CCleaner 5.64 introduces Health Check, last Windows XP and Vista version

[harlan4096]

Piriform, which is an Avast-owned company, has released CCleaner 5.64 Stable on March 3, 2020. The new version of the clean-up software introduces the new Health Check feature officially and is the last major version that is compatible with the Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems.

Ever since Avast acquired Piriform, maker of CCleaner, in 2017, controversy surrounded the software and some of the decisions that were made. There have been forced automatic updates and advertising popups, Avast offers in CCleaner that could change important system settings, and issues with certain releases privacy-wise.

New functionality was added such as Easy Clean Mode, designed as a one-click stop to run clean-up operations and new features of professional versions such as a new Software Updater.

We looked at CCleaner's Health Check feature when it was first announced in 2019 and concluded that it was a basic cleaning option for users who don't want to or can't use the full cleaning options.

Has Health Check become any better since that initial release? Let's find out.

The installation of CCleaner 5.64 Free did not include any third-party offers but these may be offered. The release notes highlight that installer offers for Avast and CCleaner products may still be presented. Avast improved them by making them opt-in and presenting them to the user in a separate step.

The program displays an announcement on start that Health Check is now available. The default cleaning option is set to Health Check but you may change that back to custom clean under Options > Settings > CCleaner Home Screen.

Health Check's functionality has not changed much (at all?) when compared to the preview released last year. The module runs privacy, space, speed and security scans just like before, and the latter two are still reserved to the Pro version. While you get to see the results as a teaser, you cannot use the modules unless you upgrade to a paid version.

Privacy and space focus on some areas of cleaning. Privacy for example focuses on cookies, the download history, and temporary Internet files. Users who want the full cleaning functionality find it under custom clean.

The main advantage of Health Check is that it takes just a couple of clicks to free up space and remove some traces. The downside is that you don't get to choose what to delete and what to keep, and that many areas are not included in the scans.

The new version of CCleaner introduces official support for Microsoft's new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser.

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