I first came across this product while trying to recover from a combination of ad-ware and mal-ware that worked together to really mess up my system. I found a solution to the problem on the Internet, which included suggestions for software to download for use in making the necessary repairs. The product CleanUp! was one of those suggestions.
When you surf the net, Windows leaves quite a collection of files on your system. Some people are concerned about the privacy issue – these files show where you’ve been on the Internet, and what you’ve been looking at. Personally, I just object to the space that these take up on the hard drive. When you install new software on your system, Windows often creates a mess of temporary files that it then fails to remove afterwards. Between the two, Windows can be responsible for leaving a lot of junk on your system.
CleanUp! is a free application that was originally created to clean your hard drive of the files accumulated while web surfing. It was then further developed to clean out things like the leftovers from software installations.
The first time that I used it, I had something of a panic attack – it was cleaning out literally several hundred megabytes worth of files. Surely it was trashing things that it shouldn’t be! But no – everything was fine afterwards. That was simply how much accumulated junk that there was on my system despite regularly cleaning out my cache!
For those who are particularly keen to hide their surfing tracks, unlike some other products CleanUp! removes the Windows files that keep a summary of your surfing habits. Those files cannot be immediately deleted, but CleanUp! forces those files to be deleted and replaced when your system next boots up.
Available as a free download from http://www.stevengould.org/software/cleanup/, I have found this to be a great little tool. It is easy to use, and even keeps you mildly amused by the sound of a toilet flushing when you start it running! I have used it with Windows XP and also with Windows 98 on my old backup pc; it has proven quite stable in both operating systems.
I highly recommend it to other PCUG members.