Cleaner Suite

Official Documentation by Andras Gregori. Version: 1.0.0 (Initial Release). Platform: Windows 11 (x64). License: MIT (Open Source). Website: gregorigin.com.

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1. Introduction

GregOrigin Cleaner Suite is a minimalist, portable system utility designed for Windows 11. Unlike traditional "black box" cleaners that use proprietary engines to aggressively scrub the system, GregOrigin Suite acts as a transparent wrapper around native Windows APIs (PowerShell, .NET, and Winget).

Key Philosophy

• Safety First: We do not touch the Windows Registry for "cleaning."

• Transparency: The application is open-source.

• Native: Relies on standard Windows commands, ensuring high stability.

• No Adware: No upsells, no banners, no background services.

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2. System Requirements

• OS: Windows 11 (Recommended) or Windows 10 (21H2+).

• Permissions: Local Administrator rights (Required to uninstall programs and clean system temp folders).

• Dependencies: None (Uses the pre-installed .NET Framework and PowerShell).

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3. Installation

GregOrigin Suite is a Portable Application. It does not require a setup wizard.

Method A: Executable (Recommended)

1. Download GregOriginSuite.exe from the GitHub Releases page.

2. Move the file to a folder of your choice (e.g., Desktop or C:\Tools).

3. Right-click and select Run as Administrator.

⚠️ SmartScreen Warning: Upon first launch, Windows SmartScreen may flag the app because it is not digitally signed by a corporation. Fix: Click More Info > Run Anyway. This warning will disappear as the community builds reputation for the file.

Method B: Winget (Command Line)

If you prefer the terminal:

code Powershelldownloadcontent_copyexpand_less

    winget install GregOrigin.Suite
  

Method C: PowerShell Source (Expert)

For maximum transparency, you can run the source code directly:

1. Download GregOriginSuite.ps1.

2. Right-click the file > Run with PowerShell.

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4. User Guide

Tab 1: Bulk Uninstaller

This tool allows you to remove multiple applications in rapid succession without manually clicking through every wizard.

• Scanning: The app queries the Registry (HKLM and HKCU) to find installed software. It loads faster than generic uninstallers because it skips deep file-system heuristics.

• Bulk Removal:

  1. Hold CTRL or SHIFT to select multiple applications from the list.

  2. Click Uninstall Selected.

• Silent Mode:

  • If the app is an MSI (Windows Installer), GregOrigin automatically applies the /qb flag (Quiet Basic) to remove it with a progress bar but no user interaction.

  • If the app is an EXE, the standard uninstaller will launch.

Tab 2: Safe System Cleaner

This module reclaims disk space by removing temporary cache files. Unlike "Aggressive" cleaners, it does not delete browser history, saved passwords, or cookies.

Targets:

• Windows Temp: C:\Windows\Temp (System logs, update debris).

• User Temp: %TEMP% (Application temporary files).

• Edge/Chrome Cache: Removes cached images and scripts (Cache_Data).

• Recycle Bin: Empties the bin.

How to use:

1. Click Analyze to calculate potential space savings.

2. Review the log window.

3. Click Clean Now to execute deletion.

   • Note: Locked files (files currently in use by Windows) are automatically skipped to prevent system crashes.

Tab 3: Software Updater

This module leverages Microsoft's Winget (Windows Package Manager) to detect outdated software.

• Check Updates: Queries the official Microsoft repositories for newer versions of your installed apps.

• Update All:

  • Clicking this will launch a Console Window.

  • This is intentional. We display the console so you can see exactly what Winget is downloading and installing.

  • The process handles the downloading and installation automatically.

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5. Troubleshooting

"Windows protected your PC" popup?

This is Microsoft Defender SmartScreen. Because GregOrigin Suite is free and open-source, we do not pay the ~$500 yearly fee for an EV Code, Signing Certificate.

• Solution: Click "More Info" -> "Run Anyway".

An application failed to uninstall.

• Cause: Some older applications have broken UninstallString registry entries or proprietary installers that do not accept automation.

• Solution: The suite will attempt to launch the uninstaller. If it fails, you may need to uninstall that specific app via Windows Settings.

"Access Denied" errors in the Cleaner log.

• Cause: You are trying to delete a file that is currently being used by a running program (e.g., trying to clean Edge Cache while Edge is open).

• Behavior: GregOrigin Suite is designed to fail safely. It will skip the locked file and move to the next one rather than forcing a deletion that could crash the OS.

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6. Technical Reference & Architecture

6.1. High-Level Architecture

GregOrigin Suite operates as a Hybrid PowerShell/WPF Application encapsulated within a lightweight C# .NET Bootstrap executable.

• Presentation Layer: Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) defined via XAML strings.

• Logic Layer: Windows PowerShell 5.1 (compatible with PowerShell Core 7+).

• Execution Layer: A compiled C# EXE that unwraps the payload into memory/temporary storage and invokes the System.Automation engine.

• External Integration: Leverages the Windows Package Manager (winget.exe) via Process invocation for update management.

6.2. Component Breakdown

A. The Uninstaller Engine (Registry Parsing)

Unlike older tools that use WMI (Win32_Product), which is slow and notoriously dangerous, GregOrigin Suite utilizes direct Registry parsing for speed and safety.

Scanned Hives:

1. HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* (64-bit System Apps)

2. HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* (32-bit Legacy Apps)

3. HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* (Per-User Apps)

Filtering Logic: The engine filters results at the query level to exclude:

• Items missing UninstallString.

• Items flagged as SystemComponent (to prevent accidental removal of drivers/OS kernel features).

Execution Logic:

• MSI Installers: Detected via regex match for msiexec. The arguments are parsed and appended with /qb (Basic UI, No Modal) to allow batch processing.

• EXE Installers: Executed via cmd.exe /c to handle complex path variables and environment string expansion.

B. The Cleaning Engine (FileSystem Heuristics)

The cleaning module uses standard .NET System.IO classes via PowerShell cmdlets (Get-ChildItem, Remove-Item).

Safety Constraints:

• ErrorAction SilentlyContinue: Used explicitly on IO operations. If a file is locked by the OS (System.IO.IOException), the loop skips it immediately rather than queuing a retry or crashing the UI.

• Targeted Scope:

  • Windows Temp: C:\Windows\Temp

  • User Temp: [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('TEMP')

  • Browser Cache: Hardcoded paths relative to %LOCALAPPDATA%.

  • DB Exclusion: The scraper specifically avoids User Data\Default root folders to ensure History (SQLite), Cookies (SQLite), and Login Data (SQLite) are untouched.

C. The Update Engine (Winget Interop)

The suite does not maintain an internal database of software versions. It acts as a GUI frontend for winget.

• Detection: Runs winget upgrade in a background process with StandardOutputEncoding set to UTF8.

• Parsing: The stdout stream is captured and parsed using regex to split the tabular data into objects (Name, CurrentVersion, AvailableVersion).

• Action: Triggers winget upgrade --all --include-unknown via a new process window to show user feedback during the download phase.

6.3. The Build System (Compiler Details)

The GregOriginSuite.exe is not a traditional Visual Studio compiled binary. It is generated via the BuildConnector.ps1 script included in the source:

1. Payload Encoding: The source PowerShell script is Base64 encoded.

2. C# CodeDom Provider: The builder utilizes Microsoft.CSharp.CSharpCodeProvider.

3. Bootstrap Logic:

   • The C# Main() method decodes the Base64 string at runtime.

   • It writes the script to %TEMP%\GregOriginSuite_Run.ps1.

   • It invokes powershell.exe with -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -WindowStyle Hidden pointed at the temp file.

   • It executes a finally block to delete the temp file upon application closure.

Why this matters: This architecture ensures that the behavioral logic of the EXE offers 1:1 parity with the open-source .ps1 file for auditing purposes.

6.4. Security & Privacy Audit

Network Activity

• Internal Telemetry: None. No analytics, no crash reporting, no "home phone."

• External Calls:

  • winget.exe communicates with cdn.winget.microsoft.com (Microsoft's CDN).

  • Clicking the "Visit Website" button utilizes Start-Process, handing the URL to the user's default browser.

Permissions

• Elevation: The application requires Administrative privileges (Elevated Token).

  • Reason: Required to delete files in C:\Windows\Temp and write to HKLM keys for uninstallation.

• UAC: If run without Admin rights, operations will fail silently or throw "Access Denied" errors in the log window.

Binaries & Dependencies

• Dependencies: Requires .NET Framework 4.5+ (Standard on Windows 10/11).

• Portable: No Registry entries are created for the application itself. No uninstaller is needed for GregOrigin Suite.

6.5. Known Technical Limitations

1. Windows Store Apps (AppX/MSIX):

   • The Uninstaller currently targets Win32 apps (Registry based). It does not query Get-AppxPackage, meaning pre-installed Store bloatware (Candy Crush, Disney+) does not yet appear in the list.

2. Chrome/Edge Locks:

   • Browser cache cleaning is most effective when browsers are closed. If open, the browser locks the files, and the cleaning engine will skip them (reporting 0MB cleaned).

3. Winget Availability:

   • Relies on the App Installer package. If the user has manually stripped the Microsoft Store from their OS, the "Updater" tab will return zero results.

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7. Legal & License

Copyright © 2025 Andras Gregori @ GregOrigin LLC.

Also available at Itch.io and GitHub.

Licensed under the MIT License.

You are free to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY.