Solved Cleaning software

I stopped trusting 3rd party cleaning apps over a decade ago. Almost nothing is free on the internet. If it comes with a free trial, your info is the product the company is selling. The biggest problem is windows updates seem to turn the OS into spaghetti code. Nothing in my experience slows down a computer more than a feature upgrade, except for malware, which is easy to avoid using common sense, a good adblocker, and a VPN that blocks malware and ads.

It takes me about a half hour to clean my system by wiping the system drive and reinstalling windows when things inevitably slow down. On my laptop, Windows x-lite installs in less than 2 minutes using RUFUS on a SSD enclosure. All my downloads, documents, applications, photos and other important files are kept on a separate drive, making the OS disposable.

Currently, I am using SirCleaner Pro by SirSoft, and I also have used System Ninja Pro and CCleaner, but as said by @pewa , I was not impressed with the bloatware that Avast added on. SirCleaner is a relatively new program, only released this year, but it is very fast and powerful, the best I have used in my many years behind a keyboard. It is available in free and paid (Pro) versions.

My experience with my desktop computer when I run SirCleaner weekly is that it identifies 2 to 3 GBs of junk files. System Ninja identifies far fewer, and Windows Disk Cleanup usually between only 100 to 500 MB, unless it finds a lot of excess Windows files, or a Windows.Old folder, which happens only very occasionally.

It is amazing how many programs, and Windows itself, plus browsers, inundate a computer with unnecessary temporary files. I don't want to be backing that junk up weekly, slowing down my backup programs and verification, as well as force my computer to wade through all of those garbage files, not to mention slowing down antivirus and malware scans.

@SirShane is the developer of the program, and he is a member of these Forums. He might like to chime in to explain the many benefits of using a junk file cleaner.

DISCLOSURE: I have assisted Shane in the creation and editing of the SirCleaner Help file, and done some beta testing. That said, I paid for my Pro licence, at a 50% discount for one year, offered on another Forum to the first 200 customers. I have no other affiliations with SirCleaner.


From my experience, Windows Disk Cleanup is not enough, by far. It seems to focus on Windows files, not on other sources of junk temporary files. Any reputable junk file cleaner, including those mentioned in previous posts, is better than relying on Windows Disk Cleanup.

I would also point out that I run Windows Disk Cleaner weekly. The reputable junk file cleaners will not target the Windows files that Disk Cleanup does, so it should also be run regularly. The developers of those junk file cleaners know that trying to clean Windows files, with Microsoft continually modifying it every month, is dangerous and not worth the effort.

Just my two cents. Others may disagree. Have a great day.

Regards,
Phil

TairikuOkami said:

Smaller partition = smaller and faster backups and restores, less than a minute. Easy to save on a free cloud.
It also prevents disk writes, there is OP, who does regular backups and his disk has 23% health after 5 years.

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Not a compelling reason, at least for me. If you're installing all the applications on a different drive, you really complicate your life since you have to back that up in synchronism with the boot drive to have a coherent backup image. I keep my actual user data on a separate drive since I like to back that up every day.

The speed of restores is a non-issue for any typical user, how many times does a typical user restore their boot image? The goal is not to have to restore it at all! If a restore takes one minute or 20 minutes, that's pretty much a non-issue unless you're a developer that is doing it all the time.

Backup speed? Again, much ado about nothing. It's not like you're frozen in time while a backup is happening, virtually all backup applications work in the background and you can just keep working. I have Acronis True Image scheduling my backups automatically, other than the status email I get to tell me if the backup was good or bad, I don't even notice them happening.

I'm at a loss how splitting up Windows on multiple drives prevents disk writes, you'll have to explain that one to me. While it might move some disk writes to a different logical or physical drive, it sure seems they'll still be happening! For my system, my working partitions are all on a 2TB NVMe drive, and my two layers of automated backup in this machine go to a total of three other physical drives, two 2TB SSD drives and one 4TB IronWolf HDD. Obviously, the backups have multiple generations or they wouldn't take that much capacity.

The bottom line here is for the typical user, doing gymnastics to keep their Windows boot partition small is not a productive use of your time or energy. YMMV, but that's certainly my viewpoint.

To my thinking, cleaning your pc manually should be enough. Use ‘Disk Cleanup’, empty your browser cache and remove all deletable files in your temporary folders. Then do a defragmentation for your HDD or optimization or trimming for your SSD. That should keep your pc in optimum condition.
(Disk Cleanup: Open Disk Cleanup tool. Remove temporary files. Clear system files. Delete downloaded program files. Empty recycle bin.)

I am currently only using Glary Utilities Pro version 5. I got it as a giveaway a couple of years ago. As I have it, I might as well use it but I am not 100% sure whether it is effective or not.

Anyway, I am conducting two trials to test the effectiveness of PRIVAZER PRO since I have it but had never used it. I bought it to create a portable version on a USB drive for my wife to use on her laptop at the office in the first place.

With just using Glary Utilities Pro, I backed up my system drive on my Dell laptop (Full HDD) with Hasleo Backup Suite, and the size was 19.3 GB. No registry cleaner used in this case.

With Glary Utilities Pro and Privazer Pro, and using the same backup software, the size turned out to be 18.7 GB. No registry cleaners used for both applications too.

I tested everything on my pc and it was working fine. Nothing was amiss. So with Privazer Pro, I managed to delete another 600 MB of redundant files. Now that’s interesting!

I am going to test Privazer Pro on my HP laptop (Full SSD) tomorrow. I will reveal the result after that experiment.

Before you start criticizing my post, I am just trying test how good Privazer Pro is. You folks can use whatever cleaning software you want and I am sure it will turn out to be alright. As long as you are happy and satisfied with the result, you can clean your system drive any way you want. To each his own.

pewa said:

Before you start criticizing my post, I am just trying test how good Privazer Pro is. You folks can use whatever cleaning software you want and I am sure it will turn out to be alright. As long as you are happy and satisfied with the result, you can clean your system drive any way you want. To each his own.

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I think you have nailed it! If you're happy with how you're maintaining things, all is well.

Tasmania Green said:

I’m looking for a pc cleaning software. I’ve read the posts about PC Manager and CCleaner. But what do people here consider the best one to use, these or other ones?

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I've used CCLeaner for probably 20 years, like this...

TairikuOkami said:

A script to apply tweaks, cleanup, then shutdown, to make sure, no malware is left in Caches/Temp.

Code:

...
start "" /wait "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Wise\Wise Disk Cleaner\WiseDiskCleaner.exe" -a -all
shutdown /s /f /t 0

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Ok. That makes sense.

Try3 said:

I agree with igdat.

Disk Cleanup - TenForumsTutorials
Disk Cleanup - ElevenForumTutorials
Look no further unless you are able to identify real benefits from using a third-party tool.


Since Registry cleaning is something you are considering:-
- See Fred Langa's results [Table 3] comparing speed of booting improvements from use of Disk cleanup & two popular third-party tools - Putting Registry/system cleanup apps to the test - Fred Langa (WebArchive)
- Fred's results indicate that CleanMgr does the job as effectively as third party tools [which also indicates that the slower responses, that make people turn to these tools, are caused by temp files].
- You might also like to see MS's statements on the subject -
Microsoft support policy for the use of registry cleaning utilities KB2563254
Are registry cleaners necessary - MS (WebArchive)
And thanks to @Callender for posting Fred's results.



Denis

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Sorry if I misspoke. I’m just looking for software to clean up my ssd and the Windows system in general. Articles I’ve read have warned me to avoid tinkering with the Registry if someone doesn’t know exactly what they’re doing. And since I don’t have any experience with the Registry, I tend to leave it alone unless specifically advised. I’m reading this while riding the bus to work so I’ll reread the and the subsequent entries.

gunrunnerjohn said:

Why do you feel the need to "clean" your PC? Truthfully, other than the build-in capabilities of Windows, I don't see the point. There's very little to be gained by using these programs, and more than once they've stepped where they don't belong and caused problems instead of solutions.

What issue are you trying to solve? The way to attack any problem is to first define the problem and then look for solutions. You appear to be looking for solutions to a problem you may not have!

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Like changing the oil and filters in a car, I’m just wanting to keep my system maintained properly. Everything is running just fine. I wanted to get the advice of people here before buying anything and possibly mucking things up.

Tasmania Green said:

Articles I’ve read have warned me to avoid tinkering with the Registry

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The Registry IS Windows.
What you see on the screen is just the GUI (graphical user interface).

For example, everything in Settings are just toggles for items in the registry.


That's why one of the Options in just about every tutorial is a registry patch.
You just save it to your desktop and double click it to use it.

You can also open a registry patch and view it in Notepad, so you can see what it does.


As an example... this is from the tutorial to "Turn on compact mode in File Explorer...








All that stuff just sets "UseCompactMode" ...to 1 (for ON). If it was zero, it would be OFF.

It looks scary, but it's not that complicated.
And... because we use backup software (hint, hint), if we make a mistake, we just Restore from a backup.

Aside from scrubbing my browsers occasionally...



Windows knows what to do with the rest.

Tasmania Green said:

Like changing the oil and filters in a car, I’m just wanting to keep my system maintained properly. Everything is running just fine. I wanted to get the advice of people here before buying anything and possibly mucking things up.

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Well, in this case, IMO it's like changing the oil and occasionally not tightening the oil filter correctly. You don't have to look very far to find a story about how someone nuked their Windows installation with a "PC Cleaner".

Okay, here is the result of the test of Privazer Pro on my HP EliteBook 830.G5 which has a full SSD system drive.

First off, cleaning with just Glary Utilities Pro, without cleaning the registry, and using Macrium Reflect Server Plus 8.1 to backup the system drive, the size is 18.7 GB.

Next up, with both Glary Utilities and Privazer Pro, using the same backup app, the size is 18.6 GB. It goes without saying that I never use registry cleaners. The registry is your your DNA. If your DNA is damaged, you cannot function as a human being. Should you clean your registry cleaner excessively, you won’t be able to use your office products not to mention other applications.

The difference in sizes is negligible. As such, my conclusion is Privazer Pro Suite suits those who run a HDD system drive. If yours is an SSD, you are better off sticking with what you have.

I am sure that is cleanup software that is better than Privazer Pro. But beware of a few that tend to overreach. Auslogic BoostSpeed is a case in point.

Incidentally, I am going to continue using it with my Dell Inspiron 14.5457. It makes sense and if I am being practical, I ought to replace my Glary Utilities Pro with Privazer Pro. But then, I have grown mightily fond of Glary Utilities Pro, so I am going to keep it.




Privazer doesn’ fragment an SSD drive. It just trims it.

A screenshot of my desktop:

pewa said:

Privazer doesn’ fragment an SSD drive. It just trims it.

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There's no point in defragging an SSD, that's why it doesn't do it.

That’s true. Defragmenting an SSD actually shortens its lifespan.

The good thing about Privazer Pro is not only is it comparable to the other major cleaners, it is available to anyone for a lifetime use. All you need to do is make a small donation to the developer. I remember paying 400 Japanese yen for the license.

I don’t know about Ashampoo and O&O, the other well-known cleaners are only available on a subscription basis. That means you need to pay an annual fee to use their cleaner.

Tasmania Green said:

Like changing the oil and filters in a car, I’m just wanting to keep my system maintained properly. Everything is running just fine. I wanted to get the advice of people here before buying anything and possibly mucking things up.

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Windows takes care of this automatically with Storage Sense, which you can configure in Settings. You may also run built-in Disk Cleanup periodically, e.g., after major updates, etc.. HDDs and SSDs are also maintained by Windows automatically. All browsers contain settings to clear data as desired. No extra tools needed.

oldschool said:

Windows takes care of this automatically with Storage Sense, which you can configure in Settings. You may also run built-in Disk Cleanup periodically, e.g., after major updates, etc.. HDDs and SSDs are also maintained by Windows automatically. All browsers contain settings to clear data as desired. No extra tools needed.

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I don't really think that it will automatically clean third party apps and other Browser than EDGE. But that is just my opinion.

Josey Wales said:

I don't really think that it will automatically clean third party apps and other Browser than EDGE. But that is just my opinion.

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That's not what I meant. I meant that all browsers have built-in "clear data on exit" settings, or something similar.

All browsers contain settings to clear data as desired.

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oldschool said:

That's not what I meant. I meant that all browsers have built-in "clear data on exit" settings, or something similar.

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Browsers do have that, but CCleaner , Sircleaner, Wise Dick Cleaner , PrivaZer go much further than Browser settings will. Storage sense works great after an upgrade but as a day to day cleaner it does very little. I use CCleaner and Wise Disk cleaner but I am very careful about what boxes I check. To use any of these products as installed would lead to problems. I have been using CCleaner & WDC for many years without any issues.

Apparently, someone at Auslogic didn't like my post singling out Auslogic BoostSpeed for being excessively aggressive in its cleaning process. They have my email address as I have bought software from them before.

Not wanting to offend anyone in particular, let me clarify. BoostSpeed is not for a novice. You have to very picky and choose wisely what you want to delete. Don't tick all the boxes or there will be hell to pay after you are done cleaning.

A safer application will be Auslogic Windows Slimmer Version 5.1.0.0 which is totally free.

oldschool said:

Windows takes care of this automatically with Storage Sense, which you can configure in Settings.

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Cool!