CCleaner

A must-have Swiss army knife, freeware system utility.

Simply the best free registry cleaner, CCleaner supports both Windows 32-bit and Windows 64-bit. It cleans up temporary internet files, history, cookies and other junk left behind by hours of web surfing. By doing that, it also cleans up your tracks.

CCleaner has also recently added support for an array of different programs likely to be running on your system like Audacity, Silverlight, BitTorrent, Google Chrome, CuteFTP and TONS more.

The latest version of CCleaner also runs faster than previous versions, though older systems still obviously run much slower than a PC with more resources.. it goes without saying.

CCleaner will empty your recycling bin, backup the registry before ‘cleaning’ it and overall speed up your Windows experience. Much more important in our opinion than cleaning up Internet files is its powerful registry cleaner. Not only can it remove references to unused libraries (DLLs), but it also removes references to non-existent programs and fonts, it cleans up installer issues, activex issues and more.

Another wicked tool is the hard drive wiping tool. It removes all data from a selected hard drive. You can choose to do a 1-pass ‘scrubbing’ or more. A ‘Gutmann’ 35-pass wipe of the hard drive will really get in deep and remove traces of files which once existed. There are different levels of wiping the drive and even a 1-pass will get the job done if you’re not hiding something too important. Drive scrubbing can also be limited to free space on the system. One note about drive scrubbing, the more passes you select, the longer it will take to complete the task.

If ever I have a buddy who complains above a slow start up or even just a sluggish experience on their PC, I always download CCleaner and run it for them. I always get a thanks afterwards, but the thanks should go to the guys at Piriform for such a lightweight, simple, yet powerful program that lives up to the task.

Overall, whether it’s for a buddy or yourself, CCleaner is certainly a must-have system utility for all PC users. If you find this tool useful, you can donate to the developers on their web site.

Another lovely point about the program is that it contains no spyware or other unwanted rubbish like toolbars or that change your browser homepage or default search engine.

Environment variables have been added for %SystemDirectory%, %SystemDirectory32%, and %SystemDirectory64% for support on systems running a 64-bit copy of Windows. The latest version also improved on Chrome, Firefox and Safari cleaning.

Features of CCleaner

• Browser Plugins: Manages Edge/Chromium/Firefox add-ons.
• Context Menu Manager: Configures application menus.
• Disk Analyzer: Identifies large and temporary files.
• Disk Wiper: Erases data from hard disks.
• Duplicate Finder: Finds duplicate files for removal.
• File Recovery: Recovers deleted files.
• Privacy Protection: Deletes browsing history, cookies and auto-fill forms.
• Registry Cleaning: Fixes errors and broken settings to improve system stability.
• Scheduling: Automates cleaning routines.
• Secure File Deletion: Permanently wipes data.
• Startup Optimization: Speeds up system startup.
• System Cleaning: Removes junk files, temporary files and broken shortcuts.
• System Monitoring: Reports system performance information.
• System Restore: Reverts systems to an earlier state.
• Uninstall Tool: Easily remove unwanted programs.

Compatibility and License

CCleaner is a restricted version of commercial software, often called freemium which requires you to pay a license fee to unlock additional features which are not accessible with the free version. Download and installation of this software is free, however other similar programs are available from system cleaning software which may have what you need. 6.10.10347 is the latest version last time we checked.

What version of Windows can CCleaner run on?

CCleaner can be used on a computer running Windows 11 or Windows 10. Previous versions of the OS shouldn’t be a problem with Windows 8 and Windows 7 having been tested. It comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit downloads.

Other operating systems: The latest CCleaner version from 2023 is also available for Android and Mac. These are often available from the app store.

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