Navigation

•  Introducing CCleaner
•  Using CCleaner
•  CCleaner Rules
•  CCleaner Settings
•  CCleaner How To's
•  Troubleshooting
•  Advanced Usage
  •  Command-line parameters
  •  CCleaner .INI files
    •  What do CCleaner's INI files do?
    •  How to add your own program for CCleaner to clean
    •  How to clean user data from non-standard Mozilla browsers
    •  How to add other areas of Windows for CCleaner to clean
    •  How to run Visual Basic scripts during the Cleaning process
    •  Environment variables and system variables in CCleaner
    •  Using ccleaner.ini to modify how CCleaner runs
    •  How to Exclude Items from CCleaner's Cleaning

Environment variables and system variables in CCleaner

You can use standard Windows environment variables and system variables in CCleaner's INI files.

An environment or system variable is a shortcut that points to a specific folder.

For example, %APPDATA% points to where the current user's application data is stored. If the user is running XP, logged in as Administrator and Windows has been installed to the C: drive, %APPDATA% would point to C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data.

This is very convenient if you plan to share your INI files or use them on multiple computers, since you don't have to know in advance all the custom Windows folder settings that might exist.

System variables in Windows:

• %userprofile% - Points to the Documents and Settings folder for the current user. Example: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator
• %ProgramFiles% - Points to the Program Files location for Windows. Example: C:\Program Files
• %windir% - Points to the \WINDOWS folder. Example: C:\Windows
• %rootdir% - Points to the root folder of the drive where Windows has been installed. Example: C:\
• %appdata% - Points to the custom application settings for the current user. Example: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data (For non-English versions of Microsoft Windows, use %LocalAppData% or %CommonAppData%.)
• %systemdrive% - Points to the drive where Windows has been installed. Example: C:

Parameters

Parameters are basic environment variables in Microsoft Windows.

Managing Environment Variables & System Variables

You must be an administrator to modify a system environment variable. System environment variables are defined by Windows and apply to all computer users. Changes to the system environment are written to the registry, and usually require a restart to become effective.

User Variables for User Name

Any user can add, modify, or remove a user environment variable. These variables are established by Windows XP Setup, by some programs, and by users. The changes are written to the registry, and are usually effective immediately. However, after a change to user environment variables is made, any open software programs should be restarted to force them to read the new registry values. The common reason to add variables is to provide data that is required for variables that you want to use in scripts.

To view or change environment variables:

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click Environment variables.
4. Click one the following options, for either a user or a system variable:

• Click New to add a new variable name and value.
• Click an existing variable, and then click Edit to change its name or value.
• Click an existing variable, and then click Delete to remove it.