Since I've been using Windows XP for most of my private surfing I haven't had much use for similar software for Windows 7. I'm not looking for registry cleaners, but something that will clean up 'junk' from the system like CCleaner does or used to do. I know that particular program comes with third party software these days, and I'm no so sure it doesn't have any unwanted features. What do members of this forum like ? The option to erase a drive including slack space is always nice too ...
Piriform offers CCleaner Portable and CCleaner Slim builds, that don't come with third party software.
try to stick with the windows cleaning options and NOT ccleaner if you like to have your system intact. if you use ccleaner ALWAYS have a preview what it wants to delete - in doubt NEVER let it delete something. cleaner are a stupid piece of software - they dont know about empty intelligent tree which are only an indicator - and kill those -> windows defective.
@Brummelchen, Why is that ? On my Windows XP system I used ccleaner 3.x( very infrequently), an old version indeed. At one time I downloaded a newer version, and the only thing I recall is that I didn't like it. The newer versions do a lot more than that old version ? CCleaner 3.x on Windows XP was harmless, as long as you didn't touch the registry. @blacknight, Wisecleaner seems to do a lot more than just 'cleaning' ? Once upon a time I used the old version (prior to 2010!) of Webroot's Window Washer. A fine utility. Maybe 'cleaning' isn't the best word for what I had in mind. I don't want to touch the registry, I don't need a defragger ... What ccleaner 3.x did was fine. index.dat, browser histories, MRUs, olffice documents, logs etc. Having privacy in mind ... Something 'safe'. Anyway, something to clean/wipe/erase the empty space on a harddrive would be very nice by itself. And I'm always thinking 'who made that utility, for what purpose' if it's free ! I'm getting old ... you didn't have to worry about that in the 1990s.
Sure, as and more Ccleaner do. Where is the problem ? It has also a Disk Eraser and a File Shredder. I too wonder it. There is always some potential risk.
wise and glary are more intrusive than ccleaner - kicked both off my collection - they will kill my system for 1000% -> registry first. if you dont want ccleaner run on registry then stick with windows routines, trust me, i am not alone with this standing beside other experts. ofc i have winapp2 enabled but at least i search 5 or 6 times a year! windows is not that defective or filled with crap those guys want to tell me. and in fact those stupid cleaners always finde the same entries - guess why...!! Sisyphus work without forth coming, never ending story with no happy end.
First, I don't see why this thread has been moved to sandboxing and virtualization ! That would require some imagination ! @Brummelchen, winapp2 ? I'm not familiar with that one. It is described as an add on for other programs like ccleaner. Then, what do you recommend ? Since I relied mostly on Windows XP for internet access I'm not that familiar with keeping Windows 7 'clean'. I know of cleaning the %temp% files, and something else (disk cleanup?) And removing the browser history, flash data, defragging that's pretty much what comes to mind. Is there anything that is useful and safe for erasing the empty space of a harddrive ? Anything else ? I disabled restore points a long time ago. I have to rely on images if something goes wrong.
I use DISM ++ and have always found it to be very thorough.. https://www.ghacks.net/2016/09/19/dism-windows-optimizer/
winapp2 is the so called "ccleaner enhancer" and used carefully - its a massive extended list for ccleaner - and if ccleaner detects some software on this list it is enabled by default = attention! each browser can clear cache or history itself, no need for any external cleaner - even IE has this routines (firefox, chromium, opera and more to name) flash data is the only item here i would ccleaner let touch if you dont gamble online flash games. i dont have flash for any other browser than ie (windows 8 or newer) so i dont see any need to clean up that folders. crap-cleaner (full name) is - from my view - only an improved MRU list cleaner - "most recent used" - programs have internal lists for their used/opened files, no more. since xp i collected my own mru list in a reg file to delete but with windows 7 i dropped it. experience. windows is not working slower without or faster with any cleaner, thats a myth. but marketing will still sell this lie, avg tuneup at its best. at least all cleaners destroy windows somehow they can not repair anything. such simple. PS DISM++ needs some experience - we had this discussion last days. use it only with image - highly recommended!
Then maybe someone can recommend a tool for erasing/wiping empty drive space ? Just that, or at least something safe and simple that isn't likely to cause trouble by accident ?
@Minimalist, I guess so. The 3.x version of ccleaner did that just fine. I'm just not sure what I'd get with the latest version. I vaguely recall it seemed a lot like a 'suite'. I want to avoid problems. Webroot's Window Washer (pre-2010) was quite nice !
erasing for what? so you assume someone else recovering your deleted data? are not the owner of your computer? nullifying sectors if you have enough time - in case of SSD it will limit very fast its age, no good idea. sorry, but this is like wearing aluhelmets, people dont care what you have deleted and was probably already overwritten from windows. in case you await a crackdown - lol - forget it. forensics are much better than ccleaner or nullifying. did i already told you that ccleaner is waste of time?
Latest version is OK, all you have to do is disable system monitoring (so it doesn't run in background). For deleting empty drive space latest version shouldn't cause you any problems.
Surprised nobody has mentioned PrivaZer It's a winner, and has a dedicated PrivaZer Discussion Thread | Wilders Security Forums I use it, in addition to CCleaner (with CCEnhancer), and it's very useful, with some great features.
@Minimalist, thanks for pointing that out. @Brummelchen, 'in case you await a crackdown - lol - forget it. forensics are much better than ccleaner or nullifying.' I know that wiping empty space isn't everything. But useless ? That entire volume can't be stored somewhere else on the computer, can it ... True, Windows 7 is much less privacy friendly than Windows XP.
its a bit theoretical - if you own 1TB hdd and windows uses 30% of it the probability that windows will write it into the 70% is very very low. at least you wipe 70% for nothing. for wiping - there was a test for overwriting with zeros or patterns. at least there is no chance to recover anything when overwritten once with zero. cant deny - but also cant prove that. xp is EOL and highly vulnerable - i would prefer the small option for telemetrie (which is opt-out able) instead being compromised. i even dont have doubt on win8 or 10 which are called to spy on users, what a BS. and in fact, dont you think that windows telemetrie already had transmitted what you delete afterwards? windows do not care about temp files or mru lists, it collects with internet explorer or search/cortana/ms apps/crashes and it collects some more when using a ms account to improve windows. but it has been proved that all is anonymous, no hidden user-id or similar. guess why windows 10 1703 CU has been rolled out only to 30% of all windows 10 machines. btw do you own an android smart phone?
If you like to pay a small amount, Ashampoo WinOptimizer does the trick for me. It's very well optimized for what it is, and has (so far) never deleted anything it shouldn't.
There is a free version too. https://www.ashampoo.com/en/usd/pin/5006/Offline/Ashampoo-WinOptimizer-2017
When Ashampoo launches the new version, they release their old version for free. Ashampoo WinOptimizer 2017 is just WinOptimizer 14 re-packaged. The latest version is 15. As such you can always get Ashampoo products at near throwaway prices, so I don't mind paying for this. Version 14 works fine but has some minor bugs with Windows 10 Creator's Update.
Well, about cleaners in general and CCleaner in particular ... on Windows 7 ... I decided to use ccleaner to clean some stuff, no active monitoring, no messing with the registry. Recently it seemed that my computer was a bit slower when accessing the internet, at least sometimes. I restored an image and it seems faster. So yeah, maybe ... who knows what it does ? What are the consequences of cleaning the index.dat files etc. ?
CCleaner will clean your browser's temporary files and cache. If you clean them, browser will have to re-download that data. It could be a little slower if you regularly visit same webpages and your internet connection speed is slow. With fast internet, delay is usually unnoticeable.
