CCleaner – clean, optimise and tune your PC, Android and more (review)

CCleaner for Windows, Mac, and Android is an invaluable app for keeping your computer and smartphone safe and secure.

CyberShack does not typically review apps. But we recommend what we use. I recently started using CCleaner. Available as a free “lite” version and as a full-featured app to further help you clean and optimize your computing device.

What does CCleaner do?

this is reason dIn 2004, it was aimed at cleaning junk files from Windows PCs, but it has expanded to Mac and Android. Its importance is augmented by so many updates, temporary system files, cookies, trackers, internet history, images, and unnecessary downloads, often deleting gigabytes on the first run. Simply put, they take out the trash.

There are free cleaners like Wise Disk Cleaner (also recommended), but none are as comprehensive as CCleaner.

Note that you can only check Windows and Android versions. We expect the Mac version to provide similar functionality to the Windows version. In either case, we recommend starting with the free Pro trial. You can always move to the less-featured free version later.

what else can i do?

CCleaner Professional is a paid product (starting at AUD 47.95/year) and adds:

• Custom Clean cleans up browser history, cached images, cookies, including both first and third party cookies, and other junk.
• Health Check clears browser history, cached images, cookies, including both first and third party cookies, and other junk to keep your activities private and free up disk space.
• Updates many third-party applications
• Speed ​​up your PC boot time by disabling unnecessary startup items
• Performance Optimizer safely puts your app into “sleep mode” so it doesn’t use system resources after your app is closed.
• Driver Updater securely sends trusted updates to maintain components that manage sound, visuals, internet connectivity, and basic hardware like mice and keyboards.
• A software updater that updates many third-party applications
• Apps Uninstaller allows uninstalling apps, including those that Windows normally disallows.
• Startup Manager lets you manage items that run when Windows starts.
• Browser Plugin Manager makes it easy to manage plugins for all browsers from a single interface.
• Disk Analyzer analyzes your disk internal and external drives to provide insight into disk usage by file type.
• Drive Wiper allows you to safely delete files on your internal or external drive, making the original file contents virtually unrecoverable.
• Smart Clean provides contextual triggers for cleaning and cleaning alerts. For example, you can clean specified browsers each time you close them.
• Scheduled cleaning allows cleaning to run automatically according to a specified frequency.

I am considering bundling with

• Recuva (Deleted File Recovery Tool)
• Speccy (detailed system specifications)
• Kamo (Digital Fingerprint Remover and VPN)

There are other tools including

• CCleaner Browser (free ad blocker, enforces HTTPS, prevents tracking scripts, helps hide browser fingerprints)
• Defragler (HDD and SSD Defragmenter – Free Edition)

Privacy – Two Way Street – Pass

Since 2017, CCleaner is owned by Avast, a reputable antivirus/malware company. GDRP compliant.

CCleaner uses your “data” to improve its product, just as antivirus companies use your data to track the spread of viruses and issue updates.

Is it safe? pass+

In a nutshell, yes. It will not harm your system. If there are potential problems, system restore points are created.

Ease of use – Pass+

The user interface (both Pro and Free) is the same.

We’ll start with a health check, but don’t get discouraged. It always says “Under the Weather” because there are tracers and junk to remove. Press “Make it Better” and it’s “Sunny again”.

A custom clean is more difficult because it requires knowledge of Windows and what you want to keep in your applications. It is recommended to tick all as it is safe. The only problem is that this clears the Quick Access folders in Windows Explorer, so you’ll have to re-pin the folders you want (easier).

Performance Optimizer sleeps whether or not you use various apps that use memory, which is very useful. A sleeping app wakes up when used.

Driver Updater scans all drivers (I have 134) and gets updates for these drivers from device manufacturers if possible.

Registry cleaner finds broken registry links, outdated software, and more. Your PC will run faster.

The tool can detect all apps and uninstall, repair, rename and remove them. Microsoft doesn’t allow apps to be removed, but it’s great if you don’t need things like the Xbox Game Bar. And that duplicate finder is a blessing.

Settings is a grabbag for customizations, schedule settings, folder inclusion/exclusion, etc.

CCleaner for Android – Pass

CCleaner for Android looks and feels quite different from the Windows version. It has a simple interface and saved me 255MB on my first run. Its functionality is more limited. See screenshot below.

Deep cleaning removes a lot of junk. Automatic cleaning means scheduling or setting triggers for cleaning. Battery Saver puts power-hungry apps to sleep (and wakes them up as needed). Photo Optimizer analyzes your photos to detect duds and blurs. I’m not good at bokeh shots!

Overall, it made a visible improvement to the smartphone.

Recuva (Windows only – not fully reviewed)

Recuva is part of the Pro bundle and searches storage for deleted files. If you find them, you can choose Recuva. It works like any other disk recovery program.

Speccy (Windows only – not fully reviewed)

Speccy is short for spec. It basically asks your computer and OS to give you a fairly complete list. Joe and Jane Average do not need this information. Its main competitor is Aida 64, which has much more information.

Camo – $39.95 AUD – Pass+

Kamo may be the security-related discovery of the year. Randomize your digital footprint to beat other ways to track you online. It is not.

The dashboard makes it easy to enable or disable tracking. The best part is that you don’t have to mess with Windows settings and the dashboard does everything automatically.

Private Connection is actually a VPN (I use PIA – Private Internet Access). When enabled, all internet traffic is sent and received through the Kamo servers. It was routed to a server in Melbourne (I’m on the Central Coast, 90 minutes north of Sydney). Ping times are about 15% longer and download/upload speeds are about 15% lower (than his PIA on the Sydney server).

There are 2 servers in Australia (Melbourne and Perth) and a server

Austria	Brazil	Belgium	Canada (3)	Czech Republic
Denmark	Finland	France	Germany (2)	Hungary
Ireland	Israel	Italy	Japan	Latvia
Lithuania	Luxembourg	Malaysia	Mexico	Netherlands
new zealand	Norway	Poland	Portugal	Singapore
South Africa	Korea	Spain (2)	Sweden	Switzerland
Taiwan	turkey	Great Britain (3)	Ukraine	America (16)

It can interfere with websites that require cookies and trackers. It doesn’t currently replace his full-featured VPN like PIA, but it’s fine for Joe and Jane Average.

CyberShack’s take – CCleaner is an easy-to-use product that keeps your PC in good shape.

Whether or not you feel it’s worth the $47.95/year, it’s definitely a lot better than the free app. And it’s from a company you can trust. I’m sold

However, we recommend starting with the free Professional trial and upgrading to a paid trial.

Rating Description – CCleaner Professional

• Features: 85 – There are some more fully featured products, but they are more expensive
• Value: 90 – One of the things you shouldn’t have and should have.
• Performance: 90 – doing everything quickly
• Ease of use: 90 – automatic or manual selection
• Design: Clean and intuitive interface

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