Avast acquires Piriform, makers of CCleaner

Martin Brinkmann
Jul 19, 2017
Updated • Jul 19, 2017
Software
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94

Avast just announced that the company has acquired the software company Piriform, best known for the software program CCleaner for Windows.

Piriform's flagship product is CCleaner, a temporary file cleaner and traces remover for Windows. The company has created other respectable programs such as Speccy, a hardware inventory software, Defraggler, a file defragmentation program, and Recuva, a file recovery application.

The company started out as a producer of high quality Windows programs, but has created an Android and Mac OS X version of CCleaner in the past to branch out to other platforms.

According to Avast's announcement, CCleaner is used by 130 million users of which 15 million are using the Android version of the application.

Avast announced that it plans to run Piriform products separately from current Avast products. Avast itself has Avast Cleanup and AVG TuneUp in its portfolio already (the company acquired AVG recently as well).

Moreover, both CCleaner and Avast are known for their innovative and lightweight products. Piriform’s technology and products are extremely robust. We will maintain the Piriform products separately from our current Avast optimization portfolio, and Piriform customers can rest assured they will continue to get the attention and service they are used to. Our existing performance optimization products, Avast Cleanup and AVG TuneUp, will remain available.

That's good news for users of CCleaner and other Piriform products. It remains to be seen if the acquisition will impact the product portfolio of Piriform and Avast in the long run.

Avast hints at potential synergies between the company's community and the Piriform community.  While it does not reveal any plans, it appears to be something that Avast wants to leverage.

We see many commonalities and synergies between CCleaner’s community and ours that we want to leverage.

Closing Words

Avast made two strategic acquisitions in the past 12 months. First the company's acquisition of security firm AVG in 2016, and now that of Piriform.  While Avast did not reveal the price it had to pay for Piriform, it seems likely that it paid a fraction of the cost of AVG's aquisition for the company and its product portfolio.

It is unclear right now what Avast's plans are with Piriform. We know that the company wants to keep Piriform products separate for the time being, but it seems unlikely that this is Avast's end game. (via Caschy)

Now You: What's your take on the acquisition of Piriform by Avast?

Summary
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Avast acquires Piriform, makers of CCleaner
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Avast just announced that it acquired the software company Piriform, best known for the software program CCleaner for Windows.
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Comments

  1. Space Marine said on October 4, 2017 at 7:56 pm
    Reply

    Hi Martin!

    Thanks for all the work you do; you are huge blessing to many of us.
    Will send support as soon as my cash flows improve.
    Per the Reuters article linked below; it looks as if Avast acquired Piriform for about $50M USD.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/avast-loans/lpc-investors-pay-to-join-avasts-acquisition-add-on-loan-idUSL5N1KP4OU

  2. Curtis K said on August 1, 2017 at 12:47 pm
    Reply

    https://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=48600#entry285300

    From Vlk on Piriform Forum:

    “Hi guys,

    It’s Vlk from Avast and the Avast forums… I just came here to say that there is really no need to worry. We love CCleaner and the community aspect of it, and we’re definitely not planning to make any changes that could jeopardize it.
    Let’s stay in touch.

    BTW Avast also runs a pretty active community forum at https://forum.avast.com, if you haven’t been there yet I recommend checking it out.

    Thanks,
    Vlk”

  3. Kubrick said on July 31, 2017 at 2:07 am
    Reply

    Virtualisation seems to be the final approach which will reduce the need for cleaners.
    Also most browsers can clean themselves and if we put this in relation to the huge sizes of HDD,s these days,cleaners are becoming unneccesary.

  4. Whythes52 said on July 25, 2017 at 7:46 am
    Reply

    What are the best alternatives for Windows?
    CCleaner ->
    Recuva ->
    Speccy ->

  5. Karol said on July 23, 2017 at 12:10 am
    Reply

    I don’t use any registry or temp files cleaner so I don’t mind what could happen to CCleaner. Times when I thought that a cleaner is a must is over. :D

  6. Robin said on July 22, 2017 at 1:17 am
    Reply

    Would the obvious Avast and AVG employee contributions to this thread at least have the courage (read – balls) to fess up and state to your connection when posting. Do not dismiss what your customers have posted, just listen. The loss of ethics across ‘merica have filtered through everything, including software development managers, look at what Microsoft have done to Windows 10 with the gob-smacking spying and advertising on your own PC. People hate this. Who said we wouldn’t pay for reasonably-priced software? No one sensible.

    1. Clairvaux said on July 22, 2017 at 12:24 pm
      Reply

      I can’t see any. Paranoïa does not help.

  7. Anakha56 said on July 21, 2017 at 9:27 am
    Reply

    Remember when Avast bought JumpShot? https://press.avast.com/avast-software-acquires-jumpshot-to-work-magic-against-slow-pc-performance They ruined a perfectly good product :(. Loved that program…

    Goodbye CCleaner & others Avast is going to ruin you…

  8. Jules said on July 21, 2017 at 5:14 am
    Reply

    I’m thinking of getting CCleaner and Recuva before Avast ruins them for good.
    This may be the last time I download these programs.
    I previously removed CCleaner after it fudged up my registry (I’ll be sure to try to be more careful this time around)

  9. Anonymous said on July 21, 2017 at 2:25 am
    Reply

    For those who constantly whine about pHROZEN gHOST, you can always read Gary D.

  10. Stue said on July 21, 2017 at 12:00 am
    Reply

    pHROZEN gHOST:
    So progressive.

  11. BettyEleven said on July 20, 2017 at 10:15 pm
    Reply

    For those who constantly whine about critical and concerned comments, they could use their own contributions and put them in a dark and warm place.

  12. pHROZEN gHOST said on July 20, 2017 at 10:04 pm
    Reply

    For those who constantly whine about every change in the Windows environment (including product take-overs), you can always remove your hard drive(s) , install a 5.25″ floppy and then boot Dos 1.0.

    1. Mystique said on July 21, 2017 at 5:48 pm
      Reply

      Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

    2. Steve said on July 20, 2017 at 11:34 pm
      Reply

      pHROZEN gHOST: Fan-boy or employee for avast?
      Bye CCleaner nice while it lasted. It will now live up to its name: crap.

  13. Keith said on July 20, 2017 at 8:42 pm
    Reply

    An excellent Disk Cleaner that cleans out much more than CC is the free Wise Disk Cleaner. In my experience, clean everything on the first 2 tabs, then the 3rd tab select what to delete or keep. They even offer a portable version.
    (Link with tutorial) – http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/wise_disk_cleaner.html

  14. Mick said on July 20, 2017 at 8:16 pm
    Reply

    This is another disaster in the making. No good will come of it.

  15. Mystique said on July 20, 2017 at 4:59 pm
    Reply

    I suppose if we can take one positive thing from this is that although Piriform has been acquired the staff are staying on are remaining a separate entity.

    I’m not really sure what Avast plans to do but we can only hope that the devs from Piriform maintain a form and positive influence over their products and the future directions they intend to take.

    1. Tom Hawack said on July 20, 2017 at 5:09 pm
      Reply

      @Mystique, “although Piriform has been acquired the staff are staying on are remaining a separate entity.”

      That’s what I was wondering, what many are wondering about. Are you sure of that (Piriform remaining a separate entity)?

      1. Mystique said on July 21, 2017 at 5:42 pm
        Reply

        Information is scarce right now but I do recall getting that direct impression from an article somewhere but given the information at hand it may just be a false interpretation.

        We do have statements such as the one in this article:

        “Moreover, both CCleaner and Avast are known for their innovative and lightweight products. Piriform’s technology and products are extremely robust. We will maintain the Piriform products separately from our current Avast optimization portfolio, and Piriform customers can rest assured they will continue to get the attention and service they are used to. Our existing performance optimization products, Avast Cleanup and AVG TuneUp, will remain available.”

        I guess its reasonable to assume that this could be handled in the same way as AVG TuneUp is handled which is maintained separately.
        Given the statements available one could assume that Ccleaner will prompt users to install Avast upon installation as opposed to the google chrome installation it used to offer.

        Its definitely a positive sign that the original staff are staying on board.

  16. Buffmuff said on July 20, 2017 at 4:47 pm
    Reply

    @Tom Hawack

    Thank you for your answer and I understand what you are saying. Glad to have someone like you to be be here.

    1. Tom Hawack said on July 20, 2017 at 4:57 pm
      Reply

      Come back more often and you’ll realize we’re a bunch of good-willed regular speakers here, no “club” mentality (this is no sect!) among which many are far more computer skilled than I. I’m a basic user, specialized in “philosophical” digressions :)

      There’s always something going on at Ghacks, stay tuned and speak your truth and experiences, that’s how we all progress!

  17. chesscanoe said on July 20, 2017 at 4:29 pm
    Reply

    Avast did not ruin AVG – I’m happy with the new AVG Internet Security release, and concurrently run Windows 10 x64 Home Defender to take advantage of its pre-boot capability to scan for malware if desired. Takeovers can work if the people are retained and rewarded, but the more common business model is buy and fire, and the customer winds up getting smoke in their eye.

  18. Tom Hawack said on July 20, 2017 at 3:05 pm
    Reply

    Looks like we’re in the classical exponential and spreading bashing process.

    1- Avast acquires Piriform. That’s the article and I’d agree to bash on that fact, in fact I did and do.
    2- Avast itself. I don’t use Avast products, but I know some who do and encounter problems. Bash the company is understandable, arguable but understandable.
    3- Piriform bashed. Why? Because it accepted the transaction? Remains it is (or was: I ignore the terms of the deal) a worthy company.
    4- CCleaner itself, bashed. There, I really don’t understand. Why spread a disagreement to the point of bashing its very leading software? What do the qualities of CCleaner, as well as those of the other Piriform applications, have anything to do with the company be acquired? Why not wait & see : if CCleaner once under the Avast flag develops an update which proves a decline of quality it’ll always be soon enough to start criticizing the application. Until then I know CCleaner and I have NO argument to say, here and now, that is is bound to end in the recycle bin.

    1. Buffmuff said on July 20, 2017 at 4:05 pm
      Reply

      Tom,
      what Antivirus are you using ? I’m asking because I am using Avast which sometimes turnes my pc
      into a brick. But I have not found a decent replacement. I tried Avira (too many popups and horrible to uninstall – same with Avast), Panda slowed down the machine and Bitdefender free does not like to work with Sandboxie, and I never really knew what it is doing or not. Also I do not want to use Windows Defender because of its poor performance. Sorry for the long story but maybe you or someone else has an idea. Thank you all and I realize my post has nothing to do with Ccleaner which runs nicely on my machine.

      1. Docfallingapart said on July 23, 2017 at 10:43 pm
        Reply

        I’ve used all the free AV products out there and found that all of them had some feature that drives me nuts. So I moved on to the paid products and after a long search found ESET NOD32, and I love it. Great protection, pretty good on resources, and simple to disable when needed. Also, ESET mostly targets corporate customers, which means they are much less likely to add anything that the end user will find annoying. I also recommend you check out Amazon if you decide to purchase after the trial.

        Now, most of the people following Ghacks are going to fall under the category of “Knows what they doing” on a PC. However, I don’t care how good of a tightrope walker you are. It’s still a very good idea to have a safety net.

      2. Anonymous said on July 20, 2017 at 6:26 pm
        Reply

        As I just think antivirus are virus, question solved on my side.

      3. Giorgos said on July 20, 2017 at 5:11 pm
        Reply

        If this is not a question addressed directly to Tom, I’ll suggest giving Nano a try.
        Go for the trial or directly to the free version (not for commercial use).
        Be sure to keep notifications at the minimum (Settings -> Appearance -> Information messages to (Show important only, Rarely) & Sound notifications to Important only or Disabled).
        Needs (free) registration.
        No real difference with the paid version.

        http://www.nanoav.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23391&Itemid=74&lang=en

      4. Tom Hawack said on July 20, 2017 at 4:36 pm
        Reply

        Buffmuff, I’m afraid to be a bad advisor when it comes to antivirus software : I use none and rely on a global “home-made” system protection (too complex to detail it here). I’ve always read (is it (still) true?) that professionals rely much more on firewalls than on antivirus, global Web protections. Of course here on Windows 7 I use the built-in Firewall, but I’ve totally disabled its ‘Defender’.

        If — if! — I were to use an antivirus, 1-I’d be extra cautious with free applications. Freeware can be excellent but when it comes to antivirus solutions I’d prefer a paid software. Not much experience. Back with Windows XP I’d use then Karspersky solutions, never encountered an intrusion or impact on RAM/CPU. But that was many years ago …

        Your question is interesting. I’d join you to ask readers here what defense policy they’ve chosen. It’s a wide topic, far above our (ex) beloved Piriform, but as often with computing as in life so many areas compose a trans disciplinary approach.

  19. kalmly said on July 20, 2017 at 2:50 pm
    Reply

    I quit CCleaner long ago after I stupidly ran the reg cleaner and thereby killed my perfectly running system. I quit AVAST 2 years ago. Haven’t missed it.

  20. KlarkKent said on July 20, 2017 at 2:40 pm
    Reply

    Rest In Peace, Crap Cleaner. You will be missed!

  21. Sean said on July 20, 2017 at 2:08 pm
    Reply

    Sad demise of a great product…

  22. Clairvaux said on July 20, 2017 at 1:47 pm
    Reply

    Could Bleach Bit apologists explain why they like the product ? I have already defamed Bleach Bit here and I’m ready to do it again, but I’m curious as to what positives can be attached to this piece of software.

    Except for : it’s open source, therefore it’s politically correct (which doesn’t count in my book).

    1. Phylis Sophical said on July 20, 2017 at 7:21 pm
      Reply

      Thx for the links, Rick A. Tried also to go to their forums. Seems they are already shut down.

  23. zero said on July 20, 2017 at 10:38 am
    Reply

    Eh, doesn’t change anything for me. I rarely use CCleaner (with CCEnhancer) and on top of that there are numerous alternatives that have similar functionality.

  24. Minor Update said on July 20, 2017 at 10:27 am
    Reply

    This more serious than anyone has mentioned yet. CCleaner was a mainstay of good system maintenance and is relied upon to keep Windows workable. Windows is completely unworkable without it. No competent sysadmin would touch Avast for numerous reasons, not least of which the spying, PUPs and their corporate behavior. This is very bad news for us all.

    1. Clairvaux said on July 20, 2017 at 1:57 pm
      Reply

      Hi Minor Update,

      Could you please elaborate on the two arguments you have raised ?

      On Windows not being workable barring a regular sweep with C-Cleaner (I have even read someone saying that other people’s PCs he was managing were giving him much less trouble when C-Cleaner was used). After all, the core of what C-Cleaner is supposed to do is prevent your mummy / spouse / NSA to see you’ve been visiting Porn Hub, right ?

      And on sysadmins being adverse to Avast (spying does not strike me as a major repellent to sysadmins, as opposed to individual tinfoil hatters such as myself : after all, if corporate IT people were really opposed to spying by software vendors, they wouldn’t be using Windows, would they ?).

  25. Mike said on July 20, 2017 at 10:14 am
    Reply

    Hey guys, I’m totally bummed as the next guy for this news but not let’s not get ahead of ourselves here by declaring the death of CCleaner.

    As history has shown what happens when big companies buy out a smaller software product, it’s doesn’t end well for the smaller prog (e.g, M$ and Skype).

    But there are a couple of progs that were bought out by a company and they’re are still functioning normally (e.g., Sandboxie and Winpatrol)

    Now, of course I’m worried about the direction Avast will take CCleaner. But until we see what changes befall the first version of CCleaner under the new Avast regime, it’s pretty premature to say “OMG, RIP CCleaner.”

    IMHO, as long as they don’t get rid of the portable version and slap on unneeded bloat to the program, I won’t abandon ship…. not yet…

    1. Clairvaux said on July 20, 2017 at 2:12 pm
      Reply

      No, of course not, we shouldn’t abandon C-Cleaner just yet. Let’s be optimistic and add a huge counter-example to the ones you gave : Microsoft buying out Sysinternals. Not only Sysinternals programs are thriving within Microsoft, but Mark Russinovich has become a rock star within the company. He does practically what he wants (and boasts about it, too) ; and his video conferences are big hits !

      Mark’s Webcasts
      https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963887

      The Case of the Unexplained (how to use Process Explorer and Process Monitor to solve all your Windows problems)
      https://sec.ch9.ms/sessions/ignite/2016/BRK4028.mp4

    2. Mystique said on July 20, 2017 at 1:09 pm
      Reply

      That’s because to my knowledge the companies that bought out the above products were of similar minds and were not huge whores. I’m actually surprised Corel or Symantec didn’t buy them out.
      Avast is up there with the above two now, Malwarebytes is gravitating towards that direction too it seems but they seem to be doing okay but when it comes to acquisitions from companies such as these it will eventually take its toll upon the software itself. Corel and Symantec were more direct, they would buy it, brand it and turn it to shit instantly or bury it completely. I’m not saying that this would happen here but I don’t have a lot of faith in Avast to do the right thing I’m afraid.

  26. Gwstas said on July 20, 2017 at 6:08 am
    Reply

    Guess CCleaner 5.32.6129 is the new μTorrent 2.2.1 Build 25302 :P

    1. me said on July 20, 2017 at 8:18 am
      Reply

      is the new opera 12

      RIP good stuff.
      Retro rules !

  27. hahaha said on July 20, 2017 at 5:05 am
    Reply

    Avast CCleaner? No way.

  28. Clairvaux said on July 20, 2017 at 2:51 am
    Reply

    Bad news. I’m a user of both. C-Cleaner has a great interface and works in a straightforward manner.

    Avast interface is horrible, created by committee, it changes all the time because “innovation” (and they want you to buy the paid-for version), also Avast is sneaky as hell. It keeps adding a spam toolbar in my old desktop Outlook, every time there is a major update. Unannounced, with no way to opt out, or to undo the change once it’s there. You need to go down in the install folder and nuke a couple of files (thankfully some people have identified them, and it works).

    I wonder whether C-Cleaner will be able to clean the crap that Avast Antivirus puts on your system ?

    1. Clairvaux said on July 20, 2017 at 3:03 am
      Reply

      Answering my own question, C-Cleaner does have a dedicated check-box for cleaning up Avast Antivirus. Only logs, of course. Not Potentially Unwanted Programs…

  29. Gazoo said on July 20, 2017 at 12:32 am
    Reply

    > CCleaner is used by 130 million users of which 15 million are using the Android version of the application

    That’s a lot of users! Hopefully Avast plays this smartly and wins over these users instead of antagonizing them. It would hurt them tremendously to have 130 million suddenly hit the ‘boards’ defaming the Avast brand (as we are already seeing in some of these comments).

  30. Tank said on July 19, 2017 at 11:59 pm
    Reply

    End of CCleaner for me…

  31. Mikhoul said on July 19, 2017 at 10:44 pm
    Reply

    Bye CCleaner Hello Bleachbit: https://www.bleachbit.org/ :-)

  32. AAA said on July 19, 2017 at 10:10 pm
    Reply

    I don’t know why… but it seems like the good stuff always gets into the hands of destroyers.
    Skype was great until Microsoft acquired it.
    Now, CCleaner… hope Avast wouldn’t f it up.

  33. Norm said on July 19, 2017 at 9:45 pm
    Reply

    How much longer before we start finding EULA agreements in the fine print of our Birth Certificates?

  34. Buffmuff said on July 19, 2017 at 9:23 pm
    Reply

    Not happy at all. Have Avast running on my pc an it is too often creating hickups. Or try to uninstall it. It always hangs at …
    removing Firewall… Would change to something else but Avira is too intrusive, Bitdefender free does not like to work with Sandboxie, and so on.

    Maybe I will have the pc only run sandboxed, will see. Anyways, coming back to Avast: bloated and often indigestible for my pc. Will keep old version of Ccleaner running, it works fine.

    1. Martin Jaeger said on December 27, 2017 at 12:27 pm
      Reply

      Avira Free used to be “too intrusive”, but BGPKiller has tamed it…you can get it from MajorGeeks. No more incessant popups!

    2. insanelyapple said on July 21, 2017 at 9:50 pm
      Reply

      I stopped using it when they added “harmless statistics gathering” in free version and only way to disable it was getting subscription.

      We’ll see how this will work for Piriform’s CCleaner but as most of people here, I don’t see this as a good move for end-users.

    3. Jed said on July 19, 2017 at 9:44 pm
      Reply

      Windows Defender for Windows 8.1/10 is good enough for most people, especially if they are knowledgable and have common sense, as well as use some form of ad blocker. The same applies to Windows 7 users and Microsoft Security Essentials. You generally don’t need heavy protection unless you are a business or deal with hugely sensitive data. The only other reason I can think of for needing heavy protection is someone who isn’t computer literate.

      1. bshand said on September 18, 2017 at 8:42 pm
        Reply

        I tend to agree. I jettisoned all third part AV apps mostly because they would constantly try to up-sell with random but frequent notifications.
        So I went to Windows Defender and the free version of Malwarebytes. I have yet to see any downside to that very quiet combination.

  35. Gavin said on July 19, 2017 at 8:48 pm
    Reply

    It seems we can look forward to Avast ads in CCleaner.

    1. Tom Hawack said on July 19, 2017 at 9:13 pm
      Reply

      I mentioned above, “CCleaner, Speccy, Defraggler and Recuva, I run all four, with entire satisfaction.
      The first modification that would concern either the price (be it only by lesser features on the free versions), either a tracking innovation that I’d uninstall all four.” — Sorry to quote myself, meant to add your scenario to the conditions of removal.

      Nevertheless what is wisely pointed out by several users here is to simply avoid updating whatever app should the update appear disappointing. Of course Avast ads would be in the lot as well as above mentioned.

      We’ve all experienced nice software become craps once a devoted development team sold their rights. Not only software, sites as well, among which UserStyles. That’s the way it goes, all around and not only in computing : a small team starts a brilliant application and when it becomes famous sells it. Ultimately we may have more business than innovation. No demagogy. We all know many applications which moved that way and I know not one which improved when in most cases it lost its soul and inherent qualities in the transaction. Money is necessary but the problems arise when the quest is that and not innovation. Big fortunes never started with money as the aim, there were ideas, passion … and so great talent that money followed without having ever been the first aim. If a company as Microsoft started today how long would it take to be swallowed by competitors? In those times there was competition, healthy, tough, in a man’s man’s world, but competition. Nowadays competition is essentially that of financial domination. What a pity.

  36. asd said on July 19, 2017 at 8:38 pm
    Reply

    RIP CCleaner.

    2003 – 2017

  37. lonestar said on July 19, 2017 at 8:16 pm
    Reply

    Whew! I’m so glad these projects are open source, so we can fork them now to continue development within the community of……

    Oh, that’s right, NONE of the software is open source. Ho hum, I guess I’ll just download the current versions of the software just in case they decide to cripple the free capabilities or cease development altogether.

  38. Tony said on July 19, 2017 at 7:38 pm
    Reply

    Hopefully they will leave the Piriform products alone and not add bloat to them.

    Also, it is essential that they keep the PORTABLE versions of all Piriform apps… otherwise, will no longer use the Piriform products.

    1. Russell said on January 16, 2020 at 2:31 am
      Reply

      @ Tony
      You are dreaming … its to late

  39. fff said on July 19, 2017 at 7:32 pm
    Reply

    fake avast

  40. Vrai said on July 19, 2017 at 7:11 pm
    Reply

    Well, that’s too bad for some (users), good for others (Piriform). Sigh.
    I’ve used CCleaner for a long time. Always worked well with no problems. Avast on the other hand is a stinking pile of crap! Wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.
    So, save your downloads of CCleaner. Don’t let it auto-update and just keep using it the way you are now.
    Thanks for the ‘heads-up’ Martin! :)

  41. Terrine said on July 19, 2017 at 6:57 pm
    Reply

    Putting the garbage out twice a week does not make one part of a ‘community’. Yet it seems to be a central part of any cleanup app’s business model. Can anyone at Ghacks shed a light on this?

  42. Alan Robertson said on July 19, 2017 at 6:55 pm
    Reply

    Well you could always use Avast-Recuva to fix your system when Avast-Cleaner borks everything. I’ve lost count of the number of PC’s that I’ve seen BSOD’s caused by Avast-Antivirus…. I will miss you Piriform.

  43. Tom Hawack said on July 19, 2017 at 6:42 pm
    Reply

    CCleaner, Speccy, Defraggler and Recuva, I run all four, with entire satisfaction.
    The first modification that would concern either the price (be it only by lesser features on the free versions), either a tracking innovation that I’d uninstall all four.
    I always preferred Chess to Monopoly.

  44. Jim Carter said on July 19, 2017 at 5:54 pm
    Reply

    What everyone else already said.

  45. d6f84k said on July 19, 2017 at 5:44 pm
    Reply

    Oh no! That’s bad…

  46. Anonymous said on July 19, 2017 at 5:38 pm
    Reply

    Could you please stop publishing bad news this week Martin, thank you.

    1. pHROZEN gHOST said on July 19, 2017 at 6:35 pm
      Reply

      And, the good news is …. everyone reading this comment is still alive :-P

      1. Tom Hawack said on July 19, 2017 at 7:33 pm
        Reply

        Gets me to wonder if such a thing as a hot ghost exists. Maybe Jane Mansfield’s ghost, when fellow companions from the other world would whisper : “She remained hot postmortem”.

        Back to Piriform, hoping dead it’ll remain hot (I know, sounds weird but I had to sort of erase the off-topic short story above).

        What? Nops, only coffee.

      2. pHROZEN gHOST said on July 19, 2017 at 7:17 pm
        Reply

        Right. Thanks for pointing that out Gary D :-D

      3. Gary D said on July 19, 2017 at 6:42 pm
        Reply

        Except for pHROZEN gHOST ! ? :))

  47. Yuliya said on July 19, 2017 at 5:33 pm
    Reply

    Damn :( Avast is rubbish

  48. Anonymous said on July 19, 2017 at 4:36 pm
    Reply

    Wow, major terrible news. Any alternatives out there?

    1. TianlanSha said on July 20, 2017 at 5:24 pm
      Reply

      I would say like others below Bleach Bit, but it didn’t get an update since early 2016. I installed System Ninja instead. System Ninja used to provide an extension to CCleaner called CCenhancer and I figured that their program might have more thorough cleaning than CC if they provide an extension for it.

    2. Craig said on July 20, 2017 at 1:33 pm
      Reply

      Hey there, I really like this piece of freeware, DiskMax.

      https://www.koshyjohn.com/software/diskmax/

      Been using it for a number of years, solid, reliable, cusatomizable. You pick the level of cleaning/maintenance, and then it confirms each setting in each level, and then once all set, you pick the level each time it runs, and it does all the work based on how you configured it.

      Simple, lean, clean.

      Free.

    3. maxxxa said on July 20, 2017 at 7:12 am
      Reply

      System Ninja
      https://singularlabs.com/software/system-ninja/
      IMHO, functionality clone CCleaner !
      From makers CCEnhancer and supporter (!?) winapp2.ini…

    4. T J said on July 19, 2017 at 6:44 pm
      Reply

      Glary Utilities

      1. Minor Update said on July 20, 2017 at 10:22 am
        Reply

        Not Glary, it loads your PC with crap, telemetry and calls home.

    5. Heimen Stoffels said on July 19, 2017 at 6:01 pm
      Reply

      Bleachbit is the best alternative IMHO.

    6. Reba said on July 19, 2017 at 5:03 pm
      Reply

      privazer, wise disk cleaner, cleanmaster and of course windows own cleaner

    7. Reba said on July 19, 2017 at 5:00 pm
      Reply

      wise disk cleaner, privazer, cleanmaster

    8. Red Schuhart said on July 19, 2017 at 4:44 pm
      Reply

      Bleachbit

      1. Giorgos said on July 20, 2017 at 1:17 pm
        Reply

        Bleachbit is great and I’m using it on Linux.
        However, the Windows port I think it doesn’t mess with the registry, so we’ll need a registry cleaner too.
        (Although there are strong arguments for reg cleaners usability).
        Please correct me, if I’m wrong.

      2. Tom said on March 9, 2018 at 12:49 am
        Reply

        Giorgos,

        I don’t use a registry cleaner for the following reasons:

        1) Under Windows 10 one once crashed my PC so badly that all my Restores were corrupted and I had to reinstall Windows without any of my software. It took three weeks to recreate my system. Fortunately, I have always backed up my personal data.
        2) The registry is so big – have a look at it – that the changes done during “cleaning” are trivial – a few tens of items out of tens of thousands – and cannot possibly have any detectable effect on the speed of your PC, particularly in these days of quad-core processors and efficient multi-tasking. Not to mention the amount of RAM that is routine these days.
        3) Windows 10 is pretty good at cleaning the registry itself and presumably MS take a much more conservative approach to such things than any alleged “cleaner”.

        Finally, do you ever check and fully understand all the changes your “cleaner” recommends? If you don’t, and can’t be bothered to find out – take a note of my corrupted Restores (see above) and never use a cleaner!

      3. Tony said on July 20, 2017 at 2:40 am
        Reply

        That UI needs some work. So bland.

      4. svim said on July 19, 2017 at 6:10 pm
        Reply

        +1 for BleachBit, it’s free, Open Source, and available for Linux, Mac, and Windows.
        https://www.bleachbit.org/
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BleachBit

  49. Lugo said on July 19, 2017 at 4:17 pm
    Reply

    Bye bye CCleaner, and good luck with Avast!!

    1. DBZ Toothfairy said on September 19, 2017 at 3:43 am
      Reply

      Was thinking the exact same thing. Funny thing is, I found out only today and from this article: https://www.wired.com/story/ccleaner-malware-supply-chain-software-security/

    2. seeprime said on July 19, 2017 at 8:14 pm
      Reply

      As long as the existing versions keep running, there’s no problem. I always un-tick the box for the auto-update feature when installing both ccleaner and Defraggler. Anyone that wants to stay on a Piriform version should also do so.

  50. Mystique said on July 19, 2017 at 4:00 pm
    Reply

    Calling in the end of an era. Bye Bye Crap Cleaner.

    1. Tom said on March 9, 2018 at 12:33 am
      Reply

      Me too! I’ve been using CCleaner since it started and have now removed it from my desktop, laptop, and mobile. Why? Bigger is never better – it just leads to more incompetence!

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