Recommended tools to clean up your computer

Khalil

Khalil

American Airlines
Jan 6, 2012
373
1
0
Europe
Hey guys,

I am just starting to get clean up my computer again because I installed a lot of crap the last few month.
And a lot of downloads are still waiting in folders like "Stuff 01", "Stuff 06" to get sorted. However it's a mess!

What are you using for cleaning up your computer?

So far, I can recommend those tools to find crap data:

Updated List:

- CCleaner
- ToniArts EasyCleaner
- Advanced SystemCare 5
- Spybot - Search & Destroy

Any experience in "cleaning tools" is appreciated!
 
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Every few months I'll go into the Windows Program uninstaller and remove stuff I haven't used or don't need anymore.

Then I run Spybot (update first). There is a setting to "run once on bootup", this sets spybot to run prior to any non-windows software from running. This is the most effective.

Then I run CCleaner

After that, shit is like a new car.
 
Yo, thanks for your replies. I'll check those tools and update my recommended list.

ShadowCaster said:
Darik's Boot And Nuke
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What is it you are talking about? DBAN is used to wipe your harddrive.
That's means that all data will be overwritten several times. I'm not looking for wiping and reinstalling everything.

Wiping does not protect from spy- and malware. (Well indirectly it does because everything's lost after wiping)

//Edit: Same for NSA wipe I think!
 
Khalil said:
What is it you are talking about? DBAN is used to wipe your harddrive.
That's means that all data will be overwritten several times. I'm not looking for wiping and reinstalling everything.
Click to expand...

Well, you said that you need to

Khalil said:
...
clean up my computer again because I installed a lot of crap the last few month
...
Click to expand...

and nothing cleans better than wiping the harddrive and doing a fresh install.
 
Alright I hear you. Sorry for being unclear. So put everthing that works in this thread...
Doesn't matter if it's about "cleaning everything" or "cleaning a running system"...
 
I used to use CCleaner quite regularly, but the last time it fucked up my program associations so badly it eventually became a contributing factor in choosing to do a reformat, which is really the best choice if you want to clean your system.

The time it takes to run scans and cleanups and defragging shouldn't be disregarded as it's still a lengthy process and doesn't do as good a job and can potentially cause other problems. A reformat and re installation of everything on your box shouldn't take more than a day if you've got your data stored on different drives from that of your system (C), which everyone should be doing anyway.
 
Ghost your base OS with apps...etc, then re-image when your system gets slow. Keep you data on external drive and back that one on another.

When you install so much crap on Windows, you can't go back using crapware.
 
Fatbat said:
I used to use CCleaner quite regularly, but the last time it fucked up my program associations so badly it eventually became a contributing factor in choosing to do a reformat, which is really the best choice if you want to clean your system.

The time it takes to run scans and cleanups and defragging shouldn't be disregarded as it's still a lengthy process and doesn't do as good a job and can potentially cause other problems. A reformat and re installation of everything on your box shouldn't take more than a day if you've got your data stored on different drives from that of your system (C), which everyone should be doing anyway.
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When you have a encrypted system (lor example TrueCrypt), then it could take up to several hours (depends on the size and speed of your harddrive) to just encrypt it. So it's going to be an annoying process to reinstall everything.

seohug said:
Ghost your base OS with apps...etc, then re-image when your system gets slow. Keep you data on external drive and back that one on another.

When you install so much crap on Windows, you can't go back using crapware.
Click to expand...

Same problem here. You can't re-image fully encrypted system as far as I know.
 
Khalil said:
When you have a encrypted system (lor example TrueCrypt), then it could take up to several hours (depends on the size and speed of your harddrive) to just encrypt it. So it's going to be an annoying process to reinstall everything.



Same problem here. You can't re-image fully encrypted system as far as I know.
Click to expand...

For things like this, it is usually 'annoying' and 'take up to several hours' to do it right the first time. Once you figure out what you're doing, it's simple.
 
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