Is TFC safe for Windows 10?

Viruses and worms
1

Hi guys,
With past issues, the experts here had advised using TFC. I continued to run it occasionally to clean things up. I recently upgraded to windows 10, and I ran the utility. Everything seemed ok. The only thing I noticed is that on MSoft Edge browser, that the windows only open to a blank sheet with a 'where to" box for the URL. No news feed or top sites that used to be there. And I checked the settings - it is still set for top sites and suggested content.
Is this just coincidental or did I mess something up? Not a big loss, but some family members like things the way they were (sigh).

Thanks in advance.

2

I think the guy that made it (OldTimer) don’t maintain and bugfix anymore

3

TFC never worked properly on my old XP system.
It always made the system hanging at the reboot.

As W10 is using the same registry entries (location of temp files and such) it should be fine to use it on W10.
But as it isn’t maintained anymore it will not be as effective as e.g. CCleaner that does have newer “data” on what can/needs to be cleaned.

TFC will not clean/remove certain things that weren’t present in previous Windows versions.

4

Depends what you mean by effective? TFC empty temp folders only, and more effective then CCleaner … probably why malware removal team/forums use it.

OldTimer also made OTL diagnostic tool that was used before FRST

5

If TFC would only clean temp folders, it wouldn’t have caused reboot problems when using it.

HijackThis was made long before OTL and was used by more people than OTL and FRST together.

6
HijackThis was made long before OTL and was used by more people than OTL and FRST together.
And?
7

Info at Geeks to Go

TFC (Temp File Cleaner) will clear out all temp folders for all user accounts (temp, IE temp, java, FF, Opera, Chrome, Safari), including Administrator, All Users, LocalService, NetworkService, and any other accounts in the user folder. It also cleans out the %systemroot%\temp folder and checks for .tmp files in the %systemdrive% root folder, %systemroot%, and the system32 folder (both 32bit and 64bit on 64bit OSs). It shows the amount removed for each location found (in bytes) and the total removed (in MB). Before running it will stop Explorer and all other running apps. When finished, if a reboot is required the user must reboot to finish clearing any in-use temp files
[b]TFC only cleans temp folders.[/b] TFC will not clean URL history, prefetch, or cookies. Depending on how often someone cleans their temp folders, their system hardware, and how many accounts are present, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or more. TFC will completely clear all temp files where other temp file cleaners may fail. TFC requires a reboot immediately after running. Be sure to save any unsaved work before running TFC.
8

False claim as TLC is NOT cleaning ALL temp folders for all users.
I have set Coolmaster Pro to use a certain folder for the temp files and TLC is not cleaning it.

If TLC only would remove temp files, there would not be a problem at all when the user initiate a reboot.

If I cleanup manually, more temp files are removed than what TLC is doing and there is no problem with a reboot.

9

Update:
It may be a confluence of events between running TFC on windows 10 machine, windows updates, the super moon this week— but my internet browsers are different. I started with reseting MS Edge using the Powershell commands. I even rolled back to a previous restore point. On edge, common news feed sites only show grey boxes instead of the picture/video thumbnails. On radio station sites, I can no longer play/stream the stations. Same effect now seen for thumbnails and streaming in Chrome. This makes me think it is a windows thing and not a browser event.
sfc /scannow does not find an issue.
Any ideas as to what is common here - any registry settings or policy settings that may have been corrupted?
I realize that this is likely not a virus/malware issue, but it seemed to start post-TFC.
Thanks