Olde Hornet
Well-Known Member
https://www.techspot.com/article/1677-ccleaner-alternatives/
You may recall last summer (two months after being acquired by Avast), it was disclosed that the tool had been infected with Floxif malware. Nevertheless, to be fair, this has happened to many other developers, big and small. On the other hand, users had long been complaining about bundled software and popup ads appearing in the utility. Most recently, just last month, the company was forced to pull the latest update following an outcry over privacy issues and obscure tactics to keep the utility running in the background.
But does that make CCleaner a bad application that should be frowned upon?
Developer Piriform retracted CCleaner's last update due to the controversy, so if you are running v5.44 of the software, now listed as the most recent version on the developer's site and TechSpot's download section, the above should be a non-issue. The developer is also promising more transparency in the next release of CCleaner, so you have better control over data and what the utility is gathering.
With that said, if you have been looking for a new junk file cleaner / all-in-one Windows optimizer, we've tested the best alternatives we could find...
CCleaner Alternatives We Tested
Before we get to the alternatives, it's worth noting that there's always the mindset that any junk file scanner is redundant with Windows' built-in Disk Cleanup tool along with the ability to manually delete unwanted data, but in our experience CCleaner-style programs make it easier to perform a system-wide file cleanup and they can be useful for freeing up storage on low capacity SSDs, for instance, where a few extra gigs can make or break the performance of your Windows installation.
Likewise, although CCleaner-esque utilities commonly have extra tools besides a file cleaner, such as the ability to manage your startup applications or uninstall software from Windows, these features are already well covered by the operating system and will be given minimal regard throughout our picks.
You may recall last summer (two months after being acquired by Avast), it was disclosed that the tool had been infected with Floxif malware. Nevertheless, to be fair, this has happened to many other developers, big and small. On the other hand, users had long been complaining about bundled software and popup ads appearing in the utility. Most recently, just last month, the company was forced to pull the latest update following an outcry over privacy issues and obscure tactics to keep the utility running in the background.
But does that make CCleaner a bad application that should be frowned upon?
Developer Piriform retracted CCleaner's last update due to the controversy, so if you are running v5.44 of the software, now listed as the most recent version on the developer's site and TechSpot's download section, the above should be a non-issue. The developer is also promising more transparency in the next release of CCleaner, so you have better control over data and what the utility is gathering.
With that said, if you have been looking for a new junk file cleaner / all-in-one Windows optimizer, we've tested the best alternatives we could find...
CCleaner Alternatives We Tested
Before we get to the alternatives, it's worth noting that there's always the mindset that any junk file scanner is redundant with Windows' built-in Disk Cleanup tool along with the ability to manually delete unwanted data, but in our experience CCleaner-style programs make it easier to perform a system-wide file cleanup and they can be useful for freeing up storage on low capacity SSDs, for instance, where a few extra gigs can make or break the performance of your Windows installation.
Likewise, although CCleaner-esque utilities commonly have extra tools besides a file cleaner, such as the ability to manage your startup applications or uninstall software from Windows, these features are already well covered by the operating system and will be given minimal regard throughout our picks.