Windows Defender Flags CCleaner as PUA:Win32/CCleaner

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Certain installers for free and 14-day trial versions of CCleaner come with bundled applications, including applications that are not required by CCleaner or produced by the same publisher Piriform. While the bundled applications themselves are legitimate, bundling of software, especially products from other providers, can result in unexpected software activity that can negatively impact user experiences. To protect Windows users, Microsoft Defender Antivirus detects CCleaner installers that exhibit this behavior as potentially unwanted applications (PUA).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/threats/malware-encyclopedia-description?Name=PUA:Win32/CCleaner&ThreatID=277099

Folks : Just move to portable ccPortable.

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Just learn to look at what you’re electing to install and uncheck anything that you don’t want to install.

6 users thanked author for this post.

WSJCitizen, SueW, Coldheart9020, Elly, woody, CADesertRat

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I use CCleaner free and ever since Piriform was bought out, there is something that has to be unchecked on every update.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

1 user thanked author for this post.

Microfix

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I have Free CCleaner v 5.68 installed and so far I haven’t had any indication of a Defender problem with it. Defender ran this morning and shows that there are no App problems or any other problems.

Since Defender updates every day, I wonder why it’s not showing any problems with CCleaner if this is an issue?

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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wow, so glad I still use v5.32.6129 portable with a modified winapp2.ini file.
No fuss, no updates and no tickbox trickery.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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I used the portable CCleaner with winapp2.ini but switched to ccPortable with winapp2.ini.

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Portable CCleaner doesn’t have unnecessary c*** bundled with it. If you prefer to use the installable version, download it from ninite.com, they strip all the crud from all the installers they offer.

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WSJCitizen, CADesertRat, woody

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Copy/paste the x2 .exe files from the portable .zip over those already on your machine.

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Elly

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and stick an outbound firewall rule on the executable.
You don’t need both exe’s, only one that’s applicable to your OS bitness.
x64 or x86(with no indication in exe name)

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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from BleepingComputer site – Microsoft now detects CCleaner as a Potentially Unwanted Application

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-now-detects-ccleaner-as-a-potentially-unwanted-application/

I’ve already given up using CCleaner by the end of 2019 as I’m now using either BleachBit or Wise Disk Cleaner on all my PCs and never looked back

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WSJCitizen, geekdom

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From the BleepingComputer article (I didn’t know this):

 

Full disclosure: BleepingComputer is an affiliate of Piriform.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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BleachBit is here:

https://www.bleachbit.org/

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

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