Advanced SystemCare and 64 bit W7 Ultimate

[glennc]

Hello to all,
I have read several thread that discuss the need and possible destruction by the use of registry cleaners. CCleaner seems to be tops with those that believe it is acceptable.
What is the belief about the above commercial program. It is quite a bit more intense than CCleaner, and has deep registry scan, system optimization, optimize registry and clean along with junk cleaners, anti-malware scans in a one click does all.
I have a friend who swears by it and says it is much more powerful than CCleaner.
I have stopped using it. McAfee had clean files and registry utilities, Spybot has option to remove unused files. I have had a great deal of problems with what generally would be considered incomplete uninstalls using Revo Free and Windows uninstaller. Have gained confidence in Revo Pro, using it during trial, it removed a service that many attempts with Revo Free, IObit Registry Uninstaller didn't help.
In XP Pro, I could Revo and it usually got everything and CCleaner and a visual of User/App data took care of everything. Not so with W7 in my limited experience.
System Restore Points have yet to be used successfully. The only thing I have confidence and thus lowered anxiety is a System Image Reinstall to a known clean working install, or just a complete clean reinstall.
I don't know but get the feeling with your advice, that ASC is too aggresive.
Anyone wishing to share their point of view would be appreciated.
glennc

 

[mindinka]

I will speak about myself, sometime ago I used to believe in things like registry, junk, unnecessary files removers, that was in Windows XP times. And to be honest things were getting worse from bad, my system used to be unstable, there were always missing .dll files and many other errors. Then by gathering information about Operating System in whole and reading some articles I have come to conclusion that it's not healthy to use registry cleaners and all sorts of programs that were promising to remove junk and so on.
This particular forum helped me to stay away from those cleaners. I am still using CCleaner myself and so far so good. I think anyone who is not sure about cleaners should read our forum, there a plenty of topics covering that matter with opinion of advanced users.

 

[glennc]

Howdy mindinka,
Thanks for posting your view and experience. I am afraid to mess with the registry.
But I do believe for some unknown reason that a completely compatible tested and Microsoft registry cleaner would be a benefit. Otherwise, I in my limited experience feel you are taking your chances. Many more experienced users disagree. I for now will try to limit my cleaning or optimizing. I liked CCleaner because it didn't seem to on all up to XP Pro ever cause any problems. From what I've experienced with Windows 7, it makes me anxious. Also I've read that it was a 32 bit application and thus did not do a good job on 64 bit apps. No one has chimed in on if this is a fallacy or possibly true.
Many seem to use it, and many seem to want to stay completely away from any registry interaction.
glennc

 

[Night Hawk]

Welcome to the Seven Forums! glennc

I ended up having a free activation of the Advanced System Care program when a giveaway had been seen last fall and haven't had any complaints with that one. That was on until a new build is now running without it presently however but seemed to be a well written software for what it is.

In most cases you can maintain on your own however and end up keeping your system free of a lot of rather obsolete programs few use. The main problem with the overuse of registry cleaners highly promoted over the years was mainly directed at XP is seeing them remove needed as well as invalid entries in the system registry at time. Most being sold when you try out a free download are gimics to start with.

With CCleaner that's far from true registry cleaner but features an uninstaller for programs more then anything there. It's best use is mainly for clearing out the IE history and offline content along with dusting off empty temp folders that linger around. Once again that one was written mostly at XP there too.

 

[glennc]

Hello Nighthawk,
Appreciate you adding to the discussion. Your characterization of CCleaner is basically what I want. I liked it to get those temps and cookies and whatnot. Seems to be a fairly large gap between those members that advise a hands off the registry in Windows 7 and those that use a little assistance. What is your take on the Danger of ASC and your view of the use of CCleaner in the Windows 7 64bit environment?
Thanks for your assistance.
glennc

 

[Night Hawk]

I ran the activated Pro version when seen in a giveaway on the 7 RC early last fall and reinstalled it fresh on the retail 7 running it on the last build straight through until this new build was up. I have it going again here now this case is set with the black theme option.

There are two automatic settings you can check off when first going to install the program for performing system care when the system is idle and automatically sweep your privacy when going to log off. The automatic update program and database option is seen as well. You can opt for the deep registry scan or leave that unchecked which is typically how I have that set.

This was run on the 64bit 7 Ultimate all this time to note here as well. So far the program has run quietly all this time mainly in the background and never seen any problems.

The other last option is the Enable Smart Defragment item you shouldn't see any program with for maintaining the drive fragmention level with the auto defrag feature included there. Anther thing to mention on the Privacy Sweep option is it lists the various browsers and other items like MS Office for checking off or leaving unchecking temp files, history etc. there.

As for CCleaner I ran that on XP and the 32bit Vista but haven't been interested in it since then since I manually will locate and remove any obsolete folders as well as would leave the clean up IE history items unchecked until a planned cleanup.

As far as actual registry cleaners the periodic use of say once in 3 months of a program like Eusing shouldn't be any problem if you make numerous program changes in a short period of time. Why pay out when a freebie will do a basic cleanup you only need once in a blue moon? The latest updated version supports 98 thru 7 with the main page for that seen at Eusing Free Registry Cleaner: Safely scan and repair registry problems - Spyware FREE.

The over use of various cleaners however is one thing to watch out for since a main reg key can be mistaken for an invalid one or a necessary folder or log could be wiped with a drive cleanup tool. Programs like this are mainly for the accumilation over a lengthy period of time not for daily use especially for those who customize Windows any where you could run into one of the programs cleaning off the customizing files or reg entries.

 

[glennc]

Howdy Night Hawk,
Thanks for going into more detail. I also have the opportunity to get it, but am new at Windows 7 and have had a hard time. Your experienced opinion is appreciated as I try to decide to deploy it or not. Thanks also for the settings. I knew what to check off on CCleaner so as not to wipe out my saved passwords, I understand that it is different with ASC. Would hate to have to do them all over again.
Glad to hear that it runs well on a 64 bit system. Appreciate your time.
glennc

 

[Night Hawk]

Once the installation is complete you can still go over the options for various settings again as well. I was a little ticked the first at trying out CCleaner however and not seeing the clear IE history section wondered why everything was wiped some time back when first coming across that one.

A good thing about the ASC program is that it won't chomp on resources running for the most part quietly in the background which is a favorable plus there too.

 

[glennc]

Morning Night Hawk,
When you were using ASC Pro, how often did you do the complete scan? Do you keep track of the Event Viewer and Performance Meter? Or, did you just not see any visible side effects? I would like to reiterate, I'm very dubious of W7 as of now. Great OS, quantum leaps in ease and features. That's why I don't want to screw it up accidentally with old habits of XP.
Thank ya!
glennc

 

[AussieGuy92]

just as a warning ASC wiped all my system restore points and caused multiple BSODS i would stay away.

 

[glennc]

Hello stillfreefilms,
Thanks for expressing your personal experience. Sorry of course to hear of the problems. I've tried it and it seems to make Windows 7 do things that it didn't, like when opening Thunderbird, asking me if I want it to check Newsgroups and Mail. Should only do that once it you click the don't show again checkbox. So to err on the cautious side, I think I will refrain from using it. I may get CCleaner.
Take care,
glennc

 

[Night Hawk]

just as a warning ASC wiped all my system restore points and caused multiple BSODS i would stay away.

You most likely had some other problem going on at the time since BSODs are generally device driver related. If ASC has a problem it would more likely freeze up. It only has a light dootprint in Windows to start with.

Here's something you won't see with CCleaner.

 

[glennc]

Thanks Night Hawk for your follow up. I'm having minor issues and I think I will eliminate any possibilities if only for my piece of mind. Once I get comfortable, I'll try experimenting again. Appreciate it.
glennc

 

[Night Hawk]

When you are ready their latest free version is now seen on the download page there. Just remember to go over all the settings if you do install it for your own preferences there.