CCleaner

Ccleaner is one of my favorite utilities and I recommend it all the time. Here's how to use it.

As with most of the useful utilities, there is a free version and a pay version. You should never end up with the pay version of any of the utilities I recommend - the free versions are just fine.

You can download Ccleaner from the website at http://www.ccleaner.com/ , or from places like download.com or filehippo.com. NOTE: Always save a download to your desktop, then install from the Desktop. Do NOT choose to RUN when asked to Run or Save. If you chose Run instead of Save while downloading, your antivirus and spyware software cannot check it before installing. We'll chat more about this another time.

CCleaner Installation:

1. Start the installation from the file you just downloaded. The current version is 221, so the file name is ccsetup221. Click Run.


2. Select language, click Next, click I Agree, click Next.


3. On the Install Options page, uncheck the bottom four boxes, then click Install, then Finish.

CCleaner Operation: (best done right after starting or restarting your computer)

1. Double-click the CCleaner icon on your Desktop (red C with a broom on it)


2. Don't change anything (options discussed later), just click Analyze and wait for the process to finish.


3. After list of items to delete has appeared, click Run Cleaner.

That's it. Don't pay a lot of attention to the items on the list, just let them go! There's nothing you need in there, and a lot of stuff you don't want sitting on your computer will be removed.

Options: Running CCleaner will remove your History and Cookies, so if you like to keep going back to web sites by clicking the down arrow on your Address Bar, be aware they will be gone after running the program. Save your favorite sites to Favorites, Bookmarks, or on your Links toolbar.

Your user names and saved passwords will also be removed, which is a Good Thing (thanks, Martha) once in a while. Write down your user names and passwords, and the web site address (URL) of the sites you frequent! You'll be glad you did, and so will I when you're unhappy about having to put them back in and can't remember them.

If you are a creature of habit and don't want to lose your History and Save Passwords, uncheck the boxes for Cookies and History before running CCleaner.

Updating CCleaner: With no update feature built into CCleaner, except to check to see if you're using the current version, the only way to update it is to download and install the current version. Follow steps above. You do NOT have to remove the existing version to update.

There are many other good tools included with Ccleaner. I use them regularly. If you don't know about the Registry or Startup items and the consequences of messing with them... don't. This is a great program to simply and thoroughly remove Temporary Files - and that's where the spyware lurks!