CCleaner

[Wolf K]

The general opinion is that it's slicker than goose grease. The
truth is that it's snake oil. That's true of all "registry
cleaners" -- the *best* you can hope for is that they won't cause
problems. They won't make things better because orphan entries in
the Registry don't do any harm. And many people have found that they
created problems.

Orphan entries can indeed mess things up, especially when they result
from updating an existing program.

But "mess up" is a relative term, the Windows registry is a mess in any
case. They are IMO merely the old *.ini files bloated beyond belief.
AFAIK, this is one effect of Windows programs storing their *.dlls in
the System folder tree. IMO that's bad design. But what do I know, I
haven't designed/written programs for over 20 years. ;-)

 

[Wolf K]

On 9/14/2012 6:46 AM, Alias wrote: [...]

Yet, you can't cite one instance where CCleaner did damage. Oh, and
you're wrong about orphaned entries; they can render a program useless
unless removed. I know this from personal experience, unlike you that
comes out with blanket "snake oil" bullshit that you heard on line.

Too lazy to do your own work, eh Alias? That figures!

kermit1942 (3.01.2011 10:48)
I had a super bad experience with CCleaner in the past (it
trashed my system) so I used Revo Uninstaller.

[...]

Which in fact removes those orphan entries left behind by the MS
uninstaller routine (used by most programmers by default).

Oh, the irony!

 

[BillW50]

Wow, I wonder what experience this poster is talking about. He doesn't
say and he doesn't prove that CCleaner trashed his system. Got any more
lame forum quotes you care to share, Mr. Windows Updates are not
Necessary? I notice you don't update T-Bird either. You are not one to
be giving advice about computers.

Well you can find those that CCleaner trashed their systems on your own
as far as I am concern. It really isn't that hard. And remember I
upgrade some of my computers and some of them not.

Also had TB 15.0.1 installed and it is too buggy for my tastes. V14.0.1
quit automatically downloading newsgroups. And TB v12.0.1 is working
fine. So I upgraded from v15 to v12.

"We're thinking about upgrading from SunOS 4.1.1 to SunOS 3.5." ~~ Henry
Spencer

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

Wow, I wonder what experience this poster is talking about. He
doesn't say and he doesn't prove that CCleaner trashed his system.
Got any more lame forum quotes you care to share, Mr. Windows Updates
are not Necessary? I notice you don't update T-Bird either. You are
not one to be giving advice about computers.

Girls! Girls! Let's keep it civilized! I use CCleaner, but I use it with
discretion. I had a bad experience with CC some years ago when I did a
blanket removal of all the alleged orphan entries. It trashed my
(AtGuard) firewall settings. Now I carefully read what's listed and only
select those I am sure are superfluous.

As for updates, not all updates are an improvement. I do all my Windows
updates, but I keep using older versions of many programs because they
are sufficient and familiar. A lot of times, updates just add unwanted
bloat. I use the older version of Thunderbird that you disparage because
it does what I want and does not have any of the problems that seem to
plague the later versions.

My advice is to not give any blanket advice. Everybody's situation,
skills, and requirements are different.

 

[Ken Blake]

CCleaner's disk cleanup has nothing to do with it's registry cleaning
utility; they are separate items. When using the registry cleaner, the user
is given line-item control over what to delete and not delete,

Only few users know enough for that control to be valuable.

and a full
backup, if wanted, is made before any changes.

Only few users would choose that option.

The default is not automatic
deletion of anything, and somebody would have to disable all the safety
options for that to happen.

A registry cleaner that makes a registry backup before making changes
is safer than one that doesn't. However, a backup does *not* make it
completely safe. Changes to the registry can result in an unbootable
computer. And since the "cleaning" that any registry cleaner does is
largely useless, running the risk of using it is a poor choice.

 

[BillW50]

Because you can't.

Sure I can. I, unlike you know how to use a search engine.

We know how stupid you are; there's no need to prove it.

Yes I am. For example I installed Ubuntu 12.04.1 and I can't tell you
why I did it. As all of my favourite applications runs under another OS
and not this one.

Works great for me but, then again, I keep my computers up-to-date.

V14.0.1

No, you downgraded and exposed yourself to security threats.

Oh I am so scared! I am so helpless and unprotected. Muwhahaha!

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

Quite.

Seconded.
We're mostly computer savvy here; and some easily start rebuking those
who get taken in. But we must realize that it's a good human trait to
like and trust your fellow men; and not everyone knows the latest tricks
and scams.

Many of them are old. It is different when one is the target.

I was the target of an E-mail scam this May. I tutor in math and
I got an E-mail from someone supposedly looking for a math tutor for
her daughter. E-mail is often the point of first contact.

A tip on these sorts: If your questions do not get answered or
get talked around, it is a red flag. It might be legitimate, but it
easily might not be.

This talking around happened to me, so I was already suspicious.
When the conversation moved to money (the old cash this and remit the
balance), I did not fall for it.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Ed Cryer]

Many of them are old. It is different when one is the target.

I was the target of an E-mail scam this May. I tutor in math and
I got an E-mail from someone supposedly looking for a math tutor for
her daughter. E-mail is often the point of first contact.

A tip on these sorts: If your questions do not get answered or
get talked around, it is a red flag. It might be legitimate, but it
easily might not be.

This talking around happened to me, so I was already suspicious.
When the conversation moved to money (the old cash this and remit the
balance), I did not fall for it.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

I think the general rule of thumb is this; Are they trying to get
personal details? We call it "phishing".

I stop and think twice whenever that happens. But I take your advice to
heart. It is difficult to resist when it's allegedly from Paypal, your
bank, your ISP, your doctor etc.

There's definitely great cause for suspicion when they're trying to get
access to your computer. All the alarm bells ring with me then; and I
never, never allow it. BUT, I am a computer professional; I understand
IT, and I keep up to date with the latest tricks. I can also sort out
almost any problem that arises for me or my friends; and if not, I know
where to look and whom to ask.

It's that last paragraph of things that's the problem with your average
layman comp-user (and there are zillions of them). They don't have the
experience and knowledge to make educated guesses. And my heart goes out
to them.
The horns of a dilemma;
1. You can't get far these days without computer usage.
2. So few understand the things in any depth.

What's the opposite of heart? Well, whatever it is, mine goes out to the
scammy scammers, because their victims are more often than not the
young, the old and the candid, trusting souls.

Ed

 

[Gordonbp]

I stop and think twice whenever that happens. But I take your advice to
heart. It is difficult to resist when it's allegedly from Paypal, your
bank, your ISP, your doctor etc.

My wife's company has their IT help desk in India. One of my wife's sales
team put in a support call to the help desk and then shortly after got one
of these "your computer is sending error message to Microsoft" phone calls
- from - yes you guessed it - an Indian!
It wasn't until they mentioned money that she realised it wasn't the help
desk at all!

 

[Ed Cryer]

My wife's company has their IT help desk in India. One of my wife's sales
team put in a support call to the help desk and then shortly after got one
of these "your computer is sending error message to Microsoft" phone calls
- from - yes you guessed it - an Indian!
It wasn't until they mentioned money that she realised it wasn't the help
desk at all!

My sister got a cold phone call from an Indian voice claiming to be
working with MS, told to look in Event Viewer/ Windows Logs at the
number of errors in the heading. Thousands.
She panicked, gave all sorts of info.
By the time she called me they'd installed something on her desktop, and
were asking for about £80 to proceed with clean-up.

Ed

 

[James Silverton]

My sister got a cold phone call from an Indian voice claiming to be
working with MS, told to look in Event Viewer/ Windows Logs at the
number of errors in the heading. Thousands.
She panicked, gave all sorts of info.
By the time she called me they'd installed something on her desktop, and
were asking for about £80 to proceed with clean-up.

It's remarkable how many intriguing offers you get on the phone and
equally remarkable how few follow up when told to put it in writing.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

It's remarkable how many intriguing offers you get on the phone and
equally remarkable how few follow up when told to put it in writing.

I just figure that anybody who ignores the Do Not Call laws is a
criminal by definition.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

My wife's company has their IT help desk in India. One of my wife's sales
team put in a support call to the help desk and then shortly after got one
of these "your computer is sending error message to Microsoft" phone calls
- from - yes you guessed it - an Indian!
It wasn't until they mentioned money that she realised it wasn't the help
desk at all!

I haven't gotten any of those calls recently (knock on wood).

Maybe it's because when I get them I play innocent for a long time and
ask a lot of questions. Then I start telling them why I don't trust
them.

I only do it when I'm not in a rush, and I hope it keeps the caller from
scamming someone else for a few minutes...

In my view, anyone who would make such a call must be a sociopath.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

And change your credit card, unless you want to find your account cleaned out.

+1 in spades...

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Only few users know enough for that control to be valuable.

I think of myself as fairly experienced and knowledgeable, but when I
saw that (huge) list, I was swamped. There were too many things I
couldn't identify, and even with some of the ones I could, I didn't know
the effect of deleting them.

So I did this:

Step 1: Cancel operation

Step 2: Exit program

Step 3: Uninstall program

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

On 9/14/2012 6:46 AM, Alias wrote: [...]

Yet, you can't cite one instance where CCleaner did damage. Oh, and
you're wrong about orphaned entries; they can render a program useless
unless removed. I know this from personal experience, unlike you that
comes out with blanket "snake oil" bullshit that you heard on line.

Too lazy to do your own work, eh Alias? That figures!

kermit1942 (3.01.2011 10:48)
I had a super bad experience with CCleaner in the past (it
trashed my system) so I used Revo Uninstaller.

[...]

Which in fact removes those orphan entries left behind by the MS
uninstaller routine (used by most programmers by default).

Oh, the irony!

Don't forget that the Windows uninstaller just follows the script
provided by the software manufacturer or calls the manufacturer's
uninstallation program.

In fact, the Revo and IObit uninstallers do the same thing, but then
they follow up if you let them...

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

Gene Wirchenko wrote:
[snip]

A tip on these sorts: If your questions do not get answered or
get talked around, it is a red flag. It might be legitimate, but it
easily might not be.

This talking around happened to me, so I was already suspicious.
When the conversation moved to money (the old cash this and remit the
balance), I did not fall for it.

I think the general rule of thumb is this; Are they trying to get
personal details? We call it "phishing".

Nope. That is one type of attack. The one I faced was
different.

If suckered, I would have cashed a big cheque (or other such
instrument), remitted the so-called balance after my fee, and then got
stuck for the whole amount when the thing bounced. They would not
have needed my personal details to pull off the scam.

[snip]

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[David]

"Steve Hayes" wrote in message

I had an on-line service clean my PC. If it was for real, it showed 4469
errors. The remote controller supposedly cleared them, deleted some third
party installations and uninstalled CCleaner. I have read several posts
recommending CCleaner. What is the general opinion?

------------>CCleaner is well worth the price (FREE!). I downloaded it from
CNet - always trustworthy.
The first time I used it, it took almost half hour to analyze my
computer, and another half hour to get rid of all the junk.
I then noticed that files and folders opened almost a full second
quicker than before.
I run it at least once a month. <--------------

Another problem which the remote tech could not solve is Facebook which is
fouled up on my PC. The WALL disappeared and I cannot access anything
without entering my name and password. I thought that I would uninstall it
but found that Facebook, once installed cannot be uninstalled. The remote
person spent three hours with me but could not clear it. Facebook notes
that it does not respond to queries. I was not impressed with it when it
WAS
working so would like to get rid of it. I would appreciate knowing if
there
is a way to eliminate it.

That sounds daft.

Facebook is a remote web site and is not installed on your PC.

 

[Char Jackson]

"Steve Hayes" wrote in message



------------>CCleaner is well worth the price (FREE!). I downloaded it from
CNet - always trustworthy.
The first time I used it, it took almost half hour to analyze my
computer, and another half hour to get rid of all the junk.
I then noticed that files and folders opened almost a full second
quicker than before.
I run it at least once a month. <--------------

I take it that your dashes and arrows are your own personal form of
quoting. Ugh.

Anyway, I thought someone said recently that CNet had resorted to
wrapping their downloads in a bundle that frequently included toolbars
and related junk. If accurate, they wouldn't be my primary choice for
a download site.

Lastly, having files and folders open a full second quicker than
before hardly seems worth the trouble.

 

[Good Guy]

I had an on-line service clean my PC. If it was for real, it showed
4469 errors. The remote controller supposedly cleared them, deleted
some third party installations and uninstalled CCleaner. I have read
several posts recommending CCleaner. What is the general opinion?
Another problem which the remote tech could not solve is Facebook which
is fouled up on my PC. The WALL disappeared and I cannot access
anything without entering my name and password. I thought that I would
uninstall it but found that Facebook, once installed cannot be
uninstalled. The remote person spent three hours with me but could not
clear it. Facebook notes that it does not respond to queries. I was not
impressed with it when it WAS working so would like to get rid of it. I
would appreciate knowing if there is a way to eliminate it.

Frankly speaking, this wonderful tech guy has done a fantastic job to
mess up your system. If I were you, I would bite the bullet and
reformat the machine and start all over again. To hell with this online
tech guy wonderful though he may be.

You don't seem to keep up to date with new tricks to make money online
are you? Take it from me that you have learned something new and it was
completely free of charge.

Good luck.