Computer freezing. It's wintery in the Dordogne.

[Jimbo]

Following recommendations (including some from on here), I'm running CCleaner on my PC. Having gone through 'analyse', the programme has presented me with a huge number and variety of files (629 MB's worth) which it says should be zapped. Is it really, really safe to do this - or should I investigate further before pressing the doomsday button? And how do I know which, if any, to keep? I'm running XP pro with SP2.

Also: has anybody used Piriform's file recovery programme. Is it good - or is there better stuff out there (free or paid for)?

Thanks for any advice - it's scary stuff delving into your computer's darkest recesses.

Jim (feeling a bit like Frodo approaching Mount Doom!)

[la vache!]

I've been using ccleaner for years with no adverse effects. No wonder it wants do delete so much if you've never run a housekeeping system before.

For info, with ccleaner,I never check the boxes for :-
cookies
autocomplete forms
saved passwords

as losing those would be a nightmare.

Go for it Jim!

[Jimbo]

If that doesn't work, reinstalling XP probably will, but that's a painful process. However, if you've had to cut the power to the computer several times and you think other files may have been affected, this might be the only option.

After wrestling with this problem for months, with some improvements but by no means a definitive solution, I've decided to adopt Brooke's advice and go for a clean reinstall guided by a computer professional, probably upgrading to Windows 7 along the way. I've bought another machine to handle light office duties (and provide emergency back-up for my main computer) and intend to dedicate my workstation to processing picture files.

Any advice about things to consider when reinstalling would be most welcome before I jump off the diving board. Thanks for all the generous advice previously given in this thread. As you can see, I do make decisions in the end but, with computers, I'm always on slippery ground.

Jim

[Marks]

We have been having some problems recently with one of the laptops running slow (3 years old) and the PC guy I use recommended a complete re-install of Windows every 12 months. We did that plus upgraded to Windows 7 (from Vista), added an extra 2GB of memory and hey presto, running like new