That isn’t to say that CCleaner doesn’t have a place today. That isn’t really the case with Windows 10 or Windows 11, which have much more robust support and integration. Driver Updaterĭriver update functionality was great in the 2000s, when Windows XP and Windows 7 didn’t have great third-party driver integration in Device Manager or Windows Update. Windows 10 and 11 are highly optimized to prioritize services that are currently in use in many ways. My personal take: This may have been a valuable tool a decade ago, but really isn’t today. I’m sure that on a more used computer, this might look different, but it wasn’t particularly useful on my test bench. OneDrive only runs when it needs to.Ĭonversely, having OneDrive replication is critical to be able to access cloud files, so I wouldn’t want to disable it. Having used OneDirve extensively, even on a slow hard disk drive (or HDD), there’s not much of a performance impact. When I ran it on my test virtual machine, CCleaner identified OneDrive as the sole app that purportedly slowed down my PC. Windows 10 and Windows 11 do that natively, so I’m not sure what benefit is gained from having external management of that. That’s a fairly archaic approach to the management of operating system resources. The explanation is a bit hokey, but it effectively disables and reenables services on an as-needed basis. The Performance Optimizer wizard highlights how it does that. That’s a compelling pitch: who doesn’t like getting more out of something they’ve bought while also having more control over it? Performance OptimizerĬCleaner’s Performance Optimizer feature purports to boat PC performance and speed it up while also empowering the end user through greater control. CCleaner avoids automating that functionality and provides automation around reasonable cleaning features. My personal take: I don’t like low-touch features generally, especially when they can compromise how a computer functions, which can complicate their users’ lives. Users who want elaboration can find that easily. Someone can just click Make it better on the Overview screen and not have to worry. I like that CCleaner doesn’t force complexity on the end user. I clicked space which highlighted that I had temporary files that could be deleted. It scans for cookies and other web trackers, junk files, slow startup apps, and updates.Ĭlicking on any option drills down into what’s covered. Thankfully, CCleaner is low-touch in this space. For example, some programs will defragment an SSD without a second thought, which can damage the SSD. I don’t like these because they tend to make recommendations without supporting them or highlighting the potential damage to PCs. This is the general set-it-and-forget-it mode for CCleaner. It also doesn’t force the user into complexity, but readily provides the option. It presents information in a simple and consistent manner. The Tools screen changes that up slightly by putting the selection buttons to the far right, but preserves the general look and feel. The right side of the screen is an information readout.To the right of that is granular feature selection. Not quite as straightforward as Norton Utilities, which I’ve gushed about having the best UI in a consumer product that I’ve seen, but very straightforward.Īs seen in the image above, every screen is split into four sections: The entire User Interface, or UI, is very straightforward. Consequently, my focus is on their ability to deliver that information straightforwardly.ĬCleaner doesn’t disappoint. They’re a diagnostic tool marketed to laypeople. I see their value more in driving telemetry and information delivery. I’ve questioned the value of computer management utility platforms as computer cleaners and their ability to manage computer speed. Let’s see how it measures up to those tools. Detailed Review of CCleaner ProfessionalĬCleaner is a computer management utility platform, in the same realm as Glary Utilities, Norton Utilities, and Auslogics BoostSpeed. I owe at least a small part of my own professional success to CCleaner and its generational ilk. It helped me start my amateur journey into IT support which helped pave the way for a successful career in IT. While I updated my toolbox in the 2010s for different tools, it still holds a special place in my heart. Back then Windows did a measurably worse job of managing registry entries and cleaning up after uninstalled programs. I used CCleaner for about a decade from the early 2000s to the mid-2010s. I’m Aaron, an information technology and information security professional.
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