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Comment by josefresco | Hacker News Reader

CCleaner is not an Anti-Virus. It does not run in the background (at least the free version) and will not slow your PC. It helps users locate and remove temporary/cache files buried in the OS to free up disk space. It is very useful - even for pros. Defender will not do this.

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CCleaner does sell a bit of FUD though - "your computer is slow, use us so it goes faster". I don't think "crap" is causing significant slowdowns anymore, maybe frees up some disk space but nothing that the OS can't do itself either.

Deactivating that programs start on boot, maybe?

Just do that in the task manager

Wasn't an option until Windows 10, I think. autoruns from SysInternals is my go-to.

There's also "msconfig", present in Windows 7.

And XP and 2000 and maybe earlier versions too

msconfig has been around since at least XP.

There are also a similar tool from Nirsoft.

How many times have we all noticed our computers running slow, only to find a bunch of tempfiles not touched by anything!

CCleaner is also essential for cleaning up poorly uninstalled apps leaving registry keys lingering around. It's also great for when you need to fully reset and reinstall a misbehaving app, such as Symantec Endpoint Protection, which fails to clean up several critical registry keys that it checks during installation, and then refuses to re-install if they exist. Sure, you could hunt them down and write a script for Symantec, but CCleaner does it for all apps. I've fixed so many terrible apps and installs using CCleaner, it's an absolute necessity.

That and RevoUinstaller. You run RevoUinstaller then CCleaner, and maybe a reboot in between, and you've really removed an app. (The paid version of Revo is even cooler, as it will let you log the files generated during an install, and then on uninstall, it'll make sure to remove all the files and directories you had previously logged.)

This is one of the many reasons why I always prefer UWP apps on Windows 10

https://np.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6ifyxq/spotify_for_...

In addition, this also gives you granular privacy control

https://www.howtogeek.com/221864/digging-into-and-understand...

I have always assumed the vast majority of software meeting this description is malware. I don't know if I should feel silly or if it's a sensible assumption for end users to make.

I never liked, nor used CCleaner. I always thought it was for lazy people or those who refused to do it the hard way.

Why would you do it the hard way, when there's an easy way. Especially when it's an unpleasant activity like deleting unnecessary files.

Categorically disregarding the use of automated maintainence tools under the guise of "lazy vs real techies" seems short sited, arrogant, and regressive.

It may be more expensive but hand-crafted, artisanal system administration is well worth it. The difference between it and cheap, factory produced system administration is night and day. Also, it's Local and Made In The USA so you are helping people around you in the greatest nation on earth rather than poor people in another country.

Whats wrong with helping poor people?

Also, quick question: are Puppet and Ansible "factory produced" sysadmin?

If being some sort of sysadmin craftsman gets you up in the morning, all the power to you. But for many others, "good enough" really is good enough.

The free version does load itself into the background these days to pop up messages reminding you to clean your PC.

You can turn it off in the options.

Doesn't Windows 10 basically do this itself?

Hardly. CCleaner can easily remove 5-6GB of junk.

I use CCleaner for maybe even 10 years, a great tool.

But Windows 10 (a few older versions as well, but somewhat hidden) has something similar called "Disk Cleanup" (Win key > enter "Disk Cleanup" > "Clean up system files" > Check all marks). "Disk Cleanup" removes stuff that CCleaner doesn't, so I use them together.

You can even remove system restore and shadow copies (Win key > enter "Disk Cleanup" > "Clean up system files" > "More Options" tab > "System Restore and Shadow Copies" > "Clean up" button).

> Disk Cleanup" removes stuff that CCleaner doesn't, so I use them together.

And vice versa if you use CCleaner combined with CCEnhancer[1]

[1]: https://singularlabs.com/software/ccenhancer/

"a few older versions as well" - It's been in every version since Windows 98 :)

The latest Win 10 has a new setting that vaguely indicates it will look for and delete temporary files automatically. On my machine it was not turned on by default.

No idea how much it gets vs. leaves behind and since turning on it hasn't thrown up any obvious notifications lauding itself.

This is on a secondary machine. My primary machine isn't Windows.

You're asking for too much!

> CCleaner is not an Anti-Virus

I never said that.

> Defender will not do this.

I know what it does.

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