Windows 10: weird registry key

I was browsing my registry, out of habit when I stumbled upon this key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Setup.Kernel. It's only sub key is "InstallShield setup kernel". What is it? More importantly, should I be worried?

:)

 

Weird Registry Key

There's a registry key called "tmp_auto_file". I'm unaware if this is a windows registry key, and it's not a product of anything I intentionally installed. I know this because another computer that has all my same apps and games does not have the key at all, and I looked at another one that doesn't have any of the same things (besides steam) and same result. Could someone please help me figure out what this is? I haven't been to any weird websites, and the key is located in HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-119954552-4196419553-4271603927-1001_Classes\tmp_auto_file. I also ran Malwarebytes and it found nothing.

Edit: I've seen other registry keys like this installed from other games but I have very few games on my PC right now and they do not create the key when ran.

 

Weird Registry Key

The registry key you mentioned, HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-xxx xx xxxx-4196419553-4271603927-1001_Classes\tmp_auto_file, is located in the HKEY_USERS hive of the Windows registry. The HKEY_USERS hive contains information about user profiles on the computer. The long string of numbers and letters in the key's path, "S-1-5-21-xxx xx xxxx-4196419553-4271603927-1001", represents a unique security identifier (SID) associated with a user account.

As I mentioned in my previous answer, the "tmp_auto_file" key doesn't appear to be a standard Windows registry key and its purpose is not immediately clear. If you haven't noticed any negative effects on your computer and your scans with antivirus and anti-malware programs have not detected any issues, it's likely that the key is not causing any harm. However, if you're still concerned, you can try removing the key and see if it causes any problems.

As always, be cautious when making changes to the registry, as modifying the wrong keys can cause your system to become unstable. It's a good idea to backup the registry before making any changes.

You can check the date when a registry key was created by using the Registry Editor built into Windows. Here's how:

Open the Registry Editor by pressing the Windows key + R, typing "regedit" in the Run dialog box, and pressing Enter.

Navigate to the registry key that you want to check the creation date for.

Right-click on the key and select "Export". This will save a backup of the key to a file.

Open the exported file in a text editor such as Notepad.

Look for the line that starts with "Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00". The date and time of the registry key creation will be listed directly below this line in the format "; Created on: [date] [time]".

Note: If the key was not created recently, it may be difficult to determine the exact date it was created, as the information may have been overwritten or lost during an operating system update or other system event.

 

Can NOT remove ATITool registry key!

It's low priority to stop ATITool from making undeletable class keys in the reigstry?

That's about one rung above spyware.

What bothers me most is that I'm pretty sure you can't protect a registry key by any simple means, something must still be running somewhat that is protecting that key. Even after I manually removed the service. That's what bothers me.