2021-04-11 15:36:57 (edited by Minionslayer 2021-04-11 15:37:20)

Hi guys,
Earlier I floated the idea of downloading and using Glare Utilities to clean up some junk on my drives, however I remembered that some people were against these types of programs, many stating that I would have to reset Windows at some point anyway. Another group of people said that it was unreasonable to be expected to do this. That being said, I'd like to know some of the legitimate  advantages and disadvantages to such products.

If you for whatever reason wish to contact me, the best way to do so is through Discord (Minionslayer#2980). You'll get the quickest response times, and by extension, a higher priority. I also sometimes post my thoughts (for the better or worse) over on Twitter at @Minionslayer2.

2021-04-11 22:00:10

Legitimate advantages:

They can hit some stuff Windows might not on its own/with its built-in utilities, e.g. old registry entries. They might hit more stuff Windows doesn't and free up some drive space.

Disadvantages:

Often come with extra stuff installed that can be hard to uncheck, CCleaner used to do this. I used CCleaner for a while, and honestly didn't notice any advantages, e.g. in system speed, boot time, and so on. If they don't know what they're doing, they can screw up your registry, which is generally like, super bad and stuff.

Khomus' verdict:

If I needed something specific, e.g. a specific program and it's data  completely uninstalled, and I couldn't readily do it on my own, I might go looking for something. But experientially? I haven't really noticed a difference. But you should find to try one and see if it makes a difference for you. Just look for something that's reputable, and watch out very carefully for third-party software it wants to install. I know the last time I ran CCleaner, it wanted to install a bunch of stuff and I think alter your browser's home page and search provider, and NVDA didn't really read the screen, you had to use object nav to read it and get to the boxes to uncheck things.

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"rabbid dog  aggressive  attitude" since 3035. THE SYSTEM IS TRAP!

2021-04-11 22:25:30

Oddly enough, I've had the commercial version of C cleaner and my findings were exactly the opposite of khomus, it speeds up my machine, including startup, removes junk such as old registry entries, lets me manage things like cookies and removing programs far more efficiently than the default and just generally has been a good thing.

It also seems insane to me to reset and reinstall windows, like burning your hole house down instead of cleaning it, which is another reason I'm a fan of C cleaner, indeed rather ironically, even if by mistake you do! install something you don't want when installing C cleaner, C cleaner itself is one of the best programs for handling uninstalls and program removal far more efficiently than windows defaults.

Now of course, I can't speak for all system care utilities. I used to use a thing called Avg pc tuneup, but like most Avg products, it became less and less accessible, and so less and less useful, ditto when I usedd an earlier clean and defrag program just called Cleaner.

But as far as C cleaner goes, I'd personally recommend it myself.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2021-04-12 00:43:38

To be clear, I don't have anything against CCleaner at all, well other than the installing extra garbage stuff, do they remove that from the paid version? I just didn't notice it doing anything really spectacular. It was nicer for uninstalls because you could move through the list via letter navigation and such, unlike Windows. I just didn't notice it doing anything crazy. The iMac boots super slow, maybe I'll try installing it on that and seeing if it helps. I converted entirely to a Windows machine.

_____________________________
"rabbid dog  aggressive  attitude" since 3035. THE SYSTEM IS TRAP!

2021-04-12 01:25:46

does ccleaner have the ability to periodicly scan and do stuff? or does it only do things when you tell it to

i am a system, i have headmates, and that is my life, and my discord is rings2006wilson#8609

2021-04-12 01:36:00

@khomus, no idea how it works on macs emulating windows since I don't have one, however for me, I notice a major difference in using it, with things like much faster start-up time, and much faster running of programs generally, oh and the fact that it kills internet trackers is also a handy bonus.

I haven't installed it on a new machine for a while so I can't remember whether it still tries to install other stuff, however as I said, even if the installer goes wrong and you install the wrong thing, C cleaner itself is fantastic at removing unwanted programs, browser addons etc, so no problem.

The paid version is the same installer as the free version, it just needs activating in the program itself.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2021-04-12 02:01:25

The first part of this article is why I don't use them anymore. I don't support Avast, and I have noticed that after the migration, it did re-enable some options I've set  up. A re-evaluation by the same author done last year pretty much reaffirms my position.

I've been using registry cleaners since windows 98. Look, if your system has thousands of registry errors (something that's not likely by today's standards) yes, you may see a bit of an improvement after cleaning. It's not drastic, but it's there.

When it goes wrong though, you'll have no end of issues. They generally won't stop you using your computer, but you'll have random errors popping up as the OS tries and fails to find things it expects.

My verdict is to not use these types of programs. If you want to clean up your disk, there is a tool for that, but stay away from registry cleaners.

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2021-04-12 02:17:09

My opinion of system care utilities when relied on for automatic cleanup is pretty much meh. I'd rather use a system cleaner designed for certain tasks eg. uninstalling things, easily checking startup etc. In very specific cases I'll use C Cleaner for periodic maintenance, and will every once in a blue moon use it to clean my registry. I haven't run into issues doing that as of yet, but I only do it when I feel it is needed.

When weird fluky things do happen, C Cleaner usually solves it. On an old XP machine, I had weird open with issues and C Cleaner fixed them right up, but of course that was ages ago.

If my computer is really getting slow though, and that's rare now that I use an SSD but still, if it's starting to feel really rusty, I'll just do a clean reinstall of Windows. Most effective cleanup ever lol. Fortunately, most of the stuff I have can be run portably now, so I don't have to reinstall too much. But there are a myriad of cases where that might not be a great option. If you've purchased games and aren't clear about how their licenses are handled when you reinstall Windows for example, you need to be careful. Heck even if you just use standard system cleaners like C Cleaner, you still have to be careful of what it's going to remove or else your license goes bye-bye. I've never had it happen with C Cleaner, at least not that I know of, but games can use the registry for storing stuff, so if C Cleaner decides it's an unused key and deletes it, you may have a problem.

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2021-04-12 02:57:28 (edited by Chris 2021-04-12 03:01:33)

I don't use them. If I buy a new computer and it's really slow because it has a bunch of crap on it, I create a Windows install drive and clean install the system to make sure 100% of the crap is gone. i don't trust those programs to get rid of 100% of junk, so a clean install using installation media (not the reset feature) is the way to go if you find your system is really slow, cluttered, or otherwise not behaving as you expect. I regularly reinstall Windows once a year or so to make sure things are running in tiptop shape. Maybe it's not strictly necessary, but I like the idea of starting with a fresh system. More often than not, I have more free disk space and it allows me to choose which programs I want taking up resources. When you uninstall programs in Windows, there's no guarantee all the data is gone unless you perform a clean install. Performing clean installs also fixes weird errors that crop up over time. I don't recommend them unless you really know what you're doing, but boy are they helpful.

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2021-04-12 04:15:36

Ha! It's not a mac emulating Windows. I wiped the drive. It literally has nothing installed on it but Windows, well except for the Apple Bootcamp stuff I guess. Maybe that's what you mean, if so then yeah it's a mac emulating Windows. Right now it's hanging out in our guest room doing nothing at all, since I switched to my laptop as my main machine. It was booting pretty damn slow though, so I'm kind of tempted to install it and see if it makes a difference, just because. I'm usually pretty good at cleaning up startup and such myself though, so I really kind of wonder if it would do anything.

_____________________________
"rabbid dog  aggressive  attitude" since 3035. THE SYSTEM IS TRAP!

2021-04-12 04:20:58

i'm pretty sure its literaly just windows with special drivers

i am a system, i have headmates, and that is my life, and my discord is rings2006wilson#8609

2021-04-12 13:29:01

I also have lost all trust in CCleaner, ever since Avast bought it out. Honestly, the idea of resetting Windows every year or so just isn't appealing to me. I don't know how much system care programs can really clear up things, but I'd probably take it over resetting Windows. That being said, I've never messed with something that claims to clean up my registry, for the same general reasons.

If you for whatever reason wish to contact me, the best way to do so is through Discord (Minionslayer#2980). You'll get the quickest response times, and by extension, a higher priority. I also sometimes post my thoughts (for the better or worse) over on Twitter at @Minionslayer2.

2021-04-12 15:59:26

I never knew Avast baught out Piriform. Sad because I actually liked their software for a time. My info is current circa mid 2017, so take that as it may be.

If you're trying to combat the inevitable accumulation after using your computer for a couple years, and have the know-how, spend a couple hours reinstalling windows from scratch. then press "h", move along, and enjoy your clean slate.

If not, grab the portable CCleaner version from the official site and you can avoid most of that bloatware khomus was talking about shipping with the installer. CCleaner helps you wave goodbye to shit like Farmville,manage startup items, event viewer logs you'll likely never need, internet history you should've deleted months ago, cache, recents, thumbnails, registry entries and data from long-since deleted apps. Not quite the same thing obviously, it's like slapping a band-aid on a festering wound, but still a low-tech maintenance solution.

It's the difference between wiping up and pulling out your entire deep cleaning setup. You do the former as much as possible and the latter every once and a while, or after fucking up and making a huge mess -> installing Avast or something. The sad truth is that after checking background and startup apps, there's only so much you can do about a system entering the inevitable phase of decline.

Registry cleaning only works up to a point, and it will never under any circumstances make your system any faster. It only mattered in the days of I think it was windows 2000, when there was a limit on the amount of data that could be held (somewhere around 20% of the paged pool). And even then people just increased it and went on their merry way. I just avoid them like the plague. Most work by searching predefined paths for files and folders that no longer exist, which isn't very reliable for obvious reasons. So in short, registry cleaning is overrated and unnecessary.