CCleaner questions

[AlanMiller]

1. Is there any great advantage in upgrading to the Pro version? I was curious about its feature "Cleans Everywhere
Even places other cleaners can't reach". What are these places? Are there other means to achieve this "extra" cleaning?

2. Has the malware issue of the earlier version been resolved?

Alan

[John Gray]

The first decision should be whether there is any point in using even the free version of CCleaner!
Like disk defragmenters, it may be that there is
a lot of head movement
leading to no great improvement...
(c) JG 2018

[AlanMiller]

Having posted the questions as non-hypotheticals, you can safely assume that I'm willing to take the plunge and wager a bit of time and HDD wear & tear, at the risk of no great improvement.

Alan

[HansV]

1. The term is a bit misleading. The free version only cleans temp files etc. etc. under the current user; the pro version cleans under ALL user accounts.
2. Yes, that was resolved quickly.

[AlanMiller]

Thanks Hans. I will give the freebie a whirl.

Alan

[DaveA]

And if you are using Windows 10, all you need is to use the built in Windows Defender.

[HansV]

Windows Defender serves an entirely different purpose. CCleaner does not protect against malware; it removes the temporary files left behind by many applications. The nearest comparison in Windows would be Disk Cleanup, but that only removes Windows (and IE/Edge) related stuff.

[DaveA]

Sorry, I was thinking of the free AV programs and not CCleaner. Well, another sign that I am getting older!

[AlanMiller]

The "places other cleaners can't reach" seem to be areas of the registry which have been missed by, for example, Revo Uninstaller. It found quite a few redundant references to uninstalled apps. So I think the claim may be "as stated".

Alan