How to Use CCleaner

The CCleaner main console window is divided into Windows and Application

tabs. On the right is where information or results from operations are displayed.

Beneath that are the Analyze and Run Cleaner buttons.

1. Scroll through the Window and Applications tabs, checking the options for files you want examined.

2. Click Analyze to generate a list of the temporary files that can be deleted.

3a. If you'd like to delete everything CCleaner finds, click Run Cleaner.

3b. If you don't want to delete them all, then select each individual item you want to remove, then right-

click and select "Clean.

4. Click OK in the confirmation pop-up

window to delete the files.

CCleaner can also correct Registry

errors, uninstall software and determine

which programs launch upon Windows

startup. We can't recommend that you

alter the Registry, but here's how to use

the other features.

5. Click Tools and Uninstall in the

CCleaner main screen to generate a list

of installed applications.

6. Select the application you'd like to remove, then click Run Uninstaller in the top right of the CCleaner

screen.

7. Click Yes if a confirmation prompt dialog box appears.

8. Click Tools and Startup in the CCleaner main screen to generate a list of startup applications.

9. Select the application you want removed from startup, then click Disable in the top right of the

CCleaner screen.

Tips and Tricks for CCleaner

Changing CCleaner settings There are several settings you can modify in CCleaner that can make it more convenient to use on a regular

basis. You can also change how secure CCleaner's deletion process is.

To run CCleaner automatically when Windows starts: 1. In CCleaner, click the Options icon at left, and then click the Settings button. 2. Select Run CCleaner when the computer starts.

To check for updates to CCleaner automatically: 1. In CCleaner, click the Options icon at left, and then click the Settings button. 2. Select Automatically check for updates to CCleaner.

Note: Function “Automatically check for updates” is set to check for new updates every 10 days. The

frequency of update checks cannot be changed. You can always check for updates manually.

To modify the Recycle Bin behavior: 1. In CCleaner, click the Options icon at left, and then click the Settings button. 2. Select Add "Run CCleaner" and/or Add "Open CCleaner..." option to Recycle Bin context menu. If you select Add "Run CCleaner" option, you will be able to right-click the Recycle Bin to automatically run

CCleaner. If you select Add "Open CCleaner" option, you will be able to right-click the Recycle Bin to start the CCleaner

application.

To change CCleaner's deletion method: 1. In CCleaner, click the Options icon at left, and then click the Settings button. 2. Do one of the following: Select Normal file deletion (Faster) to delete files more quickly, but less securely. Select Secure file deletion (Slower) to delete files more securely, but much more slowly.

CCleaner has four methods of secure deletion: a Simple Overwrite (1 pass), DOD 5220.22-M (3 passes),

NSA (7 passes), and Gutmann (35 passes). A 'pass' refers to how many times CCleaner writes over the spot

on the hard drive. The more times CCleaner writes to that spot, the harder the file will be to recover by any

means. The drawback is that it will take CCleaner longer to complete the job.

Note: CCleaner can only securely delete files which have not yet been deleted from the Recycle Bin. If you

have already delete files insecurely (for example, using Windows Explorer), you can delete them securely

using Recuva.

For more information, see the Wikipedia entry on the Gutmann method.

To set which drives CCleaner will clean when wiping free disk space: 1. In CCleaner, click the Options icon at left, and then click the Settings button. 2. In the Wipe Free Space drives area, select the drive or drives.

To set CCleaner to clean MFT free space (NTFS drives only): The Master File Table (MFT) contains an index of the files on an NTFS drive. As the computer overwrites

and deletes files, the MFT can accumulate free space which may contain remnants of index pointers to

deleted files. You can now set CCleaner to wipe the MFT free space, just as you have been able to set it to

wipe free drive space.

To enable MFT free space cleaning, select the Wipe MFT Free Space check box.

Note: If you select both Wipe Free Space and Wipe MFT Free Space, CCleaner will wipe the MFT free

space first.

How to increase the size of fonts CCleaner uses If you have restricted eyesight, you can change the size of fonts (typefaces) used in your Windows system.

This will increase the font size in CCleaner, as well as all other programs.

To increase the size of fonts in Windows 7 and 8: 1. Right-click a blank part of the desktop, and then click Personalize. 2. In the left-hand pane of the Control Panel which appears, click Display. 3. In the Change the size of all items section, select Medium or Larger. 4. Click Apply. You will need to log off and log on again.

To increase the size of fonts in Windows Vista: 1. Right-click a blank part of the desktop, and then click Personalize. 2. In the Control Panel which appears, click Adjust Font Size (DPI) at left. 3. In the DPI Scaling window, select Larger Scale (120 DPI). 4. Click OK. You may need to restart your computer.

To increase the size of fonts in Windows XP: 1. Right-click a blank part of the desktop, and then click Properties. 2. On the Appearance tab, change the Font size setting from Normal to Large Fonts or Extra Large Fonts. 3. Click OK. You may need to restart your computer.

How to list installed programs You can easily create a list of all the programs you have installed on your PC in a text file.

Why do this? Well, if you're upgrading your operating system, or you're buying a new PC, it's very handy to

have a list the programs you installed on this one. It's really easy to forget about the 'little helpers' you use

every day.

Here's how to run that list: 1. In CCleaner, click the Tools icon at left.

2. In the Uninstall screen, click the Save to text file... button.

3. Choose a location and type a name for the text file (the default is install.txt), and then click Save.

You can open the text file with Notepad or any text editor. Print it out if you need a hard copy.

Note: The version numbers of the programs are often included in the list, but not always.

Scheduling CCleaner To schedule system cleans (for example clean the system every Friday at 10am) you will need to manually

create CCleaner entries in the Windows Task Scheduler. Please note that in order to do this your user

account needs to have Administrative privileges. 1. Open Windows Task scheduler. This is done by clicking Start > Control Panel. Then switching to the classic

view using left navigation pane. Then entering Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler. 2. Click Task Scheduler Library. 3. From the Actions menu on the right side of the window click Create Basic Task. Create Basic Task Wizard

should open. 4. In the Name text field enter the name you’d like the task to be identified as. For example CCleaner weekly

cleans. Click Next button. 5. Select how often you’d like CCleaner to run. For example Weekly. Click Next button. 6. Enter the date and time when you’d like the 1st clean to be performed. Then select how often you’d like the

cleaning to recur and when. Click Next button. 7. Select Start a program option. Click Next button. 8. Click browse button and navigate to your main CCleaner.exe. It is usually located in C:\Program

Files\CCleaner. Double click CCleaner (or CCleaner64 if you are using 64-bit version of Windows). 9. In the Add arguments (optional) text field enter /auto. Click Next button. 10. Check Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish and click Finish button. Properties window

should open. 11. Check Run with highest privileges option and press OK button.

That’s it. All done.

Note: These instructions are intended for Windows Vista and onwards. On older operating systems this is

done in similar way but there are some differences (for example Task Scheduler is in different location).

Wiping free disk space When you delete a file, Windows removes the reference to that file, but doesn't delete the actual data that

made up the file on your hard drive. Over time, this data will be overwritten as Windows writes new files to

that area of the drive.

This means that, given the right software, someone could reconstruct all, or parts of files that you've deleted.

For privacy and security reasons, you can set CCleaner to wipe the free areas of your hard disk so that

deleted files can never be recovered.

Note: Wiping free space can take a substantial amount of time.

Method 1 (Automatically wipe when cleaning): 1. In CCleaner, click the CCleaner icon at left. 2. On the Windows tab, select the Wipe Free Space check box. 3. CCleaner displays a warning about extra time. Click OK. 4. Run CCleaner as usual.

Method 2 (Manually wipe with Drive Wiper): 1. Select Tools > Drive Wiper

Choose the type of wipe you require: 1. Free Space Only will leave your normal files intact 2. Entire Drive will erase all of the files on the drive. WARNING, this means the whole of the partition

will be erased. The drive will still be formatted, but all data will be erased. For safety reasons, this feature is disabled for the boot drive.

2. Choose the type of security you require (Simple Overwrite is ok for most situations) 3. CCleaner will warn you before proceeding

Wipe Free Disk Space limitations CCleaner can't wipe every deleted file from your free disk space. There are some limitations, because of the

way Windows stores some files. Here are some examples: The file has been overwritten by another file (so no need to overwrite this again) The file had been overwritten by another file before you ran CCleaner, but the second file has now been

deleted as well. The file was created almost exactly when you ran CCleaner.