Derek_S

You shouldn't have opted to pay for the renewal. I now realise it's nothing more than an irritation. Nothing happens if you ignore it. I've been getting the pop ups just this week but it happens quite regularly, They are very misleading as all you are being offered is automatic updates and free servicing. The product itself just continues working if you do nothing. Turn off automatic updates and ignore the pop-ups in future. I'm sure Windows will eventually get an update that prevents CC Pro working and you will have to decide then whether to subscribe or look for an alternative product but until then don't worry.

@ Pheckphul since you say, that EULA is copied from the Internet and not your disc, it may be the one included with a downloaded version, not the physical disc installer. If you look way back to 27th November 2018 in this thread, you'll see my first post on this subject. I too bought the boxed version with unlimited installs. There is no EULA on the sealed box, or the disc, so it only became accessible after installing the product. Under EU or UK law, I would guess that wouldn't stand up in court but doubt it's ever been tested. Unfortunately, the only way to see your original EULA is to do a clean install from the original disc because as as soon as it get upgraded, the EULA can also be upgraded to a revised one. I did do that on one of my PCs soon after getting involved with this thread and don't recall seeing anything about subscriptions there but it was probably soon after my first post so can't say for sure now. There IS an "About" entry btw. It's included within the "options" tab on the bottom left of the home screen. My one was attached to my first post in 2018.

I haven't come across anything like that yet but it was because of a change in Windows that I had to switch from Windows Washer to CCleaner Pro in the first place. Windows Washer was actually discontinuied at that time because they said it would take too much work to update it to the new version. If CCleaner does get broken at some time in the future, I'll accept I've had good value for money so far but have to consider my options. Either downgrade to the free version, or consider something else but I would never consider taking out an annual subscription to any kind of software. I've never needed to yet in the twenty six years I've been using Windows PC's.

I wa going to reply with a smiley but you beat me to it

I accept that. I mentioned earlier in this thread that I have other products on my PC that I have purchased multiple times over the years going back to the 1990's as new versions of Windows became incompatible. Fortunately there haven't been massive changes since Windows 7 launched. I can't think of a single product I have had that worked with Windows 7 but not with Windows 10. In fact some of the software I use every day was purchased when Windows XP was the latest version.

I forgot to say it should go without saying that once you have installed an older version you certainly don't want to manually update to a newer version yourself even though you will get messages suggesting you do.

I have posted a few times previously in this thread that the answer for me was to go to this page: https://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/5.58.0.7209.0/ and download the file which is the last version from last summer that works on an older version based licence. Then uninstall CCleaner but leave the .ini settings intact. Install the older version of CCleaner Pro and once it's ready, open it and IMMEDIATELY disable automatic updates. If you don't already know where you do that, look at your present version to see where it is in the settings. It's important that you can do this quickly as otherwise you will be updated to a subscription version. Theoretically, that should stop it updating itself and it did use to work that way but I realised recently that mine is now showing 5.63.7540 so it has resumed updating itself even though I turned that off. However, even though I have started getting reminders about the licence being expired again, mainly it seems when there is a special offer on, it has continued to be fully functional and I get automatic cleaning notices whenever it goes over around 1.2 GB of wasted space, which is most days in my case. So it is still as usable as it ever was. Nothing is non functioning.

@Sonartech If you refer back to my post replying to yours on November 28 2018, showing pictures of my retail box, you can see there was no way to see the EULA before installing the software. In the case of a boxed version like mine, it was sealed, so completely impossible to view before purchase. I don't know at what stage the EULA becomes visible if you buy the product as an online download. I'm no lawyer but find it hard to see how an EULA that's only visible after purchase and installation can be valid and enforcible. However, I'm not too bothered. Even though I get pop ups saying my licence has expired every now and again, it appears they have been sent in error and my version continues to work as it should. The only thing that does bug me is that it has updated itself at some time since last summer to a newer version despite automatic updates being off. I've even got CCleaner.com and Piriform.com on the block list in my Windows firewall and it still managed to do that.

Well, the discussion has been going on for over a year now and things may have changed more than once. The first time I needed to reinstall was when I built my current PC at the end of 2017 and discovered when I downloaded the latest version at that time that it would not accept my registration details and said they had expired. I used my original CD to reinstall, registered that instead, upgraded to the latest version and it kept working. A year later, I was informed my licence had expired and that's when I googled the problem and found this thread. It did continue to work though until last summer when it reverted to the free version and after advice from someone, I downloaded various versions from filehippo and found that any one of them dated after the June 6th version reverted to the free version and lost some key features. If I can now have the latest version and it retains the Pro features, that's changed since last summer. As I have mentioned in the past, my version was a boxed one allowing multiple installations. A member of CCleaner staff checked the serial number for me and confirmed it was genuine. It's possible there may be subtle differences to the downloadeed versions most people have though.

I was going to write the following: "Be aware you cannot download and install the latest version from the CCleaner website and register it as the Professional version using your original serial number though. The latest versions are subscription type. You can install your original installation file if you still have it and register that, or you can go to https://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/history/ and download a newer version that should still accept your original serial number. As I have posted previously, in my experience you're OK up to version 5.58.7209 which was published on June 6th last year but be sure to turn off automatic updates as soon as it's installed. Anything newer than that will disable certain Professional features such as automatic cleaning". However, I just checked my own copy which was version 5.58.7209 installed last year and has been working OK with smart cleaning prompting me to run the cleaning function every few days to save x amount of wasted space until just a couple of days ago and find it has mysteriously updated itself to the latest version despite ignoring getting several spurious messages about the licence expiring over the Christmas/New Year period. This should not have happened. I have automatic updates turned off, CCleaner and Piriform have been blocked from incoming connections in Windows Firewall since last year. I last got the prompt to clean the PC just a couple of days ago but had to ignore it because I was in the middle of running some app or other. I did run it manually afterwards though so I'm wondering whether that triggered something. I can't see anything has changed in the settings when I opened CCleaner a few minutes ago to check the version, whereas when I was automatically updated to a newer version last time certain key functions were disabled hence why I got involved in this discussion in the first place. I'll have to see whether I still get the automatic prompts to clean my PC in the next couple of days. If I don't, I wont be happy as that is the key reason I use the product.

Yes I know it's a different issue but it's combined on the same pop-up. I also had email messages promoting the Black Friday promotion but that's not the point. I had at least two pop-ups................one yesterday and one today that advertised the Black Friday promotion but also claimed my License has expired, which it hasn't as I haven't updated to one of the versions that is a subscribed one. I'm still using a current version license.

I just got the Black Friday/Expiry notice again. Two days running but the program does still seem to be working as normal. The automatic cleaning ran earlier. Screenshot attached.

I got the pop up yesterday too so the issue hasn't been fixed.

As I've posted several times in this thread: You can get all the old versions from Filehippo.com here: https://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/history/ The original version you bought should last forever but also much newer ones too. I found I can use all versions up to 5.58.7209. Anything later than that becomes a susbscription version. I bought mine a couple of years after you so you might have to experiment and settle for an earlier one, I don't know. Whichever version you can register though, just make sure to turn off automatic updfates and also decline any you are offered. That should make sure you are not "upgraded" to a version that requires a subscription.

You can continue using the original version you bought in 2015 for as long as you like, so you might consider that to be a lifetime license but Piriform don't refer to it as such. They call it a version license. I've found I can use all versions up to 5.58.7209 on my original purchase license. If I update beyond that, it gets converted to an annual subscription version, which like you, I'm not willing to pay. So I've turned off auto updates and decline any offers of upgrading. Everything is working to my satisfaction including including prompts to clean my hard drive whenever CCleaner can save more than 1 GB of wasted space. If you need to reinstall the product, you can get all the older versions from Filehippo.com. Just don't install anything newer than 5.58.7209 and it should work OK.

Despite this thread going on for around a year, it's only recently been clarified that the product was indeed sold by version in the past but has changed over the years into a subscription product. The problem is that people were able to keep updating to the latest version without realising they were updating into a different kind of product. Because Piriform didn't actively enforce the subscription requirement on people who had originally bought a version based product most customers weren't aware of this until Avast took over and did enforce it. However, you should be able to continue to use your original version without having to start paying an annual subscription and indeed by my experience, all the way up to version 5.58.7209 which was published on June 6th this year. You do need to turn off automatic updates though or you will find yourself updated into a subscription version. Since the recent discussion regarding the Filehippo archives, I can confirm they are working again so you should be able to download the version you need via this page: https://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/history/

Piriform don't publish Malwarebytes. It's a different company, so there's not much point complaining about it here................ unless you know something I don't.

That worked. As long as I can keep using that version I'll be happy. Auto updates are turned off. Thanks

The older versions aren't available. They're listed but if you click to download them, you're switched to the latest version. That goes for every legitimate file download site I checked. ( I'm not including crack/warez type sites. Why would I use them when I've paid for the software?

So I tried that and various older versions are shown but when I clicked on "download this version" it got switched to the latest one instead. I tried the same thing with various download sites and every one that advertised V5.58.7209 switched to the latest version when I clicked on it. Unsurprisingly it seems Piriform don't want people running the older versions.

If you look back to my post of June 26th this year, you'll that the pop ups started around then with version 5.59.7230. I had been running V5.58.7209 which suddenly had automatic updates reactivated shortly before. I had initially thought it was a bonus. However, when the next automatic update "upgraded" my copy to version 5.59.7230 it reverted to the free version, losing automatic cleaning in the process and the pop ups started urging me to upgrade to the Professional version. Fortunately, I acted immediately and used system restore to go back a few days to when V5.58.7209 was still the installed version. Then I disabled automatic updates and put a block on anything to do with CCleaner or Piriform passing through the Windows firewall. It's been working fine ever since. The only pop ups I get are the ones relating to automatic cleaning. I don't get any advertising pop ups. Obviously I'm stuck with V5.58.7209 but that's fair enough and it does everything I need. The only problem is Piriform only offer downloads of the latest version so I may not be able to reinstall it if I change my PC but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

The order cofirmation you have attached is for Recuva, not CCleaner................unless it was bundled with CCleaner?

Not a thing? If you mean I'm being paranoid and my precautions are not necessary, maybe that's right............ I'm not in any hurry to test that theory. The thing is, I'm running version V5.58.7209 and I'm not accepting any updates as they steal my open ended license. It's running just fine as I paid for at the moment.

Use system restore to go back to a few days ago before you got this message. That should restore your installation to how it was. Then open CCleaner, decline to update to the latest vesionn. Go through all the options and disable anything that implies automatic updates. To be sure, use the cookie keeper in CCleaner to remove CCleaner and Avast's cookies from the "keep" list. Finally, use the windows firewall to prevent anything from CCleaner or Avast being allowed to communicate with your PC. Once you have done this. you will still get the occasional message urging you to update to the latest version but decline to do that and your original installation will be safe and automatic cleaning will still work.. Basically, everything we have ben told since the end of last year is a lie. Let the app update and you will lose your lifetime licence and you will revert to the free version which is missing various things such as automatic cleaning once you have a certain amount of recoverable space.

Well thanks for that detailed explanation. It certainly explains why the confusion came about and does sound quite fair in theory. However, whatever the intention I don't believe things have gone exactly to plan: Although Piriform has maybe never advertised the paid CCleaner Professional product as being a "lifetime licence" it has certainly been presented it in such a way at least at times, that anyone considering purchasing the product would be unaware of a potential subscription requirement and make the reasonable presumption that it was indeed a "version based" product. I posted pictures of my box in page 2 of this thread and someone else posted a few days ago that they also have the original retail box showing no mention at all of a subscription. I've got no problem with something having a period of usable life defined by version. I have a couple of programs on my PC at the moment that I have been buying updated versions of since the 1990's. That is what I thought I was paying for when I purchased CCleaner pro. What has happened though, is the goalposts have been moved. I see you are in the UK. In which case you shoulf be familiar with the Sale of goods act and other consumer protection legislation, most of which are in common with the whole of EU. To sell something that has no mention of a limited licence at point of sale and then try to introduce one at a later date is absolutely a blatant case of misleading advertising, which could lead to a court fine, and if the EU courts got involved, a very heavy one. You say that people are entitled to use earlier versions related to when they made the purchase but unless they have the original installation media, there is no way to do that once they have upgraded to newer versions as the latest version is the only one available for download from the website. Even worse: This is already incorrect information. You kindly tested my registration key for me on the 15th of this month and confirmed it was a genuine key and that it was possible to register version 5.58.7209. So I tested it myself on my back up PC and installed first the trial version of Pro and then the Free version and found the key was able to register both of them. I did notice at the time that the automatic update feature had been re-enabled so I'm not sure how I came by that version as I have always been doing manual updates but I thought that was a bonus. I found this week though that the automatic update feature was effectively a trojan horse as when I woke my PC from sleep on Monday morning (June 24) I got a pop up window on my desktop announcing that my licence for CCleaner had expired and that automatic cleaning was no longer available unless I renewed it. I can't remember what else it said but it appears you do now lose certain features you have been able to use even if the licence was shown as expired. There was certainly no advance warning this was going to happen. I didn't open the actual CCleaner program. Instead, I closed the pop up and used System Restore to go back to the previous day when I had V5.58.7209 meaning the automatic cleaning and all other features were still working. Then, I opened the program itself and got a message saying there was a new version available and asking if I wanted to download it. I declined, and instead deactivated automatic updates and just to be sure blocked CCleaner update in the Windows Firewall. Up to now, everything appears to be working as it was although I get a prompt urging me to upgrade to version 5.59.7230 if I open the program. Since that is the version that seems to disable the Pro features I decline. In fact, I very rarely open the program itself normally as the automatic cleaning feature is the only one I need on the whole. I'll just leave things as they are for now. Interestingly, as I mentioned previously, I had tried my key on my backup machine the same day you did eleven days ago and it worked. Unfortunately, I left it with the free version installed. I took a look earlier today and decided to try the key to see what would happen expecting it to be declined. Instead, as you can probably see your end, it was accepted so that one is also registered now as a working Pro version 5.58.7209. Of course, I get the prompt to upgrade to V5.59.7230 but I declined and deactivated automatic updates. I would have disabled Firewall access to CCleaner update too but it wasn't even listed so it must have been requested by the updated version before I reverted on my main machine. I'm interested to see if other people are having the same experiences now.