Download [CRACKED] Windows Update Registry
Breanne Meisenheimer
The registry is a system-defined database in which applications and system components store and retrieve configuration data. The data stored in the registry varies according to the version of Microsoft Windows. Applications use the registry API to retrieve, modify, or delete registry data.
You should not edit registry data that does not belong to your application unless it is absolutely necessary. If there is an error in the registry, your system may not function properly. If this happens, you can restore the registry to the state it was in when you last started the computer successfully. For more information, see the help for your operating system.
Kudos - this is a great product. Just one thing I need to know:Where is the CCleaner "wipe free space" setting stored? I have been all over the documentation and the other forum entries, maybe I missed it. On my Win2k system I can see the settings change in the registry under HKEY_Current_User/software/piriform/ccleaner. For example, once I make a change to the "wipe free space" check box I can see the "Wipe Free Space" key get created the first time and then show up as True or False thereafter.
When you open CCleaner some of the check boxes on the left panel are checked and some not. A single corresponding registry label only shows up in my registry after I've clicked and unclicked one of the boxes. Any further checking and unchecking the box toggles the value of the registry label between True and False.
If I uninstall CCleaner, all the setting values in the registry path HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Piriform\CCleaner are deleted. When I reinstall CCleaner it restores all of my settings, from before the uninstall, to the check boxes but not the registry. CCleaner must be storing and picking up my old settings from somewhere. I assume that the "remembered" settings are in a registry entry somewhere, but where?
You imply that there's no registry entry for individual CC check boxes until the boxes are checked (something I didn't know). Is there any registry entry at all for CC or Piriform? If CC is installed and if the user did run it, then maybe he or she used the default settings.
The easiest way to reset CCleaner would be to delete any registry settings for it since you can't find the CCleaner.ini file although if I were you I'd use Windows search/find box to search for CCleaner.ini just in case you've previously installed it elsewhere other than the default location.
Other than that the only other settings possible would be in the registry. You can open RegEdit and search for CCleaner, and Piriform in "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software" and in "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software" and manually delete the CCleaner or Piriform keys, this will allow CCleaner to be back at default settings.
That may in fact be the same location as I'm no expert on Windows registry, but I do understand exactly what you are saying regarding CCleaner restoring all settings although the settings in the registry address named above are gone when CCleaner goes.
I had no search hits in the registry and hard drive on my TEST systems after uninstalling. I verified this behavior under W2K, XP PRO, and XP Home versions. I did this to try and find ccleaner "residue" as a clue to where it might be picking up the defaults. That strategy obviously didn't work. (yet?)
No implication! It's really cool to sit there with the registry open, looking at the HKEY_CurrentUser\Software\Piriform\CCleaner path and watch the entries get created and then toggled between True and False! Try it! You can also watch these entries get created in the registry during the install process. Some of the registry stuff gets created at install-time and some the first time you run CC. In addition, the registry path below also gets updated.:
After uninstalling CCleaner on my test system I came up with no hits when searching the hard drive or the registry - the uninstall seems to do a very thorough job. HOWEVER, when I reinstalled version 2.29 for testing it pulled my previous settings from somewhere. I also searched file contents (after uninstalling from my test system) and came up with no hits for CCleaner or Piriform. I also searched the entire C drive for ccleaner.ini - no hits. As I said, CCleaner seems to do a really good job removing itself.
The target system has multiple entries for CCleaner in the registry and the hard drive. The one that convinced me that it was installed was the HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\CCleaner Entries under this key on the target system entry also report the version number.
Thank you all for your insights and recommendations. I have not yet found the repository (registry or otherwise) for CCleaner settings from a previous installation. I would still find this information valuable if anybody finds out, or if you are able to get this information from the CCleaner developers.
Paraben has a free download ( -explorer.html) that allows an image to be mounted and browsed, but not booted. My method has been to use regedit (on a host system) to examine the mounted read-only image by loading selective hives from the image registry. I figured if I could find the CCleaner setting repository on my own system that would indicate where to look on the imaged system - alas, no joy [:-( but still looking...
Even if you could find the registry entries, it's very easy to show that changing the settings in CC changes the registry without running CC, so that WFS=True doesn't mean that WFS has been run. You can also show that you can have WFS (for instance) unchecked and then right click on it and select Clean, which will run WFS without changing the registry. So CC registry entries do not necessarily reflect the last run of CC.
Alan_B, Augeas, Thank you for your replies. Alan_B, your idea should work if the between-installation memory is in the registry. I think I have a Ghost image of a brand spanking new XP installation. I'll restore that and let you know what I find (just for grins).
With regard to your logic, you're correct the run date is as important as the settings in making the point - I hadn't overlooked that. The part I've got trouble with comes from this scenario: the default setting for WFS is off. Ergo if it was EVER set to true then there would be an entry in the registry. If you watch the registry, the first time you change from a default it creates a registry entry, subsequent toggles on/off change the entry between True & False. Uninstalling CC wipes out these registry entries and reinstalling picks the old entries up from somewhere - but they don't show in the registry until you make a change in the new installation. If WFS was set to True (entry made in the registry), CC was uninstalled (entries wiped from registry & stored somewhere) , reinstalled (CC install picks up stored values from somewhere), then WFS could be set to True and not show in the registry.
In the most simple and likely case, user installs CC, clicks a few settings on and off until a desired setup is reached, and then runs (or doesn't run) CC. The WFS entry in the registry indicates nothing except perhaps curiosity. I have the WFS entry in my registry yet I have never run WFS.
The registry entry is also of no value unless you have the associated Disk-I'm-going-to-wipe setting. WFS could have been run on another partition, another fixed or temporarily attached HD, or a flash drive.
Thought I'd have a mess around with this, so I "Revo Uninstalled" CCleaner, and then did a manual trawl through the registry for anything Piriform or CCleaner related, and there was absolutely nothing remaining. Just the entries for Piriforms other software.
There are no user customisation options as above for the "Include" and "Exclude" windows, and these are obviously blank. I also unchecked the "Save to INI file" box after using it, as unchecked is the default setting.
DennisD - Wow! Above and beyond the call of duty! Thank you! Except for the choice of uninstaller, we followed the same "uninstall, search the registry, & reinstall" process, with the same results up to that point. So now I'm confused - why did my reinstall pick up my previous settings? It looks like I did the same registry search you did looking for "piriform" or "ccleaner". What a puzzle. I'll have to do all that again just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating! It may be a couple of days - the calendar is stacked up - but I'll post my final results.
An unauthorized or unexpected change to the registry might result in system instability, application failures, and security breaches. Attackers might modify registry keys to execute malicious code or to maintain persistence on the system. In addition, legitimate software and system updates might also modify the registry. It's essential to track these changes to ensure system stability and security.
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