Hello dangedcoyote,
I think you may be referring to Steven Gould's Cleanup! 4.5 or the still available 4.0 version.
http://www.stevengould.org/software/cleanup/ <—- is this the product your are referring to?
CleanUp! 4.5 or 4.0 is usually referred to as "CleanUp! (with the version number added after the name)"
A question about "Windows CleanUp!" could be referring to any of many products, some of which are "bogus".
To my knowledge, there are three very well respected "windows cleanup" type programs, including:
CleanUp! 4.5 or 4.0
http://www.stevengould.org/software/cleanup/
CCleaner http://www.ccleaner.com/
ATFCleaner http://www.atribune.org/content/view/25/1/
And of course, there is the Windows native "Disk Cleaner".
When Members inquire about the safety of a particular utility, responding Members most often use caution and seek to verify which specific utility is being discussed.
Juliet did well to post the excellent option/selection of Cleanup! from the Steven Gould site.
In the event that you are using any other product than those that I listed above, please post the exact specific title of the product, and include a link to identify and evaluate it.
CleanUp! 4.5 or 4.0 is an excellent utility for removing a wide range of debris from the computer.
It is reliable and "safe" for use.
However, whenever you use any automated cleaning tool, including the native Windows tool, you will also lose some "cookie" items that you may have wished you had preserved.
Actually, it is no biggie, because the "cookie items" are generally your usernames and passwords that you may use to login to membership sites. For instance, if you use CleanUp! 4.5 or 4.0 and then come back here to TomCoyote…. You will find that you are no longer logged in as an identified Member, and will have to re-enter your Username and Password before posting anything in the Forums.
Most users allow this "inconvenience" and accept it as a smart way to reduce risk of having personal information floating around on the machine that could be used by any other person who has access to the machine.
If you want to get an idea of all the work one of these automated utilities does for you, then try out this "manual protocol" to accomplish the same thing:
Best Regards
To clean out all the temporary files and cookies on your system.
Go to
Start - Run - (type) "cleanmgr" without the quotes.
Let it scan your system for files to remove.
Check these three boxes and then press ok to remove:
Temporary Files,
Temporary Internet Files,
Recycle Bin.
Then GoTo:
Start - Find/search - Files or folders - in the named box, type: *.tmp
When the list is generated, choose
Edit - select all - File - delete.
Note: If you cannot delete them all at once because you have too many, then click and hold ctrl and highlight a batch of them at a time. Once highlighted, R-click over the highlight and select delete.
Then use
Start - Run - (type) "%temp%" (without the quotes).
Delete the entire contents of that "temp" folder
(use Edit - Select All - press "Delete", click "Yes").
Then,
Empty your Temporary Internet Cache completely.
Close all instances of Outlook and Internet Explorer,
then use "Control Panel - Internet Options - General tab and click the "Delete File" button.
When prompted place a check in: "Delete all offline content", then click OK.
Then, use Windows Explorer to clean out ALL the other temp folders on your system
(navigate to the folder, (as listed below)
use "Edit - Select All", press "Delete", click "Yes"
* C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temp\
* C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\
* C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temp\
* C:\Windows\Prefetch\
* Empty your "Recycle Bin".
Note: This is a long manual way to clear out .tmp files. It is safe and highly recommended.
thanks for the advice and help
