Win Cleaner…How to throw away $20 in a hurry!

Hurry, hurry, hurry…step right up. Who will be the first to purchase this miracle PC cleaner and fixer in a stick? Yes! Hello madam! That’s right, you just stick this stick in your computer USB port and all your PC troubles will be over. Just $20 ma’am…but wait, I’ll sell you two for $28! You can fix two computers for just $28! Yes, ma’am it does sound incredible but it’s true! I swear it’s true. Would I lie to you ma’am? 

This article also includes other “plug and fix” sticks – all of which will glad take your money — and give you nothing.

We wrote an article a while back called “And the scams never stop“(which you can read here). When it comes to the PC repair business the scams not only never stop, they keep growing. Remember “My Clean PC”? Remember “Speed Up My PC” and “Speed Fix Tool”? All of them were scams – none of them worked,  yet the companies that sold them reaped MILLIONS of dollars in profits.

Win Cleaner  is the current “PC Fixer” being advertised on TV all over the USA. We wonder if the same crooks who bilked millions out of not-so-savvy computer users, are behind the latest iteration of the same useless “PC cleaner and Fixer” scam.

If you live in the USA and watch TV, even if only occasionally, you’ve probably seen professionally produced TV commercials like this one for Win Cleaner (below).

Actual shot of a TV screen with the Win Cleaner ad running.

This commercial is running nationwide and it’s pretty slick – you don’t spend this kind of money on a slick TV commercial like this unless you’re pretty sure you’re going to make a substantial profit. Hundred of thousands, perhaps even millions, of PC users will fall for this scam – some will be the same ones who bought  My Clean PC and/or Speed Up My PC and/or Speed Fix Tool.

We feel sorry for the folks who throw away their money by buying these kinds of useless products. But like the diet pill industry, there is always a sizable portion of the population who believe that they can eat all they want, eat anything they want, do no exercise at all and lose a lot of weight if they take this or that brand of miracle diet pills. And, unfortunately, there is a sizable portion of the population who really believe that you can fix whatever ails a PC by simply as plugging in some so-called miracle fix on a USB stick.

From the Win Cleaner order page

Win Cleaner makes so many false claims we don’t know where t start.  Just in the order image above there are several false claims:  Win Cleaner will not ” repair ” your computer nor will it protect your computer…it has no real-time antivirus or anti-malware component. It will not make your computer run like new. It’s just like diet pills – they want you to believe that making your computer like new is as easy as putting in a $20 USB stick.

Here’s some text from their Web site:

As you saw on TV, Win Cleaner is the One Click PC Cleaner that will get your slow computer running like new in minutes! Win Cleaner cleans, repairs, optimizes and protects your PC, guaranteeing faster start up times, faster internet connections, and ensures your privacy by eliminating internet history.

Did you know that even files you think you’ve deleted can leave behind remnants of information stored in your computer’s registry? Well, the WIN Cleaner wipes out all of that junk! Just plug the WIN Cleaner USB into your PC, and it immediately starts cleaning up your computer, eliminating useless files and programs that are slowing it down.

Major computer publications and experts recommend the Win Cleaner to get your PC back in shape with just one click. So before you spend hundreds on a new computer, bring in some expensive computer expert, or trust all of your personal information to some costly on line program, be your own computer wiz with the WIN CLEANER and learn to love your PC again with just one click!

You can get Win Cleaner today for just $19.99 and you’ll pay NO shipping and handling. When you order, you’ll also have the opportunity to double your order. Just pay a separate fee of $7.99. This offer won’t last long so get yours today!

OK…look at paragraph 1 “As you saw on TV, Win Cleaner is the One Click PC Cleaner that will get your slow computer running like new in minutes! Win Cleaner cleans, repairs, optimizes and protects your PC, guaranteeing faster start up times, faster internet connections, and ensures your privacy by eliminating internet history. “

There are so many false claims in this paragraph we don’t know where to begin. They are guaranteeing faster start ups, faster internet connections and they’ll ensure your privacy by eliminating your internet history. Not one of those things are true. You don’t need a $20 USB stick to delete your internet history to begin with – and deleting internet history does not ensure your privacy. No software can noticeably speed up your internet connection – only your ISP can do that. Win Cleaner cannot repair your computer.

In paragraph 2, they carefully choose their words to make you think that Win Cleaner will completely erase all the files you’ve deleted, but all it really is, is a so-called “registry cleaner”. The truth is this: Having unnecessary entries in your registry does not noticeably slow down your computer. A computer running slowly if far more complex than that. There is no miracle USB stick that is going to speed up and optimize your computer with one click – or make your computer run like new. If it were that easy to repair and optimize a Windows PC, Microsoft would have bought that technology and included it with every copy of Windows.

Win Cleaner does not work. It will not speed up your computer. It will not optimize your computer. It will not protect your computer. It will not make your internet connection faster.

A TV Station in Moosic, Pennsylvania USA (Scranton, PA area) tested Win Cleaner and this is the report directly from from WNEP TV’s in Moosic, PA:

This is the Win Cleaner and the maker claims it can save users hundreds of dollars on computer repairs and replacement. It promises to deliver faster start-ups, improved security, privacy and faster browsing.

In just one click, you can bring your computer back to life and running at top speed. Win Cleaner purges your system of unseen performance sapping internet and PC clutter. It will fix annoying errors, optimize the registry, accelerate start-up time and recovers valuable hard disk space, all while protecting your surfing privacy. All for the incredibly low price of only $19. 99!

To test win cleaner, Newswatch 16 needed a computer expert, someone who can tell us how this thing works.

We found an expert at A1 computer services in Scranton. They repair computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, video games and more. If you have an electronic device that needs fixed, Jim is your man.

We asked Jim to look at our slow-running computer. It’s four years old and seems to be running a little slow which makes it the perfect PC to test Win Cleaner. We timed how long it too to start up, browse the web and load video. Then, we plugged in the Win Cleaner.

The program didn’t start automatically, so we had to force it to start. Once that was done, it was smooth sailing. We didn’t have to press anymore buttons and the program took about 20 minutes to run.

According to Win Cleaner, it cleared out a lot of old data that was slowing down our PC. So we decide to test the start-up speed, browsing speed and how long it takes to launch a video now that we’ve installed Win Cleaner.

Believe it or not, it actually took longer this time to load video and browse the web. So we shut it down and timed it again. The third time, still took longer after installing Win Cleaner.

Newswatch 16 asked Jim if he thought the Win Cleaner passed the “Does It Really Work?” test and he said, “No, it does not.” …

You can read the original WNEP-TV article here.

There are many others who have tested Win Cleaner, like this TV Station in Pittsburg, who also found that Win Cleaner does not work. In fact, you can do the everything that Win Cleaner does with a 15 year-old free program called Clean Up! You can actually do more with the free CCleaner and many of the other free PC cleaner tools – and there are literally dozens of them. Bu the truth is that while running a cleaner once in a while is good maintenance and PC housecleaning, only in very, very few cases ever will it make a noticeable difference in the speed of your PC – and it sure won’t repair or optimize your PC – or make your internet connection noticeably faster.

Win Cleaner makes so many false claims we wonder how they get away with it, but they do, just like the others got away with it before Win Cleaner: Speed Up My PC, My Clean PC, Speed Fix Tool and all the rest.

If you want to throw away $20, buying Win Cleaner is one way to do it, but it would be much easier just to throw that $20 bill out of your car window. At least then, some needy person might find it and get some benefit from it.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS! SPREAD THE WORD! 

Don’t support scams like Win Cleaner or Fix It Stick. You may see them advertised on TV or sold on Home Shopping Network. You might other “Plug it in and do a miracle PC fix” scams. Don’t get suckered in. The only thing that will happen for sure is – you will lose your money.

. Make sure your friends and family members know the facts. Spread the word to everyone you know that Win Cleaner, Fix It Stick and all of other products of their ilk, are modern-day snake oil.

If you tell a friend and they tell a friend and so on – eventually no one will fall for these scams.

You may copy any of our text from this page if you need to spread the word about scams like Win Cleaner and Fix It Stick. Or you’re welcome to post the link to this page on your Facebook page or on other social media.  You can help us stop modern-day snake oil salesmen by warning your friends and family.

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