Kill GoogleUpdate.exe!11!

April 1, 2010 11:28 PM

How do I stop GoogleUpdate.exe from nagging me and appearing in task manager unbidden? How do I kill it .. forever?

I hate this thing. It keeps nagging me, and I no longer need it. I should never have installed it.. but I trusted Google. Lesson learned.

But you can't remove it from the system, apparently, in any kind of straightforward manner.

I've removed it from scheduled tasks. I've deleted GoogleUpdate.exe itself! It keeps.. coming... back.

I cannot find it among the services. I cannot even find it in the registry entries where it is said to live.

Ironically, my HD appears to be dying, so I may have to completely reinstall everything anyway, but I'd love to know what the deal is with this evil spawn of a monstrosity wrapped in a buzzword.

Yes, I'm still using crappy old XP.

posted by Henry C. Mabuse to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

Does this help?
posted by null terminated at 11:38 PM on April 1, 2010

Response by poster: done all that, where applicable. That's what's got me stumped.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 11:47 PM on April 1, 2010

This tool from Microsoft is better than the system configuration utility for finding and deleting this kind of thing.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:06 AM on April 2, 2010

Kill it then delete the executable. You can find the path from the scheduled task entry or go to "Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Update"
posted by wongcorgi at 2:51 AM on April 2, 2010

I had this problem a long time ago. I seem to recall uninstalling Chrome doing the trick.
posted by mirileh at 3:19 AM on April 2, 2010

I've only seen this little sucker when running IE. I hate to say it, but since I've been using Firefox exclusively it's no longer an issue. The only time it will pop up is if I accidentally invoke the dreaded Internet Explorer from a game launcher.
posted by Splunge at 4:34 AM on April 2, 2010

If you're using any Google software - Earth, Chrome, desktop, browser toolbar, etc. - you're almost certainly going to see it reinstalled each time you launch one of those programs. I had the same issue with Earth - it simply wouldn't run without installing or replacing the updated at each launch.

The only likely way to be rid of it is to remove all Google software, never use Google software again, then uninstall the updater.
posted by owls at 10:49 AM on April 2, 2010

Rename the executable first. Then kill the process. Then delete the executable. Renaming it prevents relaunch (it should at least). You should also run "msconfig" and see if it shows up in the "Startup" tab. And you should scan the registry.
posted by chairface at 11:03 AM on April 2, 2010

I haven't tried the following hack against Google Updater (it works against Windows Genuine Advantage) because finding the Google Update service under Services and setting its startup type to Disabled has always worked well enough for me. But if you can't find the service entry, you might try finding googleupdate.exe and instead of deleting it, simply set a Deny Execute for Everyone NTFS permission on it. That way, when whatever checks for its existence goes to check for it, it's there and it's even readable - but any attempt to launch it will fail.
posted by flabdablet at 6:32 AM on April 3, 2010 [1 favorite]