The latest version of the excellent CCleaner software comes with useful tools to help save time and hard disk space. As well as removing unnecessary Registry entries and files from a wider range of common software, such as Avast Antivirus, CCleaner safely removes duplicate files. CCleaner will remove information left on your computer by websites in the form of cookies. Along with these improvements, CCleaner 4 comes with a variety of bug fixes and performance boosts, so it completes tasks faster.
DOWNLOAD CCLEANER from www.piriform.com. choosing a download location in the far-left column for the free version. The download should start automatically. Click Run when it has finished. Click Yes when the User Account Control window appears and Next to start the installation. Leave all the options as they are - unless you don’t want a shortcut on the Desktop - and click Next. Choose whether to install the Google Toolbar and click Install. Leave the run option selected at the end and click Finish.
CCLEANER WILL ASK whether it should ‘Intelligently scan’ for cookies. Choosing Yes to this question will make sure that CCleaner won’t delete cookies from sites that you trust. Removing cookies will force you to log in again to these websites and may remove your personalised settings. The cookie scan won’t take more than a few seconds, then the main CCleaner window will appear.
YOU CAN SAVE TIME by taking a moment to check through the Cookies section in Options to make sure that cookies from websites you trust are left untouched. Click Options on the left and then Cookies. Search or scroll through the list of websites that have saved cookies on your computer in the left-hand column. When you find a site you want to keep, click it once and then click the right-pointing arrow to move it to the right-hand column. To remove a site from the ‘Cookies to Keep’ list, click the name on the right and then the left-pointing arrow.
REMOVING DUPLICATE FILES can save a lot of disk space. Using the new duplicate file finder tool in CCleaner is a safer way of doing this than trying to find the files yourself. Click the Tools icon in the lefthand column and then File Finder. There are several options, most of which can be safely left alone. Increasing the ‘File size’ setting will reduce the number of results. Scroll to the bottom and click Search.
A LIST OF ALL THE DUPLICATE files found will be displayed as soon as CCleaner has finished searching. There is a section for each duplicated file with the different locations. This is useful for making sure that you keep the correct copy. Select the duplicates that aren’t required and click Delete Selected. CCleaner won’t let you select all the copies of a file at once so don’t worry about doing so. Alternatively, you can save the results as a text file. This is a useful reference for going back and deleting unwanted folders after they have been emptied of duplicates.
THE REGISTRY CLEANER, one of CCleaner’s most important tools, has been improved in this version. Click Registry on the left and leave the options selected. Click ‘Scan for Issues’ and let the status bar get to 100 per cent. Click ‘Fix selected issues…’. Click Yes when asked to back up the changes to the Registry. Click ‘New folder’ in the toolbar, type ‘CCleaner Registry backups’ and select Enter. Double-click this folder and then Save. Click Fix All Selected Issues and Close.
STOPPING PROGRAMS FROM starting automatically with Windows can dramatically speed up how quickly your PC starts. Looking in the Startup folder won’t work as many programs will start from other places. Click Tools on the left, then Startup. This improved tool displays a list of all the programs set to run with Windows. Click one to highlight it and use the scroll bars at the bottom to see more information. Click the Disable button if you decide you don’t need the software. This is better than Delete because it lets you change your mind.
THE STARTUP TOOL isn’t just for Windows; it can also reduce the time that browsers take to start. Use the tabs in the Startup tool section to select a browser and then look for programs that might be slowing it down. This is also a convenient way to disable Java in different browsers if you are worried about the recent security problems.
IF YOU’RE CONCERNED about security, it’s not enough to just delete files, because their contents will still be left on your PC’s hard disk. The updated Drive Wiper tool overwrites unused areas of your hard disk to prevent files being recovered. This process may take some time but CCleaner 4 is faster than previous versions. Click Tools and then Drive Wiper. Leave Free Space Only selected. Select Complex or Very Complex Overwrite. These options will take longer, but they are much more effective than a Simple Overwrite. Select the hard disk in the Drives section and click Wipe.
THE LATEST VERSION of the Cleaner tool will remove unwanted files from an even wider selection of programs. Click the top-left Cleaner tab. Some options under the Windows and Applications tabs will be preselected for you. Other options can be added as well, but think carefully before selecting them. Removing Saved Passwords from browsers can be inconvenient, for example. Click Analyze and then Ru n Cleaner after reading the summary of what will be deleted.
