By George Norman - Software News Editor
Added on 21 Oct 2008(5757 Views)
Ever wondered why your system is sluggish even though you are not doing anything that demanding? The simple truth of the matter is that a computer will never just stand there doing nothing – even though you are. Some process will always be running in the background, and that takes its toll on a more modest configuration.

If you are a Google fan, then surely you have installed software programs such as Google Chrome, Google Earth, Google Maps, and so on. If you have, then you must know that all these programs run GoogleUpdate.exe in the background. So if you have taken the time to disable other updater programs, try not to forget about this one.


The updater works by accessing the Internet “behind your back”; this is to say without asking for your permission. By installing a firewall, such as Zone Alarm for example, you can deny GoogleUpdate.exe access to the Internet. This is the simplest and most convenient method that you could use in order to make your system work more efficiently.

A more drastic measure would be to remove the updater completely. There are two main drawbacks related to this issue: 1. it is a more lengthy and complicated process (you have to access Registry Editor among other things); 2. you will no longer be able to update your Google software.

In order to remove GoogleUpdate.exe you have to follow these steps:
- Remove the Google Update Task by accessing the Control Panel and then clicking on the Scheduled Tasks icon.
- Access the Task Manager by pressing Alt+Ctrl+Del and end the process associated with Google.
- Delete GoogleUpdate.exe
- Access the Registry Editor and locate this subkey HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun
- Find “Google Update” and delete it.
- Restart.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against updating, I am just against running processes in the background that I don't know about. By disabling the auto-updater you get to choose when to run the update, and you won't be cursing your ISP because the web connection is sluggish, when in fact the updater is eating up your bandwidth.





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Tags: Google, Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Chrome

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Comments

.. - 29 Oct 2009 18:59
Tell your anti-virus to block googleupdate.exe. Works like a charm :)
xfsfs - 31 May 2009 01:08
try deleting '*C*:\Documents and Settings\*your acount*\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Update\' folder.
reigh - 22 Apr 2009 10:36
in my monitor there is this that appears "googleupdate.exe" what is thereson for this and how can this be removed? It can nver be cancelled on my monitor and it appears allthroughout eve if i already turned off the computer.
Tom - 25 Mar 2009 23:29
In Win Vista googleupdate is put on the list of scheduled programs on each install (even update process). So you have to disable automatic running from Control panel > Administrative tools > Task scheduler . In Task schedular library is GoogleUpdateTaskUser - you have to disable it.
Rich - 20 Mar 2009 00:05
Again, this won't work, read Google's comments opn goolgleupdate.exe!!! The only way to remove it is to uninstall all Google apps such as GoogleEarth, etc. I tried all the suggested regedits, task manager, scheduled tasks, etc. to no avail. The only way to remove it is to uninstall all Google apps.
Rich - 19 Mar 2009 23:58
This doesnt work!!!!!! It still shows up in the Taskmanager the next time you boot.
Mark Kawecki - 17 Jan 2009 02:14
Thanks very much for a comprehensive article. I wondered what googleupdate was for when it came up just now on my firewall.

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