The feature that I think CCleaner misses a lot

[Stalker]

I think the removal of empty folders would be a great feature to add. Obviously it will add to overall scan time but I don't mind waiting a few more minutes to get rid of more trash occupying my HDDs (and I have lots and lots of those left from uninstalled apps). Otherwise a very nice and useful app. Thumbs up !

[Whiteshark]

In my experience, many applications need some empty folders. Eg. my Office become "corrupted" and run

his installer when i delete an empty folder of Excel. Many others applications simply recreate their empty folders

at next startup, and in this case the deletion is completely unuseful.

 

Regarding empty folders left from uninstalled applications, AFAIK usually they aren't empty at all

(log files, lang files, unistallers, etc...)

[JDPower]

In my experience, many applications need some empty folders. Eg. my Office become "corrupted" and run

his installer when i delete an empty folder of Excel. Many others applications simply recreate their empty folders

at next startup, and in this case the deletion is completely unuseful.

Agreed. I've analysed with some of these cleaners that remove empty folders and found a large number of these empty folders are needed and shouldn't be deleted.

[Stalker]

Well, I've just made a simple tool to scan up for empty folders and they really are a problem at least on my machine. Because I use Your Uninstaller for uninstalling it usually deletes all those logs, temp files and so on but leaves the folder there for some absolutely strange reason. Also, in case of iTunes, when it moves tracks from one folder to another it usually doesn't remove empty folders too. I can go on and on to list all possible ways where empty folders remain undeleted. And for those times when some app needs an empty folder to run properly a check box indicating whether to remove it or not would be great.

[JDPower]

Because I use Your Uninstaller for uninstalling it usually deletes all those logs, temp files and so on but leaves the folder there for some absolutely strange reason.

Why not try Total Uninstall or ZSoft Uninstaller. Seems unnecessary coming up with solutions to clean up what Your Uninstaller leaves behind when there are alternatives that will do the job properly.

 

Also there are several free cleaners that will remove empty folders, I don't think CCleaner will ever do this as it would go against the 'safe cleaner' reputation that it has.

[Stalker]

Your Uninstaller leaving empty directories is like 1% of all empty directories, safe and unsafe, which gather up on your system. Plus it's quite easy to determine which are safe and which are not with a simple filter.

 

P.S. Speaking of Total Uninstall and such...basically they take too much time to install the app. I don't want 100% cleanup. I am quite happy with removal of at least 70% and Your Uninstaller does a fine job. Apart from empty folders.

[Whiteshark]

Your Uninstaller leaving empty directories is like 1% of all empty directories, safe and unsafe, which gather up on your system. Plus it's quite easy to determine which are safe and which are not with a simple filter.

 

P.S. Speaking of Total Uninstall and such...basically they take too much time to install the app. I don't want 100% cleanup. I am quite happy with removal of at least 70% and Your Uninstaller does a fine job. Apart from empty folders.

 

Try this Glary Utilities has the feature you need

Isn't freeware, 30 days trial.

 

[Stalker]

Well the problem is not in find another utility. I can write one myself after all. It's not that hard. The idea is to have it neatly packaged in one preferably freeware utility so I won't have go on buying corp licenses to put it on multiple PCs (and this one goes to my unattended install CD).

[Shodan]

One thing that has not been mentioned yet in this thread - CCleaner already gives you the ability to delete any folder you choose by correctly adding it to the Winapp2.ini file. This is the best of all worlds. You will never delete any (or necessary) folders that you choose not to, but at the same time you may delete the folders of your choosing. Now, if you delete empty folders that were indeed necessary, well, shame on you. So what's the problem ? I think we can all agree that you would surely not want to delete ALL empty folders. Can't belive anyone would be stupid enough to do this... ;-)

[Stalker]

As far as I understood Winapp2.ini structure so far it allows you to delete specific folders, not all empty folders minus filtered ones.

[Shodan]

Precisely. It allows you to delete which folders YOU choose by using the REMOVESELF command - not a mass deletion of all empty folders. As mentioned earlier in this thread, you better know what you are doing before mass deleting a bunch of empty folders...

[knotwurthy]

As Whitewshark, JD Power, Shodan, and others have pointed out, deleting some empty folders is disastrous to some applications. Microsoft Office applications hate it. Simply adding an option to delete all empty folders might be great for you but the Forum would be swamped with posts, especially by newbies, complaining about problems when they were deleated. The beauty of CCleaner is it's safety, CCleaner gives users options they can use to customize CCleaner to their needs. Some users might run Office but not iTunes and deleting empty folders would be nasty. It would be interesting to compute how much space the empty folders take up on your hard drive and how many entries they add to the registry.

It's kind of like telling people that manual transmissions are the only transmissions available on cars. Others may require an automatic transmission for some reason, example-no use of right arm. What is good for one might be bad for others. You sound knowledgable on your needs and you have several solution options. It is best for all that one of the options suggested be used.

Thank you for your idea, it prompted good discussion.