ccleaner

Nowadays, cookies, temporary files, and various other means of tracking your Web footprint are par for the course. Some of these trackers are useful, while others can be potentially intrusive. Thankfully, there are myriad freeware cleaners out there that help keep your system in check. CCleaner is one of the better ones for its ease of use and powerful cleaning capabilities.

CCleaner's simple and intuitive layout will appeal to users of all skill levels. Its four features -- Cleaner, Registry, Tools, and Options -- are prominently displayed on the left side of the window. We started with the Cleaner … Read more

CCleaner joins the line of tune-up utilities designed for Mac, as they need tightening up just as Windows computers do. The free app aims to clear the OS X system and give it a shot of fresh life, and all this is provided within a simple, easy-to-understand user interface, although some of its functions aren't as easy to understand.

The app ships with a nice, clear interface displaying information about the version number, the Mac computer's tech specs, and three vertical icons: Cleaner, Tools, and Options. We liked the speed of the analysis process and the fact that … Read more

Lots of tools claim to be useful for your PC. Whether an application cleans out junk files, duplicates, or other nasties, a lot of the time it wants to take a spot in your right-click menu. Supposedly, this is for "your convenience," but most of us know what's convenient and what's just more bloat for Windows.

CCleaner released a recent update that added a feature that allows you to clean out random application shortcuts from the right-click menu. This is useful for those apps that either didn't give you a choice in the matter, or … Read more

If you've never used CCleaner or a similar tool before, then chances are your computer is running slowly, displays errors every so often, and has much less free space than you'd expect (for those of you who just got your computers recently, that's cheating). CCleaner is a tool for Windows that can remove clutter from your PC, such as temporary Internet files and cookies. The problem is, you have to remember to run the cleaner regularly to really benefit from it. If this sounds like a problem for you, just follow these eleven steps to automate the … Read more

Files that are deleted in Windows are not really deleted--just the links to where the files are located on your hard drive are removed. Despite allowing you to use the space for other files again, the actual information is still lurking on your disk space. In other words, a knowledgeable computer user would be able to locate enough information to restore a file you wanted to keep private. Luckily, the ever-useful program CCleaner provides a method to permanently remove any deleted data from your hard drive.

Step 1: Download and install the latest version of CCleaner.

Step 2: From … Read more

Over time, downloading files and browsing the Web can take their toll on your PC's performance. That's why periodic cleanings are important to keep your computer running on all cylinders. For that, you need a tool that can scour your hard disks for junk files. CCleaner Portable is just such a program, and it performed without a hitch.

CCleaner's user interface is professional and intuitive. A link to an ample Online Help feature is included, but we were able to jump right in with this program. Four options run down the left side of the window: Cleaner, … Read more

CCleaner doesn't get major updates often, but this one's definitely worth upgrading to. The popular freeware now offers a drive wiper and "intelligent" browser cookie control, along with a faster scan and improvement tweaks to pre-existing features. Watch what's new in CCleaner 3 in this First Look video.

Having a tidy system is important, which is why we're always eager to see updates from our favorite drive wipers. Last week, we took a closer look at CCleaner 3, freeware from Piriform, that hasn't seen many major revisions since it was launched in 2004. Version 3 of the software introduces some major new features that make it worth the upgrade, such as a drive-wiping tool that can wipe all the data from your hard drive. You can see much of the new functionality for yourself in our First Look video.

We also got up close and personal … Read more

The freeware CCleaner hasn't seen many major revisions since Piriform launched it in 2004, so when you do see a major update, you can be assured that it's going to come with impressive new tools. CCleaner 3 doesn't disappoint on that front, introducing two major new features that make it worth the upgrade.

One is a drive wiping tool that can wipe all the data from your hard drive, but can also scrub only the available free space. As with many of the tools in CCleaner, it's fairly nuanced and allows for a simple one-pass overwrite, … Read more