Uninstalled CCleaner due to lost trust. Alternatives?

The linked instructions are a map that doesn't match the terrain. Those four year old instructions are incorrect. All that Wise Cleaner provides is a flat exclusion list. In the settings 'Exclusions' tab there is an ability to add cookies to this flat list. There is no "cookie manager" per se (at least none I've been able to find) in the manner of CCleaner or Glary Tracks Eraser (and Glary's only handles IE cookies.)

 

Would you miss something if you use CCleaner 4.17.4808 + Winapp2 instead of CCleaner 5.45?

CCleaner 4.17.4808 was the last version I updated to.

 

I didn't check before posting, as I never clean cookies myself. I just had a look now and the procedure is slightly different in current versions. Under "Traces In Computer" in "Common Cleaner" is a Cookies section. You can expand it to manually select what browsers you want scanned for cookies, if you like. Once WDC has completed scanning for junk, you can right click on any cookie (by expanding Traces In Computer/Cookies/Mozilla Firefox (or another browser) Cookies) you want to keep and select "Ignore this item" to whitelist it.

 

Roger, I've just run a scan with Wise Disk Cleaner in shadow mode, and among other things it wants to clean 3 GB of Windows System files! I'm a bit wary, is it really safe?

 

It is safe. If you expand Windows System, you will see what it wants to clean and much disk space each item is using. Quite possibly, Windows update files account for a lot of that 3GB. These are old Windows Update files and can be remove without any issues. If you're unsure of anything, post a screenshot.

 

I regularly use Windows Disk Cleanup after every cumulative update, which on average cleans between 3 to 4 GB.

Now I have scanned With Wise Disk Cleaner Portable (it wants to clean 4 GB overall, 3 GB of Win system files), Privacy Eraser Portable (it wants to clean about 40 MB), CCleaner Portable (it wants to clean about 20 MB), and finally with Windows Disk Cleanup (it wants to clean about 26 MB)

Now the differences between Privacy Eraser, CCleaner, and Win Disk Cleanup are kind of credible, with Wise Disk Cleaner the difference is to say the least staggering....

 

While I use PE now I used WDC before and didn't have any troubles with it. Checking the files found to be cleaned I don't see anything dangerous, IMHO. But perhaps better to wait for @roger_m who is more familiar with WDC.

 

It should be safe to let it clean everything. You can expand the items it's found junk for, if you want to see everything it wants to delete.

 

I'd be worried about deleting the Windows Installer Cache files. It could be next year when you reap the "rewards".

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au...s-installer-cache-requires-a-computer-rebuild

 

I agree with Brian. Personally I use PatchCleaner to check for orphaned installer files and move them to different partition. You never know if you'll ever need them again.
Also I wonder if Wise checks which installer files are still registered and keep them or just deletes everything.

 

Thanks Brian and Roger, my computer has been working perfectly for years and I'm not prepared to risk re-installing Windows because of an aggressive cleaner...

 

Thanks Brian for the info. I wasn't aware of it.

 

@Brian K @Osaban Wise Disk Cleaner appears to only scan for orphaned files in the C:\Windows\Installer folder. I have 4.8GB of files there on my computer and WDC finds nothing to clean.

 

Roger, WDC finds 1.4 GB of files to delete in C:\Windows\Installer folder. The folder size is 4.5 GB. I'm not prepared to take the risk they are orphaned. Does WDC have any documentation on those files?

 

There appears to be no documentation regarding this, so I just contacted their support to see what they have to say.

 

@Brian K I got a very quick reply and they said it will only delete files that are no longer needed.

 

@Brian K
Usually this tools only check if file is registered as uninstaller and delete those that are not registered any more (those that were either uninstalled or updated and there is newer un/installer registered for them).

 

Thanks guys but I'll remain conservative. I'm not short of disk space and the computer won't be any faster if I delete those files.

 

Yes, I understand, I also prefer to be more conservative when "cleaning up" things.
For removing unneeded installers I prefer to use PatchCleaner ( http://www.homedev.com.au/free/patchcleaner ).
It checks for orphaned installers and gives you two options - you either delete them or move them to other location. I use second option and move them to other partition. That way my system images are few GB smaller and I still have installers saved in case that they would be needed some time in future.
So far I never needed any of them...

 

Just installed Wise Disc Cleaner after reading this thread. Working great so far, except for Appguard's blocking it (which it had never done with Ccleaner) : I have to enable AG's install mode to make WDC work.
I am wondering whether I should include WDC to the power apps list.

EDIT : well, problem solved by creating a Clean Disk with 1 click icon.

 

This feature doesn't work reliably in my experience. Ticking 'ignore this item' does add the item to the exclusion list. A subsequent rescan then omits the item from the scan list, but continuing with the clean deletes those cookies. Conversely, I've experimented with removing items from the exclusion list so that they reappear in the scan list, but survive a subsequent clean. So, as I believe someone else commented in this thread, the handling of cookie exclusions seems buggy.

 

Yes indeed, I have 900 GB of free space, there are no real advantages, and deleting system files can be risky. I'm actually considering using only MS Disk Cleanup...

 

of course I use overwrite files on BB. I even use winapp2.ini

Just reran BB as admin using overwrite contents to prevent recovery and then ran Privazer twice then ran Recuva on deep scan which reveals several jpg's that should have been wiped by one or both of those programs

using Evo 860 Samsung drive

 

Avast Pulls the Latest Version of CCleaner Following Privacy Controversy
https://betanews.com/2018/08/04/ava...on-of-ccleaner-following-privacy-controversy/

 

I am using WDC with great glee, but I agree that it is lax by not giving us a less convoluted way of managing cookies. All WDC needs to do is to emulate CCleaner's excellent cookie manager.

P.S -- "Emulate" ≠ "copying"