Best Free File Cleaner
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In a Hurry?
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Introduction
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| Over time unnecessary files accumulate, which can be removed with a disk cleaner. |
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Discussion
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My first choice here is CCleaner, a product that started off as pretty basic but has continued to improve to the point where it is now very close to the best in its class regardless of price. It's very effective in freeing up disk space by removing unused and temporary files, cookies, Recycle bin entries, Windows hot-fix files, old prefetch data, history and cache files in many applications such as Internet Explorer and Firefox and much more. Additionally, it will check the Windows Registry for invalid entries. There are some minuses: first, the installation settings are quite aggressive so do check them carefully. Second, the product installation, by default, includes the installation of the Yahoo Toolbar, so if you don't want it make sure you uncheck that option. Finally, I wouldn't trust this product to do your Registry cleaning; that's a job for a specialist utility. Similarly, if your aim is to remove all your surfing traces rather than just to clean up your disk, I'd be inclined to use a specialist cache cleaner. However, if simply freeing up disk space is your objective then CCleaner is hard to beat. A good companion to CCleaner is Empty Temp Folders. It's not as complete a product as CCleaner and it's been a while since it was last updated, but I find that it always manages to clean more temporary files than CCleaner. That's why I suggest you use both. Another cleaner with a solid following is Steven Gould's CleanUP!. It's compact, well designed and very well maintained and is a real alternative to CCleaner. In use I've had a couple instances which caused problems on my test PC, but this may have been specific to my setup. Certainly the feedback I get from users has been uniformly excellent. In a related category is PC Decrapifier. Its job is to remove unwanted trial versions of programs and services that come preinstalled on new PCs. You can remove all this stuff manually, but PC Decrapifier does this automatically. It can't remove every bit of junk from every computer, but the list of products it will remove is quite impressive.
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Ccleaner is safe but not particularly efficient or deep in its cleaning algorithms.
Advanced System Care Pro seems to be quite good. I've been using it for with no file/reg cleaning problems. I just hope the program doesn't become too big.
Hi,
There is a new software called FileCleaner http://www.FileCleaner.net
This seems to be promising and cleans the files very fastly.
(CCleaner is very slow when compared to this)
Give a try and support this..!!!
O.K. I tried and went back to CCleaner.
I want a File Cleaner that tells me the size of Junk files (in kb or Mb)
that removed.
Besides, it doesNot clean anything more than what CCleaner did.
If you go deep in cleaning,
you will wreck your system.
CCleaner cleans ONLY what needs to be cleaned.
There are many other cleaners that remove more
BUT they remove useful files that shouldn't have gone!
As a result, programs and windows are badly affected!
The most common issue is that Windows Icons (especially in XP)
are distorted by some aggressive cleaners.
The damage is irreversible and needs a Format if
No Image or Instant System Recovery software exists
to restore the system.
There is hardly a month goes by with what I don't see customers with irreversible damage caused by file or registry cleaners and I've never met one who could tell me what they've ever achieved by using one.
As usual, you got it all wrong:
The guy referred to File Deep Cleaning in general;
not the one of FileCleaner.
Since ,MIDNIGHTCOWBOY,
there are No Irreversible damages (according to you)
how can I restore -without a Format-,
the Damaged -desktop.ini- file,
which distorts several Windows Icons,
after cleaning with some aggressive File Cleaners like
Sweepi, Comodo System Cleaner, PureRa LCleaner etc.?
I'm waiting for your solution...
I wonder why people would want to spend so much time here if the information on the site is inaccurate and the editors un-knowledgeable?
Maybe you'd like to disagree with all the awards achieved by these people too?
http://chris.pirillo.com/are-registry-cleaners-safe-to-use/
Advanced System Care Pro is NOT a FREEWARE!!!
If you forgot this site is for FREEWARE.
CCleaner is an extremely user friendly interface, Powerful and simple, I have one question,
3,464.1MB to be removed. (Approximate size)
Secure file deletion enabled - Gutmann (35 passes)
I'm using Gutmann but when I click to clean it gets stuck at 27%
on an avi file. ? Waited 10 minutes nothing.
This is the only thing making me want to look elsewhere when it comes to perment deletion.
You could try running CCleaner without secure deletion or just at a lower number of passes.
I have been using this one for years and it is very stable and ofcourse (freeware). I have never had a single issue with it. It works just fine and even has an option to remove locked files after the next reboot. This nice and effective little piece of software has stood the test of time with me - I just can't do without it!
DISK CLEANER
http://www.diskcleaner.nl/
The latest version of CCleaner 2.19.900 now has a tool to delete individual restore points.
Once CCleaner is open click on 'Tools' on the left hand side then click on 'System Restore' and select any individual restore point and click on 'Remove'. It is only possible to remove one at a time. No more deleting all restore points except for the last one. I would never disable system restore completely because it is essential to use it for minor restores. Use disk imaging for a major restores.
Cheers
freespacer is good in my opinion
http://soft.mail.ru/Download.php?ver=246857
I cannot open after download help!
With any file cleaner, you need to remember that it will do what you tell/allow it to do. Default settings can work perfectly for some systems, while others it can cause major headaches. If you're not familiar with the filing system that you have, then do some research before you discard any files. FILExt ( http://filext.com/ ) is a good resource to look up any file extensions that you are unsure about.
No problems with Comodo System Cleaner? Really?
Then, take a look at this:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=235664
I've had "0" problems with the Commodo cleaner - maybe it's something else that caused those problems they report on that forum. Can you really PROVE it's Commodo? or are they just geussing...? It works fine for me (XP).
A better (and more up to date) alternative to Empty Temp Folders is ATF Cleaner. I use it alongside CCleaner.
ATF cleaner erases the Prefetch folder of Windows.
Erasing the Prefetch folder of Windows is Optional in CCleaner.
-If you clean with CCleaner and then try ATF,
you will see that ATF finds Nothing!
My recommendation is to use PureRa with CClener; not ATF and CCleaner!
http://raproducts.org/click/click.php?id=7
http://raproducts.org/purera.html
It is optional in ATF cleaner too. I never check the prefetch option but still it finds some temporary files that CCleaner misses.
CCleaner has, by default,
check to find and delete junk that is older than 48 hours.
http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=40504901.jpg
If you uncheck this option and clean with CCleaner,
ATF will find NOTHING more to clean!
Can there really be any other winner? CCleaner is just an awesome app, the perfect blend of functionality, speed and "safeness" for the average user.
I use
CCleaner Slim version (without the Toolbar)
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds/downloading-slim
and
PureRa
http://raproducts.org/purera.html
Download it: http://raproducts.org/click/click.php?id=7
So far...so GOOD...
CCleaner 2.17 just came out and it added an extra feature to wipe/securely delete disk free space. It runs quickly, so it must only make one pass (my guess). Also the uninstaller is faster and it lists some other improvements:
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/version-history
You can also get it portable here:
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds
Id like to nominate Wise Disk Cleaner as my file cleaner of choice.
http://www.wisecleaner.com/
No way Pal!
'Wise' Disk Cleaner is so stupid that erases files it shouldn't.
If you love your windows and do not want to go for a Format,
stay Away from 'Wise' Disk/Registry Cleaners!
Many clients of mine have wrecked their PCs after they used a
'Wise' Disk/Registry Cleaner!
Anybody ever used ncleaner? I am interested in how it compares to many of these others.
-ncleaner is the Worst Disk cleaner ever made! Very destructive!
-Kcleaner another crapware contains the Spyware/Addware 'Relevant Knowledge'.
Stay away from both!
CCleaner and Windows System Care are great combo
CCleaner and RureRa is even better!
Ccleaner is the best.:)
CCleaner = Safety + Performance!
One of the Best Freewares ever made!
Great review and I have to agree that I really love ccleaner, if not only for it's cleaning but for it's quick access to uninstall options and startup items. I've never had any problems with kcleaner but it doesn't quite remove as much as ccleaner.
Fcleaner looks quite promising but is just too bloated at the minute. I'm not very keen on software that gives you updates of posts on their website and automatically add themselves to staqrtup for no reason....
Another option could be Ncleaner but it doesn't appear to have been updated for a while now - 06 July 2007. This removes loads of stuff (perhaps more than ccleaner) and has other utilities bunched in but still feels light. - http://www.nkprods.com/ncleaner/
I have written a review of these aswell as others here:
http://www.jonnysblog.com/2009/01/11/freeware-disk-and-browser-cleaning-...
Hope you find this usefull.
Jonny
Please check this free software. CNET Download.com Editor's Rating is 5.
http://www.revouninstaller.com/
Shameem Mahboob.
It's reviewed here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-program-un-installer.htm
best of all are
CCLEANER
and
CLEARPROG
http://www.clearprog.de/index.php?lang=en
EasyCleaner does just as good as Empty Temp Folders at finding more junk files than CCleaner. This way you get a great combo. CCleaner gets most fo the junk out of the way and takes a first swipe at registry errors, and EasyCleaner cleans out most of the other junk files and safely takes away a few more registry errors. It seems like a good combo. But don't use CCleaner's startup manager because it just uses msconfig, which could lock in malware and give you trouble uninstalling software.
I recommend Sweepi. Please review it.
Anupam Shriwatri, India
I think they probably already have reviewed it. It's just that they only include the top rated programs.
Sweepi cleans files it Should NOT clean!
After cleaning with CCleaner and rebooting my PC,
I run Sweepi. It found about 20MB to clean.
These files were Mainly located in
C:\WINDOWS\system32\config (Under Windows XP).
I kept Sweepi for a few weeks.
After cleaning with CCleaner, Sweepi could not find
much files to clean!
It was ONLY the first time I run Sweepi that it found
about 20MB to clean.
But these files were Mostly located in the
(C:\WINDOWS\system32\config) directory.
A PC technician I asked told me that these files
are important for Windows and Should NOT be removed!
There are Temporary and Log files some Disk Cleaners
view as "Junk" files and erase!
However, these Temporary and Log files are important to other
software and should NOT be removed!
For example, erasing Network Folders,
Swap file, Prefetch folders etc.
decreases the performance of Windows!
I trust CCleaner -ONLY- configured with its Default Options!
A very enlightening Article can be found at:
http://home.comcast.net/~SupportCD/XPMyths.html
I have been using Sweepi for quite some time now, and with the options set, it always find more stuff to clean that CCleaner.
Sweepi lets you see, what files it will delete, so if you think that some files are important to you, you can uncheck them. Thats a very helpful option.
The thing that i didnt like about Sweepi is that after cleaning, it dosent show what all stuff it deleted, and what was the size of the files. It also dosent show the size on analyzing. I think thats a disadvantage.
But still, if you carefully select the options, and you know what you are doing, then its a good tool for cleaning.
About the temporary files, i dont agree about what you say. The temporary files, as the name says, are temporary, and can be deleted safely. If some files are in use, they wont be deleted, and so its ok.
About log files, i am not sure, but i think most of log files also can be deleted safely. If you think some log files are important, you can keep them.
I have been using Sweepi and till now i didnt experience any problem cleaning the PC with it.
Anupam Shriwatri, India
There are files that some Disk Cleaners "think"
they should erase BUT these files are very important for your system,
other applications etc especially in a 'PC Crash' incident
when Windows and Office needs these to Recover!
Take for example, Prefetch, Network folders and others.
Erasing them damages system performance!
'Junk-file Cleaning' Increases Disk Space; not system performance!
Read this:
"Myth - Deleting Temp Files improves performance.
Reality - Deleting temporary files does not improve application, gaming or system performance on NTFS volumes. All it does is increase your available disk space. This is because performance does not degrade under NTFS, as it does under FAT, with larger volume sizes. Deleting the contents of your browser cache actually reduces performance for previously visited webpages since they must be reloaded into the cache. This does not mean you should not do this periodically for house cleaning reasons. Only that you should -Not- expect improved performance from doing so."
Source: http://home.comcast.net/~SupportCD/XPMyths.html
On a worst level, some aggressive Disk Cleaner, like Registry Cleaners,
can damage systems!
I never talked about increasing performance. I said Sweepi helps clean more junk out of the PC, and that leads to more disk space.
Anupam Shriwatri, India
I used CleanUP! once... Avoid if at all possible. It deleted registry files, my computer F'dUP! and I had to reinstall. I lost everything.
CleanUP! has wrecked many PCs!!!
Stay away from it!!!
I started using fCleaner, not so long ago, but I still find CCleaner to be the best. I used it for at least the last 3 years
I am using a hard drive from my dead PC as an external USB drive with my work supplied laptop. However I do not wish to clean the version of XP installed on it in case I rebuild the PC again, making the old hard drive the bootable once again.
CC cleaner cannot be pointed to this drive.
Is there any freeware that can?
What I want to do is to clear all the XP update temp files, of which there are many, and similar. Doing it manually would take some time, and there are files which I would be afraid are necessary.
If anybody suggests I make an image of the old C drive - doing it now!
glari utilities,eusing free registry cleaner,advanced sistem care,argente cleaners are soooo gooood.the worst cleaner is KCLEANER-MY SYSTEM FAILED "ONLY" TWICE
I second to that!
- KCleaner sucks!!!
- nCleaner, too.
Kinda new with this . . .
I ran CCleaner and it showed a lot of log files from installs, I think.
Wouldn't I need these files in order to un install the programs?