Cut The Crud … For Free
Most computer users depend on Microsoft Operating Systems in one way or the other. To keep their Windows operating system up & running requires the necessary evil of optimizing the system as a part of their regular preventive maintenance program. Most users put this daunting task off as long as possible or at least until system performance becomes sluggish & user-unfriendly. To find a program that would allow the user to perform system optimization for a minimum cost & with maximum ease would be a welcome find. There is program that is free of charge contains a light footprint does not use a heavy amount of system resources can run in the background virtually out of sight of the end-user does not conflict with other software & has a industry-wide top-rated reputation. This program is known as CCleaner.
Piriform www.piriform.com a UK-based software company created CCleaner Crap Cleaner www.ccleaner.com 5 years ago as a solution to helping the user easily perform system optimization. This software is saved countless users huge amounts of time & money over the years. It is easily downloadable installable & configurable. FileHippo.com describes the software as a freeware system optimization privacy & cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system allowing Windows to run faster & 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 & contains NO Spyware or Adware
To fully explore the features you can begin in one of three ways either 1 Double-clicking the desktop icon or 2 Clicking on Start Programs CCleaner or 3 Right-clicking on the Recycle Bin & selecting Open CCleaner… For those hungry to clean the Recycle Bin there is also a Run CCleaner option on the Recycle Bin menu which will clean your system without any prompts. CCleaner has four main sections which can be selected using the 4 icons in the left-hand navigation panel 1 Cleaner This is the main feature of the program which will allow you to optimize your system by removing unused & temporary files. It also protects your personal privacy by removing traces of the websites you have visited & the files you have opened. It s important to point out that it does this without removing any files you ll still need 2 Registry This is more advanced feature which analyses your computers registry where windows system settings are stored & fixes any problems & inconsistencies that exist. CCleaner has a complete backup option so in the rare event you remove something that you need later you will have a backup to be able to restore from 3 Tools This section allows you to manage installed programs & applications that run when you turn on your computer 4 Options The Options section handles a wide array of preferences for how CCleaner runs. I prefer to enable some of these advanced settings so that I can set it & forget it so as not to have to worry about it in the future. I choose Options Advanced Hide warning messages Options Advanced Close program after cleaning & uncheck Options Advanced Show prompt to backup registry issues & Options Advanced Minimize to System Tray. In addition to this I will schedule CCleaner to run daily using the Scheduled Tasks feature of Windows. This is great to setup for end-users as part of their preventive maintenance schedule.
In addition to the above ease of use & comprehensive system care there is another feature that I really appreciate that tells me a lot about the reputation of Piriform company that produces the software. Many software programs install additional unwanted software during the installation unknowingly to the user. Fortunately Ccleaner is not like this. During the Cleaner installation the process asks the user if they would like to install CCleaner Yahoo Toolbar as part of the installation. You may choose to enable this installation feature or disable it just with the click of a mouse. I respect the company who asks for permission first before installing a feature that may or may not be wanted by or useful to the user. In addition Piriform offers an alternate build of Ccleaner which does not contain this optional Yahoo toolbar feature called Ccleaner Slim.
In summary I fully recommend CCleaner as a valuable addition to any computer repair technician s toolkit & for anyone running any Microsoft Windows operating system including Windows 7 32 bit & 64 bit . To not use CCleaner on a regular basis could very well be a stress-inducing mistake.
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