Cleaning windows 10

[4P5qtwd48AjDhiSgiyekd2F]

Hi, what's the best way to remove junk, temporary files to keep Windows 10 in good working order and to maintain privacy. So far I have used CClaner and Glary Utilities 5, but reading the forum saw that these are no longer recommended programs, so I uninstalled them. What do you recommend for cleaning Windows?
Sorry for my language, i use google translator

[HexagonT]

I'm NOT an expert or a trusted advisor (so don't mindlessly follow my advice) but I am sure your Windows already has built-in cleaner. 

For defragment, Windows has built-in tool too!

It doesn't support cleaning registry like CCleaner but... Do you really need it? 

 

[HexagonT]

Note: While using the cleaner, make sure that you don't accidentally delete important stuff!

[4P5qtwd48AjDhiSgiyekd2F]

Thanks, I use these built-in tools on a regular basis. But apart from that, I also had CClaner and Glary Utilites before and I wonder if there is another (recommended) tool that can be used to safely clean the garbage.

Or maybe it is better to clean some folders by hand?

[Porthos]

3 hours ago, 4P5qtwd48AjDhiSgiyekd2F said:

Or maybe it is better to clean some folders by hand?

Use the Windows built in tools.

[HexagonT]

About updating drivers, read this:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/what-is-the-best-driver-updater-software-for-my/a3f80b8b-92e3-408c-b808-496337f73c5b

So as you can see:

1. First, Windows also can do it by itselves.
2. Second, you should only update the driver if there is an issue with the older version. Don't update if you don't need. Except if you are a gamer, you need the latest graphic driver for smooth gameplay.

https://www.howtogeek.com/162683/pc-cleaning-apps-are-a-scam-heres-why-and-how-to-speed-up-your-pc/

 

Edited June 27, 2022 by HexagonT
Add one final setence and another How To Geek link

[HexagonT]

I searched up Glary Utilities 5. Looks like Windows doesn't support Shortcuts Fixer. But howerver there is a program made by 

Nir Sofer:

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shman.html

NirSorf has pretty high reputation and I personally trust it.

[HexagonT]

Startup Manager: Windows has built-in one: services.msc.

https://www.howtogeek.com/school/using-windows-admin-tools-like-a-pro/lesson8/

Make sure that you don't disable important services!

Edited June 27, 2022 by HexagonT
Add link

[HexagonT]

Context Menu Manager:

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/add-any-application-to-the-desktop-right-click-menu-in-vista/

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/how-to-clean-up-your-messy-windows-context-menu/

 

[HexagonT]

@4P5qtwd48AjDhiSgiyekd2F
Are you still here with us?

Edited June 28, 2022 by HexagonT
1. Change from “Ạ” to “Aj” 2. Add a space between @ and the name

[HexagonT]

Disk Analysis:

https://windirstat.net/

WinDirStat - Wikipedia

[AdvancedSetup]

The user has not returned since the post @HexagonT

I think you can consider they are either busy or have abandoned the topic

 

[4P5qtwd48AjDhiSgiyekd2F]

I am all the time and follow the thread :)

I see you recommend a variety of tools. Honestly, both in CClaner and in Glary Utilites, I mainly used the removal of garbage from the system. The Disk Cleanup built into Windows always deleted significantly less than those programs. I also noticed that in virus removal topics you often send out a script to clean various temporary files - is it worth it just to manually clean these folders once in a while?

[AdvancedSetup]

I clean folders in temporary locations because that's exactly what they're for. TEMPORARY if someone is creating or storing a service or an infection is launching from there then cleaning the temporary folders will remove at least a portion without even having to scan, but there are infections that move data to the temp folder so one needs to still be careful what they're doing.

CCleaner has had a bad reputation ever since they sold out to Avast, then even Avast sold out. So no most computer experts don't recommend using it anymore.

In theory, as long as the computer is not infected cleaning the temp folders has little value for the computer. If you have thousands of files and folders though then it can provide some minor improvement by removing them.

 

[HexagonT]

14 minutes ago, AdvancedSetup said:

In theory, as long as the computer is not infected cleaning the temp folders has little value for the computer. If you have thousands of files and folders though then it can provide some minor improvement by removing them.

 

Yes, if the computer is NOT infected, deleting temp folders is only useful when they somehow take up 50GB. Otherwise, Windows automatically delete it because its name “Tempory”

Edited June 28, 2022 by HexagonT

[HexagonT]

But I think deleting broken shortcuts is pretty good

[HexagonT]

Uninstall Manager: 

You already knew it...

[HexagonT]

16 hours ago, AdvancedSetup said:

then even Avast sold out

@AdvancedSetup I didn’t know that! Avast sold to who? I searched up but I only saw results of Piriform sold to Avast.

[Porthos]

25 minutes ago, HexagonT said:

Avast sold to who?

AVG and then to Norton if I remember correctly.

[AdvancedSetup]

AVG was acquired by Avast in 2016
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVG_Technologies

Avast was acquired by Norton/Lifelock in 2021 aka (Broadcom, Inc but they've kept the Norton / Lifelock name)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avast

Symantec owned the Norton name by purchase from Peter Norton in 1990
Symantec , Norton was sold to Broadcom Inc. in 2019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NortonLifeLock

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2022 by AdvancedSetup
Updated information

[nukecad]

I'm not sure that the Norton/Avast merger/acquisition has actually gone through yet, it was delayed by concerns raised by regulators in the UK.

https://www.itpro.co.uk/business-strategy/mergers-and-acquisitions/366994/nortonlifelock-avast-merger-could-reduce-competition-cma

Quote

NortonLifeLock “will continue to constructively engage with the CMA and their review” and has delayed the finalisation of the merger to “mid-to-late 2022” – months after the original deadline of 24 February 2022.

 

BTW, CCleaner operates as a seperate business from Avast even though it is owned by them.
I'm sure one of their exec's won't mind me quoting him here:

Quote

CCleaner had a bit of a settling-in period with Avast, but it all came good in 2019 when it starting operating as an independent line of business again. No reason to believe that things won't continue as-is (although the possibility of getting our hands on Norton's distribution channels to get back on retail shelves would be a plus).

CCleaners cleaning function (now the "Custon Clean" section) is still as good as it ever was, the newer additions can be problematic.(Particularly the Driver Updater - avoid it, avoid ANY/ALL driver updaters).
It's these newer additions that have caused many to stop recommending CCleaner, because they can cause issues for unwary users.

Edited June 29, 2022 by nukecad

[AdvancedSetup]

Thanks for the update on Avast @nukecad

Don't use any Registry Cleaner either

 

A few recommended articles to read on registry cleaners:

Registry cleaners are not supported by Microsoft

"Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the use of a registry cleaning utility can be solved. Issues caused by these utilities may not be repairable and lost data may not be recoverable"

• Microsoft support policy for the use of registry cleaning utilities
• An often posted and quoted article (Ed no longer hosts the site but did mention again on Twitter), Ed Bott's Why I don't use registry cleaners
• miekiemoes' Blog Registry Cleaners and System Tweaking Tools
• Registry cleaner - From Wikipedia

 

In most cases regardless of which Registry Cleaning tool you use it's not going to outright break Windows from booting or running. Normally the damage done is rarely seen or even attributed to the cleaning. How it can sometimes manifest itself is with an application simply not behaving as it used to, a program feature that no longer launches. In some cases on a computer with detailed auditing enabled it can show errors that were not there prior to the cleaning, but again these are typically things that would be nearly impossible to know after the fact what caused it.

The bottom line is WHY are you cleaning the Registry? The system can typically read through the entire Registry in under a minute, but that is not how software reads, writes to the Registry. It makes a specific call to a location where it expects its configuration to be or where it needs to possibly interface with other COM objects to complete an operation and can typically make that read in milliseconds. Reading all the keys for my HKCU hive took 249 ms with a total of 21047 keys. So how is removing a dozen or a few dozen going to really help speed up my computer?

If you can show proof positive 100% that some value in the Registry is actually causing an issue then change or remove THAT entry. Not hundreds or dozens of entries because someone that has been programming for a few years now somehow feels they or their team know the Billions of possible values and every single one that is good or bad and can automate fixing it. Sorry but I call BS, no one knows every single entry and what it means let alone if its good or bad.

 

 

[nukecad]

15 hours ago, AdvancedSetup said:

Don't use any Registry Cleaner either

Totally agree with that too.

Just to add to your links above here is what CCleaner themselves say about not using their own registry cleaner as a cleaning tool:

https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/59952-i-get-a-registry-error-on-ccleaner-on-windows-10-i-have-scanned-5-times/?tab=comments#comment-326804

Quote

Registry cleaning is a specific tool for a specific purpose - and not something for the regular day-to-day to-do list for most users

 

[nukecad]

The NortonLifeLock-Avast merger/takeover has now been completed, there will eventually be a new name for the combined company.

So CCleaner is now ultimately owned by NortonLifeLock, although that isn't mentioned at all in the press release.
(Possibly because CCleaner still operates generally as an independemt entity).

https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/276634-avast-in-merger-talks-with-nortonlifelock/#comment-1532579

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by nukecad

[mountaintree16]

On 6/28/2022 at 5:36 AM, AdvancedSetup said:

CCleaner has had a bad reputation ever since they sold out to Avast, then even Avast sold out. So no most computer experts don't recommend using it anymore.

I knew CCLEANER was not recommended anymore but I could not remember why, thank you for the clarification. I didn't release it happened about 6 yrs ago now, dang!

Do you have a recommended alternative to CCLEANER? I still use it because I like cleaning up junk files and the program is great with that (I do not touch the registry portion nor do I ever use a registry cleaner) but I don't want to support shadyness anymore either.