Unknown Environemnt variable found UD_DISABLE_USAGE-TRACKING

amethystina · 25 Jan 2015

I was just completing an upgrade of my system when I noticed an item I had not noticed before (but was probably present before the upgrade, I just had not checked these variables for some time).

Under Environment Variables, in the user variable section I have 3 items.

The first 2 are the stand definitions for TEMP and TMP.

The third is UD_DISABLE_USAGE_TRACKING with a value of 1

Google returned 0 results for this string (which is VERY unusual), so I wondered if anyone might know what it is for or how it got there?

Thanx

Golden · 25 Jan 2015

It may be a "Do Not Track" flag set by a browser, but I would be surprised for it to be stored as an environment variable. It may be set by your antivirus/internet security package?

I think it is more likely it was set in Microsoft Management Console.
Microsoft Management Console - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

amethystina · 25 Jan 2015

Golden said:

It may be a "Do Not Track" flag set by a browser, but I would be surprised for it to be stored as an environment variable. It may be set by your antivirus/internet security package?

I would agree that is a possibility, and I have set do not track in Firefox, but why has nobody else in the world (as defined by Google) ever questioned this variable? That is what puzzles me.

Golden · 25 Jan 2015

I actually don't think it was the browser for that reason. Check your Comodo suite and MMC.

amethystina · 25 Jan 2015

Golden said:

Check your Comodo suite and MMC.

I having been doing further research, and it is possible that it came from an NVIDIA software installer for Solaris!

I remember that I reloaded my GPU driver (Gigabyte 750 GTX) but that it failed on the first attempt, but worked on the second. I was working from the CD that came with the hardware, so it seems that NVIDIA must just have one CD for every installation it ever does - and somehow it picked the wrong one. But how a Solaris program inserted an environment variable into Windows has me baffled. So I am not convinced, but Solaris is the only software that I can find that uses the "UD_" string.

If anyone has a better explanation I would really appreciate it,

PlatypusKnight · 25 Jan 2015

I use Comodo. I'll check my Environment variables and report back. (On Win 8 as I browse this and still haven't figured out the virtual machine thing).

Callender · 25 Jan 2015

Seems to be related to UltraDefrag. I used this software previously but currently it's not installed. Possibly it has something to do with auto update checks for UltraDefrag.

If you like you can run Path Manager 2.3

Run as admin (right click)

Check all boxes and select username in the dropdown list. Check out what it finds. Double click the UD_DISABLE_USAGE_TRACKING entry and see if it's location opens in Explorer.

Note: Don't make any changes unless you are 100% sure that paths are invalid.

PlatypusKnight · 25 Jan 2015

Good call Callender.

I run Comodo on Win 7 but not on Win 8.
I ran this little program and it doesn't say what UD_DISABLE_USAGE_TRACKING is linked to but it does say Ultra Defrag has a variable called: UD_INSTALL_DIR.

PlatypusKnight · 25 Jan 2015

I do remember when installing UltraDefrag that it asks whether it is allowed to track usage. Presumably, like me, @amethystina declined to allow UltraDefrag to track usage.

I looked through the UltraDefrag setting but I can't locate that setting to change it without a re-install apparently.

Callender · 25 Jan 2015

Quote from the UltraDefrag handbook:

/DISABLE_USAGE_TRACKING=(0|1)
Enable or disable tracking the usage of UltraDefrag. Example: /DISABLE_USAGE_TRACKING=1 disables usage tracking.
Usage tracking is done by accessing a simple text file on the UltraDefrag home page.

UltraDefrag Handbook: Installation - 7.0.0

I also run Comodo CIS and there's no trace of that entry on my machine.