How safe it is to use CCleaner?

[Ayush]

Hey Guys,

I would like to know that is it safe to use CCleaner software? I would like to download it on my system, but i have heard that it deletes the important files on the system. Is that true? Can any one tell me that can i go for CCleaner software? How safe it is to use on our system? Does any one have any idea about it? Kindly let me your views on it.

Thanks.

[Macarenas]

Ccleaner is very safe & good program & most visited site. If you want to use ccleaner program don't click on the "Issues" tab if you are not sure what you are doing. Issues, checks for registry's problems, by chance you clear them without backing up and you may mess up your computer. If you want, you can use that option, do back up the registry's (by the way, the ccleaner will automatically ask you to back up the registry when you click on fix).

[SledgeHammer]

It's pretty safe to use CCleaner. But make sure that you check/uncheck the settings before running.

[kattman]

I'm using Ccleaner software,and its really good tool for cleaning up, the cookie for .dat cleaning is a mess, additional you should use wise registry cleaner (free), give you better results for registry cleaning. Both together are doing a good job.

[ThoMas321]

If you are afraid to do all the changes, then only check the first page and tell it to clean that. It will always offer you to save a backup. Always say YES. I have never had to restart to put the things back that it has removed but it is a secure feeling, if something goes wrong.

[Eric B]

CC is the best.I use CC for file cleaning and RegSeeker for registry cleaning.

Although I never had a problem with CC's registry cleaner section.

[Mister_Eric]

I've used CCleaner now for a few years. I have not had any problems whatsoever. I suppose it is the safest to back-up your registry just in case. I did for several months, but now don't. that's how confident I am with it.

It also deletes all of the temporary internet files that windows can and often leaves behind.

I give it a 9.5 out of 10!

[vistadude]

I'll have to concure with the panel. It's unamimous. CCleaner is a good tool to remove left-over file fragments with just a single wipe of H-D. It is effective at removing all unecessary cookies, and temp files--as mentioned above. No problems here. Just check menu as to which file to delete before running. You can manually remove "history files" if there is stuff you want to keep, i.e. links to frequent webpages. Any other concerns, just ask.

[Rustics]

Hi folks, I was doing a "clean up" of my NEC laptop in the weekend, and came across CCcleaner, decided to give it a try. I did the analysis step, registry backup, then accepted all the proposed fixes.

After this my laptop appeared to be crippled. No internet connection, anti virus disappeared, all bookmarks on 2 user profiles gone, nothing normal works properly, response extremely slow, task manager will not open, cannot browse C drive contents, other progreams will not open, on reboot, chkdsk runs each time. So, some significant problems. I am just now trying to find out how to fix all this, via another computer and net access. Also, system restore does not work, I tried that. I will try to backup whatever is accessible of left on the computer before trying to restore the registry. I have not done that yet as I was not confident in what cccleaner was doing, after all these problems. I wondered if it contained malware. I hope I can recover the system from this, but it was not a good experience. So, I plan to try a backup of everything, then try restore registry, and see what changes after that. Any other suggestions gratefully accepted. Basically, I assume I must have said "go ahead" on stuff that was inadvisable, but it is not clear what.
Cheers!

Rob

[vistadude]

Hey Rob.
Not sure what you may have done in your settings. I have ran CCleaner many times with no problems. Not sure how I got on this thread since it has been awhile logging on here. Nonetheless, I'm looking at menu on my version now. Did you do anything in the advanced settings? How about options? Did you accidently uninstall something in this section? The programs are listed in this section and you may have clicked on something there under startup? As example, in my settings, under IE, I've checked temp files, cookies, dat files, and last DL location. NONE of the advanced boxes are checked--unless you know what you are checking. On the system category, all I have checked are temp files, clipboard, memory dumps, ckfile fragments, and windows log files.
You believe it could have been contained malware? This seems more like a good possibility--more so than CCleaner having any affect on your issue--compared to my experience. I've had this program for a few years now, and I believe in this program 100-percent. I have not had any error issues at all since it cleans all the crap that could build up on HD over time--resulting in errors later.

Finally, I'm looking at the overwrite option under settings. Did you set it "simple overwrite" or did you go with NSA/DOD styled erase?

The only thing I could suggest is calling a computer store (not best buy) and asking for someone who has knowledge of CCLeaner, and other ideas as to why your system crapped out on you. If you have a Fryes store near you, this may be good resource. Good luck.

[Sam.D]

I think you don't need to worry on the for using CCleaner because this is the best software by which you can remove all the recently used files and data and also it helps to clean unwanted registry files from the computer. So i you don't have to ask for the usage of this software, this software is very easy and can be used by anyone to keep your computer safe.

[Rustics]

Hi again...
Tks vistadude for the ideas.
Last evening I did a few things...first backed up some files from the laptop HD, then restored the registry settings to pre-CC cleaner state. I assume this worked or at least did something, as functionality improved after that, although some significant isssues and questions remain. I used the registry backup made by CCcleaner. So assuming I have a clean version of the program, and it is not somehow infected, it should have done what I asked. I then tried - via system tools - to revert the system back to an earlier, pre-cccleaner installation time state. This menu appeared to be working OK, whereas before reverting the registry, it did not work at all. But when I attempted to run the tool, it did not restart the computer as it is supposed to do. There was some HD activity, then nothing. It was then too late to do any more. There are still probs. No internet, and an error on shutdown saying IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL with a blue screen. So the unit is still not happy.

I don't have the cccleaner menus in front of me but I basically ran the analysis, looked at what it had identified, then accepted the 'fix all' option.

Another thing, when I re-ran the analysis last night to see what it would suggest, it came up with another long list of suggested fixes...which I ignored this time. Why would there be anything to fix, as I just ran it?


I will be trying again this evening to make more progress.

Rob