PrivaZer Discussion Thread

Hello West_CO,

If we solve this issue, it may help out other users...

I suppose system snapshots are not removed yet, you have probably removed restore points.

Check again with TreeSize, the size of the "System Volume Information" directory.

If it is still 3-6 GB, please configure your system protection for your C:\ drive
as shown on screenshots (you can turn it off, delete all your restore points, resize the disk space usage of system snapshots and restore points).

Hope it help.

 

Read an article in a local computer magazine about Privazer; a new challenger for CCleaner.
I have used different cleaner programma's, but always returned to CCleaner again. A well known simple interface, easy to use. It may be not the most 'thorough' cleaner but it is a safe cleaner meant for a broad public. When you install the 3rd party winapp2.ini file, CCleaner becomes a programme for cleaning specialists. The winapp2.ini file, which is regularly updated, includes a huge amount of software applications. You have to know what you are cleaning clicking the check boxes...
Tests have shown that the added value of cleaner programs is limited; they do not speed up the computer, but mainly free up disk space, which is good. Some programs can also overwrite 'deleted' data as CCleaner does.
Also cleaning up the registry does not speed up the computer, moreover you have to be very careful cleaning the registry; after too thorough reg cleaning, the computer may not work properly anymore.
CCleaner also have some added features like Uninstaller, Auto Startup Manager, System Restore Point Manager, but these functions are the same as the std Windows functions, however may be more easily accessable. There are far better seperate programs available for these functions.
But again, 'out of the box' CCleaner is safe, meant for a a broad public.
Because I am always interested in new software, I tried Privazer and was positively surprised. A clear comprehensive interface with all cleaning categories in one windows. As 'advanced user' there is short help info available for each category. Check boxes available for registry backup and system restore point creation before cleaning, very useful. The list of software applications is not as extensive yet as in the winapp2.ini file of CCleaner, but I expect the list will grow with future updates.
I have made my donation in supporting the development of the program. I can see this program becoming a real alternative to CCleaner.

 

Thank you for the come back. I don't know how this would help others, but here ya go. What I'm seeing (Win 7) is a bit different, but really the same. Yesterday I didn't see the restore point that it's sowing today. It was showing only the restore point that PrivaZer saved. I still only have the 6.3GB meaning that there's still 5.+ GB gone. Here's what I see.
http://screencast.com/t/EjN9T7po
The BBcode seems not to be working for the pic, so you'll have to copy and paste to a new tab.
Thanks

 

To create restore points, the system needs to create 1 or more system snapshots stored in "System Volume Information".
So what is the size now of "System Volume Information" ?

 

Still 6.3GB.

 

So, if you don't need your restore point,
you can click on "Configure " (http://screencast.com/t/EjN9T7po) to lower the free space used by system snapshots and restore points. Don't forget that It may delete them if you configure it too low, but isn't it what you need...

 

Your ScreenCast URL is bad and no that's not how I started the thread. I said that before I ran the Scan then Cleanup I had 99+GB and now only 94+GB. I was wondering what happened to the five, or, so GB? I also had four restore points before I started. Now only one. No biggie. Like I say. It's Windows. Ya never know what is to happen when you change the page.
Thanks for your help and I'll live with it.

 

Privazer needs to stay within its own directory entirely and create no registry entries. No doing anything in user directories or creating other directories in user profiles.

I was upset that Privazer changed hibernation and shutdown settings on my laptop without asking. I had to go and re-set and re-verify my power profiles - after finding out I had a rundown battery because Privazer turned off hibernation.

I also tend to find the whole user interface tedious, too many screens to click through, too much drilling down. I know it can be simplified and flattened like CCleaner's.

 

I disagree with that completely. I noticed a big difference.

 

I'm less concerned with speeding up the computer than I am with getting rid of all the hoarding Windows and programs on it does. Let's face it, running the system cleanup tool in Windows isn't going to cut it.

 

I use Bleachbit, then Ccleaner with enhancer, then R-wipe, then restart my computer. Then I enable Shadow Defender. So every time I restart my computer it is pretty darn clean. I use Privazer every so often to go a little deeper. Especially after I go into my truecrypt volumes and update my browsers. I run all of the cleaners and then Privazer last. My computer runs a lot faster than it would otherwise. Far better than it use to.

I also use Privazer to wipe individual files. I like using Privazer for this because it sets everything to zeros. And so when I run Privazer to wipe free space there is less to clean up. It is quicker. But I have had a problem. I do a lot of downloading. I never delete files. It doesn't matter what they are. I wipe everything just out of habit. But sometimes when I download a bunch of zip or rar files, I right click and highlight several of them in a row and right click and tell Privazer to wipe them. It usually works okay but sometimes it doesn't work. The files disappear very quickly with no wipe time and I get error messages that files were not wiped. This seems to only happen when I am wiping several zip or rar files at once. But as far as I know this is the only problem that I have had with Privazer.

 

Hello,

@Keatah
1. I do not know which version you used but now, hibernation can be enabled/disabled in 1 click with PrivaZer in "Advanced Options"
2. you can choose to enable/disable it when you set PrivaZer up for first time use.
Please see screenshots below. Hope it helps.

@caspian
Have you had the issue with .rar, .zip files wiping recently with latest releases of PrivaZer ?

 

Finally... I got all of the lost GB on C:. As in the email that you sent and understanding what you were talking about with the snapshots, my drive is back. Thank you for helping me with this. I reinstalled PrivaZer, ran it with no problem this time and it gave me two more GB than what I had before.
Thank you.

 

Yes unfortunately. When I upload like maybe 6 or 7 links and try to wipe them I get error messages that none of them wiped. But they disappear very quicky. It happened tice this evening. And I do have the latest version.

 

Thanks Caspian,
do you mean upload or download?

 

I mean after I have either uploaded or download a group of rar files. When I no longer need the files, I highlight them all and then wipe them. Sometimes Privazer wipes them all, and sometimes I get little red letters saying errors with a number of how many errors. I'll make a screenshot the next time. I also tried to wipe a folder with a bunch of gifs and it failed. I never have a problem with a single file. It only happens with wiping multiple files at the same time.

 

Caspian,

I have gotten errors erasing rar and zip files at times; scratched my head; then subsequently realized that I hadn't closed my rar/zip software (WinRar; 7Zip, etc.) before starting the erasure. Probably not your problem, but this will cause the exact symptoms you described.

Regards

 

I am experiencing a problem with version 2.14.0.

The contextual installation (even if selected) during installation, doesn't get installed. Even when you select the check boxes from the settings later in the program, it fails to do so.

Any suggestions?

 

Hello,

- uninstall PrivaZer (you can keep your settings)
- reboot your PC
- install new version v2.14

Hope it helps

 

I am experiencing the same thing Younameit. Except I have a Toshiba Laptop with an HDD installed. My boot times were around 2.4-2.7 seconds each boot. Now after using Privazer they are at 4.3-4.7. Not really deal breaking but enough to annoy me and make me worry a bit. Will this go away over time as the system optimizes the prefetch and frequently loaded apps and programs?

 

Hello,
PrivaZer cleans Prefetch "smartly",
meaning that it does not remove all "Prefetch" files from your PC but invalid ones and old ones. PrivaZer also scrambles Prefetch dates to prevent from "last run dates" recovery.
Thus, your start up time is not affected by PrivaZer's Prefetch cleanup.

I think it has more to do with temporary files that are removed. After a few start up, you will recover a normal boot time.

Keep us informed.

 

Wow. Such a useful program, interesting. Please let us know if yours boot time issue is temporary or not, thanks.

 

Hi guys, it's possible to include a search function for cookies?
This to make easier to get to the cookies I wanna keep without the need of going through the whole list.

Thanks.

 

Your right.... Also I didn't notice I told privazer to remove my hibernate system file. So everyone be careful because this also disables and removes fast boot. I put the hibernate file back in and re-enabled hibernate and my boot times are just as good if not faster than before. Great software guys thanks.
*EDIT* The actual boot times listed in the task manager were the same I should add. Though their was still a hang before showing the lock screen. Does this describe your problem younameit? *EDIT*

 

I've just found this program. It's awesome.

However I found 2 bugs. Hope they will be fixed soon.

1- Cleaning tray icon history is ineffective, because when shutting Windows down, the current history gets rewritten to the registry. At least in Windows 7. Since no program could clean it so far, I was manually cleaning it using this script:

Code:

reg delete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify" /f /v IconStreams
reg delete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify" /f /v PastIconsStream

taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
start explorer.exe
exit

I'm not sure if there is a better way but another idea is to schedule killing and starting explorer.exe before next shut down or restart, if possible. Otherwise, the open folders etc. will be lost.

2- UserAssist cleaning is ineffective too. With the default settings, I thought there wouldn't be any traces of old files or shortcuts but when I viewed my UserAssist using the UserAssistView program, I found out that there were lots of old program shortcuts and exe files history there.

Maybe needs a fix or what about cleaning all the entries? Does it cause any problem?