Keep Your Computer Running Smooth: Eliminate Unnecessary Files with Crap Cleaner

You surf the Internet, download files, install new programs and uninstall the old ones without thinking twice. You probably don't even notice the gradual drain on your computer's processing speed. But it all builds up. And, then one day you realize that it is taking longer than usual to access a particular website or download a certain file. You could spend time going through your computer's system files and folders manually, tracking down and deleting the built up internet files, recycled files, temporary files and even pesky registry leftovers. Or, you could just click the mouse button and let Crap Cleaner do all the dirty work for you.

Crap Cleaner is a free system optimization program available for download at www.ccleaner.com. Crap Cleaner removes unnecessary and unused files from your computer thus freeing up hard drive space and letting your computer run more smoothly. It does the job quickly and effectively. Generally, Crap Cleaner takes under a minute to run. And as an added benefit it clears out your Internet history effectively removing all traces of your Internet activities.

The Crap Cleaner website offers hyperlinks for downloading the program. You can either save the program to your computer for an install later or you can choose to run it directly after the download. The install is an easy process and the program walks you through the process with a nice installer wizard. I recommend that you accept all the defaults. After selecting your language (Crap Cleaner supports many) the installer will open.

The Installation Wizard:
Click "Next" to continue and agree to the license agreement. If you would like to change the destination folder where the files for Crap Cleaner will be stored you may do so, but it is a small program and most likely the default destination folder will be fine so click "Next" to continue with the wizard. By default all installation options will be selected. If you do not want any of these options simply remove the check mark next to the option description. I strongly recommend that you keep the option to have Crap Cleaner automatically check for updates since updates are released fairly often. Now you are ready to finish the installation wizard so click "Install". Click "Finish" to exit the wizard once the install is complete.

Running the program:
Once you have installed Crap Cleaner you can open it by double-clicking the desktop icon or by going through the Start menu: Start -> Programs -> CCleaner. Crap Cleaner will open with the Cleaner Settings section displayed. Two tabs are displayed: Windows and Applications. The Windows tab includes Internet Explorer and System settings. The Applications tab includes settings for programs installed on your computer. By default check marks are displayed next to all the items that will be cleaned out when Crap Cleaner runs. Before you run the program make sure to uncheck anything that you would like to keep. For example, you may wish to keep your Internet cookies so that you will not need to re-enter any login information for websites you routinely visit.

Before you run the cleaner you may want to use the "Analyze" button to see what will be removed. After the analysis is complete the output window will display the files that will be removed based on your settings along with the amount of hard drive space that will be freed. I recommend using the "Analyze" button before running Crap Cleaner for the first time just so you can verify that the options are set correctly. Click "Run Cleaner" to remove all the unnecessary files from your computer.

Crap Cleaner also has an advanced section called "Issues". This section locates errors and old entries in the system registry that are results of uninstalls. Click on the "Issues" button to access this section. This is a more advanced feature and therefore Crap Cleaner will prompt you to backup your registry in the rare event that you delete something you may later need it can be restored. To check for issues click the "Scan for Issues" button. A list of issues will be displayed in the output window. Click "Fix Selected Issues" to remove the entries.

The "Tools" section in Crap Cleaner provides you with the options to uninstall programs and view and edit your startup program list. The "Uninstall" button will provide a list of programs installed on your computer. You can uninstall a program from here to ensure that all extraneous files are removed. The "Startup" button will display a list of programs that are set to run when your computer boots up. You can easily remove unwanted programs from this list to help your computer boot up faster.

The "Options" section in Crap Cleaner allows you to change any of your Crap Cleaner settings.

The Wrap-up:
Crap Cleaner is a very robust tool designed to help you keep your computer running smoothly. As you can see it is very easy to use and with just a click of the mouse you can delete all those pesky unnecessary freeloading files!