Every Friday, I'll review a free or demo version of a software title. If you would like to see a reviewed software title here, use the Contact Us link above to submit your suggestion. Each software Review will include location to obtain the software, A brief overview of what it is and how it works, and then my rating of the software and it's functionality. Currently, It'll be only in Blog format, but it might someday graduate to Vlog format via YouTube.
ON TO THE REVIEWS:
CCleaner |
| Posted by The Masked Crusader (cschalk) on Apr 30 2010 |
| Free Software Friday >> Utilities |
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Program: | CCleaner |
| Company: | Piriform | |
| Website: | www.piriform.com/ccleaner | |
| Price: | Free (freeware) | |
| FSF Rating: |   |
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In our first ever post in the Free Software Friday Series, I'll be Reviewing CCleaner. Hopefully you will comment and help me with the format of this series.
What is it
CCleaner is a utility for keeping your computer clean of temp files and other other data that can clutter up your computer. It is available for the Windows Operating System only. The name stands for "Crap Cleaner", and that's exactly what it dooes, cleans up the crap on your computer.
Features
CCleaner has several features, and they are so much of a value that this application is usually the second one that I install on a computer after loading Windows. The features I'd like to highlight are:
- It integrates with Windows Explorer. By so doing, you can run it by right-clicking on the Recycle bin and choosing the option "Run CCleaner". After you have configured it, you can run this and it'll go through all the different settings you have setup, keeping temp flikes and other garbage to a minimum on your computer.
- The first option on the menu when you open CCleaner is the Cleaner functionality. The cleaner has the ability to remove all temp files from all internet browsers that you use, and supports all the major browsers: IE, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera. It can remove all the internet cache, cookies, saved passwords, form values and all the other stuff that the browsers use. Each of these is individually configurable, so if you don't want to remove saved passwords, simply uncheck the box and it'll skip that part of the cleaning.
Beyond the cleaning of the browser, CCleaner can also remove Windows temp files, Prefetch data, hotfix installers and you can even configure it to remove the contents of any folder on the computer. It does a great job of removing all the files you don't really need
- The second feature it has is a Registry Cleaner. CCleaner can scan your registry for unused or obsolete keys that are taking up space in your registry. Sometimes these keys in the registry can take up processing cycles and, if are unused or redundant, can slow your computer down. The cleaner can also create a backup of registry keys it removes so if the system horks, you can re-import the keys and try again. I, personally, have never had a computer crash because of registry keys that the cleaner removed
- The third feature is a tools section. The Tools section has an Uninstall feature where you can view and uninstall any application on your computer. It is very similar to the Control Panel's Add/Remove programs feature, but it is better. Sometimes, the Control Panel's app cannot remove the reference to an app or perhaps you want to install an app and remove the ability to uninstall it. you can't do that in the Control Panel, but both features are standard in CCleaner .
The second part of the tool section, you can view all the applications that start when your computer starts. You can then remove or simply disable applications that start with Windows. This is useful because a lot of spyware will put in files that start with windows and with the cleaner, you can remove those. Also, a lot of utilities start applications that you really don't need. For instance, Quicktime starts an app that can speed up the launching of a multimedia file, but if you only watch Quicktime movies rarely, you don't need this extra application always running on your system.
The third part of the tools section allows you to remove System Restore points. Whenever an update is installed or an application is installed, Windows creates a restore point. If you want to remove some of these restore points to free up precious hard drive space, the CCleaner is your tool!
- Finally, in the Options part, you can choose how to clean up a computer. I won't go through all the options, but I will draw your attention to the Secure File Deletion section. When you delete a file normally, or remove it from the recycle bin, the data is not actually removed, but rather a miniscule snippit of information is changed that causes the computer to disregard the data, thus it is deleted. The Secure File Deletion capability actually overwrites the physical data on the file system, removing both the pointer to the data as well as the data itself. There are three different methods: The Department of Defense's secure wipe policy (DOD 5220.22-M - 3 passes), The NSA's secure wipe policy (7 passes), and the Gutmann policy (35 passes). Each pass writes binary zeros over the entire patch of drive where the data from the file exists.
When you remove a file using the recycle bin, simple and free utilities are able to restore the file and at least part of the data within a short period of removing the file. When using one of the Secure delete policies, the data is destroyed immediately and cannot be restored using either free or professional forensic software programs.
Why is this important? Say you have an email that contains your bank account information, including bank name and account number. When you view that email on your computer, the data is written to the hard drive. You can't prevent this - it's how web browsers and email programs work. When you close the browser, the data remains on the drive. If your computer is then stolen, the thief has access to your account information. Simply removing the internet cache from within the browser still leaves trace data on the drive which a thief can restore using either free utilities or professional forensic software package such as Encase. When you use the Secure File Delete functionality of CCleaner , the data is destroyed and cannot be restored by the thief. The secure wipe also can wipe the free space of a drive, securely removing any pre existing data on that drive that may have existed before you installed CCleaner . It is an excellent way of removing data from old hard drives that are to be sold with a used computer or scrapped and thrown out.
What it does well
The software does an excellent job of removing temp files, sensitive data and, in general, keeping your hard drive and registry free from unnecessary clutter that can slow down your computer. It is secure and is easy to use, and the price tag is just right: free!
What it doesn't do well
Deleting the gobs of files and temporary information creates holes and spaces on your hard drive. These holes are then filled with subsequent files on your computer creating fragments. Fragmented files slow down your computer and can even lead to data corruption. It is important to use CCleaner with a reputable defrag utility. Even if it's the included defrag utility within windows, but a professional (and possibly free) alternative is recommended. Next week, I'll review a defrag utility that is free and supports scheduled defrag and works along side CCleaner to get the job done right!
Final Thoughts and Rating
I give CCleaner 4.5 out of 5 stars for it's capabilities. What it does, it does very well, but it does leave the hard drive open for fragmentation. Integrating it's capability into a defrag utility so they both accomplish their tasks in one software package would make it awesome. It's feature rich toolkit is a must for any Windows user.
Last changed: Apr 29 2010 at 11:00 PM
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