Disable Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool Heartbeat Telemetry

Martin Brinkmann
Oct 20, 2016
Windows
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36

If you have the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool installed on your machine, either by having installed it manually or because it shipped with Windows, you may have noticed already that it is sending out so called Heartbeat Reports after certain scans.

These reports are not linked to any of the major telemetry services or tasks that you may or may not have disabled on your machine.

On Windows 10, the Heartbeat report gets sent out to Microsoft even if you have disabled the Customer Experience Program and the majority of other telemetry related services or tasks, and made sure to set all privacy related settings to maximum privacy.

How to disable Heartbeat Telemetry

windows-malicious-software removal tool telemetry

First thing you may want to do is check whether the installed copy of the Windows Malicious Software Removal Toll (MRT) sents Heartbeat telemetry reports.

The easiest way to check that is to load the MRT log. Open File Explorer or Windows Explorer on your Windows machine, and load the following by pasting it in the address bar and hitting the Enter-key: C:\Windows\debug\mrt.log

This opens the MRT log. Scroll down to the last entries and check for Heartbeat Telemetry there. You may also hit F3 to open the search to jump to the first Heartbeat entry in the log.

Heartbeat Telemetry data is not sent out each day according to the log, but only every five or six days. You can verify that in the log as you will find "Heartbeat Will be Sent in x Days" entries there.

Microsoft notes in its privacy statement that the Malicious Software Removal Tool will sent a report to Microsoft with "specific data about malware detected, errors, and other data about your device" but fails to go into details.

We don't know what is sent to Microsoft as part of Heartbeat other than the information that Microsoft revealed in its privacy statement.

Option 1: Registry Key

mrt-dont report infection information

The Knowledgebase support article KB891716, Deployment of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool in an enterprise environment, lists a Registry key to block the sending of reports of the MRT to Microsoft.

An administrator can choose to disable the infection-reporting component of the tool by adding the following registry key value to computers. If this registry key value is set, the tool will not report infection information back to Microsoft.

Subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MRT

Entry name: \DontReportInfectionInformation
Type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1

Note: Since Heartbeat is only triggered when automatic scans are run, it is too early to say if setting the key disables the sending of reports completely. I will monitor the situation and will update the article with my findings later.

  1. Tap on the Windows-key, type regedit.exe and hit the Enter-key.
  2. Navigate to the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MRT
  3. Right-click on MRT and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value from the context menu.
  4. Name the name Dword DontReportInfectionInformation
  5. Double-click the newly created Dword and set its value to 1.

Option 2: Disable the MRT Task, or Disable Heartbeat Telemetry

mrt heartbeat

Since MRT is run automatically, it must be triggered somewhere. If you check the Task Scheduler for MRT related tasks, you will eventually find the one task that Windows uses for that.

Note: Disabling the task disables automatic MRT scans on the system. Make sure you have proper antivirus software installed on the device.

  1. Tap on the Windows-key, type Task Scheduler, and hit the Enter-key.
  2. Use the sidebar folder structure and go to Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > RemovalTools.
  3. Right-click on MRT_HB and select disable from the context menu.

If you compare the last run time with the Malicious Software Removal Tool log, you will notice that they match. Also, the _HB part is a strong indicator that this is what is triggering the Heartbeat reports.

If you check the command switches used, you will notice the undocumented switch /EHB. You could remove the switch from the command to keep automatic scans without Heartbeat report generation enabled.

I verified that /EHB is indeed the trigger for Heartbeat Telemetry. If you remove it, no Heartbeat reports are created when the scan runs.

You may need to check back regularly though as Windows Updates may replace the custom task with the default one.

Now You: Did the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool  send out Heartbeat Telemetry reports on your machine?

Summary
Disable Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool Heartbeat Telemetry
Article Name
Disable Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool Heartbeat Telemetry
Description
Find out how to disable the creation of Heartbeat Telemetry reports of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. abu_101 said on October 27, 2021 at 2:26 pm
    Reply

    Does anyone know if “TronScript” (this is virus removal tool) disables Heartbeat Telemetry of “Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool “…Malwarebytes found two infected registry keys(Potentially Unwanted Modification (PUM) that was modifite..
    I want to know If Tronscript changed it(than its okay),
    but if not it was a virus right?
    Registry path was First:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Microsoft\MRT\DONTREPORTINFECTIONINFORMATION
    Second path:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MRT\DONTREPORTINFECTIONINFORMATION

  2. Ben said on January 23, 2020 at 5:45 pm
    Reply

    MRT is a malicious program itself. It runs itself without my permission, and I haven’t yet been able to get rid of it. No, I’m not going to meddle with my registry. Microsoft needs to get their heads out of the sand and start doing their job.

    Running programs that slow down system startup without permission and not providing security updates for Windows 7 are unacceptable.

  3. B said on November 3, 2019 at 1:20 am
    Reply

    “Note: Since Heartbeat is only triggered when automatic scans are run, it is too early to say if setting the key disables the sending of reports completely. I will monitor the situation and will update the article with my findings later.”

    Isn’t three years enough monitoring?

  4. v1adimir said on May 9, 2018 at 3:29 pm
    Reply

    Not sure where (all) it has been mentioned, but there’s a -seemingly- GREAT new(ish) tool, for privacy – which works across a number of Windows versions – WPD, https://getwpd.com/

    (Please check their README.txt for information on what gets modified!..:))

  5. TelV said on May 12, 2017 at 1:27 pm
    Reply

    Does MRT.exe ‘grow’ over time? I noticed it’s now 141MB even though a fresh download is only 56.5MB according to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/malicious-software-removal-tool-details.aspx?id=9905

  6. Astara said on April 19, 2017 at 5:53 am
    Reply

    I have MS Security Home Essentials installed and admit it’s lulled me into taking risks w/downloaded SW where before I wouldn’t have assumed the risk. I ended up on this site due to seeing activity on my proxy posting info to “https://wdcp.microsoft.com/wdcp.svc/bond/submitreport” and was curious what it was.

    FWIW, at the same time, my system was getting a bit sluggish w/MsMpEng.exe consuming the full cpu that it was running on (have made sure to limit MS-scanning processes to 1 core (the same core)) to lower impact, but the scheduling in Windows isn’t very good and allows background programs to cause desktop slowdowns even when those BG processes are limited to Idle prio and 1 core. sigh. There have been a few times when I clubbed it (it usually runs a full scan on Sundays, but that 1 scan takes up to a day rather frequently). It was really a drag when it also tried to scan my network drives (something Windows search can’t do…) (which are now on an exception list).

    A malicious feature — it refuses to scan-on-demand, any area that you’ve disabled _automatic_ scanning of. Lame — though it means I need to copy material to my Winbox (most of my content is on a Linbox where it can be safely backed up incrementally & daily, unlike on windows).

    Have had it detect maybe 2-3 malware infections in SW I downloaded, so I can’t complain much. I used to never try online progs due to paranoia (and refusal to pay “protection” money to anti-vir companies), but it made sense that MS would be best qualified to protect their own OS — and have a vested interest in doing so — its own reputation.

  7. Joachim Otahal said on March 16, 2017 at 10:12 am
    Reply

    Changing the Task does not disable the MRT run during Windows Updates.
    Setting a restriction poilicy via gpmc.msc (Domain) or gpedit.msc (local) works.
    Windows Home users will have to do it via registry.

  8. User001 said on October 22, 2016 at 12:40 am
    Reply

    I wonder why my log doesn’t show any tracking info and the registry string is always set to prevent the data sending.
    Maybe this is because i disable CEIP ?

    1. Cartel said on November 25, 2016 at 12:06 pm
      Reply

      There is a way…delete mrt.exe.
      Thats what I did

      1. Tom Hawack said on November 25, 2016 at 1:31 pm
        Reply

        I’m not fond of deleting system files. IMO a smarter move is to consider blocking unwanted applications right from the registry, as described in this article,

        How to Block (or Allow) Certain Applications for Users in Windows :
        http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/8739/restrict-users-to-run-only-specified-programs-in-windows-7/

        Works nicely and allows enable/disable easily.

  9. James Law said on October 20, 2016 at 4:36 pm
    Reply

    Just checked my mrt.log and it appears that this started in September with the release of v5.40:
    —————————————-
    Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool v5.40, September 2016 (build 5.40.13000.0)
    Started On Wed Sep 21 20:55:27 2016
    Engine: 1.1.13000.0
    Signatures: 1.227.1155.0
    Run Mode: Scan Run From Windows Update
    Results Summary:
    —————-
    No infection found.
    Successfully Submitted Heartbeat Report
    Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool Finished On Wed Sep 21 21:00:28 2016
    Return code: 0 (0x0)
    —————————————————————————————
    The tool seems to then run nightly at random times, according to the log, with Run Mode: Preparing Heartbeat Telemetry, but no status report to say it has been submitted. Haven’t had time to investigate but assume this is the Task Scheduled run with /EHB. The tool only runs for 3 or 4 seconds so I am wondering if this is just a run to ensure that the report is/was delivered, if for some reason it failed on the windows update run. On the two machines that I’ve checked there is no trigger so not sure how this is being rescheduled after the initial run.
    Reading through KB891716, there are some other keys that enable checking the tool status:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\RemovalTools\MRT
    more interesting is a sibling key of this one with some subkeys:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\RemovalTools\MpGears
    On our machine these are:
    Last Write Time: 21/09/2016 – 21:00
    Name: SpyNetReportingLocation
    Type: REG_MULTI_SZ
    Data: SOAP:https://spynet2.microsoft.com/AntiMalwareServices/2/SpynetReportSrvc.asmx
    SOAP:https://spynetalt.microsoft.com/AntiMalwareServices/2/SpynetReportSrvc.asmx
    REST:https://spynet2.microsoft.com/spyNet.svc/submitReport
    REST:https://spynetalt.microsoft.com/spyNet.svc/submitReport
    BOND:https://spynet2.microsoft.com/spyNet.svc/bond/submitreport
    BOND:https://spynetalt.microsoft.com/spyNet.svc/bond/submitreport

    Name: HeartbeatTrackingIndex
    Type: REG_DWORD
    Data: 0x6

    The registry key creation date seems to correspond with the first execution of mrt.exe v5.40 on this machine.
    I chuckled at the urls, but is that humour on MS’s part or a blatant admission of what is occurring on our machines.
    If companies feel they need to spy on us then there is little we can do about it, at least they are offering ways to opt-out of these surveillance activities – even if the methods for doing so remind me of an oft-quoted passage regarding a planning application and a leopard.

    1. James Law said on October 21, 2016 at 1:22 am
      Reply

      Just checked a Windows 10 machine and the reporting urls are different, the registry settings above were from Windows 7

      Name: SpyNetReportingLocation
      Type: REG_MULTI_SZ
      Data:
      SOAP:https://wdcp.microsoft.com/WdCpSrvc.asmx
      SOAP:https://wdcpalt.microsoft.com/WdCpSrvc.asmx
      REST:https://wdcp.microsoft.com/wdcp.svc/submitReport
      REST:https://wdcpalt.microsoft.com/wdcp.svc/submitReport
      BOND:https://wdcp.microsoft.com/wdcp.svc/bond/submitreport
      BOND:https://wdcpalt.microsoft.com/wdcp.svc/bond/submitreport

      However on my machines the domains resolve to the same ultimate ip address:
      spynet2.microsoft.com. 3600 IN CNAME spynet2.microsoft.akadns.net.
      spynet2.microsoft.akadns.net. 300 IN CNAME spyneteurope.microsoft.akadns.net.
      spyneteurope.microsoft.akadns.net. 300 IN A 191.237.208.126

      wdcp.microsoft.com. 3600 IN CNAME wdcp.microsoft.akadns.net.
      wdcp.microsoft.akadns.net. 300 IN CNAME wdcpeurope.microsoft.akadns.net.
      wdcpeurope.microsoft.akadns.net. 300 IN A 191.237.208.126

      Geo ip indicates that ip could be in a data centre in Dublin:
      GeoIP Country Edition: IE, Ireland
      GeoIP City Edition, Rev 1: IE, 07, Dublin, Dublin, N/A, 53.333099, -6.248900, 0, 0
      GeoIP ASNum Edition: AS8075 Microsoft Corporation

      Although a whois shows the ip as registered through the Brazilian registry for Microsoft Informatica Ltda so who knows where our data ultimately ends up.

  10. Bernd Leutenecker said on October 20, 2016 at 4:08 pm
    Reply

    Recently (sept. or oct. 2016) MRT found a malicious file before our antivirus-tool Sophos did.
    We only noticed because the user was asked to provide administrive rights than his own to delete it.
    Has anybody noticed so far that any kind of information was sent out by the tool which must not leave a computer without consent? Any kind of protective software is interested in knowing what kind of malware is e. g. often found etc.

  11. A or B, not C. said on October 20, 2016 at 4:04 pm
    Reply

    Heartbeat Telemetry.?
    Heartbleed virus.?

  12. Albert McCann said on October 20, 2016 at 2:43 pm
    Reply

    Here’s is another trick for stopping some or most of this nonsense. Use the Windows policy “DisallowRun”, here’s a set of registry entries for this:
    —–
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
    “DisallowRun”=dword:00000001

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\DisallowRun]
    “1”=”mconduitinstaller.exe”
    “2”=”ieLogic.exe”
    “3”=”ExPromo.exe”
    “4”=”apn stub.exe”
    “5”=”askbarsetup.exe”
    “6”=”APNSetup.exe”
    “7”=”ApnStub.exe”
    “8”=”WerFault.exe”
    “9”=”MRT.exe”
    —–

    Note the last two, while I just added MRT.exe, the WerFault.exe telemetry submitter has been there for a while.

    Also copy the same settings under these keys:

    [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
    “DisallowRun”=dword:00000001
    [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\DisallowRun]

    [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-19\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
    “DisallowRun”=dword:00000001
    [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-19\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\DisallowRun]

    [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
    “DisallowRun”=dword:00000001
    [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\DisallowRun]

    The other EXEs are for various annoyances, like the ASK toolbar. This works like a charm.

    1. Tom Hawack said on October 20, 2016 at 3:56 pm
      Reply

      Many thanks Albert for letting me discover a Windows feature I had no idea of : the “DisallowRun” Windows policy.

      1- Your list includes “4”=”apn stub.exe” and “7”=”ApnStub.exe” : 7 is 4 and 4 is wrong?
      2- I searched for this “DisallowRun” and found the following which guided me with further information and concerns Windows 7 : no idea how other OSs handle the feature. System needs to be rebooted for disallowed applications to be effectively blocked.

      http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/8739/restrict-users-to-run-only-specified-programs-in-windows-7/

      1. Albert McCann said on October 20, 2016 at 6:25 pm
        Reply

        I’ve seen both spellings, the ASK toolbar is included with a bunch of various installers, and the files are sometimes named one way or the other. Even though you might uncheck the unwanted junk, it frequently gets installed anyway, ignoring your choice.

        I’ve been using the DisallowRun policy on my 90 year old mother’s computer, that put a stop to the many Citrix and other legit remote control programs that scammers keep having victims download.

  13. Mark Hazard said on October 20, 2016 at 2:14 pm
    Reply

    I ran MSRT in September and found today that a Heartbeat Report had indeed been generated. I installed no Windows Updates for this month so there is no MSRT to run and no reports generated. I am moving to Linux so this won’t be a problem ( I hope) in the future.

    Thanks for the article, Martin.

    1. Tom Hawack said on October 20, 2016 at 2:43 pm
      Reply

      I just want to bring to your attention two points :

      1- Microsoft’s MRT phones home not when run and closed but within an analysis (as far as I can tell).
      2- If the updated MRT is installed manually by the user before Windows Update, Windows Update will of course not have to install it but won’t run it as well.

      This means that users who wish to carry on with Windows Update but dislike having MRT scan and phone home can do so by checking for the latest MRT version (on Patch Tuesdays or sometimes the day after), download/run the patch (without analysis) and then run Windows Update more comfortably.

      Latest version of MRT is always available at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/safety/pc-security/malware-removal.aspx

      I used to proceed this way for gaining the time spent by Windows Update to scan the user’s machine. If I were a Patch Tuesday full rollup user i’d continue the same moreover when this article proves the application is even more talkative than myself :)

  14. Henk van Setten said on October 20, 2016 at 1:39 pm
    Reply

    Thanks for signaling this, Martin. Double-checking my 8.1 computer for this issue gave a very, VERY interesting result.

    It looks like this very month, Microsoft sneakily changed its telemetry server addresses in order to foil users who blocked such addresses in their hosts file.

    I have a block list of Microsoft telemetry addresses in my hosts file, and until October 3 this also worked fine to prevent MRT from phoning home. The log for the previous months always was like this:

    (quote log)
    Run Mode: Preparing Heartbeat Telemetry
    Failed to collect/send Heartbeat Send Failure heartbeat. HR = 80072EE7
    (end quote)

    This recurring 0x80072EE7 error always indicated a failure to connect to the server, which was exactly what I wanted.

    But checking today I found that the very last time MRT ran on this system, October 12, the log said “Successfully Submitted Heartbeat Report”. This was a first! Clearly this month Microsoft did switch to some new server address to evade any existing IP blocks. I still need to find out what new telemetry addresses they may be using now.

    Anyway, I will stop using MRT. Forever. I never really needed it, so I won’t miss it.

  15. Anderson Nascimento Nunes said on October 20, 2016 at 1:09 pm
    Reply

    Blocking MRT.exe on the firewall is enough to prevent the transmission.

  16. Robert G. said on October 20, 2016 at 12:40 pm
    Reply

    On Win10 Pro 64-bit, Windows Malicious Software Removal isn’t installed and I don’t have mrt.log.

    1. Ripley said on February 23, 2017 at 10:01 am
      Reply

      it IS installed in Windows 10 x64 and stores its log in Windows/Debug folder. The only thing I didn’t find was MRT task in Task Scheduler, but I assume they simply renamed it to mask from user.

    2. pHROZEN gHOST said on October 21, 2016 at 12:53 am
      Reply

      I found the same thing on W10 pro 64. No RemovalTools entry at all in task scheduler

      1. Johnny Mellamo said on October 25, 2016 at 10:06 pm
        Reply

        Windows 10 64 bits: No RemovalTools in task scheduler but I found mrt.log; last change: Wed Oct 12 2016.
        So MRT must be installed even in Windows 10.

  17. Yuliya said on October 20, 2016 at 11:31 am
    Reply

    Is it opt-in on Win 10 too? It is on Win 7, and ofcourse I did not accept it. I’m tired of Microsoft’s automated stuff, always taking up 25% CPU usage for half an hour each time I used to boot my PC. Both this and MSE. And the only thing that MSE was always finding was Xpadder, a program to map keyboard keys on my X360 gamepad, but nothing more, so I’m better wthout them.

  18. Tom Hawack said on October 20, 2016 at 11:17 am
    Reply

    Testing on Windows 7 64-BIT.

    1- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MRT not found
    2- Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > RemovalTools > MRT_HB not found because I had not only disbled that task but radically removed it (not advised, I was younger then).
    3- I had no mrt.log because I’ve set CCleaner to delete unnecessary logs. I’ve just ran mrt v.5.41 (Oct. 2016) for a fast analysis and the new mrt.log states :

    “Results Summary:
    —————-
    No infection found.
    Failed to submit clean hearbeat MAPS report: 0x80072EFD”

    I must ad that I have a serious anti-Microsoft tracking arsenal in place here. Goof it it does the job.

    1. James Law said on October 20, 2016 at 6:43 pm
      Reply

      The key to check for mrt execution status can be found at:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\RemovalTools\MRT

      I had to manually create the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MRT and subkey DontReportInfectionInformation

      1. Tom Hawack said on October 21, 2016 at 1:17 am
        Reply

        Thanks for the info, James Law. Indeed I do have the key you mention, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\RemovalTools\MRT

        For what it’s worth, as far as I’m concerned mrt.exe has been removed (in system32 and syswow64 folders). I won’t use it since it cleans when applicable with no prior user consent. Anyway I never used it. I get to wonder if its primary meaning is not to phone home and I follow on by asking myself what code, what application, software, OS developed by Microsoft is clean in terms of privacy issues.

  19. Gary D said on October 20, 2016 at 11:06 am
    Reply

    MS states that the Win malicious software removal tool is NOT a replacement / alternative for dedicated anti-malware and anti-virus software.
    I have good anti-malware and anti-virus software installed. Every month, since it first appeared, I have hidden this KB because, for me, it is irrelevant.
    Now it is exposed as yet another MS telemetry tool. I sympathize with users like Dave who have found out that it is flawed and not fit for purpose.

  20. Dave said on October 20, 2016 at 9:39 am
    Reply

    Microsoft’s BS security tools deleted all my original xbox softhacking utilities, way back when they were very hard to get. I still don’t think I have them back.

    1. Andrew said on October 20, 2016 at 6:30 pm
      Reply

      That’s why you back up

      1. Siperuser said on November 9, 2017 at 6:33 pm
        Reply

        You shouldn’t have to backup to protect yourself from your operating system.

    2. Tom Hawack said on October 20, 2016 at 11:41 am
      Reply

      I never run Microsoft’s MRT (but I do update it, one never knows), I just did for testing its tracking issue.

      May I ask those who’ve run it and had MRT actually find what it considered as malicious, if the user has the option or not to allow MRT to cleanup? If I understand you correctly, Dave, it seems MRT deleted your “original xbox softhacking utilities” presumably without your prior consent. Is this true? If yes, I’ll never run MRT again.

      1. Tom Hawack said on October 20, 2016 at 12:33 pm
        Reply

        Oh well, Dave, then I’ll never run MRT again. If it had to find and delete files it considers as malicious even should they be not then this is a veto for me. What has been deleted is not always recoverable but the user must have the authority to trigger the destruction button : MRT should report and allow always the user to choose to delete or not, be it MRT as any other application. “False-positive” is a reality.

        To resume:
        – MRT sends back telemetry data;
        – MRT deletes “malicious” files it may have found without the prior consent of the user.
        That’s 2 bad points, another two for Microsoft, indisputable winner of all times telemetry & tracking features.
        And if I slap the company it’s of course for the same reasons it slaps its users : for their good. Reciprocity is the basis of politeness.

        Thanks for this valuable information, Dave.

      2. Dave said on October 20, 2016 at 12:11 pm
        Reply

        That’s right Tom. I found out later in the logs, but the files weren’t recoverable. I dunno if the current version still behaves this way.

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