SCleaner — Stay ahead of the cleaning

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FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT By Deanna McElveen My husband and I have different philosophies regarding our cars. I throw things away when I exit my car. He wait
[See the full post at: SCleaner — Stay ahead of the cleaning]

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WSRolandJS, Fred, fisher75, KWGuy, abbodi86, lmacri, DLivesInTexas, SueW, Norio, AusJohn

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I have been running Windows Disk Cleanup, but this is better AND

Actually you can click yes on the install .NET core and it takes you to the MS download site!

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SCleaner does not save preferences.  One has to reSet preferences every time.

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Thank you for advising that it clears preferences ……that could be tedious!!!

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If you check Figures 9 and 10 on Deanna’s ‘Spotlight’ page, you’ll notice a “gear” icon; checking that allows for some settings, including “Remember Cleanup Preferences.”

 

Win 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit; Office 2010; Group B (SaS); Former 'Tech Weenie'

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Deanna McElveen, satrow

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LOL.   No preferences.   That’s too funny.      Do we really need another cleaner?     Bleachbit does a great job.   Solid and proven tool written by Andy Z. from Colorado USA.

 

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“Remember Cleanup Preferences.”

That’s the part that does not work, at least not for me.  🙂

Clicking on Remember Cleanup Preferences, exiting program, wait a few seconds, re-enter program, only the Defaults are remembered, none of my preferences are remembered.

 

Otherwise, the program does a great job!  🙂

"Take care of thy backups and thy restores shall take care of thee." Ben Franklin, revisted

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SueW

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It’s under settings to save preferences.

 

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Deanna McElveen wrote:

Hubby could enjoy another 107 Gb of free space if he would just keep his crap clean.

97% of which was his Recycle Bin. Why does that need to be set so huge?

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Because he deletes massive files daily while doing updates to the website.

 

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I’m going to test this. I’m wondering at the outset how well it compares to three programs I already use (which, distressingly, find and delete different items from the others).

I have an old copy of My Privacy Clean Pro (no longer available or updated, which offered to find and delete all traces of my online and offline). Ashampoo’s WinOptimizer (popup ad with every launch) and CCleaner Pro. Each of these finds “stuff” that the others missed.

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kfredde

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Deanna, This is not a comment about SCleaner, which looks to be worth a try.  OlderGeeks.com has an older version of ClearDiskInfo, version 4.2.1.0.  The current version is 4.3.0.0, which I use and write about.

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Deanna McElveen

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After reading this article I though I would give SCleaner a shot as I’ve been using CCleaner Free for quite some time and it does similar cleaning.  After the install I ran SCleaner with the same options shown in the article and it did clean what was selected.  However, once SCleaner finished I ran CCleaner and it found 1.9 GB of stuff on my PC.  Some of the stuff CCleaner found was the fact that I use Brave as my default browner and Thunderbird as my email client and it found many items that needed cleaning.  The disturbing thing was that SCleaner apparently missed lots of things that I believe it should have caught.  See the attached snapshot of CCleaner I took after SCleaner completed.  I would like to abandon CCleaner but so far CCleaner is the ONLY program I’ve found that will allow me to keep selected Cookies on my PC as some Cookies I keep so I don’t have to re-authenticate using 2-factor authentication as I’m in and out of these apps all the time.  Based on the results I’ve experienced. SCleaner is not for me.

 

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lmacri, kfredde, satrow, fernlady, Phil Rabichow

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Moondoggy wrote:

I would like to abandon CCleaner but so far CCleaner is the ONLY program I’ve found that will allow me to keep selected Cookies on my PC as some Cookies I keep so I don’t have to re-authenticate using 2-factor authentication as I’m in and out of these apps all the time.

Hi Moondoggy:

You might want to try Kurt Zimmerman’s free HDCleaner utility that Deanna reviewed in the 31-Oct-2022 AskWoody Plus Newsletter (Issue 19.44) at HDCleaner — Stay out of my store!

I’m currently using CCleaner Free Portable v6.x and my preliminary tests show that HDCleaner v2.x might be a good replacement because it also:

• Gives you the choice of using a portable build that can be run off a removable USB stick.
• The Temporary Files cleaner cleans both C:\Windows\Temp and C:\Users\<myusername>\AppData\Local\Temp\.
• Can be configured to only delete temporary files older than 24 hours.
• Allows you to preview a list of individual items it’s going to clean before you run the cleaner.
• Allows you to keep important cookies at Cleaning | Manage Cookies (see attached image) which I haven’t tested yet because I normally manage all my browser cleaning in my browser settings instead of using a utility like CCleaner or HDCleaner.

The interface for HDCleaner isn’t as user-friendly as CCleaner’s but once you figure out how to customize the settings it’s fairly easy to use.
———–
Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5131 * Firefox v132.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.1.144-1.0.5088 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.30.11385 * HDCleaner Portable 64-bit v2.083

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Deanna McElveen

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I have used PrivaZer (which I got after a review by Deanna many years ago) for many years and find it very similar to what you describe and it does allow you to choose cookies to save!!

I think the user interface is a bit simpler that this program.

I am not quite as obscessive as Deanna, but I do run it regularly.

https://privazer.com/en/

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SCleaner is more of a quick cleanup.  If you want a CCleaner replacement, use HDCleaner https://www.oldergeeks.com/downloads/file.php?id=1957

 

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Thank you, Moondoggy, for this post.  I was going to try SCleaner, but after reading your post, I’ll stick with CCleaner free.

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fernlady

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I suppose this may be a coincidence but after installing both files and running a cleaning after a reboot many of my app defaults were reset. After several tedious minutes of getting things back it happened again. Not a problem as I make a complete backup (Macrium Reflect) almost every day and I just went back to yesterday.

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H1K

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I also lost default app preferences after using SCleaner. Can I uncheck a box to stop that?Otherwise, I like it.

 

Win11 23H2

 

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Cannot even get to the download this morning.  “Holy Crap!” it says… Did you decide to pull the download?

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That happens if the server gets overloaded with people downloading. It seems fine now.

 

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After I loaded SCleaner and ran it.  Then I ran CCleaner and found a lot more stuff to delete.  Is that normal?  Thanks!

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kfredde

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A cleaners job is to report, to you, stuff that needs to be cleaned. The more stuff reported, the “better” the cleaning utility. Whether that stuff actually needs to be cleaned doesn’t matter.

FWIW, I never use a cleaning utility. I backup regularly.

cheers, Paul

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When I worked for a MSP, one of our tasks was to run CCleaner on our clients’ computers. Sometimes we would see a large amount of junk to clean up, usually when the computer was running an older OS (Pre Windows 10) or there were major problems with the computer that required more intensive work to fix, such as OS corruptions.

When the computer was well cared for (for example, it was shut down correctly so OS corruption was less likely) and up to date, I don’t remember CCleaner making much of a difference. The main reason we were instructed to use it, as far as I can tell, was so that we could tell our clients “we removed 100 MB of junk from your computer” as a way of justifying the $150 charge of our “clean-up” service. Not that most of our clients even knew what a MB was!

What I do remember was that we were explicitly told to NOT run CCleaner on servers. One tech did anyway, and CCleaner deleted registry files that were not junk, breaking the server. I don’t think the business cared that the tech was let go, we still lost them as a client.

All of this is to say that while I know that these cleaning programs were useful in the past when Windows did a bad job at cleaning up after itself, I question their usefulness today. Do they really do a much better job than the built in “Storage Sense” provided by Microsoft? If so, does that difference equate to a measurably faster experience for the user? Finally, are they worth the risk of possibly deleting files which are needed by the OS?

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He waits until the fast-food bags are tickling his knees to clean his car..

And that clutter will likely invalidate car insurance in the event of an accident due to being an obstruction for safe driving as well as being a safety hazard to other drivers on the road!

If debian is good enough for NASA...

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I’ve been using Expanded Disk Cleanup for 20+ years.  After setup, it runs on all drives/partitions.  I also have Revo Uninstaller Pro, and one of its Tools is Junk Files Cleaner.  It doesn’t find much after Disk Cleanup has done its work.

I use Task Scheduler to run Expanded Disk Cleanup weekly, so there’s not a lot of accumulated junk laying around.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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I still use CCleaner version 6.29.11342 (64-bit).  I won’t update to a later version because this version has something that the new versions don’t have…the ability to remove or add context menu items, if I recall correctly.

I know there are other ways to add & remove context menu items, but I haven’t had to do this for several years & have forgotten the other methods.

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Phil Rabichow wrote:

I still use CCleaner version 6.29.11342 (64-bit). I won’t update to a later version because this version has something that the new versions don’t have…the ability to remove or add context menu items, if I recall correctly.

Hi Phil Rabichow:

Are you referring to the CCleaner tool at Tools | Startup | Context Menu tab? If so, one of the images in the groovypost article Remove Windows Context Menu Items with CCleaner (last updated 24-Sep-2023) shows this feature was added as far back as Aug 2012 when CCleaner v3.22 was released.

There’s also no mention of “context menu” in the CCleaner v6.30 release notes at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/version-history/ so it doesn’t appear that any recent revisions have been made to this tool (which I’ve never used, like most of the other tools in CCleaner).
———–
Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5131 * Firefox v132.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.1.144-1.0.5088 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.30.11385 * HDCleaner Portable 64-bit v2.083

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satrow

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I prefer to use winnapp2.ini driven cleaners such as ccleaner, as havng this opens a lots of portals into programs, apps and OS functions to thourougly purge accumulation of crud over time.
If you have the time, I recommend editing the winapp2.ini to suit the OS with programs that speeds up the process considerably by removing irrelevant program paths for that device. (warning this takes some time to do)
https://github.com/MoscaDotTo/Winapp2

If debian is good enough for NASA...

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satrow

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I’m not advocating that anyone use CCleaner [it’s become horribly bloated with all sorts of unnecessary (and often buggy) features since Piriform was purchased by Avast], but I do find the Custom Clean feature does a much better job than my built-in Windows Disk Cleanup for cleaning temporary files.

As a test today I ran Windows Disk Cleanup with Administrator rights first, and it only cleaned 3.2 MB of temp files …

..but I immediately followed that with a CCleaner Custom Clean (with Options | Advanced | Only Delete Files in Windows Temp Folders Older Than 24 Hours DISBLED; I normally leave this option ENABLED) and it cleaned an additional 303 MB of files.

The attached log shows the extra files cleaned by CCleaner were all located in subfolders of C:\Windows\TEMP\ and C:\Users\<myusername>\AppData\Local\Temp\. Does that mean that the built-in Windows Disk Cleanup only cleans temporary files in the “root” of those two folders, or have I misunderstood the definition of “temporary file” cleaning in Windows Disk Cleanup?

FYI, temporary file cleaning in Kurt Zimmerman’s free HDCleaner utility I mentioned in post # 2718492 was almost identical to that of CCleaner’s Custom Clean in my previous testing.
———–
Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5131 * Firefox v132.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.2.154-1.0.5101 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.30.11385 * HDCleaner Portable 64-bit v2.083

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satrow

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lmacri wrote:

Are you referring to the CCleaner tool at Tools | Startup | Context Menu tab?

Yes, that’s why I won’t update CCleaner any more. They got rid of that option.

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My CCleaner has that option:

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lmacri

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Your screenshot shows you have v. 6.26.11169.

@phrab says that option is not available after v. 6.29.11342 (#2719137)
Due to disappear?

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satrow

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I’d noticed that just as I posted and updated from the latest slim version via Majorgeeks a short time later – which displays the same options as above.

I tend to loosely rotate my cleanup tools; when I plan one I’ll update first, spur of the moment I might Analyze first.

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PKCano

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PKCano wrote:

@phrab says that option is not available after v. 6.29.11342

Hi PKCano:

My image in post # 2719539 shows Tools | Startup | Context Menu is present in the latest CCleaner v6.30.11385.

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PKCano, satrow

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lmacri wrote:

Are you referring to the CCleaner tool at Tools | Startup | Context Menu tab? If so, one of the images in the groovypost article Remove Windows Context Menu Items with CCleaner (last updated 24-Sep-2023) shows this feature was added as far back as Aug 2012 when CCleaner v3.22 was released.

Hi Phil Rabichow:

AFAIK, every version of CCleaner released since CCleaner v3.22 includes this tool, including the CCleaner Free Portable v6.30.11385 I’m currently using.

As long as you don’t use that tool to manually add / remove context menu items I don’t think there’s another “all-in-one” feature in CCleaner Free or Professional (e.g., PC Health Check, Performance Optimizer, etc.) that will make changes to your Windows context menu.
———–
Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5131 * Firefox v132.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.2.154-1.0.5101 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.30.11385 * HDCleaner Portable 64-bit v2.083

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n0ads, satrow

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lmacri wrote:

AFAIK, every version of CCleaner released since CCleaner v3.22 includes this tool, including the CCleaner Free Portable v6.30.11385 I’m currently using.

Thank you for that information. I don’t remember where I read or heard that newer versions of CCleaner wouldn’t have that option. However, the free v6.30.11385 is the next one after my version, so I think I’ll update.

Thanks again.

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I have lost track. For CCleaner, I thought the “Custom Clean” function was no longer available in CCleaner Free beginning somewhere around V6.24 and to use “Custom Clean” required a paid version. Have I been believing something not true all along? Does CCleaner Free still (beyond v6.23) allow “Custom Clean”?

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castiel wrote:

For CCleaner, I thought the “Custom Clean” function was no longer available in CCleaner Free beginning somewhere around V6.24 and to use “Custom Clean” required a paid version.

Hi castiel:

Piriform / Avast eventually reversed their decision and re-activated the Custom Clean feature in CCleaner Free v6.25 in July 2024 after complaints from users. See my 03-Jul-2024 post # 182 in anon’s CCleaner v6 in the Wilders Security Forum.

I think Piriform / Avast expected to see a surge in CCleaner Free v6.24 users paying for a Pro license to get Custom Clean back but that never materialized – many CCleaner Free users simply moved on to another free disk cleaner like BleachBit or HDCleaner and never switched back to CCleaner Free after Custom Clean was turned back on.
———–
Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5131 * Firefox v132.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.2.154-1.0.5101 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.30.11385 * HDCleaner Portable 64-bit v2.083

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satrow, castiel

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lmacri, that is very useful information for me. I have been staying frozen on v6.23 because of my incorrect beliefs. Now I can go back to updating normally again.

 

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lmacri wrote:

Custom Clean feature in CCleaner Free v6.25 in July 2024 after complaints from users.

I just updated my Ccleaner (portable version) to 6.30.11385 and “custom clean” is there and fully functional.

If your interested the a portable version it’s here:

https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds

Desktop Asus TUF X299 Mark 1, CPU: Intel Core i7-7820X Skylake-X 8-Core 3.6 GHz, RAM: 32GB, GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti 4GB. Display: Four 27" 1080p screens 2 over 2 quad.

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satrow, Fred

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This utility does not seem to be doing anything in my system.

After Scan and Clean are complete, CCleaner still finds more than 250 meg for cleanup.

These are mostly in the FireFox and Edge browser caches.

Any reasons NOT to delete SCleaner?

 

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I think delete is the correct answer.  🙂

cheers, Paul

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WSRolandJS wrote:

“Remember Cleanup Preferences.”

That’s the part that does not work, at least not for me.  🙂

Clicking on Remember Cleanup Preferences, exiting program, wait a few seconds, re-enter program, only the Defaults are remembered, none of my preferences are remembered.

 

Otherwise, the program does a great job!  🙂

Guess what?  Now, SCleaner saves my preferences!  Win-Win!

"Take care of thy backups and thy restores shall take care of thee." Ben Franklin, revisted

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SueW

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