Avast Now Owns CCleaner After Acquiring Piriform

An anonymous reader writes: Security firm Avast has acquired software firm Piriform. Not only does the acquired company make CCleaner, but many other solid programs too. In fact, the rest of Piriform's library -- Recuva, Speccy, and Defraggler -- are staples of the Windows freeware community. "CCleaner is a leading brand in the market, used by 130 million people, including 15 million Android users. CCleaner has an extensive and extremely loyal community of tech-savvy users, who need to speed up and optimize their PC and Android experience. Avast will maintain the CCleaner brand of products along with Avast's existing performance optimization products, Avast Cleanup and AVG Tune Up. With the addition of CCleaner, Avast has dramatically expanded its product offerings in the PC and smartphone optimization market reaching customers around the world who demand faster performance," says Avast. Vince Steckler, CEO of Avast explains, "We see many commonalities between CCleaner and Avast, allowing for great new products for our user bases. Avast and CCleaner are the top two downloaded products on popular download sites. They are both known by advanced users as focused on performance, so we believe there will be a great interest from our CCleaner customers in using Avast security products and vice versa. In today's connected world, it's all about speed and high performance, and with Piriform's robust technology we can address this need perfectly. We look forward to working with the Piriform team to grow the business together."

Dammit

[Anonymous Coward]

Now the freeware Windows maintenance software market has finally gone....pear-shaped.

YEEEAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Re:

[perolator]

Agree. it looks Piriform software will be Avast bloatware.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

it has already begun. the slim (no crapware toolbar) installer of ccleaner is GONE.. no longer available.. FUCK YOU, AVAST.

i knew there was a reason i just recently dumped avast for avira.

Oh dear god as if it weren't bad enough

[Anonymous Coward]

Avast used to be pretty decent, and then it turned into ungodly bloatware.

CCleaner used to be pretty decent, and then it turned into ungodly bloatware.

I can only imagine what's going to happen now that they'll be having children.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I can only imagine what's going to happen now that they'll be having children.

Obeseware.

Download the Piriform versions

[Futurepower(R)]

Quick! Download the latest CCleaner, Recuva, and Defraggler versions before craziness happens:

Ccleaner Portable [piriform.com]

Defraggler Portable [piriform.com]

Recuva Portable [piriform.com]

CCleaner was originally named Crap Cleaner, another example of programmers not choosing sensible names.

Why continue to use Defraggler?

[Futurepower(R)]

APK,

I looked at the UltraDefrag [sourceforge.net]. Interesting. Why do you continue to use Defraggler?

Thanks for being more careful communicating. In the past it has been difficult to understand what you write.

Re:

[ColdWetDog]

Perhaps I am the only one, but this is meaningless to me.

Scrabble

Re:

[Applehu Akbar]

Scrabble

I'm already lobbying to get Xeljanz admitted as a word.

Re:

[gnick]

Kwyjibo. It's spelled Kwyjibo. "A big, dumb, balding North American ape with no chin and a short temper."

Re:

[blockhouse]

If you play Scrabble using pharmacists' rules (where drug names are accepted), it already is. It's a rheumatoid arthritis medication manufactured by Pfizer.

I'm not gonna link to it (they don't pay me to advertise their product), but if you doubt me, feel free to do a quick Google search.

CCleaner from so long ago...

[__aaclcg7560]

I haven't used CCleaner since Windows Vista got released ten years ago.

Re:CCleaner from so long ago...

[__aaclcg7560]

Did you want an award or recognition for your accomplishment?

I'll take mod points. ;)

Re:CCleaner from so long ago...

[__aaclcg7560]

I haven't had a Windows machine in a while but when I did (Win 95) CCleaner was a must because uninstall programs were sloppy and and most Windows programmers abused the registry.

Windows 9X was a cobbled together mess until Windows 98SE came out. WinXP was better but still required third-party utilities to fix registry issues. With Windows Vista onward, I no longer needed those programs at home. There are two utilities that I do use at work since remote installs or upgrades occasionally go FUBAR on Windows 7.

If a program refuses to uninstall, use the Microsoft Fix-It utility.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed [microsoft.com]

For Adobe Reader or Acrobat, use the Cleaner Tool.
http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/acrobatcleaner.html [adobe.com]

Re:

[blockhouse]

If a program refuses to uninstall, use the Microsoft Fix-It utility.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed [microsoft.com]

I've been running Linux ever since Microsoft force-upgraded without my knowledge and consent, so I'm a little out of the loop. Did they ever get Fixit working for Windows 10?

Re:

[__aaclcg7560]

Did they ever get Fixit working for Windows 10?

I will find out in September when my job puts Windows 10 into production.

Re:

[__aaclcg7560]

Man, when HR looks at your GitHub with ZERO contributions and the only thing there is you talking about dick pics, it's going to get interesting!

1) I'm not a professional programmer; 2) I'll be uploading my Slashdot comment history scraper script soon; and 3) GitHub isn't applicable when my contract comes up for renewal in two years.

Re:

[mrprogrammerman]

It's still true. Uninstall programs are still sloppy and Windows programmers still abuse the registry.

Re:

[ISoldat53]

Doesn't MS recommend not using these products in WINX?

Re:

[__aaclcg7560]

If you had done that in the first place, you would have avoided this whole sideshow.

As I explained to Slashdot management a while back, there's nothing I can do to prevent the "whole sideshow" that comes with my douchebag fan base.

Re:

[jeremyp]

I haven't used CCleaner ever and I have no intention of ever using it in the future. I also don't give s flying fuck which company owns that product.

However, I just know everybody on this thread was dying to know that I have nothing to say on this subject.

Re:

[Anne Thwacks]

I have never used CCleaner - and I have even deleted it from friends' machines - its advertising convinced me it was malware.

"Solid" programs

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> solid programs

I'll bet. You'll probably need to increase your fiber intake to get rid of them.

>> Recuva

Er...no comment.

Like TV, /. is commercials with some stuff between

[Anonymous Coward]

Where's the god damn channel changer!

Re:

[courteaudotbiz]

It's called the address bar, and it's right at the top of your browser window. Just type in http://facebook.com./ [facebook.com.] You'll see how it looks to have a big commercial with some posts in between.

Conspiracy...

[Aspasia13]

So there's further consolidation in the adware/bloatware removal market. One could say this might be a part of Avast conspiracy!

Re:

[courteaudotbiz]

You mean that's not how it already is?? Upon install, you have a Google Chrome option which is checked by default. And if you don't customize, you get tons of crap that automatically install, like "Auto-update", Shell extensions and background processes. And once in the UI, there's an "Upgrade" section that tries to sell you the "Pro version"...

The simple fact to have an "auto-update" feature is a guarantee that you will receive stuff you don't want at some point.

Re:

[Topwiz]

CCleaner already is a nag. Every couple of days they come out with a 'new version' which you are prompted to upgrade to if you haven't turned that option off. Other than that it is a great program.

Re:

[piojo]

Other than that it is a great program.

I don't know about "great". It has the glaring defect of, if you use the default options, deleting your firefox session, session backups, and history (so your state is lost and can never be recovered). It's absurd to have this as the default operation. It's the browser equivalent of "rm -rf /".

Ninite

[brianerst]

Good, maybe now CCleaner can go back on Ninite, as it was Piriform that pulled it.

Avast has been available on Ninite forever, so I expect CCleaner to show up again.

Good stuff

[Presence Eternal]

Ah, ccleaner. Just what I need to clean my browser cache, registry, and temp files! I admit it's not perfect, which is why I have Best Buy run a pc tune up every six months. Best to get unwanted toolbars removed by the pros is what I always say. Don't forget to have them make sure your page file is a static size though, sometimes they forget!

cleaner clean thyself

[petes_PoV]

Avast will maintain the CCleaner brand of products

Good, because I generally use CCleaner to get rid of crappy anti-virus apps.

Re: cleaner clean thyself

[Anonymous Coward]

AVAST: HA! Not anymore

Re:

[bluefoxlucid]

I thought registry cleaning software didn't speed up Windows, didn't remove problems, and was more likely to cause problems than do anything useful.

Re:

[pr0fessor]

You are correct... and I'm surprised not to see more people saying so on this site.

Re: Bye bye CCleaner!

[Anonymous Coward]

There's literally a FOSS alternative to Ccleaner called Bleachbit that basically does everything you need while preserving your privacy

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

There's always Privazer, it finds and deletes more cruft than CCleaner does anyway.

Crap.

[Jody Bruchon]

I install CCleaner on PCs all the time and tell people to run it at least once a month. Of course, ever since one of the major version bumps (I think 4.0?) I've had to precede that with a file called "ccleaner_disable_monitoring.reg" so I don't have to go into settings and manually disable the "active monitoring" crap that the program then warns you and "ARE YOU SURE?!?!?!111" smacks you for trying to turn off. I used to install Avast on everything too since it was free and didn't slow the machines down as much as other options, but now I have to un-check a bunch of boxes in the installer and every new iteration and they keep adding useless "modules" that annoy the crap out of everyone, so as of Windows 10 I just tell people Windows Defender is fine and leave it at that.

It'll be interesting to see how they intend to modify their products. Also, when did AVG become a re-skinned Avast? That was surprising.

Re:

[Jody Bruchon]

Well...that was a fat waste of money. At least they got rid of AVG as it was; it got to the point that AVG being installed was a performance death sentence.

Re:

[Davis George M]

It'll be interesting to see how they intend to modify their products. Also, when did AVG become a re-skinned Avast? That was surprising.

Do you even know what you're complaining about? Big antivirus companies like Kasperksy, BitDefender shove down their "privacy cleaner", "password-manager", "software updater" along with installation and doesn't even give a "choice" to the user whether he wants to install them or not! What is Avast doing so bad when it "offers" you what components you wish to install and w

Re:

[Jody Bruchon]

Uh, yes, I know what I'm complaining about. Avast will install previously unavailable components during updates without asking the user. I think the real problem is that you don't know what I'm complaining about.

Re: Will CCleaner become a data harvester?

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't that what it already is? If you think about it. How privileged it is creeping through your cookies, browser histories, cridentials, registry, installed apps, duplicate files, deleted files. It's EVERYTHING you have, its your whole IDENTITY.
Notice the constant updates? Its not necessary but why does it have to update every time you launch it and treats it like its so critical.

Yeah is a Freeware.
"If a product is free, you are the product"

Let that sink in.

So much consolidation in the freeware repair

[Riceballsan]

If it works, malware buys it, if it don't, avast will.