Running Ccleaner

Saturday, January 14 2006 @ 04:35 PM PST

Contributed by: admin

Running Cleaner



Double click the icon on your desktop or navigate to Start > Programs > Ccleaner and start Ccleaner.


Start > Programs > Ccleaner


The opening window will be a the first option that Ccleaner presents you with. It performs a full cleaning operation of elements that may be slowing your computer down. You are originally defaulted to 'Cleaner' with the "Windows" tab displayed.


Ccleaner full view.


Upon expanding the program screen you will have a full view of all the options that the "Windows" tab holds.

Within the Windows tab the following options are presented.

  • Internet Explorer - Options are present through Cleaner to remove cache that may be slowing your PC and/or directly affecting Internet Explorer.
    1. Temporary Internet Files - Leave Checked - It is recommended you clean this once a week using Cleaner
    2. Cookies - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain web information about sites you have visited.
    3. History - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain web information about sites you have visited.
    4. Recently Typed URLs - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain web information about sites you have visited.
    5. Delete Index.dat files - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain web information about sites you have visited.
    6. Last Download Location - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain web information about sites you have visited.


  • Windows Explorer - Options are present through Cleaner to remove cache that may be slowing your PC and/or directly affecting Windows Explorer.
    1. Recent Documents - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain Windows information about recent documents you have accessed.
    2. Run (in Start Menu) - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain Windows information about recent commands you have run.
    3. Search Assistant Autocomplete - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain information about your entries within the search assistant.
    4. Other Explorer MRU's - Leave Checked


  • System - Options are present through Cleaner to remove cache that may be slowing your PC and/or directly affecting your operating system.
    1. Empty Recycle Bin - Leave Checked - A Recycle Bin loaded with trash files is known to slow your PC considerably.
    2. Temporary Files - Leave Checked - Temporary files are known to slow your PC considerably.
    3. Clipboard - Leave Checked - If you rely heavily on the clipboard for daily activities in windows you can uncheck this option.
    4. Memory Dumps - Leave Checked - It is recommended you clear dump files.
    5. Chkdsk File Fragments - Leave Checked - It is recommended you clear Chkdsk File Fragments.
    6. Windows Log Files - Leave Checked - It is recommended you clear Windows Log files.
    7. Old Prefetch Data - Leave Checked - It is recommended you clear Old Prefetch Data


  • Advanced - This option is grayed out until you click the check box directly next to it. Upon clicking it Ccleaner will then display the exact command that each menu item listed below performs. We have also listed then here for your reference.

    Please be aware that this section is recommended for experts only as this will affect your Windows environment noticeably. If you lack the knowledge to re-orient options the way they once were this can be a very frustrating experience.

    1. Menu Order Cache - Your Start menu will be reset, no items will be removed, although any custom ordering will be lost.
    2. Tray Notifications Cache - System tray cache will be reset, you need to restart the explorer.exe process.
    3. Window Size/Location Cache - This will reset and saved Windows Explorer location and view settings.
    4. User Assist History - This will clear the most used programs on the XP start Menu.
    5. IIS Log Files - If you use your computer as a web host, IIS will create log files. With this option selected it clears them.
    6. Custom Files and Folders




Upon clicking on the "Applications" Tab it will display another list depending on what applications you have installed. We will highlight the options that were on the PC used for this tutorial to give a general idea of what one may expect.

  • Firefox/Mozilla - Options are present through Cleaner to remove cache that may be slowing your PC and/or directly affecting Firefox/Mozilla.
    1. Cookies - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain web information about sites you have visited.
    2. Download History - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain web information about downloads you have completed.
    3. Internet Cache - Leave Checked - It is recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    4. Internet History - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain web information about sites you have visited.
    5. Saved Form Information - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain web information about forms you have filled out.


  • Applications - Options are present through Cleaner to remove cache that may be slowing your PC and/or directly affecting Windows Applications.
    1. Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain information about your preferences.
    2. Adobe Photoshop CS - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain information about your preferences.
    3. Adobe Photoshop CS2 - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain information about your preferences.
    4. Office 2003 - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain information about your preferences.
    5. Office XP - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain information about your preferences.


  • Internet - Options are present through Cleaner to remove cache that may be slowing your PC and/or directly affecting your internet plugins.
    1. Google Toolbar - Leave Checked - Unless you want to retain information about your preferences.
    2. Sun Java - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.


  • Multimedia - Options are present through Cleaner to remove cache that may be slowing your PC and/or directly affecting your multimedia plugins.
    1. Macromedia Flash Player - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    2. Quicktime Player - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    3. Real Player - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    4. Windows Media Player - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    5. Windows Movie Maker - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.


  • Utilities - Options are present through Cleaner to remove cache that may be slowing your PC and/or directly affecting your utility programs.
    1. Ad-Aware SE Personal - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    2. Spybot Search and Destroy - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    3. WinRAR - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    4. WinZip - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.


  • Windows - Options are present through Cleaner to remove cache that may be slowing your PC and/or directly affecting your Microsoft programs.
    1. MS Management Console - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    2. MS Paint - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    3. MS Wordpad - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    4. RegEdit - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.
    5. Remote Desktop - Leave Checked - It is also recommended this section be cleared once a week using Cleaner.




Once you have selected the options that you want to clear using Cleaner, you can hit 'Analyze' or 'Run Cleaner' located at the bottom of the program window. Hitting 'Analyze will inform you of how much free space will be cleared before you clear it. Hitting the 'Run Cleaner' will prompt a window displaying the following message, "This process will permanently delete files from your system. Are you sure you want to proceed?". From here you can opt to never have this screen display again, click "OK" or click "Cancel".

This is VERY important!! Please make sure ALL applications are CLOSED and NOT running when you click "Run Cleaner"

To better understand what Ccleaner does, we recommend you analyze first so you can physically view how much space you are clearing up. The scan can take a few minutes to complete depending on several variables.

Namely; free hard drive space currently available, processor speed, system memory, and current applications running.

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