TrackTracer: See What Windows Secretly Remembers About You (AHK v2)

TrackTracer: See What Windows Secretly Remembers About You

Windows keeps a surprising amount of history that most people never see. Recent files you opened. USB drives you plugged in years ago. Programs that launch at boot. Wi-Fi networks this PC still remembers. It is all sitting there in the registry and system folders, and Windows never puts it on one screen for you.

TrackTracer does. It is a small AutoHotkey v2 desktop tool that reads that hidden history, lists it as each section finishes, then writes a branded HTML report to your Desktop (What-Windows-Remembers.html) and opens it. Read-only. No network calls. No admin needed for the everyday stuff.

What it finds

• Recent files from your Recent folder shortcuts, or the RecentDocs registry when that folder has been cleared.
• USB device history from every USB storage device Windows logged under USBSTOR, with first/last seen dates when you run elevated.
• Autoruns and startup: Run/RunOnce keys, Startup folders, and boot/logon scheduled tasks.
• Wi-Fi history: saved profiles. Plaintext passwords are a separate opt-in checkbox with a red banner in the report, so you never dump secrets by accident.

Tick the sections you want. Set a max items per section. Hit Trace. Watch the dark ListView fill as each section finishes. Then open the report, copy the results as tab-delimited text, or jump to the project folder.

Why I built it

I already had a tiny PWA for this (tracktracer.dirtsimple.app). Handy on a phone browser, but I wanted a real Windows twin: dark GUI, mouse-over tips, a tray icon, and an unattended /auto mode that traces and writes the report without a click. Same branded report the PWA writes. Nothing uploaded. Delete the HTML when you are done.

Who this is for

• Anyone cleaning a PC and wondering what still remembers old USB sticks or Wi-Fi networks.
• IT folks who want a quick local audit of startup and MRU history without installing a giant forensic suite.
• AutoHotkey v2 users who want a ready-made inspector GUI with hover tips and a shareable HTML report.

What you get

• TrackTracer.ahk (script-only deliverable, version 0.1.0)
• lib\NotifyV2.ahk for the toast tips
• User guide in HTML and PDF, plus a screenshot

Prerequisites: AutoHotkey v2.0.2+ (64-bit), Windows 10+. No extra runtimes. Wi-Fi section uses netsh (built into Windows).

Get TrackTracer

Price: $4.99

Initial release 0.1.0. Script-only package. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. the-Automator.com