We were struck by nostalgia last night. I was going through some old programs and came upon one that EB and I used to refer to as “the toilet-flusher” program. If you download, install and run it, you’ll see why. Otherwise, you’ll just have to imagine whatever you will.
I promised EB that I was going to stop yammering and start trying to be pithy. You don’t know how hard that is for me. I’m a yammerer – it’s in my jeans genes. I’ve been a prattler since I was in grade school; it’s really hard to teach an old dog new tricks. See?
Anyway, as I was pondering weak and weary over many a program I’d forgotten long before,
There can a bleating, a tinny beeping, a toilet-flushing sound I swore….
Indeed, it was my old-standby, CleanUp! by Stephen Gould. Stephen has been around the Web as long as we have. As I dusted off CleanUp and used it for the first time in years (on Vista, by the way) I was impressed with how fast it was compared to other clean-up program I’ve tried. CCleaner has become bloated and slow – it takes it a long time to get rid of large amounts of waste and junk. But, the old CleanUp program? It’s as fast as ever. Lightning fast. When I clean up my computer at night, I just want to go to bed. I don’t want to wait for CCleaner to tell me there’s yet another update – or wait around for ten minutes while it cleans my computer – I just want to clean my computer and get some sleep. You know what I mean.
Yes I’m yammering again. I’m sorry.
We’re going to let Stephen Gould save the day for you and let you escape my incessant tendency to wordiness: Stephen, our old friend, take it away:
“CleanUp! is a powerful and easy-to-use application that removes temporary files created while surfing the web, empties the Recycle Bin, deletes files from your temporary folders and more.
CleanUp! frees disk space and reduces the “clutter” on your computer helping it to run more efficiently. It also can be used as a way to protect your privacy on the Internet. You can even instruct CleanUp! to securely delete files making it impossible to retrieve their contents using lower-level disk tools – just another way of protecting your privacy.
No gimmicks here, CleanUp! is so easy to set up and use that you’ll have a lean, clean, mean machine in minutes….”
While Stephen hasn’t updated this program in a long time we’ve tested it on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (32/64 bit) and it works just fine. It’s fast, it’s simple, it’s amusing – and it’s free.
If you’re looking for a fun, easy-to-use program that does just what it says it does, then you’ll love CleanUp! The first time you run it, you’ll get a laugh too. Learn more about CleanUp! and/or download it from this page. It’s our nostalgic-ridden pick for is an official Cloudeight freeware pick..
So what’s the skinny?
CleanUp!
Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (32 bit and 64 bit)
(Officially for Windows XP and earlier)
Windows Cleaner Program
Download size: 332KB
I downloaded this program from your site before and I absolutely love it! It digs deep and wide! And you all those package manifest or something-well it shoots them all down the toilet and you wouldn’t believe how many bytes and files its gotten rid of since I started using it faithfully at least once a week or more.
I have never had CCleaner take longer than a few seconds to analyze and clean. Maybe because I use it everyday. But I don’t think so. I’ve have used it for years and never had it take 10 minutes. Something ain’t right.
I have had CCleaner for years now, since you first recommended it and have always been satisfied with it. I smile every time I hear the flushing noise!
Thanks for it and all that you do for us. I’ve been with you for many years going back to the early stationery days! You guys are a real treasure!
Thank you
Patricia
We haven’t recommended CCleaner in years. CCleaner registry cleaner has been known to cause serious computer problems. We don’t recommend CCleaner.
Just curious how it might work on Windows 8?
Melanie, I just downloaded and ran it on Windows 8/64 bit. It was very fast and didn’t take a whole minute! But then my computer is only about 2 months old. It freed up 4 GB of temp files though! I had no idea I had already accumulated that much but I also use graphic programs and work with large files. It should work just fine for you.
hmmm… sounds complicated and does ask for donation
This sounds scary to me… what if I don’t get this right?:
Note that if you are going to run CleanUp! 4.5.2 without first making a backup of your system, then it is strongly recommended that you first run it in the new demo mode and verify the files that would be deleted before you first run it for real.
Do you also not take your prescription drugs because if you read the fine print it may cause death? The man is just covering himself – in case. It’s a cleaner program lick CCleaner (which also carries the same warning in its EULA). CCleaner just buries it in its EULA instead of putting it right out there. Do you back up your computer every time you install a program? If you read the EULAs of many, you would.
I had used this product for years and years but I had this https://www.virustotal.com/en/ come my way and when I applied it to this ‘window washer’ thing you are talking about.. it showed I had two viruses in it. Use the above link to try on your copy and see if it happens.. I have done it repeatedly and it still says the same thing so I deleted it from my files…
We were not talking about Window Washer so not sure what you’re referring to. We were talking about an program called Clean Up!
You forgot to mention the price of this programme and, after downloading it, you have to register it and then you get stuck paying for another programme. Normally when you suggest a download, you give the price. After downloading and installing it, it does a great scan of the computer, but, like so many other programmes, you have to register it, then when the company get your email etc., they tell you how much it will cost. Why not be upfront with this information so that people on limited incomes will know whether they can afford it or not.
The price of the program: free. There is no registration required. You clicked on an advertisement — something we’ve warned people about over and over.
I went to download Cleanup452_exe from the website. McAfee popped up and said the download contained a trojan and virus that could damage the computer. Have you had this occur?
McAfee? Really? Clean-up is one of the oldest, safest, and best programs on the Web. McAfee? Not. McAfee is known for false positives. And that’s what this is — and to think you’re paying good money for this?
I’ve had CCleaner for a number of years and have never found it to be slow and take 10 minutes or so to do the job.
I have used CleanUp from the first day it was recommended.
I beleive I had it for windows95. Used it in xp and now windows 7.
It is great, try it,you’ll like it!
What if I make a mistake in what I am suppose to be cleaning? I am a nitwit when it comes to doing anything with downloads. Would it clean out my registry of whatever good files or whatever they are called, and them loose important programms?
Believe me I am not computer smart.
Thanks
Just use the default settings and you’ll be ok.
I’m not very computer savvy and honestly, I can be pretty stupid when it comes to the “innards” of the computer… After I downloaded Clean Up, I ran the test version and it said it could recover 1.39 MG of disk space. I thought that was pretty good so I ran the real version and now the total MG’s it says it recovered was 486.0 MG. recovered from 16,207 files. Yikes… isn’t that my whole system? And is it still there or am I going to have problems? The bulk of the descriptions were from temp files ME 140082, 139882, 139442 & 138162 and were for resources and support. Then in the registry there were the “Run MRU list, Paint, Word Pad and Tel Net MRU lists. Am I just being paranoid? My heart is going 240 right now.
Sorry, I probably should have told you that I have a Windows 7 Toshiba Satellite A505 computer… it’s almost 2 years old now.
I just downloaded this program and after I ran it got a message that I need to register and pay before I can “clean” my computer? So you have to pay before it will work? Did anyone else have this issue? thanks!!
Please read what TC wrote
No gimmicks here, CleanUp! is so easy to set up and use that you’ll have a lean, clean, mean machine in minutes….”
While Stephen hasn’t updated this program in a long time we’ve tested it on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (32/64 bit) and it works just fine. It’s fast, it’s simple, it’s amusing – and it’s free.
I downloaded and installed the program but it asked for $29.95 or something like that so ditched it. I must have done something wrong as I thought it was free.
We cannot keep going over and over why you actually have to read the information on pages you visit and not just jump at download buttons.
The program is free. You can download it from the correct download link, listed right on his page…
http://stevengould.org/downloads/cleanup/CleanUp452.exe
I opted not to download when I couldn’t pick the correct download link from the junk. This isn’t the first time I have backed off through my inability to spot the right link.
the program will not let me use it without registering and paying, and yes I downloaded the free version????????
We have been over and over and over this — you are clicking an advertisement because you assume something that says download is the download link for the program. If you had read the information about the program and clicked “Next” instead of one of the download buttons – clearly marked as something other than CleanUp! you would have actually downloaded the programs we were writing about. We are not fools, we don’t say something is free and then link to a page where it costs $29.95. We have plenty to do besides going back and explaining why you need to be careful downloading.
If you cannot find the right download link I’ll give it to you here.
http://stevengould.org/downloads/cleanup/CleanUp452.exe
OK TC…that was harsh. For the most part I bet all of these people are trying their best to follow every instruction you give. They support you and your business or they wouldn’t be reading and commenting and trying to follow in the first place. These web sites are sometimes hard to follow even for us more seasoned users. We all know that you are struggling, feeling discouraged and disappointed but we are supporting your business as best we can. Maybe a deep breath, patience and a do unto others might be a welcome thought and maybe considering just putting the direct download link into your article might help alleviate the stress for everyone. Remember we all follow you because we support, care and enjoy Cloudeight….and Darcy deserves your best.
Sometimes when you works so hard to get people to think before they click, and they consistently don’t bother to read the information, or assume we’re just randomly picking freeware — basically calling me dishonest for sending them to a freeware program that isn’t free — it gets a tad frustrating.
If my being “harsh” saves someone from downloading malware or worse, then it was worth it. We live in an increasingly instant society where everyone wants what they want right now – they don’t want to read, they don’t want to wait, they want it now and they want it to be easy. So instead of actually making sure they’ve read all the information, they assume that we’re just blowing hot air and the freeware program that we’ve recommended is not free and we’re just careless – or worse.
If we ditch our girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, companions, we can replace them with a click on Christian Mingle or one of the hundreds of other dating sites full of lonely yearning people. Instant love? Instant friendship? Some think so.
Darcy is our ambassador, our champion of niceness – me? not so much. I do what I think is right and I say what I think needs to be said. If my harshness makes someone think about how they click links or how they approach downloading, then I think it is a good thing.
I appreciate every one who supports us and I certainly don’t personally dislike anyone who visits this site and leaves a comment. I do reserve the right to be human, to be frustrated, and to lose patience with those who read our newsletters and still can’t find the correct download link if it isn’t the only download link on a page.
Do I agree with obfuscation of download links to make money? Heck no. But it is a fact of Internet life and those who choose to venture on the Internet need to learn to be careful, not to rush, to read everything, and to expect that many things are not going to be instant or easy.
Do you know my best teachers in college and high school were not the easy-going, wanna-be-your friend types? The were the ones who were tough (Harsh) and because they were, I learned from them. And looking back, it isn’t the wishy-washy teachers who wanted to cozy up to the students I remember, but the ones who were critical and harsh, but offered praise only when it was earned.
When I look back and look through the 100’s of programs (Freeware) we’ve recommended, I can’t find any instance where we recommended something that was free that was $29.95. So if someone has been reading our newsletters for any length of time, why would they assume we were wrong – why not assume they were wrong and downloaded something other than we recommended? It makes no sense to me — and I have preached over and over again –use common sense and think before you click.
Sorry you think I was harsh. Sorry you think I have to change the way I am in order to deserve the support and admiration of everyone. I can’t do that. I’m always going to be TC. Darcy will always be the ambassador and diplomat.
TC, just wanted to say that I have learned to listen to you and Darcy and read before I do anything. Many times I have gone to something that was free only to find a download link that was something else when I read it. I diligently search for the link that definitely says free and sometimes I have to dig a little but it is usually worth it to not mistakenly download something I do not want or need. I learned this from spending 6 years with you and Darcy. Sure, I have made mistakes and had to back out of something but that is not anyone’s fault but mine. I never, ever doubt what you say about a download as I trust you to tell us the truth because you always have. I am a senior citizen and have learned so much from you both and when you tell us over and over to read and be careful, I trust that is what you mean.I am going to try your recommendation of “CleanUp” as it sounds like a great little program and I have read and heard nothing but bad things about many of the popular cleaners and they always find hundreds of things that need cleaning and also cost to run. If you need to be a bit “harsh”,TC, go ahead. If it saves me from crashing my computer or spending money that I don’t need too, I won’t complain.
Just wanted to say, I just downloaded the free version of Cleanup and ran it with absolutely no problems. just followed the instructions and “voila” it was done. Amazing program.
Thanks so much! I too once used this program and loved it! The toilet flushing always brought a smile to my face. And Cloudeight was where I first learned about it back in the day. While I use Zappit exclusively, I think I will download this “old friend” and try it again.
And no, I don’t think you were harsh at all. It hurts sometimes to realize we made a novice mistake LOL People really need a thicker skin and they need to know, whether they trust you or not. If they don’t, then they need to go elsewhere. If they do, then they need to realize they are the ones that goofed.
I recently upgraded to a new computer with Windows 8/64 bit. I don’t foresee any problems running it on my system, but in the unlikely event that I do I will return with a full report. If you don’t hear from me, it was all good! LOL