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Clear System Resource Usage Monitor (SRUM) data

Overview​

About this script

This script improves your privacy on Windows.

These changes use Windows system commands to update your settings.

This script deletes the Windows System Resource Usage Monitor (SRUM) database file.

SRUM tracks the usage of desktop applications, services, Windows applications, and network connections 1 2 3. SRUM stores its file at C:\Windows\System32\sru\SRUDB.dat 1 3 4.

Before deleting the file, the script temporarily stops the Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS). The DPS helps Windows detect and solve problems with its components 4. Stopping this service is required as modifications to the SRUM file require it to be turned off 5.

Deleting this file can enhance user privacy as it contains usage data and is often used for forensic analysis of user behavior 1 6.

This script uses Batch (batchfile) scripting language.

Safe for General Use

This script is recommended for all users. It helps to improve privacy without affecting stability.

Implementation Details

  • Language: batch

  • Required Privileges: Administrator rights

  • Compatibility: Windows only

  • Reversibility: Some changes may be permanent

Explore Categories​

This action belongs to Privacy cleanup category. This category configures Windows using 86 scripts. These scripts are organized in 18 categories. The category includes 9 subscripts and 5 subcategories that include more scripts and categories. Read more on category page ▶

Apply now​

Choose one of three ways to apply:

  1. Automatically via privacy.sexy: The easiest and safest option.
  2. Manually by downloading: Requires downloading a file.
  3. Manually by copying: Advanced flexibility.

Alternative 1. Apply with Privacy.sexy​

privacy.sexy is free and open-source application that lets securely apply this action easily.

Open privacy.sexy

privacy.sexy instructions
  1. Open or download the desktop application
  2. Search for the script name: Clear System Resource Usage Monitor (SRUM) data.
  3. Check the script by clicking on the checkbox.
  4. Click on Run button at the bottom of the page.

Alternative 2. Download​

Reversible

This script is reversible, you can restore your changes to the initial/default state. The restore/revert methods provided here can help you fix issues.

If something goes wrong, use the Revert script provided above.

  1. Download the script file by clicking on the button below:

    Download script

  2. Run the script file by clicking on it.

Alternative 3. Copy​

This is for advanced users. Consider automatically applying or downloading the script for simpler way.

  1. Open Command Prompt as administrator.
HELP: Step-by-step guide

  1. Click on Start menu

  2. Type cmd

  3. Right click on Command Prompt select Run as administrator

  4. Click on Yes to run Command Prompt

Animation showing how to open terminal as administrator on Windows 11

  1. Copy the following code:
Code to apply changes
:: Stop service: DPS (with state flag) (wait until stopped)
PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "$serviceName = 'DPS'; Write-Host "^""Stopping service: `"^""$serviceName`"^""."^""; $service = Get-Service -Name $serviceName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; if (!$service) { Write-Host "^""Skipping, service `"^""$serviceName`"^"" could not be not found, no need to stop it."^""; exit 0; }; if ($service.Status -ne [System.ServiceProcess.ServiceControllerStatus]::Running) { Write-Host "^""Skipping, `"^""$serviceName`"^"" is not running, no need to stop."^""; exit 0; }; Write-Host "^""`"^""$serviceName`"^"" is running, stopping it."^""; try { $service | Stop-Service -Force -ErrorAction Stop; $service.WaitForStatus([System.ServiceProcess.ServiceControllerStatus]::Stopped); } catch { throw "^""Failed to stop the service `"^""$serviceName`"^"": $_"^""; }; Write-Host "^""Successfully stopped the service: `"^""$serviceName`"^""."^""; $stateFilePath = '%APPDATA%\privacy.sexy-DPS'; $expandedStateFilePath = [System.Environment]::ExpandEnvironmentVariables($stateFilePath); if (Test-Path -Path $expandedStateFilePath) { Write-Host "^""Skipping creating a service state file, it already exists: `"^""$expandedStateFilePath`"^""."^""; } else { <# Ensure the directory exists #>; $parentDirectory = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($expandedStateFilePath); if (-not (Test-Path $parentDirectory -PathType Container)) { try { New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $parentDirectory -Force -ErrorAction Stop | Out-Null; }  catch { Write-Warning "^""Failed to create parent directory of service state file `"^""$parentDirectory`"^"": $_"^""; }; }; <# Create the state file #>; try { New-Item -ItemType File -Path $expandedStateFilePath -Force -ErrorAction Stop | Out-Null; Write-Host 'The service will be started again.'; } catch { Write-Warning "^""Failed to create service state file `"^""$expandedStateFilePath`"^"": $_"^""; }; }"
:: Delete files matching pattern: "%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\sru\SRUDB.dat"
PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "$pathGlobPattern = "^""%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\sru\SRUDB.dat"^""; $expandedPath = [System.Environment]::ExpandEnvironmentVariables($pathGlobPattern); Write-Host "^""Searching for items matching pattern: `"^""$($expandedPath)`"^""."^""; <# Not using `Get-Acl`/`Set-Acl` to avoid adjusting token privileges #>; $parentDirectory = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($expandedPath); $fileName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFileName($expandedPath); if ($parentDirectory -like '*[*?]*') { throw "^""Unable to grant permissions to glob path parent directory: `"^""$parentDirectory`"^"", wildcards in parent directory are not supported by ``takeown`` and ``icacls``."^""; }; if (($fileName -ne '*') -and ($fileName -like '*[*?]*')) { throw "^""Unable to grant permissions to glob path file name: `"^""$fileName`"^"", wildcards in file name is not supported by ``takeown`` and ``icacls``."^""; }; Write-Host "^""Taking ownership of `"^""$expandedPath`"^""."^""; $cmdPath = $expandedPath; if ($cmdPath.EndsWith('\')) { $cmdPath += '\' <# Escape trailing backslash for correct handling in batch commands #>; }; $takeOwnershipCommand = "^""takeown /f `"^""$cmdPath`"^"" /a"^"" <# `icacls /setowner` does not succeed, so use `takeown` instead. #>; if (-not (Test-Path -Path "^""$expandedPath"^"" -PathType Leaf)) { $localizedYes = 'Y' <# Default 'Yes' flag (fallback) #>; try { $choiceOutput = cmd /c "^""choice <nul 2>nul"^""; if ($choiceOutput -and $choiceOutput.Length -ge 2) { $localizedYes = $choiceOutput[1]; } else { Write-Warning "^""Failed to determine localized 'Yes' character. Output: `"^""$choiceOutput`"^"""^""; }; } catch { Write-Warning "^""Failed to determine localized 'Yes' character. Error: $_"^""; }; $takeOwnershipCommand += "^"" /r /d $localizedYes"^""; }; $takeOwnershipOutput = cmd /c "^""$takeOwnershipCommand 2>&1"^"" <# `stderr` message is misleading, e.g. "^""ERROR: The system cannot find the file specified."^"" is not an error. #>; if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) { Write-Host "^""Successfully took ownership of `"^""$expandedPath`"^"" (using ``$takeOwnershipCommand``)."^""; } else { Write-Host "^""Did not take ownership of `"^""$expandedPath`"^"" using ``$takeOwnershipCommand``, status code: $LASTEXITCODE, message: $takeOwnershipOutput."^""; <# Do not write as error or warning, because this can be due to missing path, it's handled in next command. #>; <# `takeown` exits with status code `1`, making it hard to handle missing path here. #>; }; Write-Host "^""Granting permissions for `"^""$expandedPath`"^""."^""; $adminSid = New-Object System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier 'S-1-5-32-544'; $adminAccount = $adminSid.Translate([System.Security.Principal.NTAccount]); $adminAccountName = $adminAccount.Value; $grantPermissionsCommand = "^""icacls `"^""$cmdPath`"^"" /grant `"^""$($adminAccountName):F`"^"" /t"^""; $icaclsOutput = cmd /c "^""$grantPermissionsCommand"^""; if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 3) { Write-Host "^""Skipping, no items available for deletion according to: ``$grantPermissionsCommand``."^""; exit 0; } elseif ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { Write-Host "^""Take ownership message:`n$takeOwnershipOutput"^""; Write-Host "^""Grant permissions:`n$icaclsOutput"^""; Write-Warning "^""Failed to assign permissions for `"^""$expandedPath`"^"" using ``$grantPermissionsCommand``, status code: $LASTEXITCODE."^""; } else { $fileStats = $icaclsOutput | ForEach-Object { $_ -match '\d+' | Out-Null; $matches[0] } | Where-Object { $_ -ne $null } | ForEach-Object { [int]$_ }; if ($fileStats.Count -gt 0 -and ($fileStats | ForEach-Object { $_ -eq 0 } | Where-Object { $_ -eq $false }).Count -eq 0) { Write-Host "^""Skipping, no items available for deletion according to: ``$grantPermissionsCommand``."^""; exit 0; } else { Write-Host "^""Successfully granted permissions for `"^""$expandedPath`"^"" (using ``$grantPermissionsCommand``)."^""; }; }; $deletedCount = 0; $failedCount = 0; $skippedCount = 0; $foundAbsolutePaths = @(); try { $foundAbsolutePaths += @(; Get-Item -Path $expandedPath -ErrorAction Stop | Select-Object -ExpandProperty FullName; ); } catch [System.Management.Automation.ItemNotFoundException] { <# Swallow, do not run `Test-Path` before, it's unreliable for globs requiring extra permissions #>; }; $foundAbsolutePaths = $foundAbsolutePaths | Select-Object -Unique | Sort-Object -Property { $_.Length } -Descending; if (!$foundAbsolutePaths) { Write-Host 'Skipping, no items available.'; exit 0; }; Write-Host "^""Initiating processing of $($foundAbsolutePaths.Count) items from `"^""$expandedPath`"^""."^""; foreach ($path in $foundAbsolutePaths) { if (Test-Path -Path $path -PathType Container) { Write-Host "^""Skipping, the path is not a file but a folder: $($path)."^""; $skippedCount++; continue; }; if (-not (Test-Path $path)) { <# Re-check existence as prior deletions might remove subsequent items (e.g., subdirectories). #>; Write-Host "^""Successfully deleted: $($path) (already deleted)."^""; $deletedCount++; continue; }; try { Remove-Item -Path $path -Force -Recurse -ErrorAction Stop; $deletedCount++; Write-Host "^""Successfully deleted: $($path)"^""; } catch { $failedCount++; Write-Warning "^""Unable to delete $($path): $_"^""; }; }; if ($skippedCount -gt 0) { Write-Host "^""Skipped $($skippedCount) items."^""; }; Write-Host "^""Successfully deleted $($deletedCount) items."^""; if ($failedCount -gt 0) { Write-Warning "^""Failed to delete $($failedCount) items."^""; }"
:: Start service: DPS (with state flag)
PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "$serviceName = 'DPS'; $stateFilePath = '%APPDATA%\privacy.sexy-DPS'; $expandedStateFilePath = [System.Environment]::ExpandEnvironmentVariables($stateFilePath); if (-not (Test-Path -Path $expandedStateFilePath)) { Write-Host "^""Skipping starting the service: It was not running before."^""; } else { try { Remove-Item -Path $expandedStateFilePath -Force -ErrorAction Stop; Write-Host 'The service is expected to be started.'; } catch { Write-Warning "^""Failed to delete the service state file `"^""$expandedStateFilePath`"^"": $_"^""; }; }; $service = Get-Service -Name $serviceName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; if (!$service) { throw "^""Failed to start service `"^""$serviceName`"^"": Service not found."^""; }; if ($service.Status -eq [System.ServiceProcess.ServiceControllerStatus]::Running) { Write-Host "^""Skipping, `"^""$serviceName`"^"" is already running, no need to start."^""; exit 0; }; Write-Host "^""`"^""$serviceName`"^"" is not running, starting it."^""; try { $service | Start-Service -ErrorAction Stop; Write-Host "^""Successfully started the service: `"^""$serviceName`"^""."^""; } catch { Write-Warning "^""Failed to start the service: `"^""$serviceName`"^""."^""; exit 1; }"
  1. Right click on command prompt to paste it.
  2. Press Enter to apply remaining code.

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