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Avast Pulls the Latest Version of CCleaner Following Privacy Controversy (betanews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the making-a-mess dept.

Piriform, the maker of CCleaner, has pulled v5.45 of its suite from the website after users expressed concerns over the privacy changes in the application, the company, which was acquired by Avast last year, said. In v5.45, the company made it impossible to disable "active monitoring", and the privacy settings had been removed for free customers. Additionally, as BetaNews reported earlier this week, Avast also made it impossible for users to quit the software. Addressing these concerns, Avast said, "Today we have removed v5.45 and reverted to v5.44 as the main download for CCleaner while we work on a new version with several key improvements." The company added: We're currently working on separating out cleaning functionality from analytics reporting and offering more user control options which will be remembered when CCleaner is closed. We're also creating a factsheet to share which will outline the data we collect, for which purposes and how it is processed. [...] As stated before, we'll split cleaning alerts (which don't send any data) from UI trend data (which is anonymous and only there to measure the user experience) and provide a separate setting for each in the user preferences. Some of these features run as a separate process from the UI: we'll restore visibility of this in the notifications area, and you'll be able to close it down from that icon menu as before. We understand the importance of this to you all. This work is our number 1 priority and we are taking the time to get it right in the next release. There are numerous changes required, so that does mean it will take weeks, not days. While we work on this, we have removed version 5.45 and reinstated version 5.44. According to stats shared by the company, CCleaner has been downloaded over two billion times. In a week, it is estimated to see five million downloads.

110 comments

  1. "We understand the importance of this to you all." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Translation: "Damn, they noticed that we tried $bad_shit, quick, let's pretend it was a mistake!"

    Fuck you.

  2. CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    If Microsoft would fix the implementation of the registry, then CCleaner wouldn't even be necessary. Or just get rid of it.

    And it would also help if application developers would write their installation and removal programs correctly.

    There is no excuse for the sloppiness.

    1. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by jeffasselin · · Score: 2

      Get rid of the registry? And replace it with what? A rolodex stored in a filing cabinet behind a door with a sign that says “Beware of the tiger”? That’s like suggesting getting rid of a baby because it got a cold.

      --
      If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
    2. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Oh, lets see, where's my settings? There's a dotfile with the name of the application in it. The settings are there.

      So yes, replace it with /etc or dotfile or, hey, and hear me out, pretty much anything but HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/currentUser/whatever/whatever/whatever/whatever/UUID/(some dword key)

    3. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by richy+freeway · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Ccleaner isn't and never has been necessary. It's bullshit software "cleaning" issues that never existed.

    4. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The Windows registry was never a good idea. One huge file that contains all of the settings for the OS and all installed programs? If the registry gets corrupted, your whole OS ids history!

      Avast sold out its user base years ago, collecting and selling users personal private info to advertisers. Obviously they wanted to use CCleaner for the same purpose, but got caught! Collecting and selling user information is one of the biggest businesses these days, and everybody wants to get in on the big bucks to be made!

    5. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Replace it with

      $user/settings/programname_settings.txt

      That was pretty fucking hard

    6. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by war4peace · · Score: 0

      If the registry gets corrupted, your whole OS ids history!

      Same if your house explodes. I think houses explode more often than registry gets corrupted, statistically.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    7. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's like suggesting getting rid of a baby because it's actually a demon that vomits turds everywhere, such that every so often it's easier to just burn the place to the ground and build a new one rather than attempt to disinfect it.

    8. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only that but any user on Linux can quickly look at the man page of the program or run a command that lists all files from the program and see which files in /etc belong to it.

      In Windows this can be almost impossible unless you Google and hope someone else figured out what registry keys to edit and so forth.

    9. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think houses explode more often than registry gets corrupted, statistically.

      You must be new to Windows. Registry corruption is far more common than house explosions.

    10. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

      I always asumed it was malware anyway.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    11. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ccleaner isn't and never has been necessary. It's bullshit software "cleaning" issues that never existed.

      Maybe not on your computer, but for most of us who have to use Windows, there is tons of sludge that accumulates over time. %TEMP% alone is a horrible, leaky sewer pipe that Microsoft refuses to fix, never mind all the other crap that Crap Cleaner deals with. And don't let's get started on programs that ignore %TEMP% and dump their crap in C:\TEMP\ or C:\Windows\TEMP\ or worse, the root of C:\, and hope nobody will notice. (At the very least, something of Microsoft's is guilty of that last. I've found installer leftover garbage from one of their redistributable packages at C:\ on most of the computers at work.)

    12. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You are exactly correct. Other operating systems are better off because they don't have this FEATURE. It might have been okay if only the operating system had used it, but not as a global garbage dump. Apple got this right. Every application should keep it's stuff in its own directory and NO WHERE ELSE.

    13. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by astrofurter · · Score: 1

      Yeah, totally! Least week six houses (apartment buildings, actually) exploded on my block. And that was a slow week.

    14. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

      And replace it with what?

      systemd

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    15. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by richy+freeway · · Score: 1

      So what? What difference does it make?

    16. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny

      Get rid of the registry? And replace it with what? A rolodex stored in a filing cabinet behind a door with a sign that says "Beware of the tiger"?

      How about microfilm? I hear it lasts 500 years.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    17. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Get rid of the registry? And replace it with what?

      There you go folks: "learnt helplessness" defined before your very eyes.

    18. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Informative

      It does some useful stuff, like removing old crap files that Windows doesn't. Crash dumps, temp files. But that's it.

      Bleach Bit does the same thing without the spyware, registry scans etc.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    19. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's no excuse to still be on Windows.

    20. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And replace it with what?

      systemd

      [OldIrishCatholicPriest]

      Aye, an' ye'll be smokin' a turd in purgatory fer *that* one, me Boy-o!

      [/OldIrishCatholicPriest]

    21. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Registry cleaners are placebos, they do absolutely nothing of benefit. You NEVER have to "clean" the registry and only clueless people think otherwise.

    22. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some people are so anal retentive and have so much free time on their hands that they need to investigate every last file on their disk. It doesnâ(TM)t fucking matter.

    23. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anyone that already had the misfortune of have systems going berserk because of some registry mishap knows that the registry is beyond fixing. MS needs to go back to the drawing board with this one.

    24. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most people don't have those problems though. I have heard a couple of people whine about it, but in my 25 years with Windows across thousands of computers, I have never seen the registry cause any so-called "mishap".

    25. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is the command to list the files that belong to a program on Linux? Certainly not lsof.

    26. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dpkg -S file

      Rpm -qF file. If I remember correctly

      But not for config files. Most config files have the name of the Package thought.

    27. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My registry corrupts 3 times in my lifetime. My house never exploded Check! But 2 of them on Win9X era. But I migrated to Linux on Win2k. So i could not possibly know anymore.

    28. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every application should keep it's stuff in its own directory and NO WHERE ELSE.

      Mod up.

    29. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      If Microsoft would fix the implementation of the registry, then CCleaner wouldn't even be necessary.

      I have to ask what it is you're doing with your computer that makes a registry cleaning tool like CCleaner "necessary".
      Do you test viruses and malware for a living? Or do you in general do things that don't make sense? Do you also still run SoftRAM and software that cleans your memory, defragments your SSD, and realigns your UDP packets?

      I made one of those up.

    30. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, just because computers are built to be exact and predictable machines it doen't mean your software and the files they produce also have to be! Stop being boring and embrace chaos.

    31. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember when, among supposedly useful stuff, it also fucked up Office app (and other apps) icons. So fun!

    32. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      Funny thing is windows has both the registry and a bunch of hidden files stored in various places in our user directory.

    33. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      If you are on an old ssd card (like me), you want all the space you can get to hold your ridiculously sized games

    34. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have never seen the registry cause any so-called "mishap".

      To identify the root cause of any computer related problem it is required some well done analysis first. If you just safe mode repair or just reinstall a program or driver or just format and reinstall everything in the damn computer... well, you probably will never know what caused it.

      Maybe it is why you never saw the registry being the cause of any so-called mishap.

    35. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by fish_sauce · · Score: 1

      I think the registry were supposed to replace INI files which had many drawbacks and limitations. The problem is that they just added another feature with other drawbacks. Recently Microsoft have started to use XML files which also have many drawbacks and limitations.
      So now we have INI files, the registry and XML files. Microsoft loves to add to a problem instead of solving it correctly the first time.

    36. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by fish_sauce · · Score: 1

      You can reinstall everything and then make a backup. Then after a year, reset to that backup.
      Some school computers even resets after a student have logged off their account or the hard drive is read only or a software keeps track of new files and removes them after log off, so very many ways to keep a computer clean.

      When you have to update a software, reset, update software then update backup. The reset method would be perfect if it were not for the update issue. With some software you can keep track of what a software installs so when you want to remove the software you can do it with that software, it will remove everything from the install. What files the software creates after the install will be left undeleted. Many methods, none of them perfect.

      It could be perfect but that requires the operating system to change and support it and become better at installing updates and removing old files that will become unused after the update.

    37. Re:CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by fish_sauce · · Score: 1

      CCleaner also did this and messed up other things too. CCleaner even bricked computers.

    38. Re: CCleaner is only needed b/c sloppiness. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope. They just flat out don't happen. Or if they do, it's so exceedingly rare that only a tiny number of people (likely those who install everything they come across, including malware) ever have problems with it.

  3. CCleaner cleaned by CCleaner! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    CCleaner cleaned by CCleaner!

  4. Re:"We understand the importance of this to you al by guygo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    quite. If they understood the importance of it, why was it ever removed? Yuppie management BS trying to cover up lame monetization attempts that threatened the viability of the software. Typical.

  5. Just use OpenBSD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Just use OpenBSD. Security becomes a lot simpler for average users because the OpenBSD developers, who are amongst the most knowledgeable and talented software security professionals out there, have built an extraordinarily secure and robust OS in OpenBSD. You don't need virus scanners and registry cleaners with OpenBSD.

    1. Re: Just use OpenBSD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Umm, I like it as well, but the main reason there's no malware for the platform is because of how small and the nature of their userbase.

      You can still download a virus which could infect other systems in your network with OpenBSD if you lack antivirus.

    2. Re: Just use OpenBSD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think that your understanding of security is very limited.

    3. Re: Just use OpenBSD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think you understand how bsd works.

    4. Re:Just use OpenBSD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And in the future I will be posting about how overrun with viruses and malware OpenBSD is, and how the new "impenetrable" OS is:
      "Open aww fuck it we'll Have an invasion Of dumbass users soon enough that wiLl break everything
      once the dumb management tools forcE their way in," A.K.A. OpenHOLE.

      Anything that can be ruined will be ruined.

    5. Re:Just use OpenBSD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even a nerd like me can't be hassled to use it (or FreeBSD). I would need to learn the syntax on how to set the prompt, then which file to put this in (.login? .profile? .bsahrc? or does it use korn shell etc.). Then learn to color it. Then it's stupid but translated error messages and man pages on the CLI is something you get used to. English and black and white may be fine but it needs the giant 486/33 tower with tape drive and floppy to give a more authentic experience.

    6. Re:Just use OpenBSD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry to break this to you, but you aren't a nerd. Nerds already know UNIX syntax and at a glance can tell you what shell is running.

      It's more likely that you are a Windows "power user" AKA clueless noob who thinks he understands computers.

  6. Re: "We understand the importance of this to you a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    'Yuppie management'?! Yuppies were in their 30s and 40s in the 1980s! Most are now long retired. Most management today is made of Millennials.

  7. going going gone! by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    I guess I'll just hold on to my old CCleaner. And Eagle CAD, and...

    1. Re:going going gone! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      microsoft has put ccleaner on the 'will damage your computer' blacklist before (that now 'conveniently' gets automatically updated for you), even relatively recent (at the time it has happened) versions. so good luck with that.

  8. Glaries Utilities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I always used Glaries Utilities and CCleaner. Since Avast bought CCleaner, we got more and moe shit with a software that always worked like a charm and satyed away of this shit for years.

    Now, I only Use Glaries utilities.

    1. Re: Glaries Utilities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use several, including bleachbit, and I really like jetclean.

    2. Re:Glaries Utilities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The other day I tried Spybot and it didn't even work. It complained the installation was incomplete and missing things. I deleted it all.
      I did uncheck stuff during the setup.exe, I wonder if it was that. But like ten things were checked greyed out.
      Anyway it's the same as has been for 20 years. The solution to a crappy slow unusable Windows computer is adding more RAM. Most useless shit you get rid of in control panel add/remove programs.

  9. Re:"We understand the importance of this to you al by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    These is classic "war of attrition" tactics on the part of software makers. As more and more experienced computer folks leave the playing field to give rise to the age of the "what's a computer?" smartphone and tablet crowds, there will be fewer and fewer folks with the experience and knowledge to catch chicanery like this. And those that are able will all be working for these asshats. The fact is, the sleazy, cyberpunk-style-megacorporations have already won by default; they just need to wait a bit longer to collect their winnings.

    Congratulations, you are the product. "Free" never sounded so great, huh?

  10. Re: "We understand the importance of this to you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Millennials? I think you misspelled assholes. They exist in every generation.

  11. Haven't use CCC in a long while by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Last time was prior to a version being hacked with malware. I immediately uninstalled it and was the last time I use CCleaner. Well I guess it hasn't improved much since then. Its perfectly OK to ask to collect stats, but its not Ok to do it on the down low.

  12. What if software just did what it was told? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What if software had a single purpose and just did what it was told? Wouldn't that be wacky

    1. Re:What if software just did what it was told? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What if software had a single purpose and just did what it was told? Wouldn't that be wacky

      Not only "wacky", but anti-capitalistic. How can you be sold asa product if software only did what it was told? You damn Commie...

    2. Re:What if software just did what it was told? by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      Exactly! Only get software from government agencies like the NSA. Avoid corps at all cost! You can't trust those capitalistic pigs!

  13. Don't forget!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Avast, Piriform, and many others only exist because Windows is a total piece of shit!

  14. People never understand by SirAstral · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Free only 'legally' means you don't have to pay cash, but it is never actually free, you just pay for it with other currencies like privacy, control/ownership, social/political/economic standing, liberty/prison/indenture/employment, and sadly but occasionally life itself through war/crime/tyranny/accident/health.

    You are going to pay one way or another, even when it is 'free'!

    1. Re:People never understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is precisely what I keep trying to tell people. One day you're using Linux, the next you're committing a buffer overflow fix to git, and the next you're shoveling people into ovens. Simple.

    2. Re:People never understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are going to pay one way or another, even when it is 'free'!

      "Free as in fear" (Vita, Open Discourse)

  15. Re: "We understand the importance of this to you by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Millenial is a generation. Yuppie is a concept -- Young, Upwardly-Mobile (climbing the corporate ladder of power and wealth) Professionals.

    That's shifted somewhat and needs a spawn for the new startup culture. Young, Avaricious Startup Spawner Hawkers of Low Expectation of Success, or Yassholes.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  16. Uninstalling 5.45 by sehlat · · Score: 2

    Just do a "trial" download of 5.44, which is up at least as of a few minutes ago. Install it, run it, then shut it down and uninstall. As far as I can determine, CCleaner's gone.

  17. Re: "We understand the importance of this to you by war4peace · · Score: 1

    "From now on thou shalt be called YASSHLE!"

    --
    ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
  18. Re:"We understand the importance of this to you al by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of course they're not acknowledging $bad_shit and they claim their "mistake" was trying to make things "simple" for the user.

    Analytics of system crashes/bugs should be postmortem. Analytics of utilization should be explicitly opt-in. How fucking hard is that?

  19. one strike should have been out by Riceballsan · · Score: 1

    I switched to bleachbit entirely after the malware incident. Now I feel even better about my decision.

    1. Re:one strike should have been out by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      I dropped CCleaner the first time I noticed that, despite flagging "Not on startup" the friggin' thing still puts itself there. AND, if you remove it manually, it will reinsert itself. Fuck any software that lies to me.

  20. I disagree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Many times during a failed install - yes, it does happen on Windows - the install program still puts a ton of shit into the registry.

    Guess what? You try to install and it thinks the software is still installed.

    Or, it buggers up something up.

    And removal most of the time leave a ton of crap in the registry that shouldn't be there. And it makes it very hard when trying to fix an issue having to comb through crap that's not even used.

    And there are tons of dipshit little issues that crop up on older machines because of registries that are full crap that's just not used. It makes it a support nightmare.

    And then there's just the space it takes. I've seen registries on old systems get so large that cleaning them up makes a HUGE difference in available space.

    No, sir. CCleaner is a valuable tool - I'll give them that.

    1. Re: I disagree by fish_sauce · · Score: 1

      I have had reports that CCleaner can cause issues because it removes something that was still in use. Some have reported CCleaner bricked their computer.

      I see CCleaner as another form of a "ram cleaner". A ram cleaner tries to allocate as much memory as possible and then it frees it which leaves free ram behind. But all it does is push the memory that were in the ram to the page file, causing slowdowns when the memory is requested and needs to be put back to the ram again.
      Snake-oil software. Many users do not know any better. Which is good, this is how I earn my paycheck. No matter how many times I tell users what not to do they ignore me and do it anyway. Well, it is their money, I will happily take it away from them as punishment for not listening to me.

  21. Re: "We understand the importance of this to you a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously? They did something. People complained. They saw it was serious and now understand. So theyâ(TM)re changing.

  22. Re: "We understand the importance of this to you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's stupid, why can't I just work? Is work worthless? Then everyone would stop.

    Fuck you all I'm buying guns.

  23. "Privay" concerns... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People on sites the likes of /. have a fit over the telemetry built into Windows 10...but look at the truly useless shyte they install on their systems on their own.

    1. Re: "Privay" concerns... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Using windows almost forces you to install CCCleaner.

      Windows created this problem.

    2. Re:"Privay" concerns... by Shikaku · · Score: 1

      There's a very easy way to still have privacy, by just asking:

      "Would you like to enable logging and data collection solely so we can debug our software and find bugs and other user experience problems for this software? Yes/No"

  24. Re: "We understand the importance of this to you a by mikael · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Security software companies have always done this. Like Cisco that tried to change the web UI of their home routers from local PC based to "through a cloud account".

    There is nothing worse that having customised the security settings of a DSL wifi-router to the highest possible, only to find "We performed a factory reset to upgrade the firmware. All your security settings have been reverted to the default settings".

    It's interesting to note that CCleaner gets annoyed that it can't reset and clear the log files of other security applications.

    I've also noticed that some firewall software would log various events like failed login attempts, but after an upgrade, they would no longer log these events.

    --
    Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  25. CCleaner for Android is a joke by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

    Actually, a very bad joke. It does not really do anything that you can do by hand, it is intrusive, it consumes lots of resources, and it is generally obnoxious.

    1. Re: CCleaner for Android is a joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can also compile source code by hand. But of course people use general purpose computers to automate common tasks. Idiot.

  26. I left Avast A/V behind for reasons like this... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

    ... looks like Avast is now doing similar things to ccleaner. Time for a new cleaning app. Avast software products are supposed to add to security, not detract from it.

  27. Re:Rest assured I don't do it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe you should tell them it is as effective as an av scanner that only matches on file names.
    Also stop spamming asshole

  28. Portable? by antdude · · Score: 1

    From what I read, portable version is OK.

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  29. OLD NEWS by Stan92057 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    First this is OLD NEWS this happened a month or so ago i switched back to 5.44 and denied CCleaner internet access and i manually check for updates Their hasn't been any since the first broke news.. wtf is going on here at /. anymore? news that really matters doesn't show for weeks after?

    --
    Jack of all trades,master of none
    1. Re:OLD NEWS by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve · · Score: 1

      First this is OLD NEWS this happened a month or so ago i switched back to 5.44 and denied CCleaner internet access and i manually check for updates Their hasn't been any since the first broke news.. wtf is going on here at /. anymore? news that really matters doesn't show for weeks after?

      Wait probably 3-4 days for this whole story to be resubmitted as brand new. I'm not kidding. And don't be shocked if it only takes 2 days for it happen.

      At least this resubmission could be useful. We also tend to get submissions where the submitter lacks good reading skills. For example, someone will say something like "Not X. Definitely not X. Whatever you are thinking it is, it's not X. It could be anything else but it never was and never will be X." Then the submitter will say "They said it's X! They said it's X!"

  30. Re:Rest assured I don't do it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe you can tell us what you did better than apk has that users here like and use instead of you being offtopic giving orders nobody obeys from you.

  31. CCleaner cleaned by CCleaner! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    CCleaner cleaned by CCleaner!

    CCleaner cleaned by CCleaner!

  32. Re:"We understand the importance of this to you al by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Popular violence against biz-nazis really works. Break a nee brak a back ... watch how quick the hack retracts .... BURMASHAVE

  33. Yet another piece of software FUBAR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Used to be good software. Now another example of software trying to spy. I used ccleaner for many years. Time to say ... ... screw off Avast!

  34. Re:"We understand the importance of this to you al by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Right ... Corporate f**ks .. sprung

  35. Re:Rest assured I don't do it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Being modded down doesn't mean spam more asshole

  36. Who the hell on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    would be stupid enough to use this product in the first place?

  37. Cry some MORE for us "Jowie", lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Aw! JEALOUS "Lil Jowie" you is crying since I ran you DRY of "downmodpoints" your single effete wannabe weapon again? Yes, lol!

    * STFU whimp...

    APK

    P.S.=> Yes, you're a DISGUSTING do-nothing "ne'er-do-well" WHIMP who FEARS me since you STALK ME by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous troll posts (which tells me I've BUSTED YOU UP under your doubtless MANY fake name SOCKPUPPETS you use here to game the system for more abused 'downmodpoints' I'm GLAD to run you DRY of methodically & systematically EASILY - proving I outthink, outsmart & just plain OUTDO "your kind" weasel)... apk

    1. Re:Cry some MORE for us "Jowie", lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Says the little bitchass pussy who pees himself in the corner everytime someone might take him up on his offer.
      APK can't can't defend his work and can't defend himself.
      Come on pussycake post your address.

  38. how hard is it to comment out tracking code by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    let me see, takes you weeks to turn off something it took you months to figure out...and hours to code... It should take you a few minutes to REM or COMMENT out the violating code....and re-release and code sign with timestamps..

    comment out violating code // recompile // release // done..

    another one thanks to andy mtn287

  39. RE: no worries , we'll use a process hider next ti by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    RE: no worries , we'll use a process hider next time so you don't know......

  40. Re:Rest assured I don't do it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1

    Selective quotes. Oh and a couple of parodies and trolls. In the decade you've been spamming the fact that you have so few endorsements you have to quote mine says a lot

    2

    *laugh* Yeah big guy, you're just like Musk. And the Chinese copy you. And you're 'world class'.
    Never mind you're a lonely retiree who is sharing half a duplex with someone to cover the bills and whose last 'win' was some time in the 90s.
    Really, you're a poor underappreciated genius who is only criticised out of jealousy.

    3

    You really can't tell when you're being trolled, can you?

    Your 'software' downloads other people's lists, merges, sorts and writes to a file. That's it. What they hell has that got to do with identifying and removing orphaned registry entries, clearing caches and temp directories or wiping drive space, securely?

    Once again, like every narcissist, you've taken a conversation that has nothing to do with you and tried to make it about yourself.
    *slow clap*

    APK. He's just like Musk!

  41. fantastic OS by sad_ · · Score: 1

    OS is such a wasteland that it needs special tools to clean up after itself.
    said tools are just as horrible, people still keep using both because... no valid reason what so ever.

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  42. Re:"We understand the importance of this to you al by Wolfrider · · Score: 1

    --The executives that mandated/approved the change in the first place? They need to be fired. Put that on your TODO list, Avast.

    --
    .
    == WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
  43. This forced telemetry BS is getting old. 2010s wil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    will be know as the decade humans started using technology for evil. Windows 10, Roomba, Android, Google, Samsung TVs, Onkyo Stereos are good examples of items our company or household will never use.

  44. I am APK the LORD of HOSTS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am APK the great "LORD of HOSTS", a.k.a. AlecStaar or Alexander Peter Kowalski.

    See subject & APK Hosts File Engine 2.0++ 64-bit for Linux h t t p : / / I . a m . a . f u c k i n g / a s s h o l e . r e t a r d . z i p (remove spaces between characters & download).

    I am the godlike creator of various GUI front-ends for other people's configuration files.

    Watch as I claim I win every argument when in reality I know I lost but that won't stop me from proclaiming my victory.

    When presented with facts I rebut them with wild speculations, false support, and out of context quotes

    All of my accomplishments revolve around me being proven to be an annoying spamming asshole

    See me be proud of my inability to be a functional adult

    Bask in my debilitating mental illness

    Hear me tell stories about me living large drinking miller lite in my ramshackle duplex with a roommate at age 54.

    Watch me spew some word salad because I can't string 2 words together in a coherent manner.

    I just don't understand why every site I post on everyone makes fun of me, it can't be because I am a shit stick but instead because they are all Ne'er-do-well SOYboy Jealous JOWIEs.

    Witness my descent into madness

    APK

  45. Rest assured I don't do it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rest assured I don't do it in my APK Hosts File Engine 2.0++ 64-bit for Linux & BSD h t t p : / / a p k . i t - m a t e . c o . u k / A P K H o s t s F i l e E n g i n e F o r L i n u x . z i p OR APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-1 32/64-bit for Windows https://www.google.com/search?...

    * MULTIPLATFORM for Windows/Linux/BSD makes you SAFER vs. threats (botnets, cryptominers, malware, malscript etc.) & FASTER online + more reliably connected (vs. DNS redirect poisoning security issues/down) + more anonymous (vs. script + DNS tracking).

    See subject: My code doesn't transmit YOUR data outward!

    3 things show I do it right:

    1st = User praise my hosts engine https://tech.slashdot.org/comm...

    2nd "ATTACKS" I GET (by UNIDENTIFIABLE ac as Elon Musk got https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... )

    3rd BEING IMITATED = https://linux.slashdot.org/com...

    APK

    P.S.=> Lastly: Too bad on CCleaner BUSTED this way - it's decent... apk

  46. 1 .oz of prevention's worth 1 ton o' 'cure' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your software is just fine - well written, functional... I'm going to continue using the Host File Engine by mmell February 17, 2017

    Your premise that hostfiles are a good way to deal with advertising and malvertising is quite valid - by JazzLad April 20, 2016

    his hosts program is actually pretty good by xenotransplant August 10 2015

    his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources by alexgieg September 25 2015

    I like your host file system by Karmashock September 09 2015

    that APK guy, I use his host file by rogoshen1 Tuesday March 03, 2015

    I personally use a HOSTS file blocker produced from a genius called APK by 110010001000 October 27 2017

    * See subject: Blocking threats before they get ya's what I do via hosts!

    APK

    P.S.=> Registered /.ers quoted DISAGREE w/ you UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous JEALOUS "Lil' Jowie" who STALKS me on /. (do-nothing "ne'er-do-well" you are HIDING from me)... apk

  47. Why do you speak as me & you're not I? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See my subject & answer that: & Why do you also STALK me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts as well? AFRAID to stand behind your lies??

    * THIS I have to hear, lol - it WILL truly be a classic I'm sure!

    (CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE SUDDENLY? You wouldn't answer LAST TIME I ASKED IT + YOU DOWNMOD "HID" IT (the sure sign of YOUR total SELF-defeat) https://it.slashdot.org/commen... )

    Plus, since you say I'm the "Lord of Hosts"? My "portrait & themesong" https://www.youtube.com/watch?... so SATAN, get thee behind me.

    APK

    P.S.=> Grow up you obsessed loon who not only IMPERSONATES me but also STALKS me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts constantly... apk

  48. You're the one HIDING as UNIDENTIFIABLE ac by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're the one HIDING as UNIDENTIFIABLE ac & Do you even HAVE a home (as I do fully paid off) or do you live under a bridge like the troll you are?

    Nothing to show for yourself either in the way of accomplishment in computing either (prove otherwise - oh, that's right - you CAN'T when you don't have a damn thing to show like you).

    * You're a JEALOUS "Lil' Jowie" loser that STALKS me via UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts since you are AFRAID of me, no questions asked.

    APK

    P.S.=> Your JEALOUS is SHOWING "Lil' Jowie" but nothing else to show for yourself @ all - hahahaha... apk