How to run CCleaner on a schedule, in the background.

[Norco]

How to run CCleaner on a schedule in the background

If you don't already have CCleaner (it's freeware), you can get it here.

This was something that I stumbled upon awhile ago (/AUTO command, not the Task Scheduler) and thought I would share it with you. The images where made awhile ago for another purpose but I never got around to using them. This will only run the Cleaner task and will not clean the registry.

What this will do

This takes advantage of the Windows Task Scheduler tool and the /AUTO command that is build into CCleaner to run the program in the background on a custom predefined schedule according to the last saved settings. There are various stages in this tutorial you can change the options to suit your needs and feel free to do so, I just did this for what suited my configuration.

Tutorial

1. Configure CCleaner how you would like it.

2. Under Options>Advanced enable the option to save settings to an .INI file

This will allow CCleaner to run in silent mode.

I also suggest you enable 'Only delete files in Recycling Bin older than 24 hours' because well, you never know!

3. Open Task Scheduler

This can be done by typing 'Task Scheduler' into the start menu or via Administrative Tools>Schedule Tasks

4. Create a new task

Click 'Create Task...' in the menu along of the right hand side of the window.

[Norco]

5. Now you want to configure the task, what tirggers it and what it does when it is triggered.

General:

Under the general tab, do what you like here is how I configured mine:

Triggers:

You want to create a new trigger (or triggers, you can have multiple) so click the 'New...' button at the bottom

Select which trigger you would like from the drop down box at the top, in this case I chose 'On a schedule' and then configure the options to suit your needs. Setting it to a time you will normally be on the computer, in this case I set mine to run every day at 17:00.

Actions:

Now that you have your trigger(s) setup, it's time to give it an action to carry out.

Selecting the 'New...' button at the bottom of the window you will be greated by another window.

You will want the action to start a program so select 'Start a program' from the dropdown box. Next you want to select the CCleaner executable (works for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions) and then in the Add arguments box add:

/AUTO

[Norco]

Conditions:

I personally didn't require to change anything under this tab but you can adjust to suit your needs.

Settings:

Again, you can change these to what ever you like here are the settings I used:

6. Now click OK when you're happy with your configuration, maybe just double check it before proceeding (you can edit it later if needs be).

Now go to the Task Scheduler Library and right click on your CCleaner task and hit run. If all goes according to plan you will see a CCleaner Icon appear in your task bar and under the 'Last Run Result' column will be '(0x0)'.

And that's it!

[Norco]

Noo! I thought I found all the typos and the edit function doesn't work. :(

Also the reason it's split into 3 posts is because the maximum amount of images you can embed in a post is 4.

[Jack Wignall]

Nice thread. Will have to set this up on my mums computer tomorrow so she doesn't get me to have a look at it every time it slows down!

[crispy345]

Thanks for the tutorial, I set this up on my own computer, and will just let it run like it should. No worries of my computer getting filled with temporarily files anymore :P

[Alex]

Nice In depth guide, Thanks

[Ghost]

Wow I love the time you put into this guide, thumbsup!

[Norco]

Thanks guys! It's far from perfect but I think everyone will get the jist of it, if you don't I'll try and help.

[orangecat]

CCleaner sucks!

[Guest]

[D8g0b8]

Never realised you could do it this way, Thanks !

[meist3r]

Nice guide Thanks! :)

[pctr]

why would you use a cleaner anyway? (well, except for removing scrap registry keys in some cases)

[BathroomSecurity]

Thanks for this! Will make life so much easier

[Brian]

CCleaner sucks!

Your post is not constructive nor helpful. Perhaps you could inform us of exactly WHY CCleaner sucks, and then suggest alternative measures. Do you use a cleaner program?

[MunsonedForLife]

Nice guide...thanks!

[anexcreed]

CCleaner sucks!

Any suggestions for something better?