How to clean all the junk out of my Windows PC (autorun'ing apps, registry errors, temp files, etc.) [closed]

Question

I frequently encounter customers who have an old PC and they're thinking about getting a new one because there's so much garbage on the current one. I hate to see all those computers going into a landfill.

I'm looking for a good comprehensive summary/process for cleaning up the computer. But I also want to make the process as simple as possible. The lower the required skills, the more people that will be able to do it.

It need not be freeware. I think it's worth $50 or so if it's super easy to use.

Options I'm considering:

• CC Cleaner

• Autoruns (this might require a bit of instruction for them)

• Running the command line Windows Cleanup

Any other suggestions?

Answer 1

Autoruns is beyond the ability of the average user. The power contained in that app makes it too dangerous for anybody who is not aware of system functions.

CCleaner is pretty good, but people should know what the various cleaning options refer to. If they're used to using MRU and jump lists, and they run CCleaner with the wrong settings, they may get rather upset over something that doesn't have much impact on system performance.

One option with CCleaner is to set the options how you prefer, then enter the command to run it hidden in a one-line batch file, and package the while thing using iexpress into an executable that'll run the batch file on extraction. This will make a single executable that'll run the embedded batch file and CCleaner executable using the settings you've set without any interaction on their part, minimizing possible issues.

I'd recommend the windows disk cleanup utility for recommendation to users. It pretty clearly explains what it is doing and can do a decent and safe job of cleanup.

If you want to take a spin running Autoruns or CCleaner on their systems once in a while to get them back up to peak performance, that is what I prefer to do, rather than handing end users the tools of their own destruction.