CCleaner v2.35.1219

[ErikAlbert]

I ran CCleaner v2.35.1219 in a pure WinXPproSP2-environment,
- which has never been on-line
- which is totally malware-free
- which doesn't contain any Third Party Software installed, except CCleaner.

The goal was to verify how many registry CCleaner would report in such a virginal test-environment, secured by a chastity belt to make any mal(e)ware penetration impossible.

CCleaner reported 10 innocent registries, while
RegistryBooster reported 55 innocent registries, while
my golden reboot never reports innocent registries, it keeps Windows Registry intact and even restores its original values.

Medals :
1. Golden Medal : my golden reboot
2. Silver Medal : CCleaner v2.35.1219
3. Bronze Medal : none

RegistryBooster will be banned to Siberia forever as a criminal registry cleaner. which killed 55 innocent registries.

CCleaner will only be banned from my computer for killing 10 innocent registries and will be removed automatically during the next golden reboot as it never existed.
It's upto other users to use CCleaner or not.

I know it must be a very disappointing day for all devoted CCleaner-fans. You have my sympathy

 

[Fatback]

The whole golden reboot thing is pretty much useless. How much do you really think happens to your computer within the time you reboot? You would get the same result by reinstalling windows every 3 months. Also that golden reboot isn't going to do you much good when you don't have anything to boot to, because your OS got corrupted because you thought you was invincible. I have known tons of people that think the same thing, in the end though there computer always ends up in my shop.

 

[ErikAlbert]

The whole golden reboot thing is pretty much useless. How much do you really think happens to your computer within the time you reboot? You would get the same result by reinstalling windows every 3 months. Also that golden reboot isn't going to do you much good when you don't have anything to boot to, because your OS got corrupted because you thought you was invincible. I have known tons of people that think the same thing, in the end though there computer always ends up in my shop.

My system disk is replaced with its original installation, before Windows even starts. Don't know about your customers, but that's not my problem. It works already 5 years.
And I'm not invincible, that's for idiots.

 

[Fatback]

My system disk is replaced with its original installation, before Windows even starts. Don't know about your customers, but that's not my problem. It works already 5 years.

It doesn't matter, nothing is full proof. Also it's only useful to people who only use there computer for internet. Anything else it's just very inconvenient. People who do music production, photo editing, gaming, or anything else would never want something like that. No offense, I just think it's kind of stupid how you keeping making threads about it. It's really not that impressive at all, and isn't as great as you might think. I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish from it. Like I said you would get the same result from reinstalling windows every couple of months.

 

[ErikAlbert]

It doesn't matter, nothing is full proof. Also it's only useful to people who only use there computer for internet. Anything else it's just very inconvenient. People who do music production, photo editing, gaming, or anything else would never want something like that. No offense, I just think it's kind of stupid how you keeping making threads about it. It's really not that impressive at all, and isn't as great as you might think. I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish from it. Like I said you would get the same result from reinstalling windows every couple of months.

Who is talking about foolproof, not me, you are.
I don't need to defend myself, I know what I'm doing and it doesn't matter to me if you do believe me or not.
It doesn't make a difference what kind of job you do on computers.
All my data is stored on another harddisk and all my softwares store their data-files on my data-disk automatically.
You just don't know how to accomplish this, I do.

 

[ErikAlbert]

It doesn't matter, nothing is full proof. Also it's only useful to people who only use there computer for internet. Anything else it's just very inconvenient. People who do music production, photo editing, gaming, or anything else would never want something like that. No offense, I just think it's kind of stupid how you keeping making threads about it. It's really not that impressive at all, and isn't as great as you might think. I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish from it. Like I said you would get the same result from reinstalling windows every couple of months.

Who is talking about foolproof, not me, you are.
I don't need to defend myself, I know what I'm doing and it doesn't matter to me if you do believe me or not.
It doesn't make a difference what kind of job you do on computers.
All my data is stored on another harddisk and all my softwares store their data-files on my data-disk automatically.
You just don't know who to accomplish this, I do.
Restoring with a backup, that's the old-fashioned way, we are talking about Immediate System Recovery, not Image backup, I have both.

 

[TFT]

....and who determined your precious "Golden Reboot" was correct? Simply because it was a replica of what was there before does not make it correct.
Could it be that CCleaner did not indicate innocent registry entries but entries that were superfluous or crap, and were created when you installed Windows XP.

You are making an assumption that Microsoft's OS is 100% correct, perfect, no bugs or coding errors, you are also assuming that during the XP install that registry entries made for the purpose of the install were cleaned and removed at the end and you are a very sad man for believing this.

Your "Golden Reboot" may well protect you from malware by returning your setup to it's original state but we're not talking malware here, too believe that the original state is perfect defies belief. It could well be that CCleaner tidied up your XP install a little by wanting to remove those entries.

You, are digging a big hole for yourself preacher.

 

[Fatback]

Who is talking about foolproof, not me, you are.
I don't need to defend myself, I know what I'm doing and it doesn't matter to me if you do believe me or not.
It doesn't make a difference what kind of job you do on computers.
All my data is stored on another harddisk and all my softwares store their data-files on my data-disk automatically.
You just don't know who to accomplish this, I do.
Restoring with a backup, that's the old-fashioned way, we are talking about Immediate System Recovery, not Image backup, I have both.

You have made about 4 threads now, talking about how awesome your whole golden reboot crap is. I just fail to see the point in your threads. I'm obviously not the only one who thinks it's just a wast of time. No matter what you do, at some point your OS will corrupt, or your HDD will fail. Then you will see it was all a wast of time as you didn't prevent anything, but only delayed it.

....and who determined your precious "Golden Reboot" was correct? Simply because it was a replica of what was there before does not make it correct.
Could it be that CCleaner did not indicate innocent registry entries but entries that were superfluous or crap, and were created when you installed Windows XP.

You are making an assumption that Microsoft's OS is 100% correct, perfect, no bugs or coding errors, you are also assuming that during the XP install that registry entries made for the purpose of the install were cleaned and removed at the end and you are a very sad man for believing this.

Your "Golden Reboot" may well protect you from malware by returning your setup to it's original state but we're not talking malware here, too believe that the original state is perfect defies belief. It could well be that CCleaner tidied up your XP install a little by wanting to remove those entries.

You, are digging a big hole for yourself preacher.

+ Infinity

My point exactly:good:

 

[ErikAlbert]

1. This thread is about CCleaner only, so we are discussing a problem that doesn't concern CCleaner.
2. You seem to be an aggressive person and I'm not going to fight with you. Fighting is a waste of time.
3. I'm not going to bore you with my approach, because you are not willing to listen to me.

The short answer is, your style.
I'm working already 5 years without cleaning softwares and AV/AS/AT-scanners.
What do you want me to do, to prove my system is infected.

A Hijackthis Log of my disk-C verified by JohnB ? I will give it to you.
Name any AV/AS/AT-scanner, you want me to run. I will do it.
What else do you want as proof ?

Isn't that all about, having a clean system, that is working properly, day in, day out, during 5 years.
All what you told me is worthless, unless you can prove my system is infected due to my golden reboot, that isn't working.

Bugs in OS and programs are not malware and every OS and software has bugs and will have bugs forever. What all softwares have in common, isn't worth to talk about, the same counts for incompatibility between software, which isn't malware either. Bugs and incompatibility can be fixed, that was never a problem for me.
Separate problems from one another and than start a friendly discussion.

The removal of 10 superfluous registries by CCleaner has never been a problem for me either, that's peanuts, Jesus Christ, I was just kidding about CCleaner, but you took it serious.

 

[Aastii]

All registry cleaners are a load of old toss, they are more trouble than they are worth and aren't worth the disc space they take up or the time it takes to program, install or run them.

With 8 systems having no registry cleaner or protection on any, they have all lasted without fault. I don't mean they haven't had faults at all, I mean that they haven't had faults relating to the registry.

I am failing to see the point of this thread or any of the others and have to agree with both fatback and TFT, and fatback isn't agresive, he is just cuddly

 

[Fatback]

1. This thread is about CCleaner only, so we are discussing a problem that doesn't concern CCleaner.

You sure about that?

I ran CCleaner v2.35.1219 in a pure WinXPproSP2-environment,
- which has never been on-line
- which is totally malware-free
- which doesn't contain any Third Party Software installed, except CCleaner.

The goal was to verify how many registry CCleaner would report in such a virginal test-environment, secured by a chastity belt to make any mal(e)ware penetration impossible.

CCleaner reported 10 innocent registries, while
RegistryBooster reported 55 innocent registries, while
my golden reboot never reports innocent registries, it keeps Windows Registry intact and even restores its original values.

Medals :
1. Golden Medal : my golden reboot
2. Silver Medal : CCleaner v2.35.1219
3. Bronze Medal : none

RegistryBooster will be banned to Siberia forever as a criminal registry cleaner. which killed 55 innocent registries.

CCleaner will only be banned from my computer for killing 10 innocent registries and will be removed automatically during the next golden reboot as it never existed.
It's upto other users to use CCleaner or not.

I know it must be a very disappointing day for all devoted CCleaner-fans. You have my sympathy

2. You seem to be an aggressive person and I'm not going to fight with you. Fighting is a waste of time.
3. I'm not going to bore you with my approach, because you are not willing to listen to me.

The short answer is, your style.
I'm working already 5 years without cleaning softwares and AV/AS/AT-scanners.
What do you want me to do, to prove my system is infected.

A Hijackthis Log of my disk-C verified by JohnB ? I will give it to you.
Name any AV/AS/AT-scanner, you want me to run. I will do it.
What else do you want as proof ?

Isn't that all about, having a clean system, that is working properly, day in, day out, during 5 years.
All what you told me is worthless, unless you can prove my system is infected due to my golden reboot, that isn't working.

Bugs in OS and programs are not malware and every OS and software has bugs and will have bugs forever. What all softwares have in common, isn't worth to talk about, the same counts for incompatibility between software, which isn't malware either. Bugs and incompatibility can be fixed, that was never a problem for me.
Separate problems from one another and than start a friendly discussion.

The removal of 10 superfluous registries by CCleaner has never been a problem for me either, that's peanuts, Jesus Christ, I was just kidding about CCleaner, but you took it serious.

2. Actually I'm a very nice person, you can ask anybody on the forum.
3. If you think about it though, then your the one that isn't willing to listen. You fail to see whow pointless your method is. You don't take criticism very well. You came to this forum talking about how nothing can hurt your computer. Then when somebody tells you the truth you don't want to listen. It's really all common sense, You can't prevent anything, but only delay it.

Now I'm just confused, and thinking that you haven't read anything I have said. I have not once mentioned that your computer is infected, of any kind. Nor did I say your method didn't prevent you from getting infected.

Sure, but you don't need all that useless crap to do that. I don't have a Golden reboot or anything. All my computers for the past 3 years hasn't had a problem. No infection, no crashes, etc, etc. To keep a computer clean, you just need to know how to use it correctly. You don't need all this useless software, which was invented for computer illiterate people in the first place.

If your doing the whole golden reboot thing just to prevent viruses. Then thats just stupid, all you need to prevent a viruses is an AV program, and common sense.

If you would go back an look, I never said I disagreed with you about CCleaner. I actually agree with Aastii, that registry cleaners aren't all that useful. It might be a good idea to run one every couple of months, just to see if there is anything there, but they don't help all that much.

and fatback isn't agresive, he is just cuddly

Exactly!

 

[lucasbytegenius]

What is this whole "Golden Reboot" thing? Is he using software that restores a previously created image to the HD during boot? If he is, and if he thinks that it will completely protect him, sorry to break the news: There are viruses that can attack the MBR, preventing that "Golden Reboot", there are viruses that attack hardware, BBQing that drive or m-board, and what if the drive or partition holding that image dies or is attacked by a virus? Not fool-proof, but it is a pretty good method of protecting one's self, if they don't mind having to reset some settings and such every time. I have seen this method used at libraries, but using it for everyday personal use instead of as s testing environment or for a dedicated Internet computer is just pointless imo. And thinking that his install is flawless and using it to test programs with and giving us his conclusions on a program that everybody uses is pretty stupid. I have installed XP hundreds of times, and on every installation, be it 5 minutes old or 5 days, there were a few hundred registry errors. Same thing with every version of Windows I know, maybe 3.1 is exempt because it is so small (does it even have a registry?) but every fresh install of Windows has registry errors. Period.

 

[ErikAlbert]

I know what is going in this thread.
You all try to scare me and tell me over and over again, that my golden reboot sucks. In my previous forum, where I created my golden reboot, the same thing happened.

BUT my computer is a paradise during 5 years already because of that golden reboot and you try to tell me, it sucks without any decent proof and nothing but blablabla and talking about disasters that never happened during 5 years.

Next time, use much better arguments to convince me.
Meanwhile I keep my golden reboot and have a good time, while other users in this forum and many other forums are trying to get rid of malware and problems, in spite of all their security, that has nothing but holes.
They have to run more softwares than me, which I don't use anymore and they still get in trouble and losing their system and data and complaining, angry and frustrated.
Their computer is a hell and really sucks, not mine.

 

[Aastii]

I know what is going in this thread.
You all try to scare me and tell me over and over again, that my golden reboot sucks. In my previous forum, where I created my golden reboot, the same thing happened.

BUT my computer is a paradise during 5 years already because of that golden reboot and you try to tell me, it sucks without any decent proof and nothing but blablabla and talking about disasters that never happened during 5 years.

Next time, use much better arguments to convince me.
Meanwhile I keep my golden reboot and have a good time, while other users in this forum and many other forums are trying to get rid of malware and problems, in spite of all their security, that has nothing but holes.
They have to run more softwares than me, which I don't use anymore and they still get in trouble and losing their system and data and complaining, angry and frustrated.
Their computer is a hell and really sucks, not mine.

I have Avast! on my computer and that is it because it acts as of irewall as well as a pretty decent AV, that isn't alot of stuff really . I've never had a virus, or any malware or anything to cause concern at any point, that goes for all of the systems (curerntly 4) in my home, as well as family, friends and clients computers. The only issues I've ever had with my computers have been hardware related, 1 laptop ate hard drives, it went through 2 in 9 months, another laptop the screen went, it has crap loads of stripes down it, my motherboard doesn't like having only certain memory slots populated, so that caused problems. At no point has there been a single software problem, and that is running just Avast, running ccleaner whenever I can be bothered, which is usually every few months, bad I know, and defragging every other week. That isn't bulk at all and it still runs completely smoothly, all of them do

Do you not think people on this forum and others have been saying it is pointless because maybe it is? If they have been saying the same on other computer forums, which are all populated by, strangely enough, people that know a thing or two about computers, doesn't it start ringing alarm bells in your head that they, the people that understand computers and the best, most efficient way to do things, aren't using it for a reason? If something is good, it will catch on, if it isn't, people will ignore it and tell anyone that preaches about it that it isn't all that

Fatback summed it up perfectly:

You don't take criticism very well. You came to this forum talking about how nothing can hurt your computer. Then when somebody tells you the truth you don't want to listen

and you proved it yourself in that post:

I know what is going in this thread.
You all try to scare me and tell me over and over again, that my golden reboot sucks

no method or peiece of software is perfect, if you can't take it when people show the negatives and the flaws, don't say anything about it in the first place, it will just hinder your cause and create more problems than it solves

=EDIT=

btw I am not saying my systems are bullet proof either, but I'm not being naive to that fact either. The only way you are ever truely safe is to back up important data, and the rest doesn't matter. If your system messes up, it isn't a biggy, just format, reinstal your programs and you are back and ready, it is a minor inconvenience. No matter what you do, you will always have to take that precaution, or face the consequences

 

[ErikAlbert]

My golden reboot recovers my system DAILY during 5 years already.
After 3 years without scanners and cleaning softwares, I ran every top-scanners I could get, to test my approach, none of these scanners couldn't detect anything, not even a tracking cookie.
I ran HijackThis and posted it in a Malware Forum, nothing was wrong.
All this proved my golden reboot was solid, otherwise I would have found traces of malware.

None of my security softwares know what malware is and don't even recognize it like scanners, but my golden reboot removes any discovered and undiscovered malware on my computer.
Much better than a scanner, because scanners don't remove undiscovered malware and not-blacklisted malware.

Only in rare situations, I need my zero-tool, partition manager and backup/restore software to get back in business.
In 5 years I never needed these tools, which means I'm lucky so far.

I never said I'm invincible, maybe you did, certainly not me, only an idiot thinks he is invincible.
Keep your AVAST, because you need it on a classical installed computer.
And I keep my golden reboot of 2 minuts, because I don't need scanners and cleaning software anymore.
You have no idea how much time I save with my golden reboot.

 

[lucasbytegenius]

Huh, I think I will go and get some quotes of you from compuforums.org and post them. All I'm saying is that your "Golden Reboot" isn't the best idea for everyday use.

 

[Fatback]

From your other thread

Wouldn't you like to have such a computer, that works properly everyday, year in, year out ?
I'm not even a computer-expert and used forums to ask questions like "How do I do this and that." They didn't even know why I asked these questions.
I just used the right softwares and used them in a good way and combined them well.
The rest was nothing but logical theoretical reasoning and it works during the last 5 years.
I don't know much about computer, that's true, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid.

My computer does work properly everyday, and it doesn't take resetting my whole computer to do it. The reason they didn't know why you asked those question. Is because there is almost no real reason to use this method, unless its for a public computer that is used by 100s of people a day. Your logic is very flawed, as well as your reasoning. Your right you don't know much about computers, I think everybody can agree on that. I really don't understand why you're still trying to convince us that your way is right. You just said you don't know much about computers, so how do you know what is right and wrong? You wont take advice from people that specialize in a computer field. Although you will listen to your self, even though you hardly know a thing about them.

It's pretty obvious that you're the kind of person that doesn't like to be wrong. There for you will never admit to the truth. Your way of using a computer is very impractical, everybody that has posted in this thread has agreed it is.

Also I would love a link to the thread on the other forum in which you asked the question. Although if I had to guess, your answer will be something like this. That was a while ago, and I don't remember the name of the forum, or what thread it even was.

 

[lucasbytegenius]

It would be useful a little if it was setup on a dedicated Internet computer, as I said. But for everyday use, not good.

EDIT: Apparently he doesn't have a thread (yet) about his "Golden Reboot" on compuforums.org. But I will search my other forums, including computerforums.org and a few misc ones.

Aha! Found a post on compuforums.org:

Any existing scanner (Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware, Anti-Trojan, Anti-Rootkit, etc.) is based on BLACKLISTING and that is the weakness of all scanners.
If a malware is not on the blacklist of a scanner, it won't be detected/removed on your computer and the scanner will tell you "Congratulations! No malware found.", although your computer is still infected.
That's the way a scanner works, it comforts your MIND by not telling the truth. So scanners are a matter of belief and some users will trust this scanner and others will trust that scanner, but that's not scientific, it's more a wild guess.

All scanners have a different blacklist because they are created by different people.
Most scanners will detect/remove a great number of the same malware and only the differences makes a scanner special.
Some scanners will detect/remove a specific malware, while others won't detect/remove it.

New malware needs to be discovered first, than blacklisted and updated worldwide. It takes several days to accomplish this and meanwhile everybody is not protected against that new malware. That's why some malware were able to infect most computers worldwide, because they weren't blacklisted in any scanner.

Scanners can be dangerous too, because they sometimes report good objects as malware, which are called "false positives". Once these good objects are removed as malware by the user, this might cause problems sooner or later on your computer.

That's why I don't use scanners anymore.
I prefer "Sandboxing", "Immediate System Recovery" and "Image Backup" to remove malware.
Most users don't like these solutions, because they don't like to change their habits thoroughly and don't like discipline either.
That's also the reason, why users keep getting in trouble on a regular base.

And here's his question on whether it's foolproof or not:
http://www.compuforums.org/introduce-yourself/6254-hello-everybody.html
On a side note, he's 62 and lives in Belgium.

 

[ErikAlbert]

It would be useful a little if it was setup on a dedicated Internet computer, as I said. But for everyday use, not good.

EDIT: Apparently he doesn't have a thread (yet) about his "Golden Reboot" on compuforums.org. But I will search my other forums, including computerforums.org and a few misc ones.

I have no problem with that, don't forget to mention I use FirstDefense-ISR which is totally different from any other simular ISR-software I know of.
I know already what these compuforums.org are going to tell you, nothing but exceptional occassions, where a golden reboot will fail, that problem is already solved.
I also have Anti-Executable (AE) on board which kills any not-whitelisted executable object immediately.

You tell that my setup isn't good for a dedicated internet-computer, that isn't true, because FD-ISR allows two kinds of snapshots :
1. Unfrozen snapshot = your computer
2. Frozen snapshots = my computer
So I can handle both.

 

[lucasbytegenius]

Still doesn't keep you completely secure, as I said there are nasty hardware and MBR-destroying viruses out there. And what if a virus decides to put a copy of itself on that data partition of yours? Big uh-oh when it infects every file on there and keeps coming back.

Also found this:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=192840
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=214718
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=214803

Suppose you have 2 partitions :
a. System Partition[C:] = Windows + Applications + Returnil = ON
b. Data Partition[D:] = documents, spreadsheets, emails, etc., but not protected by Returnil.

Security = Windows Firewall, no Sandboxie or anything else, because you don't really need it, because Returnil will remove any infection during reboot in the System Partition [C:]

1. Is Returnil enough to protect your Data Partition ?
Personally I don't think so. Any malware, installed in your virtual system, that targets your data, will infect or destroy or steal your data without any problems. Of course after reboot the malware is gone, but the evil deed is done.
It simply doesn't matter to malware, if your system is virtual or normal. Am I right, yes or no ?

2. Is Returnil + Sandboxie better than Returnil alone to protect your Data Partition ?
Personally I think this is true, because Sandboxie isolates malware in a sandbox and makes them harmless.
If malware, that targets your data, is in a sandbox, your data is protected and can even be locked by Sandboxie.
If not, something is definitely wrong with Sandboxie. Am I right, yes or no ?

If I'm right, than it's not Returnil OR Sandboxie, but Returnil AND Sandboxie.
And then Sandboxie is security, while Returnil is just recovery and please no other security softwares, the subject is Sandboxie and Returnil.

He's also got posts on www.spywareinfoforum.com.