PC decrapifiar, is it good?

LouiseTopp

LouiseTopp

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Thinking of downloading this programme, would you recommend it please?
 
I've used CCleaner for several years, although I've found that as long as I keep the OS updated it generally has less to do these days.
 
Depends what you want it to do. The review on CNET includes -

"Most new PCs ship with bundled applications, many of which are trial versions. These programs take up a lot of space and often check for updates automatically, compromising performance and even security. PC Decrapifier seems best used to remove this unneeded software when you first use your new PC."

- and I have seen similar comments on other sites. If you want to do this, then this program looks as if it might well do it, but the same can be achieved without it.

If you want a programm to use to get rid of temporary files and lots of other unecessary files generated by the OS or applications during normal PC use, then CCleaner is good; and it has a few other handy things too.

Dave
 
I can't see why you would want to install another program to remove unwanted programs? Just go to control panel uninstall programs and remove the programs that have desktop and start menu icons that you don't use. Different if you're removing malware that will hide, but for regular crapware indluded by the PC manufacturer, just go & uninstall it.
 
Harriers9 said:
Ccleaner also includes an un-install app that works better the the one in Windows Explorer
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Hitting uninstall in programs and features will generally run the application you are uninstalling own script for removing itself. You can't really blame MS for anything left behind.

General rule of thumb is don't keep installing and uninstalling programs and you should never need any sort of so called cleaner app.
 
Even if you are very careful with the programs you install, your PC will still build up rubbish which CCleaner will remove. I am very with careful free software but CCleaner has been very reliable over the many years I have used it. It also has a registry cleaner and other useful tools. I would also use Malwarebytes for checking if you have malware(!). Even if you have no issues it is worth checking.
 
Registry entries that slow machines down the most don't just appear.

Cleaners are a bit like snake oil, and do you really trust a 3rd party app to decide what files it can legitimate remove without breaking things?

If you want to clean out space from temp files old Windows updates etc use the Windows disk cleanup tool.
 
Archie747 said:
Even if you are very careful with the programs you install, your PC will still build up rubbish which CCleaner will remove.
Click to expand...

If you're careful, it won't build up rubbish.


I haven't had to re-install Windows on any of my computers for performance reasons since the bad old days of XP. I've done re-installs for friends who have been less careful and got themselves in a mess.
 
I would say, just don't install dumb stuff from the net and your PC will run fine.

I think these cleansing programs are at best unnecessary and at worst malware

If you don't believe me do a brand new install of Windows and then run one of the free trials these programs offer and see how many errors and problems they pick up. It will be over 100 :D
 
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To uninstall a program, I use Revo Uninstaller.
After the uninstall, using the programs own uninstaller, it searches the computer for left over files and unwanted registry entries.
It usually finds a lot of unwanted rubbish, on occasions hundreds of leftover files, which can be deleted.
There is a free version and a paid for edition, which has a few extra features, but I've found the free version handles most things.
 
neil_g said:
Registry entries that slow machines down the most don't just appear.

Cleaners are a bit like snake oil, and do you really trust a 3rd party app to decide what files it can legitimate remove without breaking things?

If you want to clean out space from temp files old Windows updates etc use the Windows disk cleanup tool.
Click to expand...

This. I've never in 20 odd years of being an IT professional had the need to use CCcleaner or any of it's ilk, and I've looked after in that time probably 200000k pc's.

Having stuff in your registry or even files sat around on your hard disk make absolutely no difference to the speed of your pc.

The only time when you might run into issues with your disk is if you're on a mechanical disk and its badly fragmented.

As a tip, make sure you have at least 10% of your hard drive free if running an SSD as they shift data around on their own to cope with standard degradation of NAND flash.

Clearing out internet temp files might actually make your pc run slower, as browsers tend to cache data and use that instead of reloading it from the webpage. Oh and google chrome is a bit of a resource hog these days, gone are the days of it being a lightweight browser... it's getting as bad as IE8 now...

If your pc is running slowly the first thing to do is check what process are running and see which ones have high I/O disk usage. Check RAM usage and CPU usage. What sort of app is it? Is it making calls to external websites? Are you running a badly coded app that utilizing old windows technologies and ques systems?

More RAM won't make any difference unless you've run out.

There's an interesting technet article somewhere which basically points out why ccleaner and it's ilk are pointless. I'll see if I can dig it out...
 
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Whilst I mostly agree, I wouldn't go as far as saying they are pointless. Where they come into their own is where uninstallers don't properly clean up their remains and unfortunately that is way to many applications that do that. Ordinarily that isn't too bad unless like me you hate the thought of left over files or orphaned entries in the registry. Where it gets more series is when those orphaned entries at in startup or background loading sections and the computer tries to read and load them. That is where one may experience some slow down. As just one example.
 
Don`t you think that all the Technical Jargon from Keety, etc is wasted on the OP as she was unable to know how to download Ccleaner!!!

So, in my opinion, some thing like Ccleaner would be the best option surely.
 
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