Best and safest way to Clean My Files

Ccleaner removes a lot of things, mainly temp and log files. The temp locations is 1 of the many locations where malware can reside, removing it gets rid of a part of the malware.

The original question was what the safest and best cleaner is, I find Ccleaner to be worthy in that list.

axe0 said:

Ccleaner removes a lot of things, mainly temp and log files. The temp locations is 1 of the many locations where malware can reside, removing it gets rid of a part of the malware.

The original question was what the safest and best cleaner is, I find Ccleaner to be worthy in that list.

You do, I don't. Not everyone has the same opinion. A cleaner should not remove part of a Browser Start page especially when Firefox was not ticked. You can use what you please I will stick with Ccleaner 5.40.6411 as it works just fine.

@RonBin79

If you are talking about windows temp and old support files for windows processes, (updates etc) then Windows Disk Cleanup, with the system files option ticked for a deep clean, is what I would recommend, CCleaner and Wise Disk Cleaner will also do a good job, the best job does need a little system knowledge so by all means take a look at these applications and ask specific questions for anything you do not fully understand.

If you are talking about your own content, stuff you have created yourself, there is only one cleaner that can do the job - That is you.

You can set the file explorer to order files by date and go to your Documents/Pictures/Videos/Music/Downloads folder and scroll though the oldest files and the delete button to delete anything you know you do not need. these days I would set the view to Extra Large Thumbnail, as most data files have an intrinsic thumbnail which allows you to see the contents which makes deciding easier.

What I would do is get hold of a suitable USB storage device and create a backup of the current complete set of data files ( that means you are safe if you change your mind)*

Create a folder on the desktop called Delete - If the need to reduce the used space is urgent, you can create a shortcut on the desktop to a folder on an external USB device*.

Now for each user files area as noted above and any extras that you have made ... ...

Open the file manager and size it to allow you to see the files in Extra Large Thumbnail View and the folder, (or Shortcut), on the desktop, and Move files to the Delete Folder, (or shortcut), as appropriate, (Shift+Drag is quickest if you are using an external or different drive) - you can then either simply delete the files in the delete folder or keep then until you are certain you will never need them


----------

*if you go with the external device then you need not actually delete the files straight away or have made a backup, as the files moved for deletion make their own backup, you can in this case revisit the USB device at a later date and recover or delete files forever.

davehc said:

Not altogether. The thread title implied only that, but out of context with his post, where he amplified a little. He asked in connection with his old files
"I have a lot of old and unwanted files on my comp and would be grateful if anyone could advise me which is the safest and best cleaner for a novice (Me) to use. "Anyway, Tomcat seems to be on to it 100%

I'll refrain from posting anything like this post after this post.

I understand what the original question was, although I was only able to read the thread title at the time I wrote the post, I believe Ccleaner is perfectly capable of doing what the OP would like to achieve, a system that is a little cleaned up of old/unused files.
Of course, there are many programs and many ways to achieve this, and in my personal opinion Ccleaner is pretty good at what it is designed to do, maybe not the best. Maybe it has some bugs, but with the range of locations Ccleaner scans I wouldn't expect it to always be bug free, I and many others know how annoying a filesystem feature can be to get bug free.

I need to interject a comment here I think is important. I've worked with Ron (OP) on a couple other threads, different issues. His thread title here:

Best and safest Cleaner


may be slightly misleading. In his successful endeavor to set up a backup system for himself and get a backup done, we discovered the used portion of his boot drive (C:) was 216GB+. That, obviously, is about 10x the average OS size.

The thread title perhaps could have been worded as:

Best and safest way to Clean My Files


Or something akin. That would not have implied a piece of software, Windows or 3rd party, but a method for reducing/eliminating unwanted/unneeded data, system and user.

All the cleaner software in the world will not eliminate the need for a hands-on look-see at what's on the machine.....with human input and decision making as to what stays and what goes. That was posted earlier by another member, and holds true.

This is why I left the OP (Ron) with a reminder for this morning. He's planning on having a local shop replace his aged HDD with an SSD in mid August and transfer his data. Hence, his desire to "clean up" first.

Best and safest Cleaner - Windows 10 Forums