Version 3 of CCleaner has arrived on the market, making it easier than ever to keep your registry in order and your hard drives clean as a whistle. This software has been doing the rounds for many years with only minor alterations made, but with this significant update it is worth looking again to see how this freeware program can help computer users the world over.
First let us get a handle on the new tools which have been included in the updated CCleaner. Firstly there is a convenient service that allows you to completely erase the contents of an entire hard drive. If you do not want to completely purge the disk you can ask the software to clean up the remaining free space on any hard drive. Opting for complete deletion of all data on a hard drive will give you four security settings so that you can adjust the thoroughness of the process. The basic one pass option will simply overwrite the data and allow you to start from scratch, but at the top end a 35 pass setting will give you complete security and the knowledge that it will be virtually impossible to retrieve any of the previously stored data one the process is complete. Be aware that opting for more secure deletion will extend the amount of time it takes.
The developer has added a wealth of extra customisable settings to the software which were previously unavailable, breathing new life into the existing CCleaner tools. For example it is now possible to choose individual internet cookies to retain from within the different web browsers which you may have installed on your PC. This means those sites which you trust can leave their cookies in tact while the other potentially hazardous detritus is swept away.
The user interface of CCleaner 3 will be similar to that which has been seen before, although there has been a little touching up of the icons so that they are easier to see. Under the skin the process of scanning for obsolete or incorrect registry entries has been streamlined further and if you have a 64 bit operating system there is a bespoke installer program to make the process run smoothly and ensure that your particular 64 bit environment is accounted for during scans and operations.
A whole host of new programs are now fully compatible with the CCleaner software, from the latest AVG 2011 to torrent download clients such as Vuze and BitTorrent. If you have not encountered CCleaner in the past there are several key features that are worthy of note. Firstly its ability to scan the registry for obsolete entries is accompanied by various other clean-up capabilities, including recycle bin emptying, temporary file deletion and program uninstalling.
Enhancements to the scanning time are slight but definitely noticeable, particularly if you are running an ageing computer where the tweaks will be most noticeable. Given that this is completely free to download and use there is no real reason to leave CCleaner out of your most regularly used program line-up.