With the passage of time, our computer accumulates a series of temporary, cache and garbage files that end up influencing the performance of the computer. For this reason, one of the essential maintenance tasks for any computer system is to remove all these files so that the PC works as if it were new. Although Windows has its own cleaning tool, one of the best known and used for this purpose is CCleaner .
CCleaner is a program developed by Piriform, and purchased by Avast, to clean and optimize any Windows operating system. Despite the controversy that has arisen around this program since its purchase by Avast, today it remains one of the essential applications for any Windows operating system.
The main problem with installing CCleaner is that it tries to install unwanted advertising software on the computer. In addition, there are many websites that offer us false and outdated versions of the program. Even once installed, this software has features that collect personal data and send it to Avast’s servers.
For this reason, we are going to explain how we can safely download the latest version of CCleaner, how to install it in Windows without compromising our computer and how to prevent the program from collecting data and sharing it with the company.
Download the latest version of CCleaner for free
This program to optimize Windows has a free version and a paid one. The free version is the simplest, although it is enough for most users to be able to clean Windows without complications, while the paid version enables interesting and optional additional functions and features.
To download CCleaner , what we must do is access the following link , which will take us to the main website of the program. We must avoid downloading the program from other websites, since we run the risk of downloading dangerous and modified versions, or old versions.
Until its purchase by Avast, CCleaner was a free program for personal use, and except for some very specific functions, all its modules were free. After the purchase, some new features began to be introduced only available to users of the Pro version, for a fee. And this is one of the 3 main criticisms of this program. The differences between the paid and free versions are:
| CCleaner Free | CCleaner Pro |
|---|---|
| Standard cleaning | Standard cleaning |
| Privacy protection | Privacy protection |
| – | PC Health Check |
| – | Software Updater |
| – | Complete system cleaning |
| – | Privacy when deleting browser history |
| – | Detect and remove internet crawlers |
| – | Free up space on your hard drive |
| – | Real-time updates |
| – | Priority technical support |
| Free | 24.95 euros |
Once the program, which occupies about 25 MB, is downloaded, we can start with the installation.
Install CCleaner without adware
The second complaint to this program comes from trying to sneak adware and spam into computers. CCleaner is property of Avast, so one of the programs that you can try to install is this antivirus (which would leave Windows Defender disabled, or any other antivirus that we have installed).
We have also seen how it tries to install its own browser, who knows what it does.
Or you can try to install any other browser, depending on the interests of the company. For example, in our case it tries to install an old version of Chrome on the PC.
Therefore, we must pay close attention to the first installation window and ensure that we reject the installation of this unwanted software.
If we click on “Customize” we can see some of the installation parameters of the program. For example, we can choose whether we want to create shortcuts, add commands to the recycle bin or activate smart cookie tracking. We recommend that you remove all the boxes except the first one.
And if we click on “More” we can change the installation path of the program.
With everything ready, we will click on “Install” and wait for the wizard to copy all the data of the program and leave it ready to start using it.
We can start using CCleaner now , although we will first see how we must configure it to be able to use it with privacy.
Prevent CCleaner from sharing our data
The third of the controversies that revolve around CCleaner do so for privacy. For a relatively short time, the program collects user data and sends it to Avast’s servers, where they use it for commercial purposes.
There was a time when only paid users could disable this feature. Luckily, the user community lobbied and now anyone can disable it. To do this, we must open the program and go to the Options > Privacy section.
Here we will find a button that will allow us to choose whether we want to share our data, or not, with the company.
This option is activated by default, so if we do not uncheck it, we will be allowing the company to use our personal data for its own interests.
We uncheck this option and voila. We will no longer be sending personal information to Avast. Although, anyway, we recommend blocking the CCleaner process in the firewall, to be sure.
We must also make sure that the program is not configured to run automatically when Windows starts , since if it does, it will display all kinds of messages, warnings and announcements while using the PC. The best thing is that, after each cleaning, we close CCleaner completely.
We can now start using this program to keep our PC clean and optimized . Of course, we recommend that you always review everything that the program eliminates in each cleaning to avoid disappointment, and make sure that the option to share data has not been activated again, since it is something that “usually happens”.