I've also tried searching my Registry for things like Sonic, but it's all over the place in there.
If I can find what's kicking it off, maybe I can stop it. In Task Scheduler, I see two tasks (NahimicSvs32Run and NahimicSvs64Run) but they look like they're started on demand. Checking Services, I see Nahimic service which was running and Autostarted. I stopped it and turned it to manual. We'll see.
EDIT: Turning that Nahimic service to manual seems to have gotten rid of the System Tray icon. Getting Windows Updates didn't bring it back via any hidden updates. I'll document some of the other places I've looked for posterity:
- C:\Users\...\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup: empty.
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup: empty.
- Task Manager > Processes: only the Realtek HD Audio Universal Services (which I assume is what I actually wanted/needed).
- Task Manager > Startup: nothing untoward.
- Settings > Apps > Apps & Features: only the Realtek Audio Driver (which I assume is what I actually wanted/needed).
- Control Panel > Programs and Featuress: ditto.
- Program Files and Program Files (x86): nothing odd.
- Task Scheduler: those two Nahimic tasks are still there "Ready" (I'll wait to see if anyone will respond here before deleting them).
- Services: that Nahimic service is still not running and still set to Manual (ditto for deletion).
- ProgramData: there's an A-Volute folder with 3 subfolders that look Sonic related (I don't know if I should delete them).
- C:\Users\...\AppData\Local: there's an NhNotifSys folder filled with stuff (ditto on deletion).
- The Registry: strewn with stuff about it and I have no idea what's safe to remove. Specifically, at:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
there's a RtkAudUService entry. But, it's pointing to:
C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore
so I'm assuming it's the actual driver that I want.
- Start > All Apps: there's a Sonic Suite Companion entry that if I right-click on and Uninstall, just sits there and laughs at me (i.e., it doesn't uninstall). If I left-click on it, it brings up a menu saying the Studio is not installed but the driver is (and is up to date). There's also an option to turn off running at startup. I turned that off, hit the hamburger menu and was given an option to uninstall. I did and the program disappeared. But, all those remnants, above, stayed put.
- And, finally, in Device Manager > Sound, Video and Game Controllers, along with the Realtek Audio entry, there's still a Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer.
EDIT (some more): I guess the thing to do is first go to the Start menu, turn off autostart and then uninstall it from within its menu instead of from the Start Menu options. Then go to Services, stop the service if it's still running and set it to Manual start. Hopefully, this isn't truly malware and is just something obnoxiously programmed. But, regardless, since Asus foisted this on us, they ought to write a true uninstaller and put it on the same download page that the installer is on.