Most antivirus programs identify GoogleUpdater.exe as malware—for instance Kaspersky identifies it as Trojan.MSIL.Zapchast.aaea or UDS:DangerousObject.Multi.Generic, and Sophos identifies it as Mal/Generic-S.
The GoogleUpdater.exe file is a software component of Google Updater by Google. GoogleUpdater.exe is an executable file that runs the Google Updater, a package management system that downloads, installs, removes and automatically updates Google applications. This is not a critical Windows component and should be removed if known to cause problems.
Google Updater was distributed as a part of Google Pack, a suite of software programs created by Google. It was distributed as a single downloadable archive since 2006 and was available till September 2011. Google Updater is no longer a supported application and uninstallation is recommended.
Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Ph.D. students at Stanford. Google has since grown into one of the biggest companies in the world, offering hundreds of services, including webmail (Gmail), cloud storage (Google Drive), office software (Google Docs) and social networking services (Google+). Alexa, which provides web traffic data, lists Google as the world's most visited website. Its popularity has led to huge media coverage, including a major critique of the company over copyright, censorship, and privacy issues. Google is headquartered in Googleplex, Mountain View, California, USA.
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Since 2005, file.net has researched facts about Windows processes and files, analyzed user experiences, and examined files using its own analysis tools. Around 10,000 users rely on it every day.
Description: GoogleUpdater.exe is not essential for the Windows OS and causes relatively few problems. GoogleUpdater.exe is located in a subfolder of the user's profile folder—typically C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\GoogleUpdater\.
Known file sizes on Windows 10/11/7 are 206,336 bytes (33% of all occurrences), 13,179,660 bytes or 160,768 bytes.
The GoogleUpdater.exe file is not a Windows system file. The file is a Windows scheduled tasks.
Therefore the technical security rating is 48% dangerous; but you should also compare this rating with the user reviews.
Important: You should check the GoogleUpdater.exe process on your PC to see if it is a threat. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. This was one of the Top Download Picks of The Washington Post and PC World.
Score
User Comments
Updates the new google programs Anthony
browser cannot be downloaded google earth rajkumar
Summary: Average user rating of GoogleUpdater.exe:
based on 6 votes with 2 user comments.
6 users think GoogleUpdater.exe is essential for Windows or an installed application.
One user is not sure about it.
Best practices for resolving GoogleUpdater issues
The following programs have also been shown useful for a deeper analysis: ASecurity Task Manager examines the active GoogleUpdater process on your computer and clearly tells you what it is doing. A good Bantivirus tool detects whether the GoogleUpdater.exe file on your PC might be malware slowing down your system. Such unwanted programs are often not classified as viruses by other antivirus software and therefore go undetected.
A clean and tidy computer is the key requirement for avoiding PC trouble. This means running a scan for malware, cleaning your hard drive using 1cleanmgr and 2sfc /scannow, 3uninstalling programs that you no longer need, checking for Autostart programs (using 4msconfig) and enabling Windows' 5Automatic Update. Always remember to perform periodic backups, or at least to set restore points.
Should you experience an actual problem, try to recall the last thing you did, or the last thing you installed before the problem appeared for the first time. Use the 6resmon command to identify the processes that are causing your problem. Even for serious problems, rather than reinstalling Windows, you are better off repairing of your installation or executing the 7DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth command. This allows you to repair the operating system without losing data.
To restore the original performance and remove unnecessary programs, you can 8reset your PC. Your personal files will remain intact, but any programs you installed will need to be reinstalled.
Score
User Comments
Anthony
rajkumar
Summary: Average user rating of GoogleUpdater.exe: based on 6 votes with 2 user comments. 6 users think GoogleUpdater.exe is essential for Windows or an installed application. One user is not sure about it.