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ccleaner deletes itunes library...yes it really does,under certain...


ericjmz

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4/17

 

Hey,

First time on the forum.

I Love...correct that, I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOved Ccleaner but will ,with great regret,need to stop using it.

There is a bug which though small in nature, is huge for me, in that it'll take about 10 hours of time to fix...i know I've put in 2 hours already.

If you're iTunes library resides on a secondary drive then ccleaner may choose to delete/corrupt the file that identifies the songs in your library. Period.

And even though my secondary drive is an internal "D" drive that's exactly what ccleaner (in its latest downloadable form) choose to do.

 

Its written about all over the internet...if you do a Google serach for "ccleaner.... itunes.....library ...deleted?".postings of such are years old

in fact if you go to this very site its been described in 2011 (!) ...and yet with only one disbelieving reply,no fix,and no other commentary.

 

You know in this day and age of many folks having SSD drvies for their 'C' drive,thus limited in size, and increasingly large & larger music libraries my configuration of keeping my music files on a 'D' drive is not that all unusual.

It also seems to me the fix would be incredibly simple...for ccleaner to just NOT delete itunes labeled or itunes created files....wouldn't that be simple?

 

I'm going to miss CCleaner alot; I think its a great program.

But I proved it to myself with flawless logic...i ran the ccleaner,it corrupted the file that identifies one's library down from about 10,000 to 12 songs, I uninstalled iTunes,reinstalled it, added about 50 songs/abums,ran ccleaner again,& it did it again!

 

And as I said,an internet Google search of "ccleaner.... itunes.....library ...deleted?" verifies this keeps happening to many?

 

ericjmz

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Guest Keatah

That's a pretty serious flaw in CCleaner if that happens.

 

Is this mac or pc? And where was the "iTunes Library.itl" file located? What path?

 

What o/s? What version of ccleaner? What version of iTunes?

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Guest Keatah

I'm setting up my sandbox computer with ccleaner 4 and itunes 11 and perhaps 500 songs. Then I can play with this and see what happens.

 

 

@Winapp2 Are you sure about there being no itunes references in winapp2.ini?

 

 

[Apple Installer Cache*]

LangSecRef=3023

Detect=HKCU\Software\Apple Computer, Inc.

Default=False

Warning=You have to reinstall iTunes after adding a new windows user account.

FileKey1=%CommonAppData%\Apple Computer\Installer Cache\*|*.*

FileKey2=%CommonAppData%\Apple\Installer Cache\*|*.*

 

 

[iTunes Album Artwork Cache*]

LangSecRef=3023

Detect=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Apple Computer, Inc.\iTunes

Default=False

FileKey1=%Music%\iTunes\Album Artwork\Cache|*.*|RECURSE

 

[iTunes Cache*]

LangSecRef=3023

Detect=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Apple Computer, Inc.\iTunes

Default=False

FileKey1=%LocalAppData%\Apple Computer\iTunes|Cache.db

 

[iTunes Logs*]

LangSecRef=3023

Detect=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Apple Computer, Inc.\iTunes

Default=False

FileKey1=%AppData%\Apple Computer\Logs|*.crash;*.log|RECURSE

FileKey2=%WinDir%\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\Logs|*.log|RECURSE

FileKey3=%WinDir%\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\Logs|*.log|RECURSE

 

[iTunes Previous Libraries*]

LangSecRef=3023

Detect=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Apple Computer, Inc.\iTunes

Default=False

FileKey1=%Music%\iTunes\Previous iTunes Libraries|*.*|RECURSE

 

[iTunes Temp Files*]

LangSecRef=3023

Detect=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Apple Computer, Inc.\iTunes

Default=False

FileKey1=%Music%\iTunes|*.tmp|RECURSE

 

And then there is this legacy winapp2.ini entry which is no longer present, but which had directly killed the iTunes Library.ITL and iTunes Music Library.XML

 

[iTunes Library & Playlist*]

LangSecRef=3023

DetectFile=%ProgramFiles%\iTunes\iTunes.exe

Default=False

FileKey1=%Music%\iTunes|iTunes Music Library.xml

FileKey2=%Music%\iTunes|iTunes Library.itl

 

I'm still trying to imagine why someone would have done that? Out of stupidity or innocent ignorance in trying to free up a few kilobytes of disk space. Either way they had not considered it could blast a library or ruin years worth of collecting music. And they apparently hadn't tested anything.

 

I'm still upset that I had to drive clear across town to get an offsite backup, because of someone else's "unchecked enthusiasm". WTF?

 

Anyhow, since I am a regular iTunes user and CCleaner user I'm going to run both programs from C drive, while having the iTunes Library.ITL file on D: drive, and perhaps other combos.

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in re :- (to Keatah)

That's a pretty serious flaw in CCleaner if that happens.

If = yes; twice in 2 days; 'nonce' since I removed ccleaner

 

Is this mac or pc?

PC

 

And where was the "iTunes Library.itl" file located? What path?

I can & will answer this when I get home from work tomorrow (24-hour in-house call)...but it was the default location itunes choose with the itunes (latest version,11 I think)... it'll be on the default 'c' drive; so itunes = default location on 'c' drive; music itself in a self-designated folder on 'd' drive

 

What o/s?

WIn7 64-bit Home -professional

 

What version of ccleaner?

latest download

 

What version of iTunes?

latest download (11I think)

 

to 'Winapp2.ini'

'Vanilla CCleaner doesn't touch iTunes as far as I am aware'

actually (believe me when I say unfortunately) it does; that's exactly what I've written about; and I'm not the 1st (as I referenced in my commentary)

 

to Andavari:

I appreciate learning the option of protection I really do.

personally I think ccleaner should be made to not remove itunes files; isn't that a do-able thing rather than have people indivdually have to remember to protect against that? You know by defualt the installation check is to run ccleaner on installation; what if someone does that after an update before 'self-protecting' by having to choose that option?

I mean what if it chooses to delete other unecessary itunes files?; what if one updates to a new ccleaner and forgets to re-create that option,and on 1st run deletes/corrupts the necessary itunes library files?

 

As angry & frustrated as I am having to go thru an entire library recreation (not to mention the time it took to discover this obscure ccleaner causality) what if it had been some program more important to one's life than itunes?

 

I just think (call me ignorant or innocent,I humbly submit to both descriptions) that this is a glaring,glaring flaw,that so so many know of it,that the flaw has evidently been complained about for awhile (even if new to tsome on this particular forum) and can be easily fixed by the company...am I missing something here?

 

A program should not make choices to delete itunes files; is it not that simple?

 

to Keatah again:-

I do not know enough computer-eze to understand what you wrote on your 2nd post; are you verifying what I've posted...or something else?

I sure hope...for your sake...you didn't mimic my experience and screw-the-pooch!

 

thank you to all.

 

eric

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Have you used any registry cleaning Tool, either the CCleaner registry section or some other third party or Microsoft "PC performance Booster" ?

 

It occurs to me that iTunes may still have some DRM protection in force on your system,

and perhaps it only needs the removal of one registry key for drastic penalties to be imposed.

 

Its written about all over the internet...if you do a Google serach for "ccleaner.... itunes.....library ...deleted?".postings of such are years old

Actually the ONLY result is less than 1 day old - it points to your posting here.

 

If I remove the enclosing quotes then Google gives

About 117,000 results (0.34 seconds)

and life is too short to scan through results that match only 2 or 3 of the words

 

If I remove the enclosing quotes and use special search terms that require all 4 words to appear I get "about 4,630 results" such as

 

CCleaner - Version History

 

www.piriform.com/ccleaner/version-history - View by Ixquick Proxy - Highlight

Added option to only clean Recycle Bin files deleted more than 24 hours ago. - Improved Firefox History .... Added iTunes cookie management. ... New CCleaner 64-bit native EXE. - New UI ..... Added Type Library cleaning to Registry Cleaner.

which obviously is NOT referring to the deletion of iTunes library.

 

in fact if you go to this very site its been described in 2011 (!) ...and yet with only one disbelieving reply,no fix,and no other commentary.

Please give a link to "this very site".

 

I am surprised that others have suffered this problem and sought answers without coming here.

You have done well to come here.

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Guest Keatah

in re :- (to Keatah)

That's a pretty serious flaw in CCleaner if that happens.

If = yes; twice in 2 days; 'nonce' since I removed ccleaner

 

Is this mac or pc?

PC

 

And where was the "iTunes Library.itl" file located? What path?

I can & will answer this when I get home from work tomorrow (24-hour in-house call)...but it was the default location itunes choose with the itunes (latest version,11 I think)... it'll be on the default 'c' drive; so itunes = default location on 'c' drive; music itself in a self-designated folder on 'd' drive

 

What o/s?

WIn7 64-bit Home -professional

 

What version of ccleaner?

latest download

 

What version of iTunes?

latest download (11I think)

 

to 'Winapp2.ini'

'Vanilla CCleaner doesn't touch iTunes as far as I am aware'

actually (believe me when I say unfortunately) it does; that's exactly what I've written about; and I'm not the 1st (as I referenced in my commentary)

 

to Andavari:

I appreciate learning the option of protection I really do.

personally I think ccleaner should be made to not remove itunes files; isn't that a do-able thing rather than have people indivdually have to remember to protect against that? You know by defualt the installation check is to run ccleaner on installation; what if someone does that after an update before 'self-protecting' by having to choose that option?

I mean what if it chooses to delete other unecessary itunes files?; what if one updates to a new ccleaner and forgets to re-create that option,and on 1st run deletes/corrupts the necessary itunes library files?

 

As angry & frustrated as I am having to go thru an entire library recreation (not to mention the time it took to discover this obscure ccleaner causality) what if it had been some program more important to one's life than itunes?

 

I just think (call me ignorant or innocent,I humbly submit to both descriptions) that this is a glaring,glaring flaw,that so so many know of it,that the flaw has evidently been complained about for awhile (even if new to tsome on this particular forum) and can be easily fixed by the company...am I missing something here?

 

A program should not make choices to delete itunes files; is it not that simple?

 

to Keatah again:-

I do not know enough computer-eze to understand what you wrote on your 2nd post; are you verifying what I've posted...or something else?

I sure hope...for your sake...you didn't mimic my experience and screw-the-pooch!

 

thank you to all.

 

eric

 

No, that was something from a long time ago.

 

I am not able to duplicate this failure as you describe. So I shall sit back and watch the thread progress.

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  • Moderators

If the damage is due to using a 3rd party INI file winapp2.ini either from this forum or elsewhere then Piriform isn't responsible for it since they don't endorse it's usage and have no involvement with it. The winapp2.ini file you see on this forum is made by regular users of the software not Piriform.

 

You can verify rather or not you use a winapp2.ini file by opening the folder where CCleaner is installed. If it exists you could then inspect it for any iTunes related items that could've damaged your music library.

 

what if one updates to a new ccleaner and forgets to re-create that option,and on 1st run deletes/corrupts the necessary itunes library files?

 

CCleaner won't forget your excluded items as long as you always upgrade to new versions of CCleaner by installing over a pre-existing version, this works with both the installation build, and even the portable build.

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  • Moderators

ccleaner as a base program doesn't even touch secondary drives (except drive wiper and maybe "file finder")

If you're iTunes library resides on a secondary drive then ccleaner may choose to delete/corrupt the file that identifies the songs in your library. Period.

And even though my secondary drive is an internal "D" drive that's exactly what ccleaner (in its latest downloadable form) choose to do.

 

ADVICE FOR USING CCleaner'S REGISTRY INTEGRITY SECTION

DON'T JUST CLEAN EVERYTHING THAT'S CHECKED OFF.

Do your Registry Cleaning in small bits (at the very least Check-mark by Check-mark)

ALWAYS BACKUP THE ENTRY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL BREAK IF YOU DON'T.

Support at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/?language=en_US

Pro users file a PRIORITY SUPPORT via email support@ccleaner.com

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to 'Winapp2.ini'

'Vanilla CCleaner doesn't touch iTunes as far as I am aware'

actually (believe me when I say unfortunately) it does; that's exactly what I've written about; and I'm not the 1st (as I referenced in my commentary)

 

 

Please find enclosed winsys.ini and winapp.ini, the two files that hold all the cleaning rules for CCleaner (these are current)

 

the string "itunes" does not appear in either

 

The phrase "apple" appears in


[Quicktime Player]
ID=2035
LangSecRef=3023
Detect=HKLM\Software\Apple Computer, Inc.\QuickTime
Default=True
RegKey1=HKLM\Software\Apple Computer, Inc.\QuickTime\Recent Movies
FileKey1=%userprofile%|QTPlayerSession.xml
FileKey2=%appdata%\Apple Computer\QuickTime|QTPlayerSession.xml
FileKey3=%localappdata%\Apple Computer\QuickTime|QTPlayerSession.xml

[Quicktime Player Cache]
ID=2036
LangSecRef=3023
Detect=HKLM\Software\Apple Computer, Inc.\QuickTime
Default=True
FileKey1=%localappdata%\Apple Computer\QuickTime\downloads|*.*|RECURSE
FileKey2=%locallowappdata%\Apple Computer\quicktime\downloads|*.*|RECURSE

[safari - Internet Cache]
ID=2009
LangSecRef=3028
LangRef=3161
Default=True
DetectFile=%ProgramFiles%\Safari\Safari.exe
FileKey1=%localappdata%\Apple Computer\Safari|Cache.db

[safari - Internet History]
ID=2010
LangSecRef=3028
LangRef=3162
Default=True
DetectFile=%ProgramFiles%\Safari\Safari.exe
FileKey1=%appdata%\Apple Computer\Safari|History.plist
FileKey2=%appdata%\Apple Computer\Safari|LastSession.plist
FileKey3=%appdata%\Apple Computer\Safari|TopSites.plist
FileKey4=%appdata%\Apple Computer\Safari|Downloads.plist
FileKey5=%localappdata%\Apple Computer\Safari\History|*.*
FileKey6=%localappdata%\Apple Computer\Safari\Webpage Previews|*.*|RECURSE
SpecialKey1=N_SAFARI_HISTORY

[safari - Cookies]
ID=2011
LangSecRef=3028
LangRef=3102
Default=True
DetectFile=%ProgramFiles%\Safari\Safari.exe
SpecialKey1=N_SAFARI_COOKIES

[safari - Saved Form Information]
ID=2012
LangSecRef=3028
LangRef=3164
Default=False
DetectFile=%ProgramFiles%\Safari\Safari.exe
FileKey1=%appdata%\Apple Computer\Safari|Form Values.plist

[safari - Saved Passwords]
ID=2183
LangSecRef=3028
LangRef=3109
WarningRef=3202
SpecialDetect=DET_SAFARI_PASSWORD
SpecialKey1=N_SAFARI_PASSWORD

I am inclined to say that vanilla ccleaner does not interact at all with iTunes.

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  • Moderators

i can also confirm CC has never interfered with my iTunes library.

and like the OP, I have my library on a secondary drive, as the first is the SSD.

 

and by the lack of other users not reporting an issue on this forum, I think it save to assume the problem is isolated, not that that helps the OP, we just need to find this needle for this particular haystack.

Backup now & backup often.
It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.
Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last.

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If you're iTunes library resides on a secondary drive then ccleaner may choose to delete/corrupt the file that identifies the songs in your library. Period.

 

It also seems to me the fix would be incredibly simple...for ccleaner to just NOT delete itunes labeled or itunes created files....wouldn't that be simple?

 

But I proved it to myself with flawless logic...i ran the ccleaner,it corrupted the file that identifies one's library down from about 10,000 to 12 songs

What is this "file that identifies ..." ?

Can you state the name and path of this file ?

Could it be a registry key that is damaged ?

 

Are you complaining that the songs may still be present but something like a PlayList is missing ?

 

I do not understand the relevance of "to just NOT delete itunes labeled or itunes created files".

Are you complaining that many thousands of songs were deleted and the Free space increased by many GBytes ?

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Guest Keatah

The file in question would be iTunes Library.itl

This file contains a list of all the playlists and songs and various misc data about them. It is the master table of contents for iTunes. Kill this file, kill your library.

 

This is typically stored in the My Music folder of My Documents.

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So would it be reasonable that with iTunes restored,

for ericjmzto launch CCleaner and Analyze - BUT NOT RUN CLEANER

and then right click on the Analysis results and save to text a log file

and then search the log file for iTunes Library.itl

 

If this file is part of the Analysis results then the path on which it is found will give a clue,

and by unchecking the checkboxes and repeating the Analysis the specific checkbox can be identified.

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Guest Keatah

Probably, yeh. In fact if you hold down SHIFT while clicking on the iTunes icon you have the option to point iTunes to an existing library, the file itself.

 

There might be other registry entries or other files elsewhere. I know there are. But this is the #1 source of problems with iTunes, missing this file. If this file isn't being touched by CCleaner and corruption is continuing. I'll want to look at the log and we'll look at the other files. But let's start here.

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Ericjmz

same thing happened to me with itunes after running cc

Took ages to figure it out but after having to restore itunes for the third time in as many days realised it was cc cleaner that was causing the problem.

Restored Itunes again from scratch and then ran cc cleaner again to prove it and sure enough it had been wiped again.

Unfortunately I found restoring itunes Library.itl doesn't work and even an exported library.xml wont restore your library properly from some reason after this. :( .

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Ericjmz

same thing happened to me with itunes after running cc

Took ages to figure it out but after having to restore itunes for the third time in as many days realised it was cc cleaner that was causing the problem.

Restored Itunes again from scratch and then ran cc cleaner again to prove it and sure enough it had been wiped again.

Unfortunately I found restoring itunes Library.itl doesn't work and even an exported library.xml wont restore your library properly from some reason after this. :( .

But did you use (Duplicate) File Finder, Winapp2.ini-file or Registry cleaner section?

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unless you've added something to ccleaner, this is not ccleaner's doing, it is impossible for ccleaner's cleaning section to clean outside the rules files that were linked by @Winapp2.ini.

THE ONLY EXCEPTIONS BEING

  1. the use of includes which cover that file
  2. the use of a winapp2.ini file (different from the person above)
  3. the changing of environmental variables in a convoluted way which makes the location covered suddenly equal a cleaned area (unlikely as it would mean you changed for example %temp% to d:\itunes\ )

 

ADVICE FOR USING CCleaner'S REGISTRY INTEGRITY SECTION

DON'T JUST CLEAN EVERYTHING THAT'S CHECKED OFF.

Do your Registry Cleaning in small bits (at the very least Check-mark by Check-mark)

ALWAYS BACKUP THE ENTRY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL BREAK IF YOU DON'T.

Support at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/?language=en_US

Pro users file a PRIORITY SUPPORT via email support@ccleaner.com

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Guest Keatah

I agree with Nergal here. Either that, or if iTunes is being installed differently (somehow) than it normally should be. I've also tried breaking my iTunes install via standard ccleaner install. No luck until I start adding in pathways and directories and files to be killed.

 

I suggest the next step is to see logs of files and registry settings that are getting changed. Clearly my first suspect of iTunes Library.itl was not the issue, and I don't feel like making any more guesses. Let's see some logs.

 

I found this little utility, if you're so inclined to get into looking at system changes, -- http://regshot.sourceforge.net/ -- It's basically a before and after snapshot/spy thing. It looks to see what changes have occurred to registry and filesystem. It's 100% freeware and doesn't require an install. It doesn't make changes to you computer.

 

 

 

From the ReadMe.txt:

 

Readme file of Regshot 1.9.0 (2013-02-02)

 

-----------------

Introduction:

-----------------

Regshot is a small, free and open-source registry compare utility that allows you to quickly

take a snapshot of your registry and then compare it with a second one - done after doing

system changes or installing a new software product. The changes report can be produced in

text or HTML format and contains a list of all modifications that have taken place between

the two snapshots. In addition, you can also specify folders (with subfolders) to be

scanned for changes as well.

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Guest Keatah

I ran it and took a baseline snapshot.

 

Then I ran CCleaner and had it delete 1 registry key for demo here.

I also deleted a directory containing several files for a Spaceflight Simulator application.

 

Then I took the 2nd snapshot. And here is the output showing changes to the system. This is displayed when you hit the compare button. Using a tool like this will help you narrow down the file or registry entry causing the problem.

 

Created with Regshot 1.9.0 x86 Unicode

Comments:

Datetime: 2013/4/19 18:56:08 , 2013/4/19 18:56:36

Computer: XXXXXXXXXXX , XXXXXXXXXXX

Username: XXXXXXXXXXX , XXXXXXXXXXX

Keys deleted: 1

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\.dgr

Values deleted: 1

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\.dgr\: "Viewer"

Files deleted: 6

C:\Program Files\1_Orbiter_2010\Heightmaps\earth-lv11-425-97-5-4.hei

C:\Program Files\1_Orbiter_2010\Heightmaps\earth-lv13-429-340-9-8.hei

C:\Program Files\1_Orbiter_2010\Heightmaps\earth-lv8.hei

C:\Program Files\1_Orbiter_2010\Heightmaps\flat.bmp

C:\Program Files\1_Orbiter_2010\Heightmaps\mars-lv8.hei

C:\Program Files\1_Orbiter_2010\Heightmaps\moon-lv8.hei

Folders deleted: 3

C:\Program Files\1_Orbiter_2010\Heightmaps

C:\Program Files\1_Orbiter_2010\Heightmaps\nlsbuf

C:\Program Files\1_Orbiter_2010\Heightmaps\srtmbuf

Total changes: 11

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But did you use (Duplicate) File Finder, Winapp2.ini-file or Registry cleaner section?

Haven't used any of the above and haven't changed any settings from the default.I have been using cc for a long time and never had a problem till now, if i get a chance i will revert to a previous version and test again.

 

Problem only started after upgrading from ver.3.28.1913 to 4.00.4064 at end of March

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