Copyright: Help-file created with HelpMaker 2.1


Contents
Help created with evaluation version of HelpMaker 2.1

Contents

EasyCleaner version 1.7f for Windows 95/98/NT

This help-file will help you use EasyCleaner.

With EasyCleaner you can speed up your computer, free disk space and increase usability by deleting invalid registry entries, deleting invalid shortcuts, deleting duplicate and unnecessary files.

Choose topic:

Requirements

History

Bug list

FAQ

Registry and cleaning

Duplicate files

Unnecessary files

Start-menu cleaning

Space usage

Options

Language packs

If you have found bugs or you have something to ask about EasyCleaner or other things E-mail to me "toni.helenius@saunalahti.fi", you can also visit my homepage "http://www.saunalahti.fi/tonihele". From my homepage you can get the latest versions of EasyCleaner!

EasyCleaner is fully free so you can distribute it freely as long as you don't modify it!

EasyCleaner is made by ToniArts, Toni Helenius. This help was made by Toni Helenius.

Special thanks to Juho Jokinen "http://www.saunalahti.fi/juosjo" for drawing ToniArts logo. And to Uros Zupan "uros.zupan@siol.net" for testing EasyCleaner and for ideas. Also thanks to Timo Hampinen "hampinen@mbnet.fi" for testing EasyCleaner, John Barnett "http://www.jrbarnett.freeserve.co.uk" for help and ideas, David Taylor "http://www.davidtaylor.freeserve.co.uk" for ideas and John Tiedt "tiedtj@yahoo.com".


Language packs
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Language packs

Now you can easily create your own language pack to EasyCleaner. So if you speak (write!) some other language than english and/or finnish as your native language, it is recommended that you make your own language pack so that EasyCleaner would be easier others to use.

EasyCleaner's language packs are located in a subfolder \languages. They are ordinary text-files, which are simply named language.txt e.g. english.txt or deutsch.txt. Also a 16x16 bitmap from the nation's flag is necessary, naming is the same, e.g. english.bmp or deutsch.bmp. As an extra language packs include an help-file, which are located in a subfolder \helps, naming it is in format EClanguage.hlp so e.g. ECenglish.hlp or ECdeutsch.hlp. If you decide to do help-file as well look for the sources of this help-file from my pages, doing that will speed up the process (assuming that you use ObjectSoft's HelpMaker, get it from http://www.objectsoft.fi).

Instructions:

• Remember to do the language packs in simple text-format, not in e.g. RTF or DOC.

• Automatic line changing (word wrap) must be OFF.

• Don't edit text inside the brackets ([ and ])!

• <1>, <2> etc. tags are variables. Like for example in text "File <1> can't be opened!", the tag would be the filename...

• On line 50 lies name of the language pack's creator and on line 51 lies his/her homepage's or e-mail address (N.B. in front of an e-mail address text mailto: is necessary).

• Be sure that the language-file's (you made) line number matches with the original!!

• EasyCleaner's help-files are context sensitive, that means that every topic has it's own unique ID (e.g. this topic has 112). With the ID EasyCleaner finds the right topic when user presses F1. Please include these same IDs to your own help-file (simple if you use HelpMaker). See the IDs from sources of these helps (helpfilename.h) available on my pages.


Start-menu cleaning
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Start-menu cleaning

Nearly without exceptions when you install programs they add their shortcuts to the start-menu. And when you remove/uninstall these programs, they might leave their shortcuts to the start-menu for some reason, this makes start-menu's browsing annoying and difficult. This part of EasyCleaner will find those invalid shortcuts from the start-menu.

Skip: List of directories and/or files not to be searched, separate directories with comma and directories which name contains spaces need quotes. E.g. Windows, "Program files", Ohjelmatiedostot.

N.B! In Windows NT deleting shortcuts might be difficult, because of the sercurity settings in Profiles folder, so this is not because of EasyCleaner.


Space usage
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Space usage

With chart you can see your harddrives' contents easily. Chart is a good tool when your harddrives' free space is getting to small; you can see which directories/files use most megabytes, with it you can find some reasons for your harddrives' getting so full.

EasyCleaner's "space usage"-part has special options for Windows NT. See Options.


Unnecessary files
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Unnecessary files

Unnecessary files fill up your harddrives fast when you use many programs. Unnecessary files are usually created when you use programs (or when they crash). Usually you can find even thousands of megabytes of unnecessary files. Deleting them is perfectly safe, but you may still want to delete them to the recycle bin.

Normal search-setting searches these files: *.tmp, ~*.*, *.~*, *.?~?, *.aps, *.bak, *.bk?, *.bsc, *.dmp, *.ilk, *.pch, *.rws, *.sbr, backup*.wbk, *.$$$, *.ncb, *.~mp, *.old, *.da0, *.chk.

These files are mainly backups, temporary and other unuseable files.

Extra files-setting searches these files: *.fts, *.gid, *.mtx, *.nch, *.ftg, *.$db, *.db$.

*.NCH files are created when you read newsgroups with Microsoft Outlook. *.MTX files are created when a scanner-device is used. *.GID files are created when you execute *.HLP files. Usage of these files is currently quite unknown, but these files are still save to delete. You get mainly temporary free disk space when you delete these, because programs (or scanners) create these again when executed.

Find: List of files to be searched (in addition to the defaults), comma separated and asterix including list allowed. Files with spaces on their name need quotes. E.g. *.hlp, "memo date*.*", *.doc.

Skip: List of directories and/or files not to be searched (in addition to the defaults), separate directories with comma and directories which name contains spaces need quotes. E.g. Windows, "Program files", Ohjelmatiedostot.

N.B! folders.nch, user.dmp, bg050409.bkc, bg040409.bkc, ~desktop and 2141.chk files match the search criteria but they aren't unnecessary, EasyCleaner skips these files.


Duplicate files
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Duplicate files

Duplicate means a file which has one or more copyes. You can find even thousands of megabytes of duplicates. Common reason to existant of these is backups, programs installed more than one time and programs using external libraries (DLL, OCX), which the program usually installs to it's own directory which is completely unnecessary if the same file is found from one of the directories defined by PATH-variable (Windows, System, System32, etc.).

Usually only one of the duplicates is important, rest of them can be deleted. You must know which one of the duplicates is the important one (or is there more than 1 important). If you have got more than one operatingsystem (ms-dos isn't counted), be careful, because different operatingsystems contain many same files. You might want to delete duplicates to the recycle bin (options).

E.g.

Duplicate files....

c:\Temp\windows.exe (unnecessary)

c:\Windows\windows.exe (important)

Duplicate files....

c:\Ohjelmatiedostot\Programname\file.dll (unnecessary)

c:\Windows\System\file.dll (important)

Find: List of files to be searched, comma separated and asterix including list allowed. Files with spaces on their name need quotes. E.g. *.hlp, "memo date*.*", *.doc.

Skip: List of directories and/or files not to be searched, separate directories with comma and directories which name contains spaces need quotes. E.g. Windows, "Program files", Ohjelmatiedostot.


Registry and cleaning
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Registry and cleaning

Windows' registry stores huge amount of data about system, programs, settings etc. Registry can be found from every Windows except from 3.xx (or earlier), Windows NT's and 95/98's registries have only slight differences, EasyCleaner can read both of them.

When you execute a program it is most likely to save it's settings to the registry, then registry's size increases and reading from it gets slower. If you delete or uninstall a program it's saved settings might not disappear from the registry so the registry fills up with unnecessary data, registry will become "dirty". Dirty registry slows the computer down quite much.

EasyCleaner searches registry for entries that point to a non-existing directory or file. When you delete those unnecessary entries registry's size decreases and reading from it gets faster!

On every succesful startup Windows takes backup from your registry, you can do this by yourself by copying SYSTEM.DAT- and USER.DAT-files located in Window's directory. This ain't necessary though, thanks to EasyCleaner's ability to create UNDO-files (ECUndoXX.reg). EasyCleaner creates .REG-file from all entries deleted on the same session, and by double-clicking the *.REG-file you can add those previously deleted entries back to the registry. .REG-files can be added to the registry also from DOS, learn how from Windows' own help. More from options.

Skip: List of directories and/or files. Any entry containing one of them will be ignored, separate directories with comma and directories which name contains spaces need quotes. E.g. Windows, "Program files", Ohjelmatiedostot. N.B! Default value is norton, because it is proven that EasyCleaner may cause unfunctionality to some of the Norton utilities. If you don't have any Norton utilities remove "Norton" from the list; it speeds up the search.


FAQ
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FAQ

FAQ comes from words "Frequently Asked Questions". I have also collected questions about my programs in general to here.

Q1. Are ToniArts' programs year-2000-compatible?

A1. Yes.

Q2. Why EasyCleaner's registry cleaning-part's date-column always show date as 01.01.1601 12.00 (or 01/01/1601 12:00AM)?

A2. This only appears in some operating systems, reason not known. Doesn't seem to have affect on anything.

Q3. Deleting duplicates, can all duplicates be deleted on the same time and are duplicates unnecessary?

A3. All duplicates can't be deleted at the same time, because this is usually dangerous to your computer. Usually only one of the duplicates is important, but you'll have know which one of them:

E.g.

Duplicate files...

c:\windows\system\system.dll (important)

c:\temp\system.dll (unnecessary)

Q4. EasyCleaner's parts like registry cleaning- and unnecessary files-part list even thousands of unnecessary files/entries, are they save to delete?

A4. Usually yes, I recommend you to delete files first to the recycle bin (see Options), restart your computer and see if everything works fine then empty the recycle bin. In registry cleaning I haven't heard a single case where the computer has started to work strangely, but it is better be sure. So I recommend you to take a backup copy of your registry, you can find programs for this from e.g. Tucows (http://www.tucows.com).

Q5. EasyCleaner's unnecessary files-part lists only a small part of the unnecessary files, e.g. my c:\Temp directory is full of *.tmp files, but EasyCleaner doesn't find them. Why?

A5. Yes it finds them, but they don't meet the requirements. Go to options and uncheck e.g. "Empty files" from "Ignore"-list.

Q6. In EasyCleaner it takes a long time to search for duplicates, and sometimes the estimated time can be thousands of hours. Why?

A6. I know it is slow. But the estimated time is very rarely the real time needed to complete the process, so if the estimation is e.g. thousand hours; real time could be only 8 hours. You can however speed up the comparison by e.g. putting *.dll to the search criteria; instead of *.*. "Original" idea to search for duplicates was to find unnecessary DLL-files...


Options
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Options

Registry

Create undo file on delete: Will undo file be created on deletion, with it the deletions may be undone. More...

Undo levels: How many undo-files are saved (1 per session) at max. The more you use registry cleaner the more should this be.

Save undo files to: Directory where undo-files will be saved.

Proper file extension: Require proper file extension from invalid registry entries (if the refer to a file), e.g. .DLL.

Duplicates

Same date & time: Require same "editted" date and time from duplicates. Slows the searching down, but gives more accurate results.

Same name: Require same name from duplicates.

Same size: Require same size from the duplicates.

Same CRC: Require same CRC from duplicates. Slows the process down most, but it will tell you which files are actually same.

Skip empty files: Skips empty (0kB) files.

Treat floppy as master: Treats floppydisk as master disk, so only the contents of floppy will be compared to other drives, e.g. A:\EasyHtml.exe and C:\EasyHtml\EasyHtml.exe will be read as duplicates, but not e.g. D:\EasyHtml.exe and C:\EasyHtml\EasyHtml.exe.

Skip SYSBCKUP folder: Skips SYSBCKUP folder which contains system-data (Windows 98 ja 95).

Skip Desktop.ini folders: Skips folders containing file Desktop.ini.

Unnecessary files

Normal search: Finds normal unnecessary files. More about Unnecessary files.

Extra files: Finds files which are created by programs. Deleting these will give you free disk space only temporarily. If you e.g. read newsgroups with Microsoft Outlook, you'll harddrive is getting full of backup-files created by Outlook. More about Unnecessary files.

Hidden files: Skip hidden files.

Read-only files: Skip read-only files.

System files: Skip system files.

Empty files: Skip empty (0kB) files.

Start-menu

Files on removable medias: Ignores shortcuts refering to removable medias, like to floppy disk or to CD-ROM-drive.

Files on network drives: Ignores shortcuts refering to network drives.

Internet addresses: Ignores shortcuts refering to the internet, unlike the "normal" shortcuts (*.LNK) these files are named *.URL. N.B! EasyCleaner doesn't check whenever the address is valid or invalid!

Empty folders: Ignores folders, which don't have any files and/or subfolders.

*Identify %systemroot%: Identifies %systemroot% variable on Windows NT.

Ignore shortcuts to folders: Ignores shortcuts refering to folders, if the folders being refered to are existing.

Space usage

Unit: Show sizes in bytes, kilobytes or in megabytes. Or just count of items.

Show free disk space: Shows free disk space.

Color-coded legend: Legend uses the same colors to show the items as used in the chart.

Start scanning automatically: Starts searching directories immediately when the directory is changed.

*Measure files by: Measure files in compressed size (NTFS) or without compression.

General

Language: Shows language-pack currently used. More....

Show splashscreen on startup: Shows splashscreen when starting EasyCleaner.

Use background image: Define background used on EasyCleaner's forms, you can define here any picture you want (which is in BMP- or JPG-format) or take the option completely out of use.

*Works only on Windows NT and/or NTFS drives.


Bug list
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Bug list

Bug list:

Version 1.0: No bugs found.

Version 1.4: There were annoying bug in the registry cleaning part which prevented the user to delete all entries at the same time. The registry have to be searched multiply times if all entries were deleted. Also few problems in options saving.

Version 1.5: Bugs fixed. No bugs found.

Version 1.7: If "large fonts"-setting was used, duplicate and unnecessary file searcher utilities were not shown correctly, which caused some of the buttons not to show correctly (or show at all). Also a problem found in permanently deleting files.

Version 1.7f: Bugs fixed. No bugs found.

Help EasyCleaner's development: Report bugs, thank you!

N.B! If you get the error message:"Access violation at address xxxxxxx...", then tell me the address (xxxxx...). Thank you!


History
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History

EasyCleaner's programming history:

Version 1.0: First version. Included only the registry cleaning unit.

Version 1.4: Many additions, like new interface and more functions.

Version 1.5: Few bug fixed, some of the texts rewritten, increased speed, few unnecessary file identifiers added. And because of high demand; help.

Version 1.7: Few more extensions of unnecessary files has been added. Duplicate file searcher completely rewriten; adds more stability and speed. More options. And whole new helper for searching and deleting invalid shortcuts from start-menu. Multi-language support, smart resize, printing- and saving-functions to the lists + lot more.

Version 1.7f: Very annoying and serious bug fixed (fortunately it showed up only when using the "large fonts"-setting). Plus some features making the use of EasyCleaner easier, like e.g. unnecessary files search can now be executed with both options enabled on the same time.


Requirements
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Requirements

EasyCleaner's requirements aren't really tested, but here is somekind of speculation:

486/DX2 66MhZ

8mB RAM

about 2mB of free harddrive space

Windows NT 3.51 (or newer), Windows 95/98

EasyCleaner is most likely to work in every future 32 (or more) bits operating systems.