CCleaner identity crisis

[Zytin]

If you download a new version for new install, not an update, CCleaner (Avast) has included Avast Anti Virus; and not notifying people and of course no way to decline. This happened in Dec. Version I think?

They have said that they have corrected this, though it hasn't been confirmed. I, and others, don't trust CCleaner anymore.

If you do get the splash screen ads you can create a firewall rule to block the program and the "ads" will stop; download notices should also stop. I don't want those either.

[pelham456]

i just did a fresh install, and it ASKED me "install avast?".

i unchecked it, and that was that. end of story.

installed just fine.

[zenthark]

Originally Posted by Zytin

If you download a new version for new install, not an update, CCleaner (Avast) has included Avast Anti Virus; and not notifying people and of course no way to decline. This happened in Dec. Version I think?

They have said that they have corrected this, though it hasn't been confirmed. I, and others, don't trust CCleaner anymore.

If you do get the splash screen ads you can create a firewall rule to block the program and the "ads" will stop; download notices should also stop. I don't want those either.

There's a program called Unchecky, that helps you avoid installing bundled software like this.

But, in any case, you should always prefer the slim version of Ccleaner, as it doesn't come with any additional offer.

http://ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds

[pelham456]

i don't even know how to do an "update in place" on this app anymore. for some years now, clicking on "check for update" sends u to filehippo, where u DL a setup.exe file.

i uninstall the old one, then install new one from scratch. so, yes, EVERY install nowadays is a "clean install".

have never installed avast with it, x/c by accident maybe once or twice. but it's right there, with an ovvious box to uncheck.

nothing surreptitious about it, IMHO. there are other apps which have driven me batty with bundled software -- google CHROME, anyone?! -- but not this one. just pay heed to that box, and you'll have no probs w CCleaner. even latest version(s).

[Zytin]

Originally Posted by pelham456

.....have never installed avast with it, x/c by accident maybe once or twice. but it's right there, with an ovvious box to uncheck.

nothing surreptitious about it, IMHO. .....

People have complained about Avast being installed without the option to not install it. They have also complained that simply uninstalling Avast antivirus does not remove all of the program. Something called Overseer is left behind and continues running as a hidden process. It takes a few steps to delete Overseer.

Also: In v5.45, the company made it impossible to disable "active monitoring", and the privacy settings had been removed for free customers. Additionally, Avast also made it impossible for users to quit the software.

Also: forced updates of older versions of CCleaner.

There have been plenty of complaints since Avast bought Piriform. Just do a Google search. I thought that is what this thread was about. I guess I misinterpreted the tread?


And for those that don't want to deal with the Avast crap: use a version before 5.37 from filehippo.

[Intershar1]

Several people mentioned alternatives to CCleaner. One such program was Bleachbit. I heard of it before, but never really bother to use because CCleaner was my weapon of choice. Before I ran Bleachbit, I checked my available free space (118GB). After cleaning up my system; I didn't regain any hard drive space, but lost some (115GB). Shouldn't it have went the other direction? I'd uninstall CCleaner from my computer, but I like the ability to clean up the context menu.

A lot of software collect and send data to the developers. My thing is this, just because an option is unchecked, does it really mean it's going to abide by it? What if its still sending data but not as frequent. If I'm not mistaken, Fiddler can be used to check outgoing connections. Some of them might be for updates or whatnot.

[Love Buzz]

CCleaner were sneaky and did update regardless of the option not to being picked. It came packaged with an updater exe which was running in the background. Since the new owners Avast are in the data collection/analysis game it's probably best to look for an alternative or use an old version which was still made by Piriform. I use an old version with updates off and it's fine.

[Zytin]

Well I'll report what happened when I installed Ccleaner version 5.36 (before the Avast crap version) on my computer:

Downloaded the old version from filehippo. The install asks if you want to automatically check for updates. I checked no; don't check for updates. After installing it all seemed fine. I checked the version number in the program; on the program screen it tells the version number. I checked all the settings, automatic updates not checked.

I ran the program; Cleaned my system. Version 5.36 before and after clean.

I opened the program again later just to check it. The first sign something was wrong was a popup ad! Before Avast there were never popup ads!!! Completely without any option or notice it had updated itself to version 5.44! Despite me telling it not to update I later found in the task scheduler it was set to automatically check for updates everyday!!! Completely disregarding my preferences!

I uninstalled the program. I physically disconnected from the internet; reinstalled the program and the went into the task scheduler and disabled the auto update and the went into my firewall and created rules blocking Ccleaner.

I tried Glary and Bleachbit and both are inferior to Ccleaner. But damn it Avast is not to be trusted! Every time they update I feel certain they are gathering info about usage and the pop up ads are annoying!

edit: it should be noted that v5.36 was a version when Avast owned Piriform but had not yet installed their crap in the program.

[Love Buzz]

According to a security tips forum on this issue, they found during their testing the last good version, that adheres to the consumer configuration without auto nonsense, is version 5.26.5937.

http://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/72800/

[pelham456]

Originally Posted by Zytin

Also: In v5.45, the company made it impossible to disable "active monitoring", ....

no they didn't; they just renamed it "smart cleaning".

i mentioned this already.