Tron is the ultimate PC cleanup script

Your PC is misbehaving, and there’s no obvious cause? Then it’s usually time to start working through the generic "fixes": run an antivirus scan, clear your temporary folders, enter "sfc /scannow" and more.

But if you’ve tried everything you know, without success -- or you don’t have hours to spend in front of the keyboard -- then maybe it’s time to call in some heavy-duty support.

Tron is a batch file which automates just about every possible step in the process of disinfecting, cleaning and repairing a Windows PC.

This isn’t as limited as it sounds, because the package is more than a script: it also includes a vast number of freeware and open source tools. There’s antivirus (Malwarebytes, Kaspersky, Sophos), cleaners (CCleaner, FindDupe), archiving tools, updaters, Adobe Reader, Flash and more.

The end result does an enormous amount of work, including:

• Finding and removing viruses
• Repairing WMI
• Resetting Internet Explorer, network settings
• Cleaning junk files, Windows event logs, duplicate downloads, Windows Update cache
• Uninstalling common OEM bloatware and some Metro apps
• Removing OneDrive integration
• Defragging your hard drive
• Resetting Registry and file system permissions, file extensions
• Updating Flash/ Adobe Reader/ Java/ Windows

…and a whole lot more (the full list is here). It could take hours to run.

There are plainly some major issues here. Like, does the developer really have the right to bundle all these third-party applications, even in an open-source product? (Something tells us the answer is "no".)

Tron also carries out a lot of actions which you may not like, from the minor (reducing the space allocated for shadow copies) to the major (uninstalling apps and applications which in many cases are harmless, and are most unlikely to be causing you any problems at all).

Despite that, there might be a case for using Tron as a last resort, if your PC seems broken and nothing else has helped. Just keep in mind that the script could make your situation worse, so back up the system first, and read the instructions in full before you start.

If you’re not happy using the dubiously-bundled tools, there’s still plenty of value here. Tron has various command line switches to disable certain actions (-sa to skip antivirus, say), or you can just edit out actions you don’t like.

Even if you never intend to use the full script, Tron has plenty of interesting batch file snippets you can reuse. A lot of the repairs are carried out by the script and standard Windows utilities only, so you might reuse parts of it. And a host of supporting elements show you how a batch file can detect it’s running in Safe Mode, or as an administrator; identify the version of Windows you’re using; get and save free disk space; resume at the right point after a failed run, and a whole lot more.

Tron is a PC repair and cleanup tool for Windows XP- 10.