Help with CCleaner??

[Billyblue]

Hi
I have a desktop icon called CCleaner, which I've never used, mainly because not sure what it does etc.  It came with the computer which runs on XP Professional.
My computer (5 yo laptop) is rather slow lately and I wonder if using this would help?

Can someone tell me?  I've looked at their website and a blog (in which contributors didn't seem too happy with it??? )

Thanks
Dawn M

[Midase]

CCleaner is well used application. Open the program and you need to update to the latest version. Run the Cleaner by first using the Analyze and then once done Ccloick on the Run Cleaner.

Have you run a defrag yet?

[jackhonour]

Dawn - Ccleaner is very popular and generally very good. As Midase says, I would update the the program first - it should check for updates automatically when you open the program.

There are several options down the left hand side. I would run both the 'cleaner' and 'registry' cleaners, first analyzing and then clicking 'run cleaner'.

Under 'tools' you can look through all the programs on your computer and then uninstall the ones you no longer use. Don't remove any programs you're not sure about. There's also a list of startup programs, again: don't remove any you don't know about but some things you may understand and not want.

Also under tools is a list of system restore points, I would only keep the top 5 (the latest one's) and then select all the others (click, on the 6th one, scroll down to the bottom, hold shift and click on the bottom one) and click delete. The old restore points aren't necessary to keep.

Midase talks about doing a defrag - you can either use the built in one on accessories on the start menu, or I'd reccomend Ausologics Disk Defrag http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/. Ausologics Disk Defrag is free and has an option to defrag and optimize - giving a better speed boost. It's also more up to date that the software built into Windows.

I hope this helps a bit. Be sure to let us know how you get on, and if you have any more problems or the computer is still a bit slow, let us know and we'll try some other things.

Jack

[Billyblue]

Thanks for all that, Jack and Midase.  I thought it should be OK as my laptop was installed by an IT guy whose mother I used to work with, so he wouldn't dare give me something wrong     

But getting him to answer my queries is like getting blood out of a stone, he's so busy with work and his fairly-new-found love         

I'll try all that soon, got to get some sleep first.

I last did a defrag about six months ago and at that time I had lots of space on my HD which from memory is 80G. No it's not - just checked and the defrag program says it's 145Gb with 105Gb or 72% free.  So maybe that's not a problem - must be something else.

Do you think I still need to use CCleaner?

Or do you think my computer is just slowing down from old age?  Like me!
It takes forever to download things like Youtube or other videos etc., too.

Dawn M

[Calverley Lad]

What processor have you, and how much memory.
If a slow processor that could have some bearing on it, with XP memory limited to 3Gb.
 Brian
[Just noticed your in Australia, who supplies your internet? Reason I asked is friend out in Qld reported slow connections/bad service.]

[Midase]

Go ahead and use CCleaner, you will be surprised at how much junk there is.

[jackhonour]

Dawn, your computer is capable of being as good as when you first bought it. Things you did before shouldn't be getting slower. Youtube is more to do with the speed of your internet as Brian asks.

I hope you see a big speed difference after using Ccleaner. What browser do you use (the thing you use to go onto the internet)? Do you use Internet Explorer or have you switched to Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox which are faster?

Defragging doesn't free up space. Instead, it re-organises your files so they're easier to find. Use this analogy: the computer is always in a hurry and just shoves all the files in a drawer. When you want to access one of the files, it has to search through all the drawer to find the file, to then find that all the pages of the file have been separated and are all over the drawer. A defrag collects and staples all these pages together, then puts them in a category so they're easier to find. This speeds up the process of finding the file you want to open.

I would run defrag again as it may need to be done again, I would run it every few months.

Jack

[Calverley Lad]

When it comes to web browsing, some are quicker than others.
I tend to use Firefox, current version is 21.0 although you could try others to see if you get on to run faster than the others.
Likewise with antivirus/firewall programs, some enable you to get onto the internet quicker.
[Because I have a very quick internet connection/fast processor I don't tend to notice the slowdown as much as others, but as you find XP is restricted like myself that is something you may have to put up with]
 Brian

[groom]

Am I right in thinking that unless you untick cookies, Ccleaner will remove your passwords?