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-   -   Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files (http://www.hardwarebanter.com/showthread.php?t=199052)

Bill[_39_] June 30th 18 10:03 PM

Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files
 
I use CCleaner everyday to purge my browsing history, etc.
It used to run faster. It takes quite a while to even remove
"counters.dat", whatever that is. I don't remember it being an
issue before. Evidently, I can accumulate 2000-8000 "tracking
files" without even doing a lot of browsing (how is this
possible?). I don't even use the IE browser, yet it seems to
takes a while to remove Internet explorer data. It is true that
I am using an older version of the CCleaner app, but I don't
believe this is the issue. Thank you for your guidance!

Bill

Larc[_3_] July 1st 18 12:15 AM

Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files
 
On Sat, 30 Jun 2018 17:03:43 -0400, Bill wrote:

| I use CCleaner everyday to purge my browsing history, etc.
| It used to run faster. It takes quite a while to even remove
| "counters.dat", whatever that is. I don't remember it being an
| issue before. Evidently, I can accumulate 2000-8000 "tracking
| files" without even doing a lot of browsing (how is this
| possible?). I don't even use the IE browser, yet it seems to
| takes a while to remove Internet explorer data. It is true that
| I am using an older version of the CCleaner app, but I don't
| believe this is the issue. Thank you for your guidance!
|
| Bill

You don't set your browser to delete your browsing history when you close it? Firefox
on my systems is set to clear everything except cookies for sites I visit often.
When I run CCleaner, it usually deletes almost nothing from Firefox. I run the free
version of CCleaner only before each backup, but keep it up to date. It runs
quickly.

Larc

Paul[_28_] July 1st 18 12:43 AM

Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files
 
Bill wrote:
I use CCleaner everyday to purge my browsing history, etc.
It used to run faster. It takes quite a while to even remove
"counters.dat", whatever that is. I don't remember it being an issue
before. Evidently, I can accumulate 2000-8000 "tracking files" without
even doing a lot of browsing (how is this possible?). I don't even use
the IE browser, yet it seems to takes a while to remove Internet
explorer data. It is true that I am using an older version of the
CCleaner app, but I don't believe this is the issue. Thank you for your
guidance!

Bill


Use Process Monitor to track the I/O operations. The current
version may not be WinXP compatible, so you might need to look
for an older version for WinXP.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sys...nloads/procmon

This is the info for WinXP:

Version 3.1

https://web.archive.org/web/20150117...rnals/bb896645

I had some trouble with the download link. I hope this works.

https://web.archive.org/web/20150208...essMonitor.zip

*******

The trace control is a tick mark in the file menu.
Remove the tick mark to stop the trace from collecting
any more data.

The filter is not important to collecting a trace.

Later, you can set the trace to:

"Operation" "Is" "CreateFile"
"Operation" "Is" "ReadFile"
"Operation" "Is" "WriteFile"

You can also limit the process name to whatever ccleaner
actually uses for operations.

By watching what it's doing, what file seems to take
many seconds to process, you can tell us what area
of the file system it's spending all this time.

*******

I have a browser (Seamonkey) which doesn't properly
clear the caches when you select that from the menu.

To deal with Seamonkey I delete a few things manually.

I'm not a CCleaner user, so I hope that much can get
you started. Start ProcMon, which will start tracing
right away. Start CCleaner. When CCleaner is finished
and exited, stop the trace in ProcMon using the File
menu tick box, then have a look at what happened.

Paul

Bill[_39_] July 1st 18 05:35 AM

Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files
 
Paul wrote:

To deal with Seamonkey I delete a few things manually.


I AM using Seamonkey too! Are there some things that aren't
getting deleted that you could tell me about? Maybe that's where
the process time is going....too much on "counters.dat"!

Bill

Paul[_28_] July 1st 18 06:13 AM

Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files
 
Bill wrote:
Paul wrote:

To deal with Seamonkey I delete a few things manually.


I AM using Seamonkey too! Are there some things that aren't getting
deleted that you could tell me about? Maybe that's where the process
time is going....too much on "counters.dat"!

Bill


I don't have a "counters.dat" on the C: drive.

Try Procmon.

*******

Things I search for:

_cache === search a level above this, for any additional junk
# === flash related
+++ === files with URL names, tracking via video playback
webappsstore.sqlite === grows with time, tracking something

Those are examples.

Paul

NIl July 1st 18 07:29 AM

Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files
 
On 01 Jul 2018, Paul wrote in
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt:

I don't have a "counters.dat" on the C: drive.


I do! Three of then, in fact. I have no idea what they are or what
they do. I don't think I've ever used IE on this Win7-64 computer.

C:\Users\me!\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Tem porary Internet Files\counters.dat

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\L ocal\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\counters.dat

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\AppData\L ocal\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\counters.dat

Paul[_28_] July 1st 18 07:58 AM

Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files
 
Nil wrote:
On 01 Jul 2018, Paul wrote in
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt:

I don't have a "counters.dat" on the C: drive.


I do! Three of then, in fact. I have no idea what they are or what
they do. I don't think I've ever used IE on this Win7-64 computer.

C:\Users\me!\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Tem porary Internet Files\counters.dat

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\L ocal\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\counters.dat

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\AppData\L ocal\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\counters.dat


Would those be for Internet Explorer ?

I checked the other machine, and it doesn't have those either.
(Searched with Agent Ransack on a Win10 install.) Mind you, I
don't use IE all that often.

Paul

Robert[_14_] July 1st 18 01:44 PM

Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files
 
Bill wrote in part:
Paul wrote:
To deal with Seamonkey I delete a few things manually.


I AM using Seamonkey too! Are there some things that aren't
getting deleted that you could tell me about? Maybe that's
where the process time is going....too much on "counters.dat"!



With any browser which stores lots of user-data, annually I
save a minimum of required data (bookmarks, contacts for those
who use them), then create a new blank user profile and use it.
This leaves a lot of cruft behind in the old profile. Hard to
pick out what to delete, just trash it all after the new is working.

-- Robert


Flasherly[_2_] July 1st 18 07:44 PM

Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files
 
On Sat, 30 Jun 2018 17:03:43 -0400, Bill wrote:

I use CCleaner everyday to purge my browsing history, etc.
It used to run faster. It takes quite a while to even remove
"counters.dat", whatever that is. I don't remember it being an
issue before. Evidently, I can accumulate 2000-8000 "tracking
files" without even doing a lot of browsing (how is this
possible?). I don't even use the IE browser, yet it seems to
takes a while to remove Internet explorer data. It is true that
I am using an older version of the CCleaner app, but I don't
believe this is the issue. Thank you for your guidance!

Bill


I assigned HotKeys to a suitable freeware utility, Cntr_Alt_Key for
bringing up batch, or CMD, file(s). I navigate [CD ;REM change
directory] to any directories, deleting [DEL *.* /...] as needed
browser program artifacts. In another instance, I use Beyond Compare,
a freeware synchronization tool, for the browser as installed and set
up as I like, prior to connection. When the hotkey is initiated and
up the browser called, the CMD/BAT overwrites (viz Beyond Compare) a
prior session, occupying a different working directory, from a that
steady-state definition directory aforementioned, which then occurs at
the working directory being hotkeyed, just prior to the browser
executable, again in the work directory, being called.

Something along how CCleaner is intended, I suppose. A little more
encompassing and at times beyond even Beyond Compare, as I treat three
browsers in a similar manner. Except in an instance of one involving
relay nodes (similar to a VPN), basically similar to the above but for
two stages, as that particular browsers needs be taken back, erasures
devolving into a further "pristine restorative" state, as the relays
all have to be granted permission and contacted online for their
validity.

Flasherly[_2_] July 1st 18 07:53 PM

Slightly off-topic: Tracking Files
 
On Sun, 01 Jul 2018 14:44:18 -0400, Flasherly
wrote:

Something along how CCleaner is intended, I suppose.

-
Not as much about profiling, aside, evidently. Whatever the
synchronization state is drawing from will be the same result to the
working directory. I don't use a present FireFox, mostly portable
sorts, although I see where someone has written an extension for
FireFox which randomizes the browser state settings - as they're
largely used for profiling purposes by industry collection services.

Provided of course that FireFox hasn't by now "broken" it.


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