12 replies to this topic

[dave2]

I used Ccleaner about one month ago and had a very bad experience with it. Not sure what I did wrong but it deleted all my documents which included my many vidoes which took me countless hours to download. The only files not that were not harmed were my program files but everything else was gone. I tried many different recovery programs to no avail. Anyways, I have downloaded Tuneup Utilities and used its registry scanner which showed 600 problems. I want to clean my registry but am wary of the possible consequences. Can anybody offer any help on how to properly clean my registry?

Also, I used Tuneup registry cleaner and deleted some files (around 15) that I no longer use such any AOL files. However, after doing so, I performed another scan and it showed more errors than before. I backed my files so I was able to restore the previous files. Why did more registry problems appear when I deleted the AOL files?

Thanks, Dave (not a skilled computer user)

[Eldmannen]

Mama used to tell me that AOL is the devil.

[Woody]

Eldmannen, on Oct 4 2006, 01:04 AM, said:

Mama used to tell me that AOL is the devil.

[rridgely]

More entries were created because when you removed some of the AOL stuff some of the entries that depended on the ones you just removed were no longer needed. It happens with just about all cleaners including ccleaner.

Sorry to hear about your issues with ccleaner. The only way I could think that happened is if all of your files were in temp folders or you set my documents as a custom file.

Eldmannen, on Oct 3 2006, 08:04 PM, said:

Mama used to tell me that AOL is the devil.

Not helpful.
If your not going to post a useful reply please don't post. Its posts like these that will make new users feel unwelcomed or make them think were all mean/rude.

[JDPower]

dave2, on Oct 4 2006, 12:39 AM, said:

Anyways, I have downloaded Tuneup Utilities and used its registry scanner which showed 600 problems. I want to clean my registry but am wary of the possible consequences. Can anybody offer any help on how to properly clean my registry?

I tried TuneUp for the trial period and the reg cleaner is very thorough, which is not neccessarily a good thing. Advice about how to clean your registry - be VERY careful what you delete and if in doubt leave it (I recently did a scan with Regseeker and it found over 600 entries - there was only about 30 that I felt were safe to delete).

[krit86lr]

rridgely, on Oct 3 2006, 07:58 PM, said:

Sorry to hear about your issues with ccleaner. The only way I could think that happened is if all of your files were in temp folders or you set my documents as a custom file.

Don't forget that if your environment variables are not pointing to the appropriate place, CCleaner will delete the wrong files as well.

I still believe that the beginner's guide should give instructions on how to check your environment variable as a precautionary step.

[rridgely]

krit86lr, on Oct 3 2006, 09:08 PM, said:

Don't forget that if your environment variables are not pointing to the appropriate place, CCleaner will delete the wrong files as well.

I still believe that the beginner's guide should give instructions on how to check your environment variable as a precautionary step.

Very true, and a good idea.
Not something I would think would be that commen of an issue but I guess its possible. I'll PM TM and maybe he could add it in.

[dave2]

Quote

JDPower Posted Today, 06:06 PM


I tried TuneUp for the trial period and the reg cleaner is very thorough, which is not neccessarily a good thing. Advice about how to clean your registry - be VERY careful what you delete and if in doubt leave it (I recently did a scan with Regseeker and it found over 600 entries - there was only about 30 that I felt were safe to delete).

Which files can I delete? I am not too sure of the files that can be deleted.
And I do not want to make the same mistake twice.





Thanks for the replies.

[Andavari]

krit86lr, on Oct 3 2006, 08:08 PM, said:

Don't forget that if your environment variables are not pointing to the appropriate place, CCleaner will delete the wrong files as well.

I still believe that the beginner's guide should give instructions on how to check your environment variable as a precautionary step.

I think it would be even better if MrG could code something either in the CCleaner setup file, or CCleaner itself to automatically check and offer to correct the environment variables before CCleaner is first used, and maybe also have a button in CCleaner to check them again at a later date. I only think this is becoming a necessary feature because there's been a few (too many) people claiming CCleaner deleted the contents of the My Documents folder, which I think could possibly a environment variables problem on those systems.

And perhaps if someone is trying to add a filemask like *.* to the My Documents folder in the 'Custom Files and Folders to Clean' area there should be a very informative warning, or a warning and refusal to add a filemask for anything in My Documents.

Perhaps that's all wishful thinking though.

[Wilf]

dave2, on Oct 4 2006, 12:39 AM, said:

I used Ccleaner about one month ago and had a very bad experience with it. Not sure what I did wrong but it deleted all my documents which included my many vidoes which took me countless hours to download. The only files not that were not harmed were my program files but everything else was gone. I tried many different recovery programs to no avail. Anyways, I have downloaded Tuneup Utilities and used its registry scanner which showed 600 problems. I want to clean my registry but am wary of the possible consequences. Can anybody offer any help on how to properly clean my registry?

Also, I used Tuneup registry cleaner and deleted some files (around 15) that I no longer use such any AOL files. However, after doing so, I performed another scan and it showed more errors than before. I backed my files so I was able to restore the previous files. Why did more registry problems appear when I deleted the AOL files?

Thanks, Dave (not a skilled computer user)

Dave I recover many files each month even from drives that have been formatted. Try using "recover my files" I think there is a free to try verson. The only program I found stable and good from removing rubbish from your pc is Purgeie use with ie or fox

[JDPower]

dave2, on Oct 4 2006, 02:38 AM, said:

Which files can I delete? I am not too sure of the files that can be deleted.
And I do not want to make the same mistake twice.

There is no way for me to know what reg entries are safe to remove from your computer. Like I said, if you're in any doubt just leave it alone - having a few invalid reg entries will likely cause you no major problems at all, whereas potentially removing needed entries WILL probably cause problems. Its not worth the risk if you're uncertain.

[Andavari]

JDPower, on Oct 4 2006, 11:53 AM, said:

There is no way for me to know what reg entries are safe to remove from your computer. Like I said, if you're in any doubt just leave it alone - having a few invalid reg entries will likely cause you no major problems at all, whereas potentially removing needed entries WILL probably cause problems. Its not worth the risk if you're uncertain.

That's the best response I've heard for replying to people that wish for assistance in removing registry entries that we don't know if it's alright or not to remove, it's brilliant actually!
I'll have to remember these words because I'm often PM'd from someone asking me what registry entry is safe to remove, and of course I have no ideal.

[JDPower]

Andavari, on Oct 4 2006, 06:12 PM, said:

That's the best response I've heard for replying to people that wish for assistance in removing registry entries that we don't know if it's alright or not to remove, it's brilliant actually!
I'll have to remember these words because I'm often PM'd from someone asking me what registry entry is safe to remove, and of course I have no ideal.

High praise indeed, I'm honoured