Remove temporary files with CCleaner

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Remove temporary files with CCleaner

In this tutorial: How to delete unneeded temporary files with CCleaner in Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7

Last modified: 2012-02-25 22:27:57 EET

If CCleaner is not already running, open Start Menu by clicking on Start button or pressing Windows Key on keyboard.
Window XP users should choose All Programs, find CCleaner folder and click CCleaner:
CCleaner in Windows XP Start menu, All Programs, CCleaner folder.

Windows Vista and 7 users should type "ccleaner" into Search box and click CCleaner in search results.
Windows 7, Start menu. To run CCleaner, type

As CCleaner needs administrative rights for cleaning temporary files and registry, User Account Control will pop up. Click Continue (Vista) or Yes (7).
Windows 7, User Account Control warning about CCleaner making changes. Click Yes.

CCleaner asks you about Intelligent Cookie Scan at first launch. The feature keeps your login details for common web services such as GMail, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail, if you are currently logged on to any of these. Click Yes (Recommended) here.
CCleaner, Intelligent Cookie Scan dialog. Click Yes (Recommended).

CCleaner has several sections by program types. You can right-click any section to use commands like Check all, Uncheck all, Analyze, Clean or Restore default state. For individual items, Analyze, Clean and Restore default state commands are available.
So if you want to, you can clean or analyze any single item or section available, or restore CCleaner default selections.
CCleaner, Section right-click menu.

Now that CCleaner is open, deselect Internet Explorer History, Recently Typed URLs, Index.dat files, Last Download Location and Autocomplete Form History. Click to select Saved Passwords. It is extremely important to clear browser cache from stored passwords, because any malware can steal the login details easily. Use Password Safe for safely storing and filling login information instead.
Please note that selecting Saved Passwords triggers a warning dialog. Click OK.
CCleaner, Warning about Saved Passwords. Click OK.

Under Windows Explorer, deselect all items. These are things you probably do not want to be removed, as they help you find previously used web addresses, commands and user names. Select these items only if you want to completely remove traces of your computer usage - for example, to clear Windows Search history (not Internet Explorer!), activate the Search Autocomplete option.
In Windows Vista or 7, you can select Thumbnail Cache if you recently deleted hundreds of photos or videos, otherwise Windows will just rebuild the same previews of the same photos and videos you already have on your computer.
For Windows 7, you can select Taskbar Jump Lists if you want to completely remove history for applications' Jump Lists.
If your computer is not connected to a local network (LAN) that uses Workgroups or Domain, select Network Passwords. These are stored user names and passwords that connect to remote printers and file shares. Without any file and printer sharing, there is no need to keep those credentials.

In System section, select all items except for Font Cache. These are temporary files generally not needed, plus items on Desktop and Start menu that are invalid (pointing to files or programs that do not exist anymore).
You should select the Font Cache option only after you've removed many fonts - the cache will be rebuilt anyway.

Below are Windows XP and Windows Vista/7 versions of CCleaner:
CCleaner, main Cleaner page for Windows XP. Under Internet Explorer clear History, Recently Typed URLs, Index.dat files, Last Download Location and Autocomplete Form History. Select Saved Passwords. Deselect all items under Windows Explorer, except the FTP Accounts. Select all items under System except for the Font Cache. CCleaner main Cleaner page, Windows tab for Windows 7. Under Internet Explorer clear History, Recently Typed URLs, Index.dat files, Last Download Location and Autocomplete Form History. Select Saved Passwords. Deselect all items under Windows Explorer, except the FTP Accounts. Select all items under System except for the Font Cache.

For Windows XP, scroll down and select Old Prefetch data, IIS Log Files and Hotfix Uninstallers in Advanced section. The last item will probably free up loads of disk space if you've used Windows XP on the PC for years.
For Windows Vista or 7, select Old Prefetch data and IIS Log Files.
CCleaner main Cleaner page, Windows XP. Under Advanced, select Old Prefetch data, IIS Log Files and Hotfix Uninstallers. CCleaner, main Cleaner page, Windows tab for Windows Vista and 7. Under Advanced, select Old Prefetch data and IIS Log Files.

You should also check what's under Applications tab. If you have other Internet browsers (Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera, etc) installed, uncheck their Internet History, Session and Saved Form Information boxes first.
Select Saved Passwords for all browsers (this will open the same warning dialog as with Internet Explorer, click OK there) and then select Compact Databases item for Firefox and Google Chrome.
Please note that you should close Internet browsers before moving on to the next step!
For other types of applications, it is usually safe to select all items.
CCleaner Applications tab. For Internet browsers, deselect Internet History, Session and Saved Form Information boxes. Select Saved Passwords for all browsers. Select Compact Databases check box for Firefox and Chrome. CCleaner Applications tab, items not related to Internet browsers. Leave everything selected.

You could click the Analyze button next and see an analysis about what's going to be deleted, but that is usually a waste of time - you're going to delete unnecessary files anyway. Move right on by clicking the Run Cleaner button:
CCleaner, to remove selected items, click Run Cleaner button.

CCleaner will warn you that you are going to delete files. Click OK:
CCleaner warning about files being deleted. Click OK to clean system from unnecessary files.

Although CCleaner is able to remove items related to Internet Explorer while the browser is open, it will display a warning if you have some other Internet browser open. Close the browser first and then click OK.
CCleaner warning about open browser. Close the Internet browser and click OK.