Task Manager Startup tab has two strange entries (a GUID and a number)

After installing or uninstalling a game app, two strange startup entries may appear in the Startup tab of Task Manager. One entry may be a random Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) string, and the other may be a number.

The GUID string (starting from”48904102-2daa“) varies from system to system, as it may be randomly generated when installing a game.

Cause

The two unknown entries, a random GUID string, and a number are not malicious. A game software (e.g., Once Human, Almost Human, Summoners War, etc.) that uses the AppsFlyer SDK has added them, but the cleanup was not done correctly. The above AppsFlyer link states this:

When uninstalling your app, please make sure to remove the registry data from SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. The Registry keys are AF_counter_[APPID] and AF_uuid_[APPID].

The two startup entries will be present in one of the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Resolution

You can delete the entries from the registry using Regedit.exe or using Microsoft’s Autoruns tool.

• Download Autoruns from Microsoft, and run it as administrator.
• Find the two entries in the “Logon” tab and delete them.

For detailed information, see How to Remove Invalid Entries from the Task Manager Startup tab.

Note:

Suppose Autoruns doesn’t see the two entries; open Task Manager and enable them in the Startup tab. Then, switch to Autoruns and click “Refresh” on the toolbar.

Related Links

What is “Program” in the Task Manager Startup Tab

AppsFlyer. [READ] :: Once Human General Discussions

Two unknown files in startup windows 10 — “AF_counter_..” and “AF_uuid..” : Reddit