AppCleaner is a new contender, created by the developers of the software updater Update Star. The program is currently offered as a beta version for all recent versions of the Windows operating system.

It displays a tabbed interface after installation and startup. The Cleaner tab lists the four sub-tabs Apps, Browsers, Registry and Windows. It uses the usual checkbox system to enable or disable cleaning of specific temporary files.

Here is a short overview of the available cleaning options:

• Apps: Java, Adobe Flash Player, 7-Zip, Internet, Multimedia, RegEdit, Remote Desktop
• Browsers: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, including temporary files, cookies, internet history, login data and sessions.
• Registry: services, missing clsids, missing shared dlls, mui cache, run at startup, obsolete software, fonts
• Windows: Recent Documents, Clipboard, custom folders, dns cache, file fragments, temporary files

Each section offers additional options, but the overview should be enough to give you an understanding of the program capabilities. When you compare the offered cleaning options to CCleaner, you will come to the conclusion that they are almost on pair. UpdateStar offers to add custom file locations under Options > Custom Files just like CCleaner does. The latter has the excellent CCleaner Enhancer tool which adds about 300 additional programs to CCleaner automatically.

Some other things are missing in a direct comparison. It is for instance not possible to exclude cookies comfortably from the cleaning. While it is possible to ignore files or directories to prevent them from being cleaned, it is rather cumbersome to add them to the program. All you can use is the standard file and folder browser to exclude items.

A click on the analyze button checks all enabled items for temporary files and displays the findings in list form in the interface. AppCleaner displays the overall size of the temporary data as well as the name, size and amount of each individual item. A click on Clean deletes the temporary files on the system.

AppCleaner comes with three tools, a tool to uninstall software, to manage startup items and a third to manage system restore points. They are nice to have but only as comfortable as the default Windows tools for the job.

AppCleaner is a program to look out for. It is currently in beta and it is likely that the developers will continue working on it to improve it further. It is a solid CCleaner alternative. There is however no portable version available, which some users may see as a negative.

If you like the idea of testing another temporary file cleaner for Windows, you find the program download and further information at the developer website.

CCleaner is offered in three different versions. In addition to the main download which provides a standard application installer, there is a portable version available as well as a slim installer. The standard installer will install a CCleaner Yahoo Toolbar if the option is not unselected from the installation dialogue, while the portable version and the slim installer do away with the toolbar. It is therefore recommended to install or run one of these in lieu of the standard installer.

The main interface is divided into the four tabs: Cleaner, Registry, Tools and Options. It is usually a good idea to look at the Options tab first in order to configure some general rules that apply to all the cleaning jobs. For instance, to ensure that files cannot be recovered it is possible to configure secure file deletions (aka file wiping) instead of normal file deletes. This option only makes sense if a conventional hard drive is selected. The options can also be used to select cookies, files and folders that should never be cleaned. It is also possible to define additional directories or files that should be cleaned whenever the cleaner is being executed. This is helpful for temporary file directories which are not included by default in CCleaner, portable application folders and folders from removable devices.

The heart of the application is the Cleaner tab which provides a list of applications and their data storage locations to be cleaned. This includes temporary Internet files, cookies and the history of several web browsers, system files such as the Recycle Bin and log files and Windows Explorer information such the recent documents or thumbnail cache. Additionally, third party applications such Adobe Reader, Quicktime and Java as well as Windows related applications like Wordpad and Paint can be cleaned as well. Each entry can be selected or unselected individually, which is one of the strengths of CCleaner. For instance, it is possible to clear the browser history and cache but keep the cookies and saved form information.

Before cleaning, CCleaner provides an analysis detailing the total estimated disk space freed as well as the data storage requirements and files of every item that has been selected for cleanup. The Run Cleaner button will delete the files and data on the computer system, either normally or securely depending on the user’s choice in the options. All issues and problems that are found during the scan will be displayed in the results window. CCleaner will display a query to the user that contains an option to backup the data before it is deleted from the system. It is possible to clear all issues at once or take a closer look at each issue individually.

The Registry tab displays options and tools for cleaning the Windows Registry. It contains all the common items which are normally included in Windows registry cleaners, such as missing shared dlls that have remained on the system after uninstalling software on the PC, unused file extensions, installers and obsolete software. It is possible to keep every option checked or remove some of them in case they should not be included in the registry scan.

The Tools tab contains a software uninstaller, startup programs manager and a system restore manager.

CCleaner is an excellent program for regular maintenance tasks. Its customizability is one of the unique features that it offers. It is great for users who want to clean up data that is not included in the default listings. CCleaner is a great program that belongs in every system administrator’s and technician’s tools collection.

The Registry cleaner displays a list of sections that it can scan in a left sidebar. Among those sections are program locations, shared dlls, help files, history lists, application information, startup entries or system drivers. It is possible to block sections by removing their checkmark in the sidebar.

The free Registry Cleaner will then scan the selected sections in the Windows Registry and display obsolete entries in its interface and in a log file that is automatically opened in the default text editor.

The problems that have been found during the scan can be fixed with a click on the fix problems button. It is furthermore possible to deselect some entries so that they are not fixed by the program.

The options provide settings to add Registry keys to an ignore list so that they will not be scanned. They also offer settings to change the Registry backup locations, configure the program to automatically repair Registry items and configure various other preferences.

It is a good idea to run a Registry defragmenter like Quicksys Defragmenter afterwards to reduce the size of the Windows Registry. The program is also freely available and will decrease the computer’s boot time by reducing the size of the Windows Registry (the more the better).

Little Registry Cleaner can be downloaded from Sourceforge. It requires the Microsoft .net Framework 3.5.

It does not come close to the options offered by CCleaner but is nevertheless a great software program worth reviewing. It has the usual Nirsoft look and feel around and comes with the usual set of features like portability and command line parameters.The program comes as a tiny 37 Kilobyte executable that can be run from anywhere. The programs and locations that can be cleaned up are sorted in categories (Windows Explorer, Windows – General, Windows – Advanced, Internet Explorer, Other Microsoft Applications, Mozilla Firefox, Opera). Each category contains several listings each with its own checkbox so that it is possible to clean a complete category or only selected items within.

Selecting an entry in the main window will display a short description and its path on the computer system with the additional option to open it right away.

The cleaning log will display every item that gets cleaned by the user which can be quite a lot depending in the settings. One interesting option for cautious users is the cleaning report view which will display exactly what Clean After Me will be doing if the user selects to clean the selected items.

A few advanced options are provided that can be used to zero files before deleting them to make it harder for anyone to recover them.

Clean After Me is an excellent software program which is a viable alternative for CCleaner.

The registry cleaner tool will scan the Windows registry for various invalid entries. Each entry is shown after the scan with the possibility to clean it up. By default a backup of the Registry will be created before any cleaning takes place. It is furthermore possible to schedule regular Registry cleanups or restore a previously created Registry backup.

The disk cleaner is a basic tool that will scan the hard drives of the computer for temporary or duplicate entries giving the user the options to delete those files from the disk. It is nowhere as extensive as tools like CCleaner offer but it covers the most widely used temporary locations.

The disk cleanup utility can be scheduled like the Registry cleaner can. Filters can be added to include or exclude certain file types from the scans. The privacy cleaner option can be used to remove several privacy related entries from the operating system. Other tools that are provided by Comodo System Cleaner are a disk wiper, a tool to calculate file crc and extensive system settings that match most Windows tweakers out there.

Comodo System Cleaner combines several important system utilities in one application. Users who are looking for tools to cleanup temporary data are currently better of with tools like CCleaner who have the advantage that they can be further customized by the user which Comodo System Cleaner cannot.

The software program scans the Registry for various errors like links that are pointing to deleted files, font locations and pretty much everything coming up as an error in the Registry. Those entries that are found are later on displayed in a list. The user can check individual entries or clean them all in one go.

The Registry Cleaner is automatically creating a backup before cleaning the Registry. That way it is possible to restore the Registry to a state before the cleaning took place. The Windows XP and Vista Registry cleaner comes with another option called compact which compacts the Registry to reduce it’s size.

It is recommended to compact the Registry after cleaning it for maximum performance gain. A smaller Registry can reduce system start and overall system performance.

Comodo Registry Cleaner is compatible to Windows XP and Windows Vista and supports both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the operating systems.

Desktop Maestro 2 offers three functions in the main menu. The first is scanning the Registry of the computer. A run on my system found 1880 problems that were listed in several categories like Custom Controls, Startup Programs and Add/Remove Programs. Each entry that was found was classified with a priority from low to highest. The second function can be compared to programs like CCleaner. It’s called Privacy Guardian and deletes temporary files and settings like the history. This section is divided into five parts including Windows, Browsers and Plugins.

The optimize button finally leads to a page with system information and three ways to optimize the system. It is possible to compress the Registry, defragment the hard drive and click on a Optimize the System button which apparently adds some tweaks and patches to the Windows Registry.

Several free programs can do the same, if you already have them installed there is not much need to install Desktop Maestro. If you want to take a look do the following.

• Head over to this or this url and enter your name and email to receive a free license key in your inbox. Then download the version of Desktop Maestro that was mentioned in the comments at the Tip and Trick website, the one hosted at Depositfile. Do not download it from the PC Tools website because your serial number will not work with that version.
  ]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/04/28/free-pc-tools-desktop-maestro-key/feed/ 9 http://www.ghacks.net/2007/05/31/wise-registry-cleaner/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/05/31/wise-registry-cleaner/#comments Thu, 31 May 2007 10:40:46 +0000 Martin Brinkmann http://www.ghacks.net/2007/05/31/wise-registry-cleaner/ Wise Registry Cleaner is probably the most comfortable registry cleaner that I installed on my system until now. The free software has a size of roughly one megabyte and the installation takes only a couple of seconds. The application reminds you to create a backup of your registry before you proceed which can be done right from the reminder window.

  After this has been done a scan can be started by clicking on the scan button in the toolbar. The main window will be populated with the results displaying information about the keys, values, data and categories. The registry cleaner rates every entry with “safe to fix” or “Not fully safe to fix” and checks only the ones that are safe to fix.

  Checked entries can be removed by clicking on Fix. Before you do that you can check or uncheck every entry that has been found. Alternatively it is possible to undo fixes to revert back to the original state. The scanner found 1360 problems of which 1212 were rated as safe to fix and only 148 as not fully safe to fix.

  I decided to remove only the safe to fix entries and was not able to spot any problems after restarting my computer and working with it for some hours.

  found at: my digital life

  ]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2007/05/31/wise-registry-cleaner/feed/ 6 http://www.ghacks.net/2006/06/30/clean-your-registry/ http://www.ghacks.net/2006/06/30/clean-your-registry/#comments Fri, 30 Jun 2006 07:12:09 +0000 Martin Brinkmann http://www.ghacks.net/2006/06/30/clean-your-registry/ Every passing day makes it more likely that the registry file contains obsolete entries that might make your system unstable. They could also slow down your system. It is a good idea to check obsolete entries in your registry from time to time and remove them to keep the unnecessary entries to a minimum.

  With RegCleaner you can remove obsolete software references, clean your startup list, uninstall or remove entries from the software uninstall window, remove file type associations, clean the new file type menu and edit shell extensions. It gives you the option to do this manually or suggest entries that can be removed. Everything is backed up, easy to undo errors this way.

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