CCleaner Alternative: Freeware, Open Source or Full Version?

[tarekma7]

The CCleaner is popular, but by far not the only cleaning tool for the PC. We have compiled the best alternatives for you. They even replace the CCleaner in the latest version 6 with ease.

CCleaner is the most popular free tool for optimizing Windows. While it's widespread, its popularity doesn't equate to "good without compromise." The program is still recommendable, but no longer unrestricted: updates made things worse. Above all, the occasional advertisements that appear even if you haven't opened the CCleaner are annoying.

Furthermore, some functions are blocked and reserved for the Pro version. That costs money. An example is the program deactivator added with the current CCleaner 6. Previously and still exclusive to CCleaner Pro are software and driver updaters. If you want to put CCleaner Free into a 30-day Pro version test mode to try out the idle functionality, you have to enter your credit card details - it used to be possible without it.

Purists don't see anything good in the extensions: CCleaner started out as a slim system tool for deleting junk data, but over time it kept bloating after updates. He is supposed to create a slim Windows by clearing out and is anything but graceful himself. This becomes apparent when you first call it up after installation, the procedure just takes a tad too long.

Even loyal CCleaner fans may have lost their faith in the free product or be bothered by the developments. A squad of alternative clean-up tools promptly rushes to the rescue. Below is a selection to thoroughly clean up Windows 10/11 and Windows 7/8.1. Alternative registry cleaners often find more ballast, especially since they take empty registry keys into account. If you combine several tools, you will get significantly better cleaning results overall. Incidentally, the tips are ideal in combination with the CCleaner - according to the motto: Data garbage that one tool cannot find may be unearthed by another.

CCleaner alternative: WinOptimizer free

The Ashampoo WinOptimizer 19 (AWO 19) is extensive and thorough . Users of our website receive the optimization suite exclusively as a free full version. Equipped with more functions than CCleaner, the program follows in the footsteps of the AVG software PC TuneUp. The latter is chargeable and only available as a subscription - it is based on the set TuneUp Utilities (which were free of subscription fees). The AVG product is only suitable as a CCleaner alternative to a limited extent: If you have lost confidence in the CCleaner/Piriform owner Avast, you should avoid it - after all, AVG belongs to Avast due to a takeover. Meanwhile, Avast belongs to NortonLifeLock. The Ashampoo WinOptimizer 19 normally costs 49.99 euros.

Other file system and registry cleaners

The Wise Disk Cleaner (WDC) helps against memory shrinkage by removing superfluous files and cleaning up Windows on-board resources. A special feature is the removal of Windows' own files: Get rid of background images and help files and gain the last bit of free storage space. Defragmenting (!) the hard disk and trimming SSDs are unexpected features and make the WDC a top recommendation. Glary Disk Cleaner is comparable and even starts to search for unnecessary items automatically after the start, saving you time.

The Wise Registry Cleaner (WRC) is recommended as a replacement for the registry cleaner in CCleaner . With one of three selectable thoroughness levels, you can find ballast from uninstalled programs in order to delete it. Changeable system settings (tweaks) promise more speed and stability; Similar to AWO 19 and Glary Utilities Pro, the registry can be defragmented with the WRC.

Combo pack: HDCleaner and TweakPower
With HDCleaner and TweakPower you get two professional optimizers from the programmer Kurt Zimmermann. Both delete junk data and offer many functions that go beyond mere cleaning. If you wish, you can use the utilities in combination. I particularly like the HDCleaner, as the range of features goes well beyond what you would expect from a pure cleaning tool (shredder, manage system restore security function, configure swap files and much more). The user guides are very similar.

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