The documentation about Customizing Windows 7 templates instructs to install CCleaner in section “Manual tasks that can/should be started in the template”. However, according to Wikipedia, this software has been infected with malware at certain point in time. Considering that it is also proprietary, I am questioning how safe it is to follow this particular instruction in the docs.
What do you think?
Is there a safe alternative to that step?
How do you approach this particular cleaning?
It’s possible to install a pre-Avast version of this software from http://www.oldversion.com/ if you’re worried that later releases might be shady.
Considering that it is also proprietary, I am questioning how safe it is
It’s still better to have a trusted small proprietary program that we’re sure does no harm than constantly get free software big programs that one will never be able to audit.
People are able to reverse-engineer and hack game ROMs whereas I cannot imagine an individual auditing a modern-day browser.
Anything closed and unverifiable is shady and should be used only if absolutely necessary and if no FOSS alternatives exist.
A 49.8 MB binary is not a small proprietary program.
It is not one individual that audits big FOSS programs and makes them trustworthy. It is the community around the projects that does that.
Well, I may be wrong, you may be right. In any case, I am not looking for an argument
While looking for FOSS alternatives I found some program called BleachBit which seems to exist even as a package in Linux distros and also has a Windows version, including a portable one.
Have you tried it and what are your impressions?
If it does the same, wouldn’t it be better to recommend it in the docs instead of CCleaner?
I didn’t say not to be discussed, but I don’t want to discuss it would take too much time for nothing. I have no interest in this, and using this could bring one into lot of troubles. Just searx what windows 7 services can be disabled.
While looking for temp file cleaning alternatives I found TempFileCleanup.bat in Tron automated cleanup script. Not test myself, just skim .bat. Incomplete solution likely. Maybe a start? Maybe not.