We’ll start the Wednesday cycle with one of my favorite tools ever: CCleaner.
You see, I’m a maintenance junkie. I try to keep my system as clean as possible, to avoid unwanted slowdowns and junk files. So last year I was on a hunt that would do the job effectively, mostly quiet, and hopefully free. I found CCleaner based off a recommendation of a colleague of mine, and haven’t looked back.
In short, it will clear your computer of junk files that may be slowing it down, erase most tracks of your activity on the computer, and even rid your registry of unused entries (more on registry repair tools in another post).
When you head over to Piriform’s site, you will soon find there are several versions of CCleaner available: Free, Pro, Business, Network and Network Professional. Dig deep enough, and you’ll also find Technician version. Since this blog is focused on end users, not enterprise administrators or techs who visit users’ homes, let’s talk about the first two.
The free version will suffice for almost every person out there. It’s the one I use on my PCs, and I’ve helped a few clients to install it, as well. However, it comes with no support from Piriform (i.e., you’re on your own), does not update automatically (you have to download and manually install the updates yourself, though it does tell you if a new version is available).
The Pro version will do automatic updates and comes with a support account, so you can get help from Piriform, if needed. While it’s not free, it only costs a one-time fee of about $25, which is not bad at all.
And yes! They have a Mac version as well!
After you’ve downloaded, installed and ran it, you’ll notice a clean but somewhat complex interface:
1. Cleaner – this clears off unwanted file from your Windows systems and applications. You can uncheck any item(s) you like, thus leaving that part of your system alone. For example, I unchecked recent documents, because that’s how I get to projects I’m working on. If I left that checked, I’d have to open the documents by navigating to the folder in which they’re stored.
1a. You’ll notice that in the Cleaner section, there are two tabs: Windows and Applications. Be sure to check both out.
2. Registry – here’s where you want to be careful. Not because of anything the program might do, but because you should ALWAYS back up your registry when many any changes to it. Good News: CCleaner gives you a way to do just that with part of this process.
By default, everything is checked, and this is the way I keep it. Now, there will ALWAYS be something that CCleaner finds to clean off. No Windows system will ever remain free of registry “errors”. The trick is to not let them build up for too long.
A few items are nothing to worry about. For example, I just now did this scan, and found nine items. My last scan and clean was yesterday:
I click on “Fix Selected Issues”, and I’m presented with the aforementioned option to backup my registry:
Again I’ll re-iterate: The answer should ALWAYS BE “YES”! It will ask you to save a file somewhere (I put it in “My Documents”), and then it will begin the cleaning.
If something goes wrong and your system suddenly stops working after the registry cleaning, simply double-click the file you saved, answer yes to any prompts, and your registry will be fully restored!
For the record: I’ve never had to restore my registry as a result of CCleaner’s actions.
For those, like me, who do work on other computers, there’s a portable version on Piriform’s Build Page. You can run the program from a USB stick, and it has full functionality of the regular program, and doesn’t need to be fully “installed” on the host computer.
But try it out and poke around. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what it can do, and that’s just with the FREE version!!
Questions? Comments? Feedback? Leave a comment in the section below, or email me at jackrockblc+blog@gmail.com.
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