Large aria-debug-# log files keep popping up in the temp folder

Question

Not long ago, after having my PC for a while, some random files started popping up in C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\Temp\Files - various .log files named aria-debug-random_number:

I continuously delete those files but they keep popping up. Nothing I've tried seems to stop them. I've googled my way to find out that these are coming from OneDrive, but after several attempts at uninstalling OneDrive I simply can't remove it (seems like the files pop up regardless if OneDrive is running).

I've never used OneDrive before.

Any help is appreciated!

Answer 1

Further investigation has shown that recent updates to MS Office 2016 has re-enabled the area-debug-<PID>.log files, even if you do not have OneDrive installed and enabled (as suggested elsewhere). The process who own the log file is (in my case) Excel. In addition to the already stated logfile, there is now also a log file in the form <USERNAME>-<DATE>-<TIME>.log in that same directory. That last logfile is owned and created by the OfficeClickToRun process in: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\OfficeClickToRun.exe.

You can see this for yourself by downloading OpenedFilesView from Nirsoft. And search for the most recent log file.

What this is used for exactly is not clear at the moment. But it is very likely that these files are used by the ClickToRun Client called OfficeC2RClient.exe in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\ directory and uploaded automatically by the client, as specified by the various *.xml (settings) files in that same directory.

There are no settings for this in the OS, AFAICT! This obviously constitute both a security/privacy concern and a performance hit when operating with low bandwidth connections and/or on battery power.

UPDATE:

Every time any MSO application is updated, all the ClickToRun is reset and updated. To stop the automatic uploads of all your secret log info, edit this file:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\ServiceWatcherSchedule.xml

In addition the MSO is intrusively adding unwanted plugins in the Firefox plugin directories and uploading "logs" to MS servers. To disable these plugins, remove these files:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\NPSPWRAP.DLL
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\VFS\ProgramFilesX86\Mozilla Firefox\plugins\npMeetingJoinPluginOC.dll

You can check what browser plugins are enabled with: about:plugins in the URL bar.

Answer 2

The consensus on various online forums appears to be that a bad update caused OneDrive clients to start generating these large log files.

Resolution options:

• Uninstall OneDrive (if you don't actively use it)
• Uninstall and reinstall OneDrive

Relevant discussions:

https://partnersupport.microsoft.com/en-us/par_clientsol/forum/par_win/onedrive-setup-creates-a-large-log-file/cc2b3269-3463-41ed-ab10-3adc650b0b33?auth=1