Lenovo Yoga running Windows 11 uninstalling CCleaner

[alexinmadison]

This damn new laptop keeps uninstalling CCleaner every time it does an automatic update (which I'm also trying to turn off but I can't figure out what's triggering it). Any thoughts/suggestions?? I've already disabled most of the pre-installed "helper" programs but this Lenovo Vantage keeps reasserting itself. I may need to try to actually uninstall it. Anyway, any help would be appreciated. 

[nukecad]

Strange one,
when you say 'automatic update' do you mean a CCleaner Update, Windows Update, or something Lenovo, Vantage maybe?

If it's a Lenovo app doing it then you could try AdwCleaner from Malwarebytes which can find and get rid of such unwanted/uneeded manufacturers pre-installed software, although I'm not sure if Lenovo Vantage is one.
https://www.malwarebytes.com/adwcleaner

I'm not familiar with Lenovo Vantage but a quick look round online suggests that it may be difficult to get rid of once you have it on your machine.
(If it won't uninstall as normal because of a permissions issue then there are ways round that, but not easy ones).

[alexinmadison]

Thanks for answering. It probably would have helped if I’d qualified the updates. Since I bought the laptop on Black Friday ‘23, it’s updated on its own once a month. Annoying as hell to open the thing and have to reopen everything I’d be working on. But, I haven’t been to figure out what’s triggering it - I’m new to Windows 11 so I thought maybe Windows had built in some auto update “feature” but the likely culprit is this Lenovo Vantage program because it REALLY wants to control everything on the computer. I need to dig into the settings and see if I can figure it out. Regardless, it’s messed up that something on the computer is literally targeting CCleaner because that is LITERALLY the only app I have to reinstall every time. 

[nukecad]

Microsoft release updates on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, it commonly called 'Patch Tuesday'.
Most peoples computers will the apply the updates when they are next switched on on the Wednesday.

Those Windows updates include needed security updates, some MS app changes, and usually a run of the "Malicious Software Removal tool"
Windows 10 and 11 will automatically apply the uptates unless you have told it not to.
There are options to change and delay when the updates are delivered/installed.
In Win 10 go to Settings>Update and Security>Windows Update,
In Win 11 it's just Settings>Windows Update,

See: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/windows-update-faq-8a903416-6f45-0718-f5c7-375e92dddeb2

In the past Windows Patch Tuesday updates the MSRT has been known to get overzelous and remove CCleaner, but it's been a few years since we have seen that happen. (and if it was happening again then more people would be shouting about it).
So like you I would suspect that Lenovo Vantage is doing it.

You can easily stop Vantage from running automatically at startup, this video shows you 2-ways to do that,

 

[alexinmadison]

Thank you for all of that. I must have turned off monthly Windows updates on my previous Windows 10 computer at some point because I would manually run updates at my convenience instead of getting the unwelcome surprise. 

I appreciate the vid. I disabled a lot of stuff when I first got the laptop (Cortana? Who needs that mess?) and thought I’d done so with Vantage. Obviously not as it keeps popping up.

Interesting to hear about the previous issues with Windows targeting CCleaner. I’ve used this program for… years - feels like forever. I’m glad that I never experienced the issue before because, as it happened this time, I would have freaked out. :) I’m old enough to have worked on computers before Windows and I’ve never gotten over the inability to actually manage my own computer from the root. Each new Windows version, and all the added manufacturer b.s. programs, take more and more control away from the user. Thank you for coming to my rant. lol

[alexinmadison]

Oh, hey! I’ve watched that YouTubers vids before. Good choice.