GHelperCharge loads wrong config as SYSTEM on localized Windows

[request3]

Hi,

I found a reproducible problem with GHelperCharge running before user logon.

Problem

I use G-Helper 0.269 with an 80% battery charge limit.

The normal user config contains:

"charge_limit": 80

and:

C:\ProgramData\GHelper\config.json

also contains charge_limit = 80.

The scheduled task GHelperCharge is correctly configured to run as:

SYSTEM

with:

GHelper.exe charge

and the task completes successfully with:

LastTaskResult : 0

However, before Windows user logon the battery continues charging.

What I found

The log showed that GHelperCharge, despite running as SYSTEM, was loading this config:

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\GHelper\config.json

instead of:

C:\ProgramData\GHelper\config.json

The systemprofile config contained only:

{
  "performance_mode": 0
}

so there was no charge_limit value.

The log contained:

Config loaded from C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\GHelper\config.json

but there was no Startup Battery Limit 80 or Limit = 80 : OK.

Workaround / confirmation

I manually added:

"charge_limit": 80

to:

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\GHelper\config.json

Then I manually ran the existing GHelperCharge scheduled task.

Immediately the log changed to:

Startup Battery Limit 80
Set-Service -Name "ATKWMIACPIIO" -Status running
Connecting to ACPI
Setting Limit
Limit = 80 : OK
Startup = 129 : OK

After rebooting, the 80% battery charge limit now works correctly before user logon.

Possible cause

I noticed that current ProcessHelper.IsRunningAsSystem() identifies SYSTEM by comparing the account name:

string.Equals(
    identity.Name,
    @"NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM",
    StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase
)

On my localized Windows installation this appears to return false.

Because of that, AppConfig does not select the fallback config from CommonApplicationData / C:\ProgramData\GHelper, and instead uses the SYSTEM profile %APPDATA%.

Using the LocalSystem SID instead of the localized account name may be more reliable, for example:

identity?.User?.IsWellKnown(
    WellKnownSidType.LocalSystemSid
) == true

Environment

• G-Helper: 0.269
• ASUS TUF A15 FA507XI
• Windows with Polish localization
• ATKWMIACPIIO: Running, SYSTEM_START
• ASUS background services: disabled

I hope this helps identify the issue. I can provide the full G-Helper SYSTEM log or perform additional tests if needed.

[seerge]

@request3 hello,

Try this build and check log from C:\ProgramData\GHelepr folder if startup task runs / sets limit correctly

GHelper.zip

[request3]

Tested — the new build works correctly.

After reboot, before user login, the battery charge limit is applied properly.

The startup task now loads the correct config:

Config loaded from C:\ProgramData\GHelper\config.json
Startup Battery Limit 80
Connecting to ACPI
Setting Limit
Limit = 80 : OK
Startup = 129 : OK

GHelperCharge also finishes with LastTaskResult: 0.

I restored the SYSTEM profile config without charge_limit before testing, so this confirms that the fix works without the previous workaround.

Thank you!