Cleaner XP

Cleaner XP is a small-sized and portable application designed to help you remove files from the computer which cannot be deleted under normal circumstances. It doesn't include complicated options or configuration settings, making it accessible to all types of users.

Straightforward interface and settings

The GUI is user-friendly, represented by a small window with a simple design and layout, showing all options put at your disposal.
You shouldn't have any trouble figuring out how Cleaner XP works, since there are only three buttons displayed. The drag-and-drop function is unsupported, so you can resort to the file browser to locate and add the file you're attempting to eliminate, or paste its full path if you have it stored in the Clipboard.

How it works

If you cancel this dialog box, the file path currently listed in the main panel is automatically cleared. The item can be deleted with the click of a button, after which the application opens an instance of Windows Explorer.
We're assuming that it should open the file's original location to show you that the item was actually deleted, but we've tested the tool on Windows newer than XP, and this feature didn't work properly. The third button closes the utility.

No setup necessary

The entire program's packed in a single executable file that can be saved to a custom directory on the disk or copied to a USB flash drive, in order to seamlessly launch it on any PC with as little effort as possible.
It doesn't add new entries to your system registry, need DLLs or other components to function normally, or create files on the computer without letting you know about it. If you want to uninstall it, you just have to delete the .exe item.

Evaluation and conclusion

It didn't put a strain on the machine's performance in our tests, since it needed a low amount of system resources to run. File deletion jobs were carried out fast, during which Cleaner XP remained light system resources consumption. Too bad that it hasn't received updates for a long time and contains a very light set of options dedicated to secure cleaning.