PrivaZer Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'privacy technology' started by The_PrivaZer_Team, Feb 15, 2013.

  1. takiabtom

    takiabtom Registered Member

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    Screenshot (2).png @ PZ Team

    I have scheduled clean running but the desktop toolbar icon for PZ shows tasks in progress as zero o_O?
    See screenshot
     
  2. The_PrivaZer_Team

    The_PrivaZer_Team Developer

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    Hello guys, @takiabtom, @Phil Granere,

    new PrivaZer v2.40 released (based on your relevant feedbacks!!!) :thumb:
    http://privazer.com/download.php

    Changelog :
    - Improved Appcompatcache cleanup
    . Added cleanup of RecentFileCache.bcf
    . Added cleanup of Amcache.hve (it needs a PC shutdown or a PC restart)
    - Improved UI ("tasks in progress" will also show the number of scans+cleanup in progress

    Thanks again for your precious help to make PrivaZer better...
     
  3. Mops21

    Mops21 Registered Member

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  4. takiabtom

    takiabtom Registered Member

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    @PZ Team

    On my laptop a full scan and clean takes over an hour and the scan part about 15 mins.

    I have come to the realization that maybe the scan and clean is a waste of time if, as in my case, the intention is to clean regardless. The clean itself logs the number/% of items cleaned/scanned/deleted etc. So why not have an option to skip the initial scan and perform the clean immediately.

    I may be barking up the wrong tree here but time is of essence. eg why waste time scanning to find say 500 entries in MFT when you need to get on and clean whatever is in MFT and there are over 2million entries to get thru in the cleaning sweep?

    Is it possible to clean only wihout scan? If not, can we have the option?
     
  5. Dermot7

    Dermot7 Registered Member

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    http://privazer.com/download.php
     
  6. pureobscure

    pureobscure Registered Member

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    Greetings. I'm running the 2.41 donors version. I've noticed for a while that in manual cookie selection, the cookies that are set 'To keep' are not actually kept. The cleaning process removes them all regardless of which column they're in. Is this just me or are other people seeing this?

    Great product, by the way! One feature I'd love to see is to make the cookie selection searchable so that you can find everything related to one domain. Given that the list is alphabetical, it's easy to miss a cookie for a domain you'd like to keep if the cookie uses a cname, etc.
     
  7. The_PrivaZer_Team

    The_PrivaZer_Team Developer

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  8. pureobscure

    pureobscure Registered Member

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    Browser is Firefox 43.x. I use a plugin called 'Self-Destructing Cookies' but I keep quite a few cookies whitelisted for websites that I use regularly. PrivaZer does seem to delete the plugin's preferences though, so I'm wondering if maybe the whitelist is getting deleted as well.

    Merry Christmas!
     
  9. takiabtom

    takiabtom Registered Member

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    @PZ Team
    Thanks for putting #1079 on the to do list.
    I have an understanding problem that I would like explained if possible - concerns cleaning of MFT

    If I right mouse and select any number of files for "Delete without trace" the process apparently can clean traces of these files in MFT. Ok good.

    As it stands at the moment the main 'scan and clean' searches filenames in MFT that have not been not cleaned and these are reported in the scan part but when the clean is actioned the whole MFT has to be cleaned. If it is possible to clean individual filenames in MFT why is it not possible for the main scan to store the file details and subsequently clean just those entries in MFT - which would surely be quicker than cleaning millions of MFT entries.

    Similarly in the 'one click internet traces' clean where the filenames to be cleaned can be found why not clean just those filenames in MFT at the same time as in the "delete without trace" ?

    I hope someone can explain this in dummies language because it seems a little confusing/muddled to my non-techie brain
     
  10. The_PrivaZer_Team

    The_PrivaZer_Team Developer

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    Hello @takiabtom,

    there are "free" entries in the MFT which may contain traces of previously deleted files.
    To delete/overwrite only those specific entries in the MFT, an option would be to lock the clusters on which those "free" MFT entries are written in order to delete/overwrite them safely.

    But what would happen if the system needs to write on these locked clusters to store a new filename in the MFT, for instance?
    Maybe a failure (or not).
    We need to investigate further because this method would surely increase the speed of the MFT cleanup...
     
  11. Krusty

    Krusty Registered Member

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  12. takiabtom

    takiabtom Registered Member

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    @PZ Team

    Thanks for response to 1084 - I am getting there, however, still not clear on MFT clean - although I take your point about locking.

    The right mouse 'delete without trace' will supposedly clean the MFT entry of the files being deleted. So why is it not possible for the 'one click internet trace' clean to take a snapshot list of the files to be deleted such that their MFT entries can be cleaned in the same way that they would be if right mouse 'delete without trace' were performed on a selection of temporary internet files etc?
     
  13. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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  14. The_PrivaZer_Team

    The_PrivaZer_Team Developer

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    @EASTER,
    answered in the thread.:thumb:

    @takiabtom,
    when you want to clean the MFT, you have to clean entries of files that were deleted.
    That's what PrivaZer does :

    • PrivaZer cleans MFT entries of files removed during PrivaZer cleanup
    • PrivaZer also cleans MFT entries of files that were previously deleted by another app or the system,
    so that it needs to scan through the whole MFT to find them and overwrite them.

    Hope it helps.
     
  15. clayto

    clayto Registered Member

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    JUNK CLEANING
    Privacy is important, but for me cleaning out junk and maximising storage space on the C drive is essential as I have 'a small storage device', a hybrid Tablet with an SSD. I have just started using PivaZer and am unsure how good it is at junk cleaning. I am finding that the storage space after what seems a thrtough cleaning is often less than it was before it began, and at best only marginally increased. Then other cleaners (I use several) go on to find more junk. generally 100 MB plus.

    I cannot accept the invitation to delete Restore Points as I almost only have one available. Anyway, I have read many times that removing RPs does not increase free space on C.

    I would welcome comments.
     
  16. The_PrivaZer_Team

    The_PrivaZer_Team Developer

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    hello @clayto,​

    1. not sure that what you found, was leftovers. For instance,
    • if your web browser is open while cleaning with PrivaZer, it will generate new internet traces.
    • thumbcache files, or webcache files are automatically recreated by the system after cleanup. Recreated empty but with a pre-allocated size of a few MB.

    anyway, send us a screenshot of your findings at support@privazer.com

    2. concerning restore points, your system may store any changes made by PrivaZer to be able to restore at a previous date. Allocated space for restore points may then increase of a few GB.
    To recover your free space, you will need to remove your restore points or disable your "system protection".

    Hope it helps.
     
  17. takiabtom

    takiabtom Registered Member

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    @PZ Team

    Any chance of having completion status on the scheduled task list. My scheduled clean cannot have completed today as runtime was too short yet this does not show.
    would help if there was a completion status column eg
    Successful completion
    Unexpected termination (eg power failure)
    User Abort
    etc
     
  18. takiabtom

    takiabtom Registered Member

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    Screenshot (4).png @PZ Team

    Thankyou for your patience ref MFT cleaning - I guess this is just too much for my understanding level

    As a passing final shot here is a screen of a run tonite - the scan said 91 MFT entries to be cleaned ( obviously deleted files from other apps)
    Privazer clean cleaned 3214 files ( maybe not all deletions but 2907 were temporary internet file that should have been deleted and cleaned)
    Yet the final MFT clean has only done 343 files.
    Where does the logic fall down ? Surely it cannot be deleted MFT entries being refilled with new files - if this was the case I would expect over 2.5 million actual live files on the HDD (not so !)
     
  19. The_PrivaZer_Team

    The_PrivaZer_Team Developer

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    Hello @takiabtom,

    thanks for your patience and sharing your findings, we are still investigating to find if we have a display issue.


    for @all now,
    new PrivaZer v2.44 released with improved cleanup of recycle bin!
    http://privazer.com/download.php

    Thanks
     
  20. Mops21

    Mops21 Registered Member

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  21. clayto

    clayto Registered Member

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    PrivaZer seems to be thorough at dealing with privacy issues, but I am uncertain about its effectiveness at cleaning out junk. This is important to me as I have a small capacity SSD and am constantly trying to reduce the loss of storage space. During the time I have used it I h ave found that after every cleaning session free space has either increased very little or has often reduced.

    A typical example recently is free space dropping from 3.503 GB to 2.885 GB, in what can be seen as a very sparse amount of free storage. And this is without a new Restore Point being created.

    In addition to the evidence I have from a Drive Monitor and from PrivZer itself I have the results of other cleaning utilities which I use after I have used PrivZer. They always show more junk to be removed, usually amounting to several hundred MB. In particular a lot of temp/temporary files are listed as having been deleted.

    I would be interested in comments on this.
     
  22. The_PrivaZer_Team

    The_PrivaZer_Team Developer

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    hello @clayto,

    good question. Let me give you some details on this.
    1. Each restore point contains the necessary information needed to restore the system to the chosen state.
      Thus, your system has stored the changes made by PrivaZer leading to a decrease of your free space.

      Simply verify if your system protection is activated on this drive. To recover your free space, turn it off and then turn it on
      as shown here :
      system-protection-win7-2.jpg


    2. For temporary files that other cleaners may find, please check the files creation dates and check if they were created after PrivaZer cleanup as your system and your apps create/delete files every seconds. You can send us a screenshot of the leftovers here : support@privazer.com
      We will be pleased to work on it.
    Hope it helps.
     
  23. takiabtom

    takiabtom Registered Member

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    @PZTeam

    Ref 1093 - I have rerun a number of time now and in each case the total MFT clean count appears much nearer the mark. Could it be in 1093 there was something unknown merrily creating and deleting files and thus causing the large discrepancy?

    On reflection I have issues with terminology i.e. when is a clean simply a clean of the contents of an existing file and its retention versus a clean which is actually a clean of contents and subsequent deletion of the file.
    This may appear a confused question but, for example, if a "clean" run finds 40 files to clean and I click "see" I am told that 40 files are deleted. Surely not the same as cleaned?
    If I understand your previous comments on MFT the 2.5million records never reduces as records are not deleted but all attributes and details for any record can be cleaned if the file for that record has been deleted. Thus the run states xxx free entries cleaned.
    On my machine there always seems to be 219929 $logfile entries cleaned - does this mean that all 219929 entries are empty (clean)? Even if the scan only picked up 100 that needed cleaning?
    Similarly my USN usually ( but not always ) has 100815 entries which are termed cleaned - is this the same as $log i.e. all entries empty and clean.

    Is there some way you could display the actual events? Viz:

    40 files cleaned and deleted
    # USN records of total 100815 cleaned... or is actually the case all 100815 USN entries cleaned in full.

    If my understanding is off the mark please put me right !
    Many thanks
     
  24. Mops21

    Mops21 Registered Member

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  25. Krusty

    Krusty Registered Member

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