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5.46 Latest Version Unwanted and Problems


ArchAngle

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Yesterday I noticed that even though I had Firefox open when I used CCleaner it had "Skipped" all Firefox cleaning without prompting me to close the browser. Unusual and even though I had not changed the settings I checked anyway and the option for hiding warning messages was still unchecked and all my other settings similarly unchanged. But it was still doing it so I used a portable copy of the same version and that behaved 100% as it normally does with the prompt to shutdown Firefox if open.

BTW along with the Registry pre-cleaning backup prompt It is one of the few prompts with I actually find useful and not annoying.

So what was causing this change? Well I was using an older version of CCleaner 5.35.6210, for good reasons, and despite the fact it was still showing as that yesterday when I booted it this morning what do I find? I'll tell you what: it had been updated, against my express wishes in the settings to the latest version: 5.46.whatever. Obviously that was the problem.

Point is it wouldn't have been a problem if the bloody thing was working properly, it probably would have slipped under my radar. 

Apart from the fact it has ignored my setting in regards to updates, there shouldn't have been any check let alone a high-handed install without any warning. There is also this problem with Firefox indicating the unticked option to hide warning messages is not working for that and who knows what else? 

In trying to fix this I've had to do a full, deep uninstall of this unwanted CCleaner version completely and do a fresh install to get it back to what it was and all working perfectly.

But this has resulted in the deletion of all my saved cookies for the second time in 24hrs (couldn't take the risk one of the Piriform or AVAST cookies would prompt another update). That means I have about 50 websites I'm signed into (inc. this one) and at least a dozen used regularly I'm going to have to go through the signing in process all over again. More unwanted, unnecessary hassle.

Will this happen again? Will CCleaner now start ignoring user settings, update without permission and basically do what just what it likes to our systems no matter how unwanted and inconveniencing? 

 

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We have seen this issue with the 'Do you want to close....' message reported for the first time the other day.

I can confirm that the 'Do you want to close....' message no longer seems to be obeying the 'Hide warning message' setting. (It used to).
Once you have turned it off the only way to get it back is to 'Restore to default settings' (Options>Advanced) or to reinstall CCleaner.
Either of those will lose your custom settings, includes, excludes, cookies to keep, etc.

I'm not sure whether this is also affecting other warning messages, and don't want to play about too much.

Hopefully the devs have seen these threads and will correct it.

As for CCleaner updating itself despite your settings, this is the first report I've seen of that behaviour.

BUT - Do you have Avast AV installed?
All Avast AV's have a 'software updater' that will update other applications, CCleaner is now on the default list in that software updater.
So it may be Avast AV that has updated your CCleaner rather than CCleaner itself.

 

There is a way CCleaner can update itself despite your settings, but it is only supposed to be for 'emergency' use.
(Leaving the open question of what do Piriform/Avast consider an 'emergency').
If that method has been used in this case then we should soon see more reports/complaints.

 

*** 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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Thanks very much for the reply, helpful if not exactly comforting.

I definitely hadn't changed any of my settings prior to this although one thing I did do recently is extract my installed preferred CCleaner version 64 bit's EXE to create a portable version. Something I've been meaning to do for a long time after realising how easy it was after reading a post here:-

Is it possible that in running the portable version using my installed version copied EXE, which, of course, would have temporarily had the default settings selected, including checking for updates, that would have caused the update to the installed version? Without any warning though, that still seems odd. 

I do have AVAST but its program updater option is turned off/uninstalled like most of its other bloat. Automatic updaters of any sort I avoid like the plague. I'm very disciplined in my software updating habits, I want full control over such matters.That's why I get annoyed when those options are removed or ignored. About the only thing I do allow to automatically update is AVAST definitions.

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Hello!

I've got the same problem - CCleaner was updated yesterday from 5.35 to 5.46 without my permission / any notice.

My system is Win 8.1 with the latest updates. I'm using Avast as well, but don't have its Software Updater component installed.

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On 06/09/2018 at 22:38, nukecad said:

There is a way CCleaner can update itself despite your settings, but it is only supposed to be for 'emergency' use.
(Leaving the open question of what do Piriform/Avast consider an 'emergency').
If that method has been used in this case then we should soon see more reports/complaints.

Well I've now seen 3 reports of an unwanted update to 5.46 since ArchAngle first posted here.
2 on this thread and one in another post.

I've reinstalled 5.38 and turned off the update prompt, just to see what happens.
I'll also reboot my machine which should cause the emergency updater to kick in five minuites later, if it's going to.

EDIT-

After installing v5.38 the emergency updater was scheduled to run at system startup and at 07:32 and 19:32 daily.
I overrode that and ran it manually.
It did not update my installed CCleaner (v5.38).

Not conclusive and I'll keep an eye on it, but it does seem to indicate that it's not the CCleaner emergency updater at work here.

However I do know that since Wednesday Avast have been using their emergency updater to push a 'microfix' (their word) to their AV's.
As both reports here do have Avast AVs I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it?
You could check to see if your Avast AV got updated at the same time as CCleaner?

*** 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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Re: the emergency updater.

I do not know for sure about this but is this a CCleaner startup scheduled item? I have to ask because a long time ago I pared my startup tasks down to the minimum (ironically using CCleaner to do that initially) it may have been one of those items I disabled and later deleted.

In my installed version Settings, as described, I have everything related to updating, monitoring, telemetry gathering etc  turned off but, again, obviously when I first ran the extracted EXE portable version the default settings would have been used. Presumably that would have included the "emergency" updater too.

Maybe that is the explanation for the unwanted update, at least in my case.

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The emergency updater installs itself when you install, or update, the standard or slim versions of CCleaner.
So even if you remove it manually, it will come back when you install an update to CC.

You won't get it with the portable version as that does not have an installer.

Just running CCleaner.exe would not install the emergency updater, it's the CCleaner installer "ccsetup###.exe" or "ccsetup###_slim.exe" that does that.

A scheduled task is created to run it about 5 minutes after you boot, and twice daily at 12 hour intervals.
You won't see this task in CCleaner itself, you have to use the Windows task scheduler to see and remove it.
The installer also gives it access through your firewall by adding it your firewall rules. (At least it does with Windows firewall, I'm not sure about 3rd party firewalls).

A number of users have" C:\Program Files\CCleaner\CCupdate.exe" and "C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\CCleaner Update" as 'includes' in CCleaner itself, so the first run of CC after an update will remove it. It can't run if it's not there.

*** 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 hours ago, ArchAngle said:

Understood, thanks but that surely makes the reason for the unwanted CCleaner update I and apparently others have experienced even more mysterious.

It does, but I would still check if you got that Avast 'microfix' at the same time that CC got updated.

It's unlikely but that's about the only thing I can think of at the moment that might explain it.

*** 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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Ccleaner v5.40.6411 (64-bit) updated itself to a version I do not want and I uninstalled the updated version and went to file hippo to get it back v5.40.6411, the one I want.

When I clicked install I got Avast which I do not want and had to immediately uninstall that.  If there was a chance to say I did not want it I missed it.

Now I see something called smart or intelligent cookie scan is saving cookies I don’t want saved.  How do I turn that off?  Can’t find a setting for it.

Also I used Ccleaner settings to stop update notifications. Although it worked for years it seems to have failed to stop yesterdays update.  Although actually it didn’t notify me, it just did it without asking.  I also disabled monitoring in the startup tool and unchecked it in settings.

What else do I need to do to stop v5.40.6411 from updating?

Edit - I also found Ccleaner update in Windows scheduled tasks and deleted it.  Is there anything else?

Edited by mpw101
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check the Program Files folder for CC and delete/rename the updater executable.
and for good measure, create some firewall rules.

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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Deleted CC update exe.

Found two entries for Avast emergency update  and two entries for Ccleaner update (public and private connections) and deleted all four.  Earlier I forgot to mention that I had already found and deleted the scheduled task for Avast update.  They hung around after I deleted Avast and its folder.

Don't usually mess with the firewall but this seemed pretty straight forward.  Once I found the settings, which I did not know where to go right away.

Thank you for your help.

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Add me to the growing list. My CCleaner (the free version) auto updated itself from 5.43 to 5.46 this morning without any prompts or notifications. I never would have known if I didn't happen to notice the version change. I had update checking, monitoring, etc. disabled. I specifically wanted to stay on 5.43 due to all the fuss about the later versions. I bet it's happened to a lot of other people as well but unless you're paying close attention you probably won't notice.

FWIW I'm on Windows 10 Pro and do not have Avast installed so this must have happened via the so-called "emergency updater". 

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This seems to be a growing issue.

A statement from Piriform about whether or not they have been using the emergency updater would help work out just what's happening here.

Maybe one or more of the mods could reach out to them?

*** 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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18 minutes ago, nukecad said:

This seems to be a growing issue.

A statement from Piriform about whether or not they have been using the emergency updater would help work out just what's happening here.

Maybe one or more of the mods could reach out to them?

I've already asked earlier this morning.

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

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I joined this forum after reading about the "HeatBeat/phone home" issue. I read about other CCleaner issues (malware with installs, I believe last year). I said I had uninstalled CCleaner for now, but would check back here to see if Piriform/CCleaner/Avast had righted itself.

It hasn't, and now has a different issue: unwanted updates. CCleaner/Avast lost my trust and has lost its way. I see many are trying hard to keep CCleaner... I understand the intent. I really liked CCleaner, and trusted it.

But, the trust is gone, and so is the "old" CCleaner. I don't "have to" have CCleaner; it isn't worth the effort... and disappointment. I've moved on, and (regretfully) said goodbye to CCleaner (and Avast, by the way) - and now to the Piriform forum, as well.

Best of luck having Piriform/CCleaner/Avast cater to user's wants. I don't believe them... others may. I honestly hope your faith and loyalty pans out. It would be like a breath of fresh air.

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15 hours ago, Pamperlang said:

Add me to the growing list. My CCleaner (the free version) auto updated itself from 5.43 to 5.46 this morning without any prompts or notifications. I never would have known if I didn't happen to notice the version change. I had update checking, monitoring, etc. disabled. I specifically wanted to stay on 5.43 due to all the fuss about the later versions. I bet it's happened to a lot of other people as well but unless you're paying close attention you probably won't notice.

FWIW I'm on Windows 10 Pro and do not have Avast installed so this must have happened via the so-called "emergency updater". 

Ditto here too, exactly the same occurence and setup...  Using slim version, 5.46 has the 'sharing of information' checked, but nowhere do I see how to stop automatic updates.

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I am really pi%&$ed off. Yesterday a complete automatic update (3 pc´s) from an old version of Ccleaner. A process totally behind my back. (Well done guys, for this sneeky method) I absolutely do NOT appreciate this!

Now I have had it with Ccleaner. Does this company know about transparency and mentioning information on their site??

Goodbye forever!

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When CCleaner 5.45 was pulled, I went back to 5.44.  When 5.46 was released, I installed it on 9/1/18.  That's the install date that shows in my Windows 10 Program Files and had also been showing in a third-party uninstaller I use.  This morning, the uninstaller shows a CCleaner install date of 9/10/18 (yesterday), while the Program Files still show the 9/1/18 date.

I went into Program Files and sure enough, CCleaner changed something in the configuration settings file yesterday, which is why the uninstaller has a new install date for CCleaner.  This was done entirely behind the scenes, automatically, without my knowledge.

Everyone participating in this thread is owed an explanation.  Whether it's believed is another matter.

Edited by crizal
I just discovered that in Program Files, there is now a new Setup folder with today's date. What is going on?
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25 minutes ago, nikki605 said:

Every time I try to install v5.40 Slim, it automatically updates to v5.46.  I am so mad! How do I stop this unwanted update?

Does the slim version also install the so-called "emergency updater" task in the Task Scheduler? That would probably explain why.

I use MBAM and Kaspersky and therefore don't have Avast installed (or any other 3rd party software updaters), and I had all the settings related to update checking, monitoring etc. disabled in CCleaner, so it had to be the emergency updater task that updated my 5.43 (the standard free version) install to 5.46. I also run a very tight ship so there's is very little chance that it was auto-updated as a result of malware, especially since it is now clear that this is happening to others as well.

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I went back to 5.40 or something when the version that you couldn't change the settings on came out.   Since then I've had update unticked and CCleaner blocked in my firewall, but oddly yesterday it suddenly asked for permission through the firewall for the updater - I denied it again of course - but I thought it was odd.  I don't use Avast.  

It appears there is something a bit untoward going on with CCleaner.   

 

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