There are many Windows tools that perform unnecessary functions and are totally unrequired. In many cases, they end up doing more harm than good. This guide lists 5 such apps and why they’re harmful.
1. RAM Cleaners
There are many RAM cleaners or memory optimizers that claim to free up RAM for more programs to load or to speed up the system. While they are true to their claim, that’s actually bad for the system. Free RAM is wasted RAM because the RAM that is in use is what speeds up the system. If there is free RAM, it’s better to have it filled with processes that could be used later rather than letting it sit there and do nothing.
Windows does exactly that by default. It loads previously accessed files or files that it predicts you may need soon in free RAM. RAM cleaners delete this data that is actually speeding up your PC, just to show you that they have “freed” RAM.
Some of these cleaners may even force Windows to close non-active processes of programs, which will force programs to fetch these processes from the storage drive again. Overall, they increase disk I/O operations (decrease SSD lifespan), slow down active programs, waste CPU cycles, and in the worst case, cause system/app crashes just to free up RAM.
2. Bloatware Removal Tools/Scripts
This is another popular program that is usually recommended by PC experts for cleaning up unnecessary bloatware and even annoying Windows features. However, these programs are often more of a nuke option that tries to get rid of all annoyances. This means they delete programs and features that you or Windows may need.
In the long term, they can also cause system instability and update issues. You can check our guide about why bloatware removal tools are harmful to learn more. Besides, Windows 11 has made it much easier to delete unnecessary built-in apps using the default installation process, so you should manually debloat Windows.
3. Automatic Driver Updaters
Automatic driver updaters work great, and your PC will be running the best drivers in just a few clicks thanks to them. The problem comes when they don’t work. These programs depend on a matching system with a driver database created using official and public sources. They don’t actually handpick the best driver for your specific hardware.
This means that they can possibly install the wrong drivers, or worse, malware-infected drivers. This can cause your PC components to malfunction or even lead to a kernel-level malware infection. The safest option is to download the drivers directly from the component manufacturer’s website manually.
4. Registry Cleaners
Often part of PC cleaning tools, registry cleaners promise to delete unnecessary or old entries from uninstalled programs to improve PC speed. While theoretically this can be beneficial, it won’t have any practical impact. The entries occupy mere kilobytes of space, a few outdated entries won’t impact your system in any way.
Not to mention, most apps today are configured to remove their entries when uninstalling, so the chance of bloating the Registry is minimal. However, mass deleting the Registry entries does have a chance of deleting an important entry. This can lead to malfunctioning apps, data loss, and even system instability.
If you have to clean the Registry due to a malware infection or other major corruption, it’s better to clean the Registry manually or factory reset Windows while keeping data.
5. Junk File Cleaners
They are redundant because Windows 10/11 has Storage Sense to automatically delete junk data. Furthermore, they need to one-up Windows, so they are extremely aggressive with data deletion just to free more space. This means they often delete data that you and the system use.
Some of the deleted data that can directly impact your experience includes browser cookies, shader cache, Sysmain cache, thumbnail cache, Windows Search index, MRU and jumplists, system restore points, Run history, and driver packages. All of this data takes up small storage space, but greatly impacts your Windows experience. Windows Storage Sense is more than enough for large junk that is worth deleting.
If you are optimizing your Windows PC, you might be curious to try such tools for a small improvement. However, they are not worth the risk, you will face issues in the long term if not immediately. Also, try to download apps from the Microsoft Store, where you’re less likely to stumble upon such tools.
