CCleaner v2.16.830 {free}

[okeedokee]

CCleaner v2.16.830
​

I use this a lot and is very reliable.

CCleaner (formerly Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool.
It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space.
It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history.
Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner.
But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!

Cleans the following:
Internet Explorer
Temporary files, history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat.

Firefox
Temporary files, history, cookies, download history, form history.

Google Chrome
Temporary files, history, cookies, download history, form history.

Opera
Temporary files, history, cookies.

Safari
Temporary files, history, cookies, form history.

Windows
Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.

Registry cleaner
Advanced features to remove unused and old entries, including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs,

Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more... also comes with a comprehensive backup feature.

Third-party applications
Removes temp files and recent file lists (MRUs) from many apps including Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, Microsoft Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and many more...

100% Spyware FREE
This software does NOT contain any Spyware, Adware or Viruses.

What's New
[27th Jan 2009]
CCleaner v2.16New
- Google Chrome v2.0 compatibility fixes.
- Improved Firefox support when browser is open.
- Improved SeaMonkey support.
- Added Publisher to the uninstall tool.
- Many translation updates.
- Several updates to installer code.
- Cookie options loading now fully threaded.
- Lots of minor interface improvements.
- Minor performance improvements.

If you like and use this software then it is polite to make a donation to the author.

What operating systems does CCleaner work with?
Fully tried and tested with:
Windows 98/NT4/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista.
It's now fully compatible with 64-bit versions of XP and Vista.

CCleaner v2.16.830 {free}
Last updated on 27th January 2009 New

http://www.ccleaner.com

 

[foxidrive]

Here's something about registry cleaners Okee.

Back in 2005, a question was asked of Mark Russinovich (Mark is the developer of the much-lauded Sysinternal tools and is probably one of the few people who knows the Windows internals intimately):


>>Hi Mark, do you really think that Registry junk left by uninstalled programs could severely slow down the computer? I would like to 'hear' your opinion.

>No, even if the registry was massively bloated there would be little impact on the performance of anything other than exhaustive searches.
>
>On Win2K Terminal Server systems, however, there is a limit on the total amount of Registry data that can be loaded and so large profile hives can limit the number of users that can be logged on simultaneously.
>
>I haven't and never will implement a Registry cleaner since it's of little practical use on anything other than Win2K terminal servers and developing one that's both safe and effective requires a huge amount of application-specific knowledge.


Or have a look at this blog post fron Ed Bott, who is one of the top
Windows experts outside of Microsoft.

http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html

>Don’t run registry cleaner programs, period. I won’t go so far as to call them snake oil, but what possible performance benefits can you get from “cleaning up” unneeded registry entries and eliminating a few stray DLL files? Even in the best-case scenario the impact should be trivial at best. Maybe a second or two here and there, maybe a few kilobytes of freed-up RAM, and I’m being generous. How can you balance those against the risk that the utility will “clean” (in other words, delete) something you really need, causing a program or feature to fail?

 

[misi]

I like to keep my registry clean using N360's inbuilt cleaner.
Could CCleaner improve my PC's performance?

 

[okeedokee]

Well, there you go. I've always used it and has never mucked up my puter....but then again, I'm a fussy one for keeping my puter clean and happy. I s'pose when it's all said and done, some like some things and others don't. Everyone does run their computers differently....and I can understand that.

 

[misi]

Everyone does run their computers differently....and I can understand that.

Yes they do,and swear that theirs is the best.
Although they can change their mind sometimes and change from Outlook to Thunderbird, from IE to FF OR they might use some Norton products:

http://WindowsSecrets.com/comp/090226

Norton Internet Security Suite 2009, the top-rated security suite this year — as it was last year — now uses fewer system resources than before without skimping on protection.

If you're not a fan of Norton products, there are plenty of other contenders worthy of consideration that can challenge the long-time security-software leader.

So please defend your favourite politely or not so politely!

 

[okeedokee]

"Compacting" Vs "Cleaning" The Registry

(From the LangaList archives) Cleaning out the dead stuff from your Registry can offer real, tangible benefits, but "compacting" your Registry is a bit more questionable.

Registry cleaning is mainly to eliminate entries that point to files and programs that have moved or been deleted; or have changed; to eliminate settings that are out of date or otherwise unnecessary; and so on. This saves time at start up because the OS won't waste time loading and parsing dead, obsolete, or nonfunctional Registry entries. It may also help in routine operation because the Registry will no longer contain settings that could lead to some kinds of errors (such as a file association that references software no longer on the system).

That's most of the benefit of Registry maintenance, right there.

Registry compacting, on the other hand, is slightly different. First, it's only of benefit if the Registry has first been cleaned; a neatly compacted Registry that still contains bogus entries isn't going to do you a lot of good. And a routinely-cleaned Registry simply isn't going to contain that much wasted space, anyway.

So: By all means CLEAN your Registry. That almost surely will do you some good. And if you want to "compact" it as well, fine; go ahead. It should do no harm. But if you're already regularly cleaning your system, I doubt that Registry compacting will deliver any meaningful additional benefit for you.

 

[misi]

Yes they do,and swear that theirs is the best.
Although they can change their mind sometimes and change from Outlook to Thunderbird, from IE to FF OR they might use some Norton products:

http://WindowsSecrets.com/comp/090226




So please defend your favourite politely or not so politely!

Norton security suite's top rating questioned

[FONT=Arial,Sans-serif]By Dennis O'Reilly [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Sans-serif]Readers beg to differ with the reviews of top tech magazines that recently named Norton Internet Security 2009 the best security suite.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Sans-serif]Whether the security apps are from Symantec, McAfee, or some lesser-known vendor, our readers point fingers at them as the source of many performance and connectivity problems.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Sans-serif]Ryan Russell's Feb. 26 Top Story updated the WS Security Baseline by reporting that Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2009 was the top choice of three prominent technology publishers: PC World, PCMag.com, and Maximum PC. A reader by the name of Manny is less impressed with this product — much less impressed:[/FONT]

• [FONT=Arial,Sans-serif]"Having been a Norton customer for many years now, I was delighted at the smooth installation of the new version NIS 2009. This was on a Windows XP SP3 four-user peer-to-peer network that had been running NIS 2008 very positively for a year. One day was left on the subscription, so based on the rave reviews, we decided to upgrade to NIS 2009. What a mistake.[/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial,Sans-serif]"Much to my disappointment, my customer started to have major problems with his network. All of a sudden, whenever someone would click a mapped drive, the system would lock, forcing a reboot. It would work for a few minutes until a file was needed from another PC, then it would lock again. Sometimes a strange message would pop up that the network is not available, etc. (The one PC in this mix that was using ZoneAlarm had no problem.)[/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial,Sans-serif]"When we called Symantec and spent hours on the phone with their support people, they were in complete denial of the problem. 'It's a Microsoft problem' was all they could tell me. When I searched the Web for this problem — 'NAV 2009 blocks access to hard disk' — I found a 14-page user forum on this 'unsolved' problem. Yet [the Symantec reps] had the nerve to say to me, 'It's a Microsoft problem.' To prove them wrong, we uninstalled NIS 2009 and reinstalled NIS 2008 and it works perfectly.[/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial,Sans-serif]"This is the first time I'm writing you, and I must say your newsletter is the best of the best. Keep up the great work."[/FONT]
  

 

[okeedokee]

I'd never use Norton. Eset Smart Security for me.

 

[foxidrive]

Why use a firewall at all, unless you are going to disable the modems firewall...