.macrium.com/help/v5/how_to/restore/browse_files_in_backups.htm

 

Edited August 30 by positron7

[nukecad]

To start with I have not pushed anything to you.
I am a user myself, not an employee of CCleaner.

However I think that I may now have worked out what has happened here.

As noted at the very start of this thread in This Post in May 2023 CCleaner versions 5.## reached End-of-Life and there was an automatic update for all users to v6.11
That happened over a year ago.

Nobody now should have a CCleaner that is older than v6.11, (except on XP/Vista machines because those will not run later versions than v5.64).

If you had v5.8 at that time then it should have been automatically updated to v6.11 - but it appears that you were firewalling the update.

With an important all-user update like that they will check again periodically for any that got missed previously for whatever reason.

If you were using a firewall to block that update to v6.11 back in May 2023 it's possible that they have checked again and this time your firewall didn't block it - because the servers have changed since then and you were not firewalling the new server.

Being practical:
If you believe that CCleaner v6.11 is causing issues with your old Win 7 then simply uninstall CCleaner, you always have that choice.

I do note that you say that "I still cannot get Ccleaner 6.11.10445 out of my computer."
Why not? What is preventing you from simply uninstalling it?

TBH though I still think that your problem lies elsewhere in Windows 7 and that CCleaner 6.11 is just highlighting that problem.
Windows 7 has been End-of-Life since January 2020, and while you can keep using it many softwares will stop working properly with it over time, (I saw the same happening with my EoL XP machine before it finally gave up the ghost and expired).

 

[positron7]

20 hours ago, nukecad said:

To start with I have not pushed anything to you.
I am a user myself, not an employee of CCleaner.

However I think that I may now have worked out what has happened here.

As noted at the very start of this thread in This Post in May 2023 CCleaner versions 5.## reached End-of-Life and there was an automatic update for all users to v6.11
That happened over a year ago.

Nobody now should have a CCleaner that is older than v6.11, (except on XP/Vista machines because those will not run later versions than v5.64).

If you had v5.8 at that time then it should have been automatically updated to v6.11 - but it appears that you were firewalling the update.

With an important all-user update like that they will check again periodically for any that got missed previously for whatever reason.

If you were using a firewall to block that update to v6.11 back in May 2023 it's possible that they have checked again and this time your firewall didn't block it - because the servers have changed since then and you were not firewalling the new server.

Being practical:
If you believe that CCleaner v6.11 is causing issues with your old Win 7 then simply uninstall CCleaner, you always have that choice.

I do note that you say that "I still cannot get Ccleaner 6.11.10445 out of my computer."
Why not? What is preventing you from simply uninstalling it?

TBH though I still think that your problem lies elsewhere in Windows 7 and that CCleaner 6.11 is just highlighting that problem.
Windows 7 has been End-of-Life since January 2020, and while you can keep using it many softwares will stop working properly with it over time, (I saw the same happening with my EoL XP machine before it finally gave up the ghost and expired).

 

 

Thanks for your reply cad,

However, you completely missed my point that I underlined in my previous post. I will explain from a classroom format.

My mouse, keyboard, display etc are physically connected by cables, nothing else.

My computer ethernet cable is disconnected from the router, so my computer is completely disconnected from the internet

when performing my experiments.

 

With Ccleaner deleted/uninstalled, cannot find it, and my computer NOT connected to the internet, how could version 5.8 be

upgraded to 6.11.10455 from the internet? It cannot. The Star Trek transporter has not yet been invented. (Just a little classroom humor.)

I hope I am clear so far.

I will repeat, one cannot upgrade a program from the internet if one is NOT connected to the internet.

So...........

The only way version 5.8 could have been upgraded is if upgrade version 6.11.10455 is already/still in my computer. 

Yet we cannot find any form/version of Ccleaner in the HD, and only version 5.8 in the backups. So upgrade

version 6.11.10455 is hidden somewhere in the computer.

As mentioned earlier, I have tried several Windows System Image Restores with no positive results. Yet 

upgrade version 6.11.10455 still exists in the computer.

A couple of questions are:

1. Where is update Ccleaner version 6.11.10455 hidden?

2. How do we delete update version 6.11.10455 from my computer?

Got any ideas, programs that could find the hidden version 6.11.10455, and a way to delete it?

 

pos

 

Edited September 1 by positron7

[hazelnut]

Have a look in Windows Task Scheduler and see if CCleaner is mentioned.

Are you the only user listed on the machine? 

[positron7]

Yes, I am the only user, live alone.

Checking task scheduler over the days, just checked again, no mention of ccleaner.

pos

[nukecad]

4 hours ago, positron7 said:

 

... my computer is completely disconnected from the internet

when performing my experiments.

 

So you are connecting it to the net at times then?

As you say if the machine is not connected to the internet at all than I do not see how anything could be downloaded to that computer while not connected.
(I have a Win98 machine that is never connected to the net, I doesn't even have a network card in it. I do have the card for it, it's in a bag in a drawer).

The only way any new software could get onto such a disconnected machine would be from a drive that was plugged into it.

However you seem to be saying that your machine is connected to the net at times.
If so then during those times something could be downloaded.
That v6.11 update was first pushed out in May 2023, that's 15 months during which it might have been pushed to your machine when connected.

Can you give us a screenshot of your desktop with CCleaner open on it?
If not then how/where are you seeing that CCleaner is on that machine?

 

PS. I'm not sure what you mean there by "performing my experiments." ?
Could it have been one of those "experiments" that was the cause of your computer locking up?
Of course that still doesn't explain your seemingly phantom CCleaner installation, so lets try to get to the bottom of that..

[positron7]

8 hours ago, nukecad said:

So you are connecting it to the net at times then?

As you say if the machine is not connected to the internet at all than I do not see how anything could be downloaded to that computer while not connected.
(I have a Win98 machine that is never connected to the net, I doesn't even have a network card in it. I do have the card for it, it's in a bag in a drawer).

The only way any new software could get onto such a disconnected machine would be from a drive that was plugged into it.

However you seem to be saying that your machine is connected to the net at times.
If so then during those times something could be downloaded.
That v6.11 update was first pushed out in May 2023, that's 15 months during which it might have been pushed to your machine when connected.

Can you give us a screenshot of your desktop with CCleaner open on it?
If not then how/where are you seeing that CCleaner is on that machine?

 

PS. I'm not sure what you mean there by "performing my experiments." ?
 

 

I used >> indicating my reply.

>> First, cad, please Reread my previous posts until you understand, as my posts answer your questions more than once.

So you are connecting it to the net at times then?

>> ?? I already posted, using my computer to contact you/this forum, Malware Antimalware forum, downloading professional programs to check and find Ccleaner 6.11.10455 on my computer.

As you say if the machine is not connected to the internet at all than I do not see how anything could be downloaded to that computer while not connected.

(I have a Win98 machine that is never connected to the net, I doesn't even have a network card in it. I do have the card for it, it's in a bag in a drawer).

>> That is correct. Please Reread my previous posts  as my experiments occurred after version 6.11.10455 popped up on my screen last weekend. I had to check to see if version 6.11.10455 was hidden in my computer, which it is.

The only way any new software could get onto such a disconnected machine would be from a drive that was plugged into it.

>> Please Reread my last posts until you understand them. Besides that, the three external backups and C: drive do not have Ccleaner 6.11.10455 upgrade listed/found. Neither is 6.11.10455 listed/found in the C: drive. So the problem of 6.11.10455 being hidden still remains.  Although not listed anywhere, version 6.11.10455 still upgrades version 5.8. to version 6.11.10455. It is hidden and needs to be found and destroyed. Again, I ask do you wish to help:

>> 1.      Do you know of a program to find this hidden upgrade?

>> 2.      Do you know of a program that can delete the upgrade?

 

However you seem to be saying that your machine is connected to the net at times.
If so then during those times something could be downloaded.

>> One way mentioned are individuals, who posted above, stating that it did download and installed without their permission granted. Same here. Please list other ways so we can all learn.

PS. I'm not sure what you mean there by "performing my experiments." ?
Could it have been one of those "experiments" that was the cause of your computer locking up?
Of course that still doesn't explain your seemingly phantom CCleaner installation, so lets try to get to the bottom of that..

>> Please Reread all my previous posts as multiple times the posts explain the timing. Are you going to help, or simply argue? 

 

pos

Edited September 1 by positron7

[nukecad]

Your post, including that last one, are ambiguous.

If you no longer wish me to try try and help you then I will respect that wish.

[Andavari]

It was probably already downloaded ("pre-loaded") when there was an active/working Internet connection, and then sat there and at whatever point it chose it "dumped it's payload" and upgraded itself.

Other software does that too completely unannounced, one in particular that I use on an old PC is Panda Dome ("Panda Free Antivirus") which immediately breaks/bricks itself every time when upgrading.

[positron7]

It obviously occurred at some point in time. I doubt it was a zero day bomb though. What is amazing

is that it is still hiding in my computer system somewhere, so I am forced to delete the entire program altogether

to prevent help from other sites (ex. Malwarebytes).

I liked using 5.8 along with my Glary Utility program.

 

I am sorry cad that you cannot follow basic classroom points that I outlined. You might give it a day

or two, and reread again. Time has a way of helping one understand, at least sometimes.

I have asked more than once if you would provide a program(s) that could find and delete hidden malware

in my computer, but you have decline my requests.

pos

Edited Monday at 04:22 by positron7