cCleaner

You could use Heidi Eraser for shredding.

You don't need to clean the Registry.

When you Google, you can do it this way.

alternativeto ccleaner

as there is a web site that specializes in "Alternative To" sorting of softwares. The sorting is not perfect, and some of the "equivalent" materials are daft, but sometimes you get a good lead.

I don't generally trust others to come up with file lists to delete. Because when people do this sort of thing, I might discover their "habits" are different than mine. For example, a software could offer to delete the entire contents of the "Downloads" folder. I have about 20GB of stuff in there. Instead of deleting it, I move some of the material off to other partitions.

Paul

I've been using Ccleaner since it first came out & was called Crap Cleaner. However they had a historical security problem (v 5.33) & have now gone the same way as Norton in that it's too invasive & wants to be all things to all men. I still use version 4.5 on Windows 8.1 & the oldest recommended version that will work on Windows 10 (v5.46).

Registry cleaners are generally regarded as snake oil but I still have Eusing Free Registry Cleaner on my system & use it occasionally. Run as admin to actually clean. -

Just uninstall it and move-on with your day ...

I have found v5.46, how do I stop it updating itself?

Doesn't actually achieve what I want though.

Just install Linux and have a happier life...

I use C Cleaner without problems AFAIK.

I am not juggling code or trying anything clever!>

Has it upgraded to version 7 yet?

Seriously - get rid of it.

It was just about OK around 5 years ago but then they issued a new version. I considered it to be virus like.

If you are running a modern version of Windoze you don't really need it.

I like to keep the registry clear of junk and I like to empty the bin securely because there could be all sorts of private data in there including passwords.

I need something.

Give this man a medal. +1

Where I work we have properly secure stuff on our Windows machines, sensitive data and design info for commercially sensitive and defence sensitive products. We have hundreds of Windows servers and machines and

We have no registry cleaners installed. IT staff do not run registry cleaners.

I like to empty the bin securely because there could be all sorts of private data in there including passwords.

Previous employer supplied laptops with BleachBit installed, but no requirement to use it. The user interface allows you to chose which programs / folders / file types to look for, and then displays the list for you to be more selective before deleting them. Apparently it will do some registry cleanup, but I didn't use that.

why? it generally has no effect on performance. The Official Microsoft line is that registry cleaners are ad-ware in themselves, they are unsupported, do not use them...

and I like to empty the bin

You could use the Microsoft provided sysinternals "sdelete" program to empty the bin. Instructions here:-

on how to add it to the context menu.

Don´t tempt me...

Dave

Not yet. Still on 6. Is this significant?

Wait until you see it!

Mandy Rice Davies.

MSFT is the worst offender at leaving junk behind when un-installing programs, and adding un-necessary junk (i.e. .NET 1) when installing programs.

Only seems to do the C:\ drive and does 3 passes, not sure that's a good idea on SSD/NVMe.

Wait till it's an SD card...

I managed to get a Raspberry PIOS to write to nothing except RAM on a regular basis...only config changes go on the SD card...