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Improvements in interface and functionality


SMalik

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Note: We are collecting all forms of feedback on the CCleaner interface and user experience in this thread. Thanks - Stephen (Piriform)

 

CCleaner’s interface and functionality is outdated. I think you should eliminate LangSecRef’s 3022 = Internet, 3023 = Multimedia and 3024 = Utilities. You should add another tab for browsers between the current, Windows and Applications tabs. All Windows related things should go under Windows, all browsers should be under Browsers and all other applications under Applications.

If you don’t use the Winapp2.ini file in CCleaner, there is not much in the program. All known privacy cleaner programs wipe locked files and swap file on system reboot, but no such option in CCleaner. You should provide an option to wipe the Recycle Bin from the context menu and an option to add the context menu in File Explorer.

interface.png

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Agreed something else for all the web browsers would be nice.

However what's another tab going to also do to the already too small in my opinion Summary Results on the right-side - possibly make it smaller.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi, I have another proposal on how to improve the interface . After performing the cleaning action in Cleaning Complete window appears the same list of files which were selected to be deleted after analyze action. I'd like to see this list with icons in grayscale, not in color, to distinguish at glance that the cleaning operation was completed. Or, at least, please disable the Run Cleaner button after the clean action! :-) Thanks!

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Guest Stephen CCleaner

Hey guys,

We have long planned to update the interface with some major improvements. Big topics we are looking at are:

  1. Too little space is dedicated to the Analyze/Clean results, which is a really important part of the interface
  2. The cleaning rules are ever-present, but they are only needed some of the time
  3. Useful features are hidden too deep in the menus
  4. Cleaner rules could be grouped more clearly (e.g. System, Internet, Office)
  5. You should be able to save cleaning profiles for performing different types of clean (and we should have some defaults to get you started)
  6. We could be more proactive in suggesting actions that will improve your performance (files/folders that are taking up a lot of space, unused applications, old drivers)
  7. We break a lot of UI design conventions, leading to lots of undiscovered features in the interface (e.g. did you know you can right-click an individual cleaning rule to run only that one?) 
  8. The interface feels a little dated and aesthetically indistinct
  9. The interface is not built with accessibility in mind (e.g. not fun for those with visual impairments)

In the meantime, feel free to keep your suggestions for improving the interface coming!

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3 hours ago, Stephen Piriform said:

(e.g. did you know you can right-lick an individual cleaning rule to run only that one?)

I've always found that feature handy as right clicking will allow you to do a one off clean of an unselected rule, without having to select, run, deselect.

PS. I'm not sure about right-lick though, is this a new user control interface?

 

*** Out of Beer Error ->->-> Recovering Memory ***

Worried about 'Tracking Files'? Worried about why some files come back after cleaning? See this link:
https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/52668-tracking-files/?tab=comments#comment-300043

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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+1

Make it less prominent so less tempting for indiscriminate use.

*** Out of Beer Error ->->-> Recovering Memory ***

Worried about 'Tracking Files'? Worried about why some files come back after cleaning? See this link:
https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/52668-tracking-files/?tab=comments#comment-300043

 

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Guest Stephen CCleaner
On 2/16/2018 at 03:12, Andavari said:

Perhaps move the registry cleaner into the Tools section.

Yup, agree 100% on this. Registry cleaning no longer deserves pride of place in the nav menu as it is not needed by the vast majority of users.

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Guest Stephen CCleaner
On 2/23/2018 at 18:12, Andavari said:

Inspired by another topic "CCleaner Sloooow" and more in line with functionality and usability:
How about having Wipe Free Space automatically disable itself after it's ran, since it's easy to forget to disable it?

Sounds good. Can you explain in a few more words what your primary use case is for this? A 'user story' is a great format for expressing what's needed concisely and without ambiguity. For example:

  • As a user,
  • So that <I can accomplish X / I can avoid Y / my day isn't ruined by Z>
  • I want <a new feature/change>

You can write multiple stories to explain multiple desires.

E.g. below are two stories about a single feature that give insights into the raw utility of the feature but also the specific contexts and use cases a user may have:

 

Securely delete files from my PC's disk

  • As a privacy-conscious user,
  • So that I can be confident my system isn't sharing private information about me,
  • I want a feature that thoroughly erases the data I tell it to.

 

Wipe Free Space as a one-off task

  • As an occasional user of the Wipe Free Space feature,
  • So that I only irreversibly delete files when I want to,
  • I want an option to enable Wipe Free Space on a 'per clean' basis.
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On 7.1.2018 at 08:34, SMalik said:

 

CCleaner’s interface and functionality is outdated. I think you should eliminate LangSecRef’s 3022 = Internet, 3023 = Multimedia and 3024 = Utilities. You should add another tab for browsers between the current, Windows and Applications tabs. All Windows related things should go under Windows, all browsers should be under Browsers and all other applications under Applications.

If you don’t use the Winapp2.ini file in CCleaner, there is not much in the program. All known privacy cleaner programs wipe locked files and swap file on system reboot, but no such option in CCleaner. You should provide an option to wipe the Recycle Bin from the context menu and an option to add the context menu in File Explorer.

interface.png

and the color of the choosed tabs. not white with lightgrey. the choosed tab should be the same dark color as the choosed tabs on the left side. better for all eyes. clearly framed fields...

- cleaner -> tabs

- tools -> startup tabs

- tools -> browser plugins tabs

- tools -> duplicate finder -> include and exclude tabs

 

-

 

+ darker colored tick-boxes in all sections

Versions of CCleaner Cloud; Introduction Ccleaner Cloud;

Ccleaner-->System-Requirements; Ccleaner FAQ´s; Ccleaner builds; Scheduling Ccleaner Free

 

Es ist möglich, keine Fehler zu machen und dennoch zu verlieren. Das ist kein Zeichen von Schwäche. Das ist das Leben -> "Picard"

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22 hours ago, SMalik said:

Wipe Free Space should be removed from the Advanced tab.  The Drive Wiper option under Tools is sufficient.

That would probably 100% fix what I mentioned a few posts up located here. That's a definite way to make sure it isn't accidentally left enabled.

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How about an option in "Tools" between 'Disk Analyzer' and 'Duplicate Finder' to clean up useless and junk files by their extensions?

For Example: *.bak;*.chk;*.dmp;*.err;*.old;*.tmp

cc_tools.png

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I would have thought most of those extensions were already covered (but not sure).

be careful with the BAK extension, Office 2003 and 2007 (not sure with the more recent 365 versions) would break if that extension was cleaned from their program folders.

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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On 3/11/2018 at 17:42, mta said:

be careful with the BAK extension, Office 2003 and 2007 (not sure with the more recent 365 versions) would break

Yes the opa11.bak file. I've personally zipped a copy of it in place just in case I ever try a disk cleaning tool that doesn't know it should be whitelisted, because deleting it will make it necessary to perform an Office repair install.

Edit:
In Office 2007 (and maybe newer) it's: opa12.bak

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Don't know if your still taking suggestions, but it would be nice if you could remove the SSE2 requirement that was added in 5.27 (unless it was already removed) so that older laptops/desktops can run newer versions of CCleaner again.

I am a maintainer for Winapp2. I also have a open-source group on Steam.

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/opencommunity

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23 minutes ago, ROCKNROLL said:

Don't know if your still taking suggestions, but it would be nice if you could remove the SSE2 requirement that was added in 5.27 (unless it was already removed) so that older laptops/desktops can run newer versions of CCleaner again.

oh yes, this would be nice :-)

Versions of CCleaner Cloud; Introduction Ccleaner Cloud;

Ccleaner-->System-Requirements; Ccleaner FAQ´s; Ccleaner builds; Scheduling Ccleaner Free

 

Es ist möglich, keine Fehler zu machen und dennoch zu verlieren. Das ist kein Zeichen von Schwäche. Das ist das Leben -> "Picard"

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As far as accessibility goes, here's what I see wrong.

 

First of all, the tree view of options doesn't seem to read what's checked and unchecked anymore. It used to be the case that checking or unchecking an option caused it to be read the next time it was selected, but no longer. I don't know what sort of control is being used inside the tree view, but it doesn't seem to be a standard Windows control.

 

Second, the buttons for various options are read as buttons, and also don't indicate whether something is checked or not. Again, I don't know what sort of buttons these are, but they're definitely not standard check boxes.

 

These are the only glaring accessibility issues I've seen. The easiest way to fix them that I can think of would be to use standard controls.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 2/15/2018 at 12:43, Stephen Piriform said:

Still open to all feedback and ideas for improving CCleaner's interface.

It would be nice if you could add "secure file deletion" to Windows Context Menu (right click menu) which could be used on the selected files or folders.

Recently I lost a code card used for online banking. I ordered a new one and in some unlikely way I lost that one as well. Upon receiving the third code card I scanned in onto my computer and stored it inside my password manager where it should be securely encrypted. However, the original scanned file of the code card is still in the output folder of my scanner. In order to securely delete this file with CC-Cleaner I could move it to the trash can and right click and run CC-Cleaner. However, as the file is not on the same physical hard drive as my operating system, I'm not sure if the file will be securely deleted from its original folder when it's been moved first, or if it's just made invisible to the operating system in its original location, as if I had deleted it without using CC-Cleaner? Another option would be to open the CC-Cleaner interface, and go to "options" -> "include" -> "add" and browse to the file on the computer, and then run CC-Cleaner. This, however, is a long process.

So I hope you'll consider adding secure file deletion to Windows Context Menu :)

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1 hour ago, TSJD said:

It would be nice if you could add "secure file deletion" to Windows Context Menu (right click menu)

That's been asked about many times over the years. There are other standalone tools that work very well to do it in the meantime.

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1 hour ago, Andavari said:

That's been asked about many times over the years. There are other standalone tools that work very well to do it in the meantime.

Thanks for the info Andavari. I'm new to this forum, so I didn't know. I wonder why they haven't added this functionality, if it has been a recurring request over the years? It seems like something that would be simple to implement. Yes, indeed you are correct. I've searched around today and found other software which could integrate into Windows Context Menu, so I could delete my scan of the code card without first having to move the file to the trash can. I still think it would be nice to have this functionality added to CC-Cleaner though. Thanks!

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Guest Stephen CCleaner
On 4/9/2018 at 16:00, TSJD said:

Thanks for the info Andavari. I'm new to this forum, so I didn't know. I wonder why they haven't added this functionality, if it has been a recurring request over the years? It seems like something that would be simple to implement. Yes, indeed you are correct. I've searched around today and found other software which could integrate into Windows Context Menu, so I could delete my scan of the code card without first having to move the file to the trash can. I still think it would be nice to have this functionality added to CC-Cleaner though. Thanks!

We have been working on this internally but have trouble making it work correctly if you want to select multiple files and then perform this action on all of them (the technical reason is too complicated to summarise). Can I ask you and others on this board what your preference is between:

  1. Right-click context menu support for secure deletion 'soon', but only for single files at a time?
  2. Right-click context menu support for secure deletion 'much later', but for both single files and also multiple-files at a time?
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