Specializing in Computer Repair, Networking, Internet Solutions, Web Designing, Hybrid App Designing and Windows Operating systems.
Ana Swanson / New York Times:
The language in Trump's EOs on WeChat and TikTok may be vague deliberately, as some argue the uncertainty may dissuade more US companies from operating in China — The restrictions on the two Chinese-owned apps followed a familiar model for other policy announcements on China from the Trump administration.
Joe Mcdonald / Associated Press:
Huawei says that production of its high-end Kirin smartphone chips will stop Sept. 15 and, more broadly, its smartphone production has “no chips and no supply” — BEIJING (AP) — Chinese tech giant Huawei is running out of processor chips to make smartphones due to U.S. sanctions …
Kim Lyons / The Verge:
Twitter says it is testing showing quote tweet counts directly on each tweet to see whether that makes the Retweets with Comments metric “more understandable” — Whatever they're called, this is really going to mess with the ratio — In a move that may forever change what it means …
AnnaMaria Andriotis / Wall Street Journal:
US bank regulator fines Capital One $80M over a 2019 hack that compromised personal info of ~106M card customers and applicants between 2005 and early 2019 — OCC, Federal Reserve order the bank to beef up cybersecurity defenses — A top banking regulator has fined Capital …
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE:
Linux Foundation launches Open Source Security Foundation to bring some of the world's most important OSS security initiatives under one umbrella — The Linux Foundation said today it's presiding over a new foundation that brings some of the world's most important open-source security initiatives under a new umbrella.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Rapidly escalating tensions, including WeChat ban, may devastate Apple's business due to its huge exposure on everything, from manufacturing to sales, to China — Trump's ban could have far-reaching consequences for Apple — President Trump's executive order banning WeChat …
If you stay on top of gaming trends, you’ll have heard of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. It was released in August 2020 to a lot of hype, especially on Twitch.
In this beginner’s guide, we’ll explain what Fall Guys is, give you some tips to help you beat the game, and help you decide if it’s worth playing.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (usually shortened to just Fall Guys) is an online multiplayer game. It takes inspiration from real-life obstacle course game shows, like Wipeout and Takeshi’s Castle.
You play as a bean-like character who tries to survive as long as they can through a series of challenges. The game comes complete with goofy physics, so your character feels a bit dopey to control and bounces around like a ragdoll when hit.
The game has elements of the battle royale genre, as you compete to be the last challenger standing. However, unlike other battle royale games like Fortnite or PUBG, the genre’s influences are pretty light. You don’t try to eliminate specific opponents and take their resources to boost your own chances of winning.
The game launched on August 4, 2020 for Steam and PS4. It’s not currently available on any other platforms.
When you start Fall Guys, you’ll encounter a brief tutorial explaining how the game works. The controls are simple: aside from moving your character and camera, you can jump (X on PS4 and Space on PC), dive (Square on PS4 and Ctrl on PC) and grab other players (R2 on PS4 and Shift on PC).
From there, select Play on the main screen and you’ll queue up for a match. Each match starts off with 60 characters and slowly whittles the player count down by eliminating people through a series of minigames.
Your goal is to be the last player standing by winning the final minigame. Each match consists of five rounds of games. If you’re eliminated at any point, you can continue watching to see who wins, or exit to begin another attempt at the top spot.
As you play, you’ll earn credits that you can redeem for cosmetic rewards. Winning earns you a special credit called crowns, which you need for certain items in the shop.
Fall Guys is all about the challenges—in a way, it’s like a survival version of Mario Party. With over 20 different games (and more on the way, according to the developers), there are too many to cover individually here.
Instead, we’ll explain the different types of games you’ll participate in, illustrate with a few examples, and offer some tips for success along the way.
These are straightforward: everyone competes to be the first one to the goal line. You’ll need to finish close enough to the front of the pack to continue on.
Most of the racing games are large, meaning you’ll see them early on when there are still lots of players left.
In this game, you’ll need to head for the finish while navigating around a series of doors that open and close regularly. These can really mess you up if you miss the timing, so do your best to anticipate what doors will be open when you reach them. Don’t just head for whichever one is currently down!
In this race, you’ll need to avoid the fruit that flies all over the place. During the final stretch, watch for the rolling logs that come right down the middle. They’re easy to miss with all the fruit in the air and can easily take you out.
In Survival modes, you must stay alive during an increasingly dangerous challenge. The round ends after some time passes or a set number of people are eliminated.
Most Survival modes show up when a fair chunk of the competitors have been eliminated.
In this game, you must dodge two spinning poles that rotate around the playing field. Focus on jumping over the green obstacle at the bottom; you can usually survive a light bump against the top pink pole.
This game places you on a set of floating tiles, which rotate in cycles to show you a fruit underneath them. When the timer expires, you’ll see a fruit and you must jump to a tile with the matching fruit quickly. If you’re wrong, the tile disappears and you’re eliminated.
Do your best to stand on a tile that’s close to as many other fruits as possible. That way, you’ll have options when you know what the safe fruit is.
In team games, you’ll split up into groups and work together for a round. Everyone on the last-place team at the end of the round is eliminated. Depending on the size of the team game, they can appear with many players remaining, or just a few.
This mode splits you into four teams. Some players spawn with tails, which you can steal from them using the grab button. Whichever team has the fewest total number of tails at the end loses.
To easily grab a tail, wait for someone to make a mistake (and end up helpless on the ground) before you move in.
Jinxed is similar to “infected” modes seen in other games. One player from each team starts jinxed (you’ll see pink clouds on their body) and must grab opposing players to jinx them too. Whichever team has all of its members jinxed first loses.
Keep in mind that you move more slowly while holding down the grab button, so only use it when you’re close to someone.
If you make it to a game marked as Final, congratulations, you’re only one round away from winning a match of Fall Guys. Just don’t lose your cool now, as there’s only one winner in these rounds.
This is like Team Tail Tag, except there’s only one tail. To win, you must be the one holding the tail when time expires. If you don’t have it, do your best to analyze the movements of the leader and cut them off. When you do have it, move unpredictably and keep an eye out for opponents jumping at you.
This finale features several floors made up of hexagonal tiles. Each time someone touches one, it disappears. Your goal is to be the last person who falls to the bottom of the stage.
For victory here, always have a plan for moving to the next tile. And remember that it’s not necessarily bad to drop down to the next floor early, as it gives you more tiles to work with.
Now that you know a bit about Fall Guys, is it worth playing?
Overall, the game is fun. It has a cheery aesthetic, fitting music, and is easy to get into (unlike a lot of other battle royale titles). You might have even more fun with it playing with friends than we did playing solo.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is best played in small bursts. Even with more than 20 challenges, we tended to see the same couple of ones pop up regularly. This becomes repetitive, especially with the early race stages that are fairly easy to clear.
The team minigames are definitely the worst part of the game. It feels like your individual performance has little effect on whether your team wins or loses, meaning that you’ll often lose a good run to a team game you had no control over.
Finally, the game also has a full microtransactions store, even though it’s a paid title. You earn credits slowly through playing, but can buy more with real money. The character customization is minor, so it’s not a huge problem, but we still don’t love seeing a free-to-play style setup in a paid game like this.
At the time of writing, Fall Guys is available for $20 on Steam and PS4. If you enjoy casual minigames and don’t mind a bit of repetition, it’s worth a look, especially if you have friends to play with. Hopefully, the game will soon add additional challenges and tweak the team minigames, which will make it easier to recommend.
You're probably all wondering…
What's next for Fall Guys?
Well, we're going to be releasing new levels, new costumes, and new features
I would like to quote a greater being than myself:
"You fool, this isn't even my final form"
– Frieza, Dragonball Z pic.twitter.com/ymiVuzudlC— Fall Guys ? (@FallGuysGame) August 4, 2020
In August 2020, the game is also free for PS Plus subscribers, so you should at least add it to your library if you’re a member. Once added, it’s yours to keep all the while you stay subscribed to PS Plus.
Buy: Fall Guys for PS4 | Steam ($20)
We’ve taken a look at Fall Guys so that you know what the game is all about. Hopefully this gives you an idea of whether you’d like to play it. With its addictive nature and free release on PS Plus, this could certainly become the next viral game.
Keep in mind that the multiplayer in Fall Guys is online only. So, if you prefer playing with friends in the same room, check out the best local multiplayer games on PS4.
Read the full article: A Beginner’s Guide to Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Are you sick of TikTok? With the recent call to uninstall TikTok for privacy reasons, it’s understandable why you might want to delete your TikTok account.
Whether you want to stop using TikTok over security concerns, or if you’re just getting tired of TikTok trends, it’s easy to delete your account. Here’s how…
To delete your TikTok account once and for all, first, open the TikTok app, and hit the Me tab at the bottom right corner of the screen. Then, when you get to your profile, select the three vertical dots at the top-right side of the page.
From here, hit Manage my account to bring up your account settings. At the very bottom of the screen, you’ll see Delete account. Click that option if you’re positive that you want to delete your TikTok account for good.
TikTok will then ask you to verify your account. If you signed up using an email, you’ll have to re-enter your password. Otherwise, you’ll have to verify your account through Facebook or Google.
After verifying your account, you’ll see a confirmation page. TikTok lists what will happen when you delete your account, and if you’re okay with that, hit Delete Account at the bottom of the page.
Before you delete your TikTok account, it’s a good idea to download your TikTok videos (if you want to keep them). This is because deleting your account means that you’ll no longer have access to any of your videos. You should also keep in mind that you won’t get a refund for any Coins or Gifts purchased through the app.
Unfortunately, TikTok won’t delete your account right away—it will only hide it from other users for 30 days. Once this waiting period is over, TikTok will then permanently erase your account.
In case you change your mind about deleting your TikTok account, you can always reactivate it during that 30-day time period. Simply log into your account like you normally would, and TikTok will give you the option of reactivating your account.
When you delete your TikTok account, you can breathe a sigh of relief. After that 30-day wait time, you’ll finally be free of TikTok!
Do you want to get rid of your other social media accounts as well? Then check out our guide detailing how to delete your social media accounts on the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Read the full article: How to Delete Your TikTok Account
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Twitter had preliminary talks with TikTok about combining with TikTok's US operations, expects it would face less antitrust scrutiny than Microsoft — Microsoft still seen as front-runner in bidding for video-sharing app's U.S. operations — Twitter Inc. TWTR -1.46% …
If you have a large collection of locally-saved media, you need to be using Plex. It is the best way to keep your digital movies and TV shows organized.
Plex is available on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and all the major streaming platforms. You can use it to import artwork and other metadata, display subtitles, play multiple audio tracks, automatically organize your content into collections, and more. The app even has support for live TV, DVR, and personalized news.
Each version of the Plex app operates slightly differently. Today, we want to focus on the desktop app for Windows and Mac. Specifically, we’re going to introduce you to some of the most useful Plex keyboard shortcuts. After all, no one wants to be fiddling around with a mouse just to change the volume in the middle of a movie.
The shortcuts are split into three sections: Navigation, Playback, and Troubleshooting. Some shortcuts use the same hotkeys, depending on which mode you’re in.
(Note: Replace Control with Cmd if you’re using a macOS machine.)
FREE DOWNLOAD: This cheat sheet is available as a downloadable PDF from our distribution partner, TradePub. You will have to complete a short form to access it for the first time only. Download Plex Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows and Mac.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| App Navigation | |
| Left Arrow | Navigate left |
| Right Arrow | Navigate right |
| Up Arrow | Navigate up |
| Down Arrow | Navigate down |
| Enter | Select |
| Space | Select |
| Esc | Back |
| Backspace | Back |
| Delete | Back |
| P | Start playback off highlighted item |
| W | Toggle played/unplayed status |
| Shift + F11 | Enter/exit fullscreen mode (Windows) |
| Cmd + Control + F | Enter/exit fullscreen mode (Mac) |
| Win + Down Arrow | Minimize Plex (Windows) |
| Cmd + M | Minimize Plex (Mac) |
| Alt + F4 | Quit app |
| Control + Q | Quit app |
| Playback | |
| Enter | Access menu |
| + | Volume up |
| - | Volume down |
| P | Pause/play |
| Right Arrow | Skip back 10 seconds |
| Left Arrow | Jump forward 10 seconds |
| Up Arrow | Jump forward 10 minutes |
| Down arrow | Skip back 10 minutes |
| X | Cancel playback |
| B | Back |
| H | Stop playback and return to home screen |
| Home | Play previous item in queue |
| End | Play next item in queue |
| Z | Cycle though aspect ratios |
| A | Switch to next audio stream |
| Control + A | Return to previous audio stream |
| L | Switch to next subtitles |
| Control + L | Switch to previous subtitles |
| S | Toggle subtitles on/off |
| Alt + A | Increase audio delay |
| Alt + Shift + A | Decrease audio delay |
| Alt + S | Increase subtitle delay |
| Alt + Shift + S | Decrease subtitle delay |
| Troubleshooting | |
| Control + Shift + R | Reload app |
| Control + Shift + D | Show debug information |
If you’re still not sure about the benefits of using Plex, check out some of our other content, like how to watch live TV on Plex and the best Plex clients.
Read the full article: Plex Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows and Mac
The Raspberry Pi is a fantastic development board, great for getting young minds into all manner of STEAM projects. But once you get to the electronics side of things, it can be a little fiddly to connect components. You’ll soon find yourself lost in a mass of wires and cabling.
The CrowPi 2 is an incredibly elegant solution that builds on the successes of the original. It isn’t just a Raspberry Pi laptop (though it is a pretty great one of those). Hidden underneath the keyboard is an extensive electronics workshop. It’s a self-contained all-in-one STEAM learning system. This is the Pi workshop everyone wishes they had.
It’s available on Kickstarter for the next few days, but be quick, as the price will go up after that.
Inside the rather large CrowPi2 box, you’ll find:
Our test sample had the Raspberry Pi hardware pre-installed, but you may need to do that yourself given the procedure detailed in the Getting Started guide. It’s easy enough: a panel at the back slides off. Slot in the Pi, secure with some screws, then connect some cabling for power and screen.
To use the webcam, you’ll need to plug a short USB cable into one of the four external ports. Once the Pi is installed, the only clue is this tell-tale arrangement of ports.
Weighing 2.8 pounds (1.3kg) and measuring 11.4×7.5×1.8 inches (291x190x46mm), the laptop itself is a cheap-feeling plastic design. Without opening the clamshell, it looks like a netbook from 2005. This is in stark contrast to the metal-clad rugged toolbox design of the original CrowPi model. Realistically, it was likely a design decision to avoid the accusations that it’s a bomb. Which happened often with the original CrowPi. Because it did look like a bomb.
The keyboard too is a somewhat natty, thin plastic design. It’s functional and fits neatly inside the case, but the soft-touch keys feel as bad as expected. With a standby time of 120 hours and simple to recharge over micro-USB, at least you shouldn’t have to worry about the battery. I would have preferred something more solid, and wired–perhaps a coiled wire that would fit neatly back into the rear of the case.
Around the rear of the CrowPi 2 is a pull-out drawer. The manual references a battery that can slot in here, so I assume that’s an optional extra to come at a later date. There’s no mention of it on the Kickstarter though, so the idea may have just been shelved.
The Pi 4 that powers the system is hidden away at the back, only really visible through the fan on the mainboard. This is good as it saves space for even more pushbuttons, toggle switches, and flashy LED things on the front.
The beauty of the CrowPi is the integrated electronics workshop kit, built right into the case itself, underneath the keyboard.
Built-in components include:
Then there’s a number of additional components that are supplied separately, and can be connected either through dedicated ports (such as the servo and stepper), or via the generic GPIO breakouts. You can also breadboard some of the components for small circuits. These bits consist of various motors, LEDs, a moisture sensor, resistors, RFID cards, and more.
By default, the system launches in a customized version of Raspian. You’ll need to create an offline account before you can use it though. Thankfully the CrowPi 2 supports multiple offline accounts, which is great for school or family use.
The “Projects” button introduces you to most of the integrated electronics capabilities, though seemingly with no way to edit the code or find out more, it’s really just a hardware overview, which was a little off-putting to me. Natural curiosity will mean young minds want to start tinkering. It turns out you can learn and modify these basic programs, but need to do so from a different menu item.
The real meat of the package can be found under “Learning”, which consists of 32 guided Python tutorials for working with the on-board sensors and components, as well as 16 Scratch tutorials. As a novice Python programmer, I certainly found myself engaged by the lessons and seamless integration with the onboard hardware.
You’ll also find 12 speech recognition and AI face detection lessons, though these were a little harder to follow.
“Minecraft” launches the educational version of Minecraft along with a Python interpreter and a step-by-step guide book to programming using the Minecraft API.
“Game” whisks you away to a selection of somewhat boring Python games, curiously none of which can actually be played with the included gamepads. Nor is there the option to view or modify the code, which again seems like a lost opportunity.
“Microbit”, “Arduino”, and “Scratch” all launch you straight into the respective IDEs.
Overall, the interface could certainly use some refinement, at least the ability to launch a code editor for the included projects so you can begin modifying them off-the-bat. But taken as a whole, the amount of electronics programming learning material here is incredible and I can’t wait to get my 6-year-old onto this.
When you’re done learning, a version of RetroPie is included on a separate micro-SD card. It’s here where the gamepads can be used. Of course, there are no ROMs included, so you’ll need to use a USB stick and follow the RetroPie wiki to get some installed. The image included in our set was designed for the Raspberry Pi 3, but this was easily remedied by burning a fresh copy of the latest beta.
It’s also worth mentioning that other OSes are available. The CrowPi 2 is essentially just a Raspberry Pi 4B with a ton of extra sensors and built-in bits, so it should run any standard Raspberry Pi software. If you plan on using different OSes, you should buy additional SD cards and not overwrite the one that comes with the system, as it is heavily modified with the custom software and learning journey.
Aside from the more “normal” laptop design, the CrowPi 2 is a big step up from the original, with potential for both home users and the educational sector alike. It blows away other competitors like the Piper in terms of sheer value. The Raspberry Pi 4 ensures a smooth desktop operation, and the customized software is a brilliant resource for learners from elementary school age and up.
Someone will inevitably comment that paying close to $300 for a glorified Raspberry Pi is mad–that you could buy the individual components of the CrowPi 2 for less than the overall selling price. At the Kickstarter pricing of $260, I’m not even sure that assertion is true–but moreover, it’s entirely missing the point. The CrowPi 2 is a complete Pi laptop and STEAM learning package. It’s neat, integrated, and includes an extensive learning journey. Nothing else on the market comes close to providing such an integrated course of study. There are certainly other Raspberry Pi laptop kits out there, but they’re not dissimilar in price and lack nearly all the additional sensors you’ll find here. And if $260 is too much, you can buy a basic kit for even cheaper without some of the added extras like additional components.
The CrowPi 2 isn’t aimed at the sort of person who just wants a screen and case for their Raspberry Pi. Nor is it aimed at the seasoned hardware programmer who’s putting together their latest smart home sensor array. They likely know exactly what components they need, and wouldn’t want a neatly packaged Pi laptop anyway. But for children or adults of all ages, there’s no better way to learn hardware, electronics, Python programming, and Scratch. The CrowPi 2 the best overall STEAM learning package we’ve seen yet.
Be quick though: the CrowPi 2 Kickstarter ends in a few days.
Read the full article: CrowPi 2 Is The Raspberry Pi Laptop and Electronics STEAM Workshop You’ve Dreamed Of
The Windows Insider Preview program lets you run early versions of the upcoming Windows 10 builds. You can test new features, provide development feedback, and help shape the development of Windows 10.
However, at times, your Windows 10 Insider Preview build might expire. That is, Microsoft no longer supports the preview version of Windows you are using and then the “This build of Windows 10 will expire soon” error starts to appear.
So, how do you fix the error?
The Windows Insider Preview program allows you to use new Windows 10 versions before general release. The user feedback and bug reporting help to shape Windows 10. As the development of Windows 10 is a constant stream of updates and tweaks, no Insider Preview build remains in circulation for long.
When an Insider Preview build is no longer supported, you’ll receive the “This build of Windows will expire soon” error message.
Your Windows Insider Preview version might expire for a few reasons:
There are three methods you can use to fix the Insider Build expiring issue:
The easiest way to shift the expiring Insider Preview build is to switch your Insider Preview path. Windows 10 Insider Preview has three paths available for users:
This fix is primarily for those stuck on the Beta Channel.
Press Windows Key + I to open the Settings window, select Update & Security, then Windows Insider Program. Here you will see your current Insider Preview options.
Select the box underneath Pick your insider settings to change your Insider Preview path. Switch from the Beta Channel to the Dev Channel.
Now, head back to the Settings window and select Windows Update from the sidebar. Press Check for updates and wait for the latest Dev Channel Insider Preview build to download. After it downloads, install the new build, then restart your system.
You don’t have to stay on the Dev Channel. Once you install the latest Dev Channel Insider Preview build, you can switch your path back to the Beta Channel and wait for the latest build. It is time-consuming, but it does stop the “This build of Windows will expire soon” error messages.
If you don’t want to switch Insider Preview paths, you can download and install the latest Insider Preview Beta Channel build. This method ensures you remain on the Beta Channel.
Plus, you can use the in-place upgrade option, which means you don’t have to wipe your system in the process. The result is a much faster upgrade with minimal data loss.
However, it is always a good idea to take a backup before making any major changes to your system. Before commencing with the reinstallation, you must backup your data.
That means important files, photos, music, games—anything you do not want to lose during the reinstallation. Wondering how to do it? Check out our ultimate Windows 10 data backup guide.
After backing up your data, head to the Windows Insider Preview Downloads page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select the latest Beta Channel or Release Preview Channel edition, followed by the language (make sure the language matches your existing installation, or the setup will run into trouble later).
You’ll then have to select between a 32- or 64-bit version of Windows. If you’re unsure, here’s how you find out if you have 32-bit or 64-bit Windows.
After the download completes, double-click the installation file to begin the process. Windows 10 will mount the ISO file automatically. Then, select Setup and follow the instructions.
On the Choose what to keep page, select Keep personal files and apps. On the Ready to install page, make sure that Keep personal files and apps appears.
When ready, select Install. The installation process will take a few minutes to complete, and your computer will restart several times during the process. Once complete, you can log into Windows as normal.
The final option is to leave the Windows 10 Insider Preview scheme and head back to regular Windows 10. Like the fresh installation of the Insider Preview, you can use the in-place upgrade option to move back to the standard Windows 10 installation or complete a full clean installation if you desire.
Remember, a clean installation will wipe all your files, apps, and data. If you want a clean installation, you must backup your data or face losing it permanently.
First up, you need to create installation media for the latest version of Windows 10.
Download: Windows 10 Media Creation Tool for Windows (Free)
Open the Windows 10 Media Creation tool, accept the license terms, and select Upgrade this PC now. You’ll have to wait for the Windows 10 Setup to download and prepare Windows 10, which can take a while.
After the download completes, select Change what to keep. If you want to keep your files, select Keep personal files and apps. If you want a completely clean installation, select Nothing. Wait for the Windows 10 installation to complete, after which you can set up your clean installation.
A clean installation of Windows 10 is a wonderful thing. Check out the most important things you must do after installing Windows 10, such as running Windows Update, updating your drivers, and more.
These are the fixes for the “This build of Windows will expire soon” error. But the final option is one way you can leave the Windows 10 Insider Preview scheme for good, too. You can leave the Windows 10 Insider Preview program whenever you want, safe in the knowledge that you don’t have to wipe your data.
Once you have a clean installation ready to go, you can adjust your Windows 10 privacy settings from the get-go. Here’s our complete guide to Windows 10 privacy settings to help you get set up.
Read the full article: How to Fix the “This Build of Windows Will Expire Soon” Error in Windows 10
CCleaner has been around longer than most Windows utility cleaners, and was a go-to recommendation for some time. However, starting in 2017, the software ran into several problems that tarnished its reputation.
This led to many, including us, to recommend that you stop using CCleaner. But that was years ago—how has the app changed, and is it worth using now? Let’s take a fresh look.
In case you’re not familiar, CCleaner’s issues started in 2017 shortly after developer Piriform was bought by Avast. The 32-bit app version on CCleaner’s website was hacked, adding a Trojan to the download, which the company thankfully caught before it became widespread.
Later, the company introduced an “Active Monitoring” feature that collected anonymized data about your usage. This is fairly standard, but the problem was that when you turned the setting off, it re-enabled itself upon a reboot. That update also made CCleaner difficult to close through standard methods.
Finally, in 2018 the app also started ignoring users’ preference to disable automatic updates. On top of this, CCleaner’s free version regularly nags you to upgrade to the paid version. Have a look at our guide to replacing CCleaner for more history and information.
All of these factors made it feel more like an unwanted program than something that benefits your computer. But now, are these problems cleaned up? And further, is CCleaner even worth using?
You probably know CCleaner primarily for its PC cleaning capabilities, which is still the core of the software. However, it has several other features and has picked up a new trick or two in the last few years.
The new Health Check is what you see upon opening CCleaner. This runs a scan on your PC to show “issues” in four areas:
The final two categories are only fixable with a Pro subscription to CCleaner, which we’ll discuss later.
Privacy cleans up cookies, browser history, and temporary internet files from the various browsers on your PC. Space cleans out the Recycle Bin, temporary app files, and temporary Windows system files.
Moving on, Speed analyzes startup programs and recommends you disable ones that make a big impact on startup speed. Finally, in Security, CCleaner will detect outdated apps on your system and update them to the latest versions.
You can uncheck specific actions in a category on its respective page if you want to exclude something. Hit Make it better when you’re satisfied and CCleaner will process what you requested.
If you’re a CCleaner veteran, the Custom Clean tab will look familiar. This lets you pick and choose exactly what you want to clean up.
The Windows section has Edge and internet Explorer browser data, as well as Windows files like log data, thumbnail caches, and emptying the Recycle Bin. On Applications, you can clear temporary data for other browsers as well as apps like Steam, VLC, and TeamViewer.
Check everything you’re interested in cleaning and hit Analyze to see how much space your action will save. If you’re satisfied, click Run Cleaner.
This section is simple: you don’t need to use Registry cleaners. While orphaned entries and other minor problems do occur in the Registry over time, there is no good evidence that cleaning the Registry will speed up your computer. In fact, if a Registry cleaner is too zealous, it can actually cause more problems than it solves.
While most people regard CCleaner’s Registry cleaner as better than other random ones online, you still don’t need to use it. Microsoft’s official statement on Registry cleaners recommends staying away from them; don’t even bother with this feature of CCleaner.
Rounding out CCleaner’s feature set is the Tools tab. Here you’ll find several additional utilities of varying usefulness.
The Uninstall tab duplicates the methods for uninstalling provided in Windows, though it does make it easy to save all your installed programs to a text file. Software Updater is another panel for accessing the function mentioned above.
On Startup you can manage your startup items, though it doesn’t recommend disabling specific entries like Health Check does. The highlight here is Context Menu, which lets you disable entries from the right-click menu in File Explorer.
Browser Plugins lets you manage extensions in each browser, which is something you can do in your browser already. Disk Analyzer is a basic tool to show where your computer’s space is being used, while Duplicate Finder does just what it says.
System Restore simply lets you erase System Restore points. While this is potentially useful for reclaiming space, it’s better to just let Windows handle them. And finally, Drive Wiper gives you options to fully erase everything on any drive connected to your PC.
After a look around, and a statement from CCleaner’s general manager about the company taking cybercrime seriously, we don’t have any serious objections to CCleaner’s behavior in the latest release. However, there are a few annoyances worth mentioning.
First, when we installed CCleaner’s free version, it prompted us to also install AVG Antivirus. While not a malicious program, it’s unsavory to have software foisted on you like this. This is especially odd to see since a lot of free software has stopped offering bundled crapware in recent years.
In fact, Microsoft now categorizes CCleaner as a PUA (Potentially Unwanted Application) because of this behavior. Microsoft says that bundling software from other companies “can result in unexpected software activity that can negatively impact user experiences.”
While the software updater is one of the best features of CCleaner Professional, it isn’t perfect. Because it’s not fully automated, you have to click Next in a bunch of dialog boxes to install updates. Also, when we ran the software updater, it worked on WireShark, but upon trying to update Speccy (another product by Piriform) Windows Security blocked CCleaner’s action.
The Smart Cleaning feature in CCleaner Professional cleans up files for you at a certain threshold. While convenient, this feature by default also displays a popup box when you close any browser, offering to automatically clean its data. This goes away when you choose an action for the browser at Options > Smart Cleaning, but it’s still annoying to see from premium software.
We had access to the Professional version of CCleaner for testing, and compared it to the free edition installed on another PC. CCleaner Professional usually costs $24.95 and unlocks several of the features mentioned above.
You need Pro for the following:
In summary, CCleaner Pro’s two biggest draws are automated cleaning and software updating. But do you need those?
Aside from the privacy and security issues, most of what we said about CCleaner in 2018 (in the article mentioned earlier) still stands. The only all-new feature, Health Check, is just a more convenient way to clean up data you can select manually in Custom Clean.
To be fair, there is some use to CCleaner. For instance, if you use multiple browsers, it’s convenient to remove temporary files from all of them at once. And the Drive Wiper and Software Updater (if you pay for Pro) are useful.
However, you can access a lot of CCleaner’s features in other utilities and software. Many of these are free and often do a better job than CCleaner.
For example, Windows’s Disk Cleanup handles a lot of what CCleaner’s cleaning tools do. TreeSize is a much better disk analyzer and Patch My PC is better at updating software. And some CCleaner tools, like Uninstall and Startup, just duplicate Windows functionality and are thus of little use.
So whether you should use CCleaner depends on your needs. If you rarely run low on disk space, only use one browser, and don’t mind updating software manually, then there’s really no need for you to use it. You can use Windows cleaning options and other third-party tools that do a better job at tasks like finding duplicate files.
In short: CCleaner isn’t worthless, but most users probably don’t need it. We don’t plan to keep it on our system after this review.
We’ve evaluated CCleaner for use in 2020, but keep in mind it’s far from the only tool for PC cleanup. If you insist on using an all-in-one utility, BleachBit is a solid alternative that’s completely free.
Otherwise, follow our step-by-step guide to cleaning Windows 10 and you should have no problem keeping your PC free of unnecessary files.
Image Credit: focal point/Shutterstock
Read the full article: Is It Time to Trust CCleaner Again?
