5 responses to “Windows Secrets put cleanup apps to the test”

1. 

   Tom R. November 11th, 2011 at 03:41

   Bless you, bless you, bless you!

   (Even if you haven’t sneezed.)

   Question: The second time you use it, is the syntax

   cleanmgr /sagerun:99

   or

   cleanmgr /sagerun

   ?

2. 

   rc primak November 11th, 2011 at 14:00

   Waste money is right. The free options (or the clunky ones Microsoft built into Windows 7) worked just as well. Great article is an understatement.

   But Microsoft is right when they warn that using over-aggressive system cleanup programs can do subtle harm which may not show up until users try to apply the next monthly MS Updates, .NET updates, or Service Pack. Seldom-used System files, needed for successful system updates, may be mistakenly cleaned up by some “Tune Up” programs.

   I particularly worry about any cleanup program which reduces hard drive usage and boot times BELOW the initial clean install bare-bones Windows 7 values. Something is being removed which is supposed to be there — and not just install and setup logs.

   Well, Tune-up fanatics can always run the System Upgrade Readiness Tools, check the CBS Logs and go through a half-hour of quality time with the Repair Console, I suppose. What a waste of time, just to save a few seconds at boot time!

3. 

   woody November 11th, 2011 at 21:46

   /sagerun:99

4. 

   Athlonite November 12th, 2011 at 00:05

   Thanks so much for this article. I have been patiently waiting to the results of this test.

   I have to agree with RC, I too do not and would not recommend any program that actually deletes files that are not used often but, are important when the time comes to use them and can’t be found resulting in aborted installs be it updates or programs. The only one I use and recommend when asked is CCleaner (the Broom option and not the Registry cleaner portion)and I check mark the boxes myself.

   As for registry cleaners, they will harm your PC eventually. In older versions of Windows (95,98,98SE) they “may” have been useful IF used by someone who new what he/she was doing but, as it stands, Windows 7 does a much better job of handling uninstalls.

   An alternative (again if you know what to delete) would be uninstall programs such as
   REVO (the free version):

   http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

   OR the ones that track your installs and deletes all of the installed files, but those are not free.

   Thanks again for this very informative article Woody.

5. 

   rc primak November 16th, 2011 at 00:18

   CCleaner’s Registry Cleanup Module has never caused me any serious issues. Sometimes there are old and erroneous shortcuts or other pointers in there which can trip up Windows, so I do clean my Registry once in awhile (monthly). However, when the Cleanup Module (The Broom) offers to clear logs from such third-party programs as Acronis True Image Home, watch out! I just spent two hours resetting my Acronis Backup defaults and reconstructing my current backups list because CCleaner cleaned up the old Acronis logs. Let Acronis and other programs do their own cleanup, if they can do so (and Acronis can).