custom clean causing app issues since last update (6.19)

[necrophyte]

since the last update (6.19) i am experiencing issues with certain programs after running custom clean that i am usually running daily, since many years without issues until now.

- nvidia experience takes long to launch, and when it does, it suffers error code 0x0003 - unable to use it until a reinstallation (after reinstallation, it launches without issues until after a ccleaner custom clean)

- on windows launch, an itunes launcher error message appears, probably because the service failed to launch (after launching itunes and restarting, it doesnt happen again on next windows launch, but after running ccleaner custom clean, it does again)

- opening an ms excel file triggers the office installer that first needs to complete some installation progress before excel finally launches; afterwards opening any excel file opens excel immediately, but after a ccleaner custom clean, the office installer again appears when opening excel

 

dont know which setting exactly causes the issues, but i have definitely narrowed the cause down to ccleaner custom clean. running the registry cleaner, that i first suspected, didnt cause the issues. restarting windows also doesnt cause it, but running ccleaner custom clean does.

i didnt change any custom clean settings myself, so it must be something introduced (or modified) by update to version 6.19.

 

any clues what it could be resp. is it a known issue and will it be fixed? 

(w10 enterprise, admin account)

thanks

[Andavari]

Sometimes that can be caused because the cleaners for particular software have been updated which is also now cleaning too much or even possibly the wrong file.

One way to narrow down which files should be inputted as a personal exclusion in your CCleaner configuration is to clean only a little bit at a time, such as (example):
Only clean Nvidia (or just click Analyse so it lists what could be cleaned) to try and figure out exactly what file/files being cleaned is breaking the program. Some may be file exclusions, and some may be registry exclusions. Registry exclusions are far more tricky to figure out though because when CCleaner cleans registry MRUs (recently opened files) it doesn't list them at all, it only lists the physical files like logs, etc., it has cleaned.

It will likely be time consuming to figure out what needs to be excluded when dealing with multiple programs like in your situation. That's why it's important to only clean a little bit at a time and don't use CCleaner as you normally would until you figure out what exactly to exclude on your system.

Excludes can be added in CCleaner at: Options > Exclude

[lmacri]

Hi necrophyte:

The following assumes you are certain that a Custom Clean feature is the cause of your errors.  I never run Health Check (it is too buggy and can cause unexpected problems), and I only run the registry cleaner if I uninstall a program and need to remove orphaned remnants left behind in the registry because I suspect they are causing a problem. The CCleaner support article Clean the Windows Registry warns that to help reduce harmful potentially results that "It’s always safer to leave an entry than to remove it if you’re not 100% sure" what will happen if you remove them.

Note that I have iTunes v12.13.1.3 and MS Office Home and Business 2019 Version 2311 / Build 17029.20108 (which includes Microsoft Excel 2019) installed on my Win 10 laptop, and I don't allow the Custom Clean feature of CCleaner to clean any applications I use except my Microsoft Edge browser.  I don't want CCleaner to clean my default Firefox browser because of problems this has caused in the past (see my 03-Aug-2020 post <here>) and find it is safer to use my Firefox settings to delete my browsing history on exit .  I only enabled Applications tab | Applications | Office 16 and Applications tab | iTunes | Cache Files for demonstration purposes only while I captured the images below.

Further to Andavari's suggestion, if you click the Analyze button (but don't click the Run CCleaner button) and double-click on any individual category like "iTunes - Cache Files" you will see details of the individual files that are going to be cleaned.  Look for key words like "nvidia", "itunes", "office" and "excel" to see if you can narrow down which category you've selected for cleaning that might be causing your problem.

 

After clicking the Analyze button you can also right-click in the white space below the summary, choose Save to text file .. from the pop-up context menu, and save the log.txt to your desktop or any other location.  This log file will contain a detailed list of every individual file that is going to be cleaned and you can search that file (Edit | Find) for key words like "nvidia", etc.

Just FYI, I see the following warning if I select Applications tab | iTunes | Log Files in Custom Clean.

---------------
Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3803 * Firefox v121.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23110.3-1.1.23110.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.6.294-1.0.2201 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.19.10858

[necrophyte]

thanks, actually i only wanted to mention that these issues started happening since the last update, without any modification on my side.

 

i checked the files to be deleted by only clicking on analyze, after i had reinstalled geforce experience and opened an excel file once (ie. geforce experience works again and excel opens without the office installer first), and there are no files to be deleted that would seem to cause these issues at all. 

there are no geforce experience related files (except the downloaded installer in the standard downloads folder), there are no excel related files apart from the .../Office/Recent/... .lnk and index.dat files and some web cache, and there are no itunes files at all.

 

..yet still after i run the custom clean, geforce experience gets the error, excel needs first the office installer to complete once before it opens, and the itunes launcher error occurs on every windows startup always anyway.

ccleaner really broke something bad here with v6.19 (at least for me). nb. sfc /scannow also doesnt need to repair anything, so it is not due to some corrupt system files.

[lmacri]

On 04/01/2024 at 14:51, necrophyte said:

... dont know which setting exactly causes the issues, but i have definitely narrowed the cause down to ccleaner custom clean. running the registry cleaner, that i first suspected, didnt cause the issues. restarting windows also doesnt cause it, but running ccleaner custom clean does.

i didnt change any custom clean settings myself, so it must be something introduced (or modified) by update to version 6.19...

(w10 enterprise, admin account)

 

1 hour ago, necrophyte said:

thanks, actually i only wanted to mention that these issues started happening since the last update, without any modification on my side....

Hi necrophyte:

Yes, I understand.  I was only providing additional hints on how you might narrow down the setting(s) in CCleaner that are causing the problem in the latest CCleaner v6.19.  If you decide to open a support request at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general then knowing those details might provide a speedier resolution to your problem. If you do open a support request just note that you might be waiting a long time for a reply.  I'm not sure if there is a backlog of support requests or if they just don't have enough staff to handle incoming bug reports, but Customer Support seems to be moving at a glacial pace these days.

If you haven't already done so you might want to try uninstalling / reinstalling CCleaner to see if that solves your problem, just in case your CCleaner installation was corrupted during the last update to v6.19.

I also noticed that you said in your original post you have a Win 10 Enterprise OS, which might be relevant.  I doubt there are many users running a home consumer version of CCleaner v6.x on a computer with an Enterprise edition of Windows
---------------
Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3803 * Firefox v121.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23110.3-1.1.23110.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.8311-1.0.2235 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.19.10858

[nukecad]

I have noticed that since MS stopped selling Windows 10 themselves a lot of the 3rd party online key-sellers are now offering Enterprise keys.
I guess the stocks of old OEM keys are running out.

How MS views this is unknown, but I have also noticed a recent upsurge on techie fora of people reporting that their previously activated Win10 is suddenly becoming not-activated (usually following a Windows update).
It may well be that MS is cracking down on wrongly sold/used Win 10 licences.

The usual warning about 3rd party sellers (of anything) - If the price is too good to be true then that's for a reason.

[hazelnut]

Also note

Quote

Microsoft is investigating Windows activation issues that appear to be linked to the company’s recent move to block Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys from activating copies of Windows 10 and Windows 11. If you have an installation of Windows 10 / 11 that has been activated using the free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8, then there’s a chance it might become deactivated if you swap some hardware components or even upgrade your BIOS version.

I personally experienced this in late October on a copy of Windows 11 after swapping a motherboard in one of my test PCs and no longer being able to activate it using the digital key assigned to my Microsoft account. I had to purchase a new Windows 11 key instead.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/15/23958751/microsoft-windows-activation-issues-windows-7-8-upgrade-keys

[necrophyte]

ok, will submit a support request. didnt find this anywhere, thanks for the link!

btw my w10e version is part of my company's package that i am using on my private laptop (fresh custom installation on an empty ssd that i installed instead of the oem-installed one right after purchase of the laptop, no w7 upgrade) as well, no 3rd party sold key. but as already mentioned, i havent had any issues with ccleaner so far, and been using it on this w10e laptop since 5+ years.

 

for now i will just stop using ccleaner at the end of each day, browser and windows cleanup do most of the relevant cleaning as well, ccleaner just was a convenient way to clean everything in one place.

Edited January 9 by necrophyte

[nukecad]

58 minutes ago, hazelnut said:

Also note

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/15/23958751/microsoft-windows-activation-issues-windows-7-8-upgrade-keys

Mmm, the guy there swapped out his Motherboard.
All the others mentioned changed 'hardware' - unspecified what they chaged.

As the key is stored (somewhere) on the MB, and the Digital Entitlement linked to it, then a new MB is a new, unactivated, computer.
The licence goes with the MB, not with the case or the hardware that plugs into the MB.
 

[Andavari]

I don't know about modern versions of Microsoft Office, but in really old versions an exclusion of just one .BAK file (it was just one .BAK file there weren't any more, and it was located in the AppData folder) had to be inputted into most 3rd party cleaning software so they wouldn't break the installation when deleting it.

So if CCleaner or some other cleaning tool does list any .BAK file(s) for Office that would be what to exclude, that is if modern versions of Office even still use that and break if it's deleted.

[necrophyte]

so, i finally narrowed it down to the "custom files and folders" checkbox. btw. the new version 6.20 didnt fix it.

i unchecked and checked back several cleaning options that i suspected to be the cause, and then custom files and folders became suspicious because it took much longer to clean (even right after a cleaning run, when barely anything would need to be cleaned). when i unchecked it, the issues finally stopped occurring.

but... running the custom clean with custom files and folders checked, and then stopping the process during the custom files and folders cleaning process, revealed all files cleaned until custom files and folders, but there were NO files cleaned listed in the custom files and folders entry, there wasnt even the custom files and folders entry displayed, as if this setting had just started with the cleaning, but i stopped it before it had cleaned any file. and yet, this was the cause of my issues, but no way to see what files have been cleaned that would have caused them.

 

and once again - i had custom files and folders checked since years, with no such issues until version 6.19. and 6.19 release notes dont list anything specific that would have changed the cleaning behavior of the custom files and folders setting (https://www.ccleaner.com/knowledge/ccleaner-v6-19-10858)

[lmacri]

1 hour ago, necrophyte said:

so, i finally narrowed it down to the "custom files and folders" checkbox. btw. the new version 6.20 didnt fix it....

Hi necrophyte:

What custom files and/or folders, if any, have you added to Options | Include?

I have not added any files or folders for custom cleaning ...

... and when I click the Analyze button  it takes Custom Clean  ~ 1.2 seconds to finish the analysis, regardless of whether Custom Clean | Advanced | Custom Files and Folders is unchecked (the default) ...

... or checked.

______________
Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3930 * Firefox v121.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23110.3-1.1.23110.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.8.311-1.0.2242 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.19.10858

[nukecad]

As lmacri says;

Ticking 'Custom files and folders' will clean (or attempt to clean) whatever you have added to 'Include', - so you need to tell us just what you have added in there.

[necrophyte]

sorry, didnt mention this specifically, thought this was clear - there is NOTHING added to the include/exclude lists in the options!

thats the point...

[lmacri]

19 minutes ago, necrophyte said:

... there is NOTHING added to the include/exclude lists in the options!...

Hi necrophyte:

Do you recall if you've ever added (and then removed) a custom file or folder at Options | Include for cleaning in the past?

What CCleaner v6.20 build are you using (e.g., CCleaner Professional, CCleaner Free Portable, etc.)?  Have you tried a clean reinstall to see if resetting all your configuration settings back to their defaults solves the problem?

It's always possible this glitch is related to your Win 10 Enterprise OS.  If a clean reinstall of CCleaner doesn't help then I'd suggest you simply leave Custom Clean | Advanced | Windows tab | Custom Files and Folders unchecked (the default) or follow up with CCleaner customer support and open a support request at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general .

I'll try running a few tests today with on my Win 10 Pro v22H2 machine by adding a custom folder for cleaning  (e.g., C:\Downloads\Test) to Options | Include and will post back if I can reproduce the hang.
______________
Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3930 * Firefox v121.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23110.3-1.1.23110.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.8.311-1.0.2242 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.19.10858

[lmacri]

57 minutes ago, lmacri said:

... I'll try running a few tests today with on my Win 10 Pro v22H2 machine by adding a custom folder for cleaning  (e.g., C:\Downloads\Test) to Options | Include and will post back if I can reproduce the hang.

Hi necrophyte:

Sorry, I can't reproduce the problem on my Win 10 Pro v22H2 laptop with CCleaner Free Portable v6.19.10858.

I created a new folder at C:\Downloads\CCleaner Test\ and copied three files (7z2301-x64.exe, adwcleaner.exe and Autoruns64.exe) into that folder.

I launched CCleaner and added the entire contents of C:\Downloads\CCleaner Test\ folder at Options | Include (which automatically enabled Custom Clean | Advanced | Windows tab Custom Files and Folders) ...

... and when I ran Custom Clean the Analyze scan required 6.2 seconds and the actual Run CCleaner removal (shown below) required only ~ 3.3 seconds.

After confirming that the 3 executables in C:\Downloads\CCleaner Test\ had actually been deleted I then went back to Options | Include and removed the C:\Downloads\CCleaner Test\ folder so there were no custom files or folders to clean (but kept Custom Clean | Advanced | Windows tab Custom Files and Folders checked) and the next Analyze scan only took ~ 1 second.

______________
Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3930 * Firefox v121.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23110.3-1.1.23110.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.8.311-1.0.2242 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.19.10858

[nukecad]

1 hour ago, necrophyte said:

sorry, didnt mention this specifically, thought this was clear - there is NOTHING added to the include/exclude lists in the options!

thats the point...

Try right-clicking on 'Custom files and folders' and selecting 'Analyze ...'.
(It doesn't matter if it's ticked or not).

Does it say that it's found anything to clean? if so then what has it found?

If it has found something then double clicking on what has been found will give more details. (For this example I'd made the CCleaner language folder an include)

[necrophyte]

thanks for your suggestions, and also attempts to reproduce my issue!

 

basically, my issue is solved by having custom files and folders unchecked now, since i don’t need to clean any custom files/folders anyway, and all issues mentioned are now gone (no office installer when opening an excel file, geforce experience works, no itunes launcher error during startup, no matter how many custom clean runs i do, as long as custom files and folders is unchecked). but of course, i will help investigating the root cause.

 

will try analyzing only custom files and folders by right clicking on it tomorrow when back home.

 

btw only custom file/folder i had ever entered into the include section was the default windows downloads folder several years ago, when there was no dedicated setting for it in ccleaner, yet. back then there also was no custom clean, just one default clean.

[nukecad]

Thanks,

As you say your CCleaner runs OK if you don't have 'Custom files ...' ticked that's really all you wanted.

If would be interesting to find the root cause, more so as you don't have any Includes set.
So what is it trying to clean if you do tick it? and if you have no Includes then what is telling it to do that?
There again as we can't replicate the issue, and nobody else has reported similar, then it may be something particular to your machine.
That could be the machine itself, the Windows/setup, something that has been installed, or even a combination of those; all of which can make such oddities diffficut to track down.

PS. Custom Clean is the old default clean, it just got given a name when the new one (Quick Clean/Easy Clean)/Health Check came along.