I know some people would rather reinstall Windows than cleaning it, but as we always say, reinstalling is the ultimate solution. TweakVI, a very good program that we already told you about, can handle most system cleaning tasks, but unfortunately you have to get a paid version to do that, and its price is pretty high. Now, what about having a program for system cleaning that's also completely free? (if you want to pay, nothing stops you from donating to support its developers, of course!)

CCleaner is the short version of "Crap Cleaner", but I like to think about it as "Computer Cleaner", because sounds better. Anyway, the reality combines both these approaches, since CCleaner is a program that's going to clean all the crap from your computer.

At this time, the last version of this program is 1.38.485, released on the 7th of March. A quick overview of its features look really good, since CCleaner is capable of cleaning Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera tracks, as well as temporary files, history and of course, your registry. Oh! I nearly forgot to tell you that cleaning temp files and other tracks of many third party applications, such as Media Player, Google Toolbar, Nero or WinRAR is also possible!

Once you installed this program, you can start cleaning at once, since its interface is really easy to use, but you should be really careful with it, because the default cleaning settings can get you in trouble.

After running the program for the first time, you won't have any excuse not to remember the configuration of your computer, since the Windows version installed, CPU type, memory size and video adapter brand/GPU type are displayed in the upper area of the program window. Apart from it, there are four areas to explore - Cleaner, Issues, Tools and Options.

The Cleaner area has two subsections - Windows and Applications. The first one includes Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, System and Advanced cleaning options, while the other can handle tracks left by other applications, and the list of supported applications increases with each new version.

The Issues area takes care of your registry's integrity, as well as start menu and desktop shortcuts. Using it is very easy, but caution is advised with this kind of programs. Anyway, when performing registry changes, the program performs a backup of your registry keys, so nothing is lost.

Next, the Tools area allows you to view and edit startup programs, as well as to take advantage of the lightweight uninstaller built into CCleaner.

At last, the Options area is rich enough for everybody, without making beginners call a tech support line for assistance. One of the advanced features that I really like to see is the secure file deletion capability, especially since there are three shredding methods, including the NSA 7-pass deletion.

Now that you know all these, I am sure it's going to be easier for you to use this program and take advantage of all its tools, but there's one more thing to do until then, and that is to check the conclusions.

The Good

CCleaner is probably the best free system cleaning tool, and this says it all.

The Bad

Unfortunately, the documentation of this program is not as good as needed, especially when there's no offline Help content available. Extra attention is required when using it the first times, until you get to learn what's good to use and what's not.

Conclusion

As always, Windows Vista doesn't come with the ultimate cleaning tools built in, and if you want to be in control and keep your computer in top shape, CClean is a must have, despite its minor drawbacks.

Download CCleaner

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