========================================================
  Rich Levin's PC Sweeper v.1.0
  Portable Freeware  (C) 2026 Levin Communications
  Support: RBLevin@RBLevin.net
========================================================


WHAT IT DOES
------------
PC Sweeper runs quietly in your Windows system tray
and automatically monitors and clears your clipboard --
keeping sensitive copied text, passwords, and other private
data from lingering after you are done with it. It also clears
the Windows clipboard history (the Win+V list), where copied items
otherwise stay behind -- leaving the items you pinned there alone
unless you say otherwise.

It also has a global hotkey that instantly cleans "dirty" clipboard
text -- text copied from a web page, Word, or email that carries
hidden formatting, fonts, and colors -- stripping it down to plain
text so it pastes cleanly anywhere.

It also automatically empties your Windows Recycle Bin on a
schedule you choose, with the same silent/confirm/countdown
options as clipboard clearing -- plus a global hotkey and
one-click emptying from the tray icon.

And if you want it to, it locks your PC and turns the screen off
when you step away -- after a set time with no keyboard or mouse
use, or at once from the tray menu.

PC Sweeper's splash screen, About screen, and popups match
your Windows accent color and light/dark mode automatically,
so it looks at home on your desktop.


SYSTEM REQUIREMENT
------------------
Windows 7 SP1 or later (Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, or 11), with
.NET Framework 4.8.

Most Windows 10/11 PCs already have .NET Framework 4.8 built in --
nothing to install. On Windows 7 SP1 or 8.1, it normally arrives
through ordinary Windows Update; if PCSweeper.exe does not run,
install it from:
  https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet-framework/net48
  (choose the ".NET Framework 4.8 Runtime" installer)

PC Sweeper itself requires no administrator rights and no
separate runtime installer of its own.


INSTALLATION -- TWO WAYS, BOTH PORTABLE
------------------------------------------
PC Sweeper itself is always a single portable EXE. It keeps its
settings in one file, PCSweeper.ini, next to PCSweeper.exe. Outside
its own folder it touches only two things:

  - a "PC Sweeper" shortcut in your Windows Startup folder, and only
    if you turn on "Run at Windows startup"
  - one small per-user entry in the Windows Registry that lets
    Windows show PC Sweeper's notifications

It needs no administrator rights. You can set it up either way:

METHOD 1 -- Just run it, no installer
  1. Unzip the package to any folder you like.
     For example:
       %USERPROFILE%\LCC\PCSweeper\
       %USERPROFILE%\Apps\PCSweeper\
     or just leave it on your Desktop or in Downloads.
  2. Double-click PCSweeper.exe to run it.
  3. A brief splash screen will appear (if enabled), then a
     small broom icon will appear in your system tray
     (bottom-right corner of your taskbar, near the clock).

  To add it to Windows Startup, check "Run at Windows startup" in
  the Options screen (see below) -- PC Sweeper manages its own
  Startup shortcut for you, no manual step needed.

  To uninstall, simply delete the folder PCSweeper.exe is in (and
  your Desktop shortcut, if you made one). If "Run at Windows
  startup" was checked, uncheck it in Options first so PC Sweeper
  removes its own Startup shortcut cleanly.

METHOD 2 -- Use PCSweeperSetup.exe
  If the package includes PCSweeperSetup.exe, you can run that
  instead for a guided setup:
    - Choose an install folder (it suggests %USERPROFILE%\LCC\PC
      Sweeper by default, but you can pick any folder)
    - Optionally create a Desktop shortcut
    - Optionally add PC Sweeper to Windows Startup
    - Optionally launch PC Sweeper immediately when done

  Run PCSweeperSetup.exe again later and point it at the same
  folder: it detects the existing install and offers
    - Update     (when the Setup you are running carries a newer
                  PC Sweeper than the one installed), or
    - Reinstall  (same version -- repairs the install), and
    - Uninstall  (with an option to keep your PCSweeper.ini
                  settings file).
  If PC Sweeper is running, Setup closes it for you before it
  updates or removes it, and starts it again afterwards if
  "Launch PC Sweeper now" is checked.

  On an existing install, the two shortcut checkboxes start out
  showing what you have now. Leaving a box unchecked removes that
  shortcut.

  Uninstall removes only PC Sweeper's own files (PCSweeper.exe,
  READMEFIRST.txt, PCSweeper.ico, and PCSweeper.ini unless you keep
  it) and its Desktop and Startup shortcuts. Anything else in the
  folder is left alone, and the folder itself is removed only if it
  ends up empty.

  PCSweeperSetup.exe is just a convenience -- it has PCSweeper.exe
  built into it and copies it to the folder you choose. It does
  not do anything PC Sweeper itself can't also do manually; use
  whichever method you prefer.


USING THE APP
-------------
  TRAY ICON
  Left-click the broom icon in the system tray to empty
  the Recycle Bin on demand (subject to your "Before emptying"
  setting -- see below).

  Hold the mouse over the icon to see what PC Sweeper is doing:
  checking, or clearing in progress. If one of the two timers is
  switched off it says which one ("clipboard timer off" or "bin
  timer off"); with both off it says [PAUSED].

  Right-click the icon for the menu:
    Clipboard:
      - Clear Clipboard Now           -- clears the clipboard immediately
                                         (and the Win+V list too, unless
                                         that is turned off in Options)
      - Pause/Resume Cleaning         -- suspends or resumes monitoring
    Plain Text Hotkey:
      - Strip to Plain Text (hotkey)  -- strips formatting from clipboard text
                                         (the menu shows the current hotkey)
      - Enable/Disable Plain Text Hotkey
    Recycle Bin:
      - Empty Recycle Bin Now (hotkey) -- empties the bin immediately
      - Pause/Resume Bin Emptying     -- suspends or resumes the bin timer
      - Enable/Disable Bin Hotkey
    Screen:
      - Lock PC and Turn Off Screen (hotkey) -- locks the PC and turns
                                         the screen off after half a second
                                         (reads "Turn Off Screen Now" if
                                         locking is turned off in Options;
                                         the menu shows the current hotkey)
      - Enable/Disable Screen Hotkey
    App:
      - Options...                    -- open the Options screen
      - Help...                       -- the built-in help screen
      - About...                      -- show app info and build number
      - Check for Updates...          -- check rblevin.net for a newer version
    Support:
      - Donate, Feedback, Support
      - Exit                          -- closes the app (asks "Are you sure?")


  OPTIONS SCREEN
  Open Options by right-clicking the tray icon and choosing
  "Options". Clipboard settings are on the left and Recycle Bin
  settings on the right, each with its hotkey underneath. Theme,
  the update check schedule, and the two startup options run along
  the bottom. The descriptions below follow that order.

  Click Apply to save your settings; the Options screen stays open
  so you can keep adjusting. Click Close when you are done --
  anything changed since your last Apply is discarded. Settings
  are remembered the next time the app starts.

  Rest the mouse on any setting for a moment and a short
  explanation of it appears. The Help button at the bottom left
  (or the F1 key) opens Help at its section about Options.


    CLIPBOARD (left side)
    ---------------------
    Check every [N] [Seconds/Minutes]
      How often the clipboard is checked for content (text,
      files or pictures).
      Range: 1-59 seconds or 1-60 minutes. Default: 30 seconds.

    Clear after [N] [Seconds/Minutes]
      How long to wait before clearing the clipboard after
      content is detected.
      Range: 1-59 seconds or 1-60 minutes. Default: 1 minute.

      How it works: the clipboard is checked at the "Check"
      interval. When content is found, the "Clear after" countdown
      begins. The clipboard is cleared when the countdown expires.
      If the clipboard is already empty when checked (because you
      or another app cleared it), the countdown is cancelled.
      This ensures you always have at least "Clear after" time
      to use what you copied before it is removed.

    Timer enabled
      Uncheck to pause all clipboard monitoring without
      closing the app. Re-check to resume. (The same as
      Pause/Resume Cleaning on the tray menu.) While it is
      unchecked, the line under the "Before clearing" choices
      says "Timer not enabled".

    Before clearing -- choose one:

      Clear silently  (default)
        The clipboard is cleared with no prompt or warning.

      Ask before clearing
        A Yes/No dialog appears before each scheduled clear.
        Click Yes to proceed or No to skip that cycle.
        The timer pauses while the dialog is open.

      Show countdown: [N] seconds  (3-9, default 5)
        A small popup appears above the system tray counting
        down from N seconds. Click Cancel to abort the clear.
        If you do nothing, the clipboard is cleared when the
        countdown reaches zero.

        Beep each second  (default: checked)
          A short tone sounds when the countdown appears and again
          each second, so you do not miss it. The last second is a
          higher tone. Nothing sounds after you click Cancel. It
          follows your PC's volume and mute. Uncheck it for a
          silent countdown. (Greyed out unless "Show countdown" is
          the choice selected.)

      "Clear Clipboard Now" on the tray menu always clears at
      once, whatever is chosen here.

    Show "Clipboard cleared." notification
      When checked, a Windows notification appears near the
      system tray each time the clipboard is cleared. The same
      checkbox also controls the "Recycle Bin emptied"
      notification. Uncheck it for silent operation.
      Note: if the clipboard is empty when checked, no action
      is taken and no notification is shown.

    Also clear clipboard history (Win+V)  (default: checked)
      Windows keeps its own list of what you copy -- the clipboard
      history, opened with Win+V. Clearing the clipboard does not
      clear that list: a password you copied is still in it. With
      this checked, PC Sweeper empties the list as well, each time
      it clears the clipboard. Uncheck it to leave the list alone.

      NOTE IF YOU ARE UPDATING: this is new and it is on by
      default. If you rely on the Win+V list to paste things you
      copied earlier, either pin the items you want to keep or
      uncheck this box.

      "Clear Clipboard Now" on the tray menu empties the list even
      when the clipboard itself is already empty.

      Needs Windows 10 version 1809 or later. On older Windows this
      box and the next one are greyed out.

    Don't clear pinned items  (default: checked)
      Items you pinned in the Win+V list are kept. This is what
      pinning is for, so leave it checked unless you really want
      everything gone.

      If you uncheck it, PC Sweeper warns you and asks "Are you
      sure?" -- from then on your pinned items are removed too,
      every time the clipboard is cleared, including any passwords
      or other text you pinned so you would not lose it. Removed
      items cannot be brought back. The warning has a "Don't show
      this again" checkbox; it counts only if you answer Yes.

      Greyed out while "Also clear clipboard history" is unchecked.

    Plain Text Hotkey
    -----------------
    Enable plain text hotkey
      When checked, the selected hotkey is active globally.
      Press the hotkey at any time to strip your clipboard
      content to plain text. ("Strip to Plain Text" on the tray
      menu does the same thing and works even with the hotkey
      turned off.)

    Hotkey:
      Choose from five hotkey combinations:
        Ctrl+Alt+C    (default -- safe, intuitive, "C" for Cleaner)
        Ctrl+Shift+C  (may conflict with Chrome/VS Code dev tools)
        Win+Alt+C     (very unlikely to conflict)
        Win+Shift+C   (very unlikely to conflict)
        Ctrl+Alt+P    (P for Plain)

      If the hotkey does nothing, another program is already
      using that combination -- choose a different one.

    The hotkey:
      - Reads clipboard text
      - Removes all formatting and non-printable characters
        (tabs and line breaks are kept)
      - Removes characters outside the standard Windows (Western)
        character set -- emoji, for instance
      - Places the clean plain text back on the clipboard
      - Protects the cleaned text from auto-clear until you
        copy something new
      - Shows a notification confirming the conversion

    Messages:
      "Clipboard is empty" -- nothing to convert
      "Clipboard contains an image or file" -- not text
      "Clipboard text is already plain text" -- no change needed
      "Clipboard converted to plain text" -- success


    RECYCLE BIN (right side)
    ------------------------
    Empty every: [N] [Minutes/Hours/Days/Weeks]
      Sets how often the Recycle Bin is automatically emptied.
      Range: 1-999. Default: every 1 day. An empty bin is left
      alone.

      The time is counted from the last time the timer ran or
      you emptied the bin yourself, and it is remembered when PC
      Sweeper or your PC restarts -- "every 1 week" means a real
      week. If the time ran out while the PC was off, the bin is
      emptied shortly after PC Sweeper starts (your "Before
      emptying" choice still applies). Changing "Empty every", or
      resuming a paused timer, starts the count again from that
      moment.

    Bin timer enabled
      Uncheck to pause automatic Recycle Bin emptying without
      closing the app. Re-check to resume. (The same as
      Pause/Resume Bin Emptying on the tray menu.)

    Before emptying -- choose one:
      This applies whether the empty is triggered by the timer,
      the hotkey, left-clicking the tray icon, or the "Empty
      Recycle Bin Now" menu item.

      Empty silently
        The Recycle Bin is emptied with no prompt or warning.

      Ask before emptying  (default)
        A dialog appears asking "Empty the Recycle Bin now?"
        with Yes/No buttons and a "Don't show this again"
        checkbox. Checking that box and clicking Yes switches
        you to Empty silently going forward.

      Show countdown: [N] seconds  (3-9, default 5)
        A small popup appears above the system tray counting
        down from N seconds. Click Cancel to abort. If you do
        nothing, the Recycle Bin is emptied when the countdown
        reaches zero.

        Beep each second  (default: checked)
          The same short tone each second as the clipboard
          countdown, with its own checkbox -- so you can have the
          Recycle Bin countdown beep and the clipboard one stay
          quiet, or the other way round.

    When the bin has been emptied, the notification says how
    long it took, for example "Recycle Bin emptied in 0.4
    seconds."

    Recycle Bin Hotkey
    -------------------
    Enable Recycle Bin hotkey
      When checked, the selected hotkey empties the Recycle
      Bin at any time (subject to the "Before emptying" setting
      above).

    Hotkey:
      Choose from five hotkey combinations:
        Ctrl+Alt+R    (default)
        Ctrl+Shift+R
        Win+Alt+R
        Win+Shift+R
        Ctrl+Alt+E    (E for Empty)


    SCREEN (right side, under the Recycle Bin settings)
    ---------------------------------------------------
    Turn screen off after: [time]  (default: unchecked, 1 hour)
      When checked, PC Sweeper turns the screen off once the
      keyboard and mouse have not been used for this long. The
      choices are the ones Windows offers for its own screen
      timeout -- 1 minute to 5 hours -- plus 90 minutes.

      It does not turn the screen off while something is running
      full screen, such as a video, a game or a presentation. A
      running screen saver does not count: the screen still turns
      off. After it has turned the screen off once, it waits for
      you to come back before it counts again.

      PC Sweeper does not change Windows' own screen and sleep
      settings; it simply does this itself while it is running.

    Lock the PC when the screen turns off  (default: checked)
      Locks the PC, just like Win+L, every time PC Sweeper turns
      the screen off -- after the time above or with "Turn Off
      Screen Now". A dark screen on its own is not private: anyone
      who moves the mouse sees what was there. With locking, they
      see the sign-in screen instead.

    Turn Off Screen Now  (button)
      Does it now: locks the PC if that is checked (and applied),
      then turns the screen off. It waits half a second first, so
      your hand on the mouse does not wake the screen straight
      back up. The same as the tray menu item.

    Hotkey: [Ctrl+Alt+L]  (default: checked)
      When checked, the selected hotkey does the same as "Turn Off
      Screen Now" from anywhere in Windows. It waits a moment longer
      first (three quarters of a second) so the keys you are letting
      go of do not wake the screen. Choose from:
        Ctrl+Alt+L    (default -- L for Lock)
        Ctrl+Shift+L
        Win+Alt+L
        Win+Shift+L
        Ctrl+Alt+O    (O for Off)
      (Win+L on its own is Windows' own lock key; PC Sweeper does not
      take it.) If the hotkey does nothing, another program is already
      using that combination -- choose a different one.

    Any key or mouse movement turns the screen back on. Note: on
    some laptops, Windows puts the whole PC to sleep when the
    screen is turned off this way.


    ALONG THE BOTTOM
    ----------------
    Theme
      Choose how PC Sweeper's splash screen, About screen, Help,
      Options, popups, and right-click menu are colored:

        System  (default) -- follows your Windows Light/Dark
                             setting automatically
        Light   -- always use the light color scheme
        Lark    -- halfway between Light and Dark: a neutral
                   medium gray
        Dark    -- always use the dark color scheme

      The Options screen previews your choice as soon as you pick
      it; everything else follows once you click Apply.

    Check for updates
      How often PC Sweeper looks for a newer version on its own:

        At Startup  (default) -- each time PC Sweeper starts
        Daily       -- at most once a day
        Weekly      -- at most once a week
        Monthly     -- at most once every 30 days
        Never       -- only when you choose "Check for Updates..."
                       from the tray menu

      Daily, Weekly and Monthly keep counting while PC Sweeper stays
      running, and across restarts. Automatic checks are silent
      unless a newer version is posted. PC Sweeper never installs
      anything by itself: it offers to download the new version,
      which arrives through your web browser. The download is
      named for its build, for example pcsweeper29.zip, so it is
      easy to tell from any earlier download.

      If a check you start from the tray menu fails, the message
      shows an error code (for example UPD-HTTP-404 or
      UPD-NET-NameResolutionFailure) with technical details under
      it. Click Copy to Clipboard and paste it into an email to
      RBLevin@RBLevin.net.

    Show splash screen on startup
      When checked, the splash screen is shown for up to 5 seconds
      each time the app launches (click it to dismiss it sooner).
      Uncheck to skip it.

    Run at Windows startup
      When checked, PC Sweeper is added to your Windows
      Startup folder and will launch automatically when you
      log in. Uncheck to remove it from startup.


YOUR SETTINGS FILE
------------------
PC Sweeper saves your preferences to a plain text file:

  PCSweeper.ini

This file is created automatically in the same folder as
PCSweeper.exe when the app first runs. You can open it in Notepad
if you ever need to change a setting by hand (exit PC Sweeper
first). If the file is missing, the app starts with default
settings -- so deleting it is the way to reset everything.

Because the file lives next to the EXE, the folder PC Sweeper runs
from has to be one you can write to. Your own user folders are
fine; C:\Program Files is not.


RUNNING TWO COPIES
------------------
PC Sweeper will detect if it is already running and
will not open a second instance. If you accidentally launch
it twice, a message will let you know it is already active
and point you to the system tray.


WINDOWS SMARTSCREEN WARNING
----------------------------
When running PC Sweeper for the first time on a new computer,
Windows SmartScreen may display a warning: "Windows protected your PC."
This is a false positive caused by the app not yet being widely
recognized by Microsoft's cloud-based reputation system.

TO ALLOW PC SWEEPER TO RUN:
  1. When the SmartScreen dialog appears, click "More info"
  2. Click "Run anyway"

If the app does not launch at all:
  1. In File Explorer, right-click PCSweeper.exe
  2. Select Properties
  3. At the bottom of the General tab, check the "Unblock" checkbox
  4. Click OK
  5. Double-click PCSweeper.exe to run it

This only needs to be done once. After the first successful launch,
SmartScreen will no longer block the app.


DESKTOP OR TRAY ICON LOOKS WRONG OR OUTDATED
--------------------------------------------
Windows caches icons per file, and that cache does not always
refresh automatically when an app is updated or rebuilt --
especially if you are upgrading from an older version (such as
the previous "Clipboard Cleaner") or replacing the EXE yourself.

If a shortcut or tray icon still shows an old icon:

  1. Delete and recreate any Desktop shortcut you made by hand
     (right-click PCSweeper.exe, "Create shortcut")
  2. If that does not help, rebuild the Windows icon cache:
       - Close PC Sweeper first
       - Press Win+R, type: ie4uinit.exe -show
       - Press Enter, then sign out and back in (or restart)
  3. As a last resort, restart Windows Explorer:
       - Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc)
       - Find "Windows Explorer" in the Processes list
       - Right-click it and select Restart

This is a Windows display quirk, not a sign that anything is
broken -- the correct icon is already embedded in PCSweeper.exe.


RECYCLE BIN WON'T EMPTY
-----------------------
Windows will not let any program empty the Recycle Bin while you
have the Recycle Bin folder open in a File Explorer window. This
is a Windows limitation, not a PC Sweeper bug.

If emptying takes more than a few seconds, PC Sweeper tells you it
is still working and suggests closing any Recycle Bin window. Close
that window and the empty finishes on its own -- there is no need
to click again, and PC Sweeper does not freeze while it waits. You
will get the usual "Recycle Bin emptied" notification when it is
done.


ERROR HANDLING
--------------
Every error message PC Sweeper or PC Sweeper Setup shows has a
Copy to Clipboard button. It copies the whole message, its
technical details, and which build of PC Sweeper and version of
Windows you have -- everything a support email needs. Paste it
into an email to RBLevin@RBLevin.net.

PC Sweeper will not clear a copied error message from the
clipboard: it stays there until you copy something else.

If an unexpected error occurs that the app cannot recover from,
PC Sweeper shows it the same way, then exits cleanly after you
click OK.


QUESTIONS AND SUPPORT
---------------------
Email: RBLevin@RBLevin.net


========================================================
  Thank you for using PC Sweeper.
========================================================
