Monthly Archives: February 2011
Wuauclt.exe
What is Wuauclt.exe?
Wuauclt.exe is referred to as Windows Update Auto Update Client. This is the process where your computer system checks the Microsoft website (Microsoft.com) for any updates for your current computer system. This program is usually located under the folder C:\Windows\System32.
Why do you need to keep your operating system up to date?
Windows Update can keep your computer safer and operate more smoothly. It is basically automatic and free. Just keep your Windows Update program on and Microsoft will let you have the latest and most important performance updates and latest security settings applicable to your system.
Setting up Windows Update
• Log on to www.update.microsoft.com
• For computers with automatic updating on, Windows Update will display your system’s status via Control Panel.
• For those with automatic updates turned off, you will be guided step by step on how you can take advantage of Windows Update.
• If your computer needs to download anything, you will see a notification alert on your taskbar.
The Wuauclt.exe program is technically a vital process in keeping your computer system safe and up to date. It is an important background process your computer system should have. You will often see Wuauclt.exe displayed on the Task Manager list when it needs a confirmation or permission to download certain updates from the Microsoft website.
How to Remove Wuauclt.exe
If Windows auto-update (being always turned on) seems to be troublesome for you, you can always opt to manually scan your system for Microsoft updates. If you want to remove Wuauclt.exe, open Windows Task manager by pressing Ctrl, Alt, Del all at the same. Look for Wuauclt.exe and click End Process to stop the program. Locate the Wuauclt.exe from C:\Windows\System32, delete it and delete it completely from your Recycle Bin too.
Alternatively, you can go to Start Menu. Click on Run and type in Services.msc. Double click on “Automatic Updates” then choose Manual under Change Startup Type then hit on Stop button then Ok.
Wuauclt.exe virus
If the program Wuauclt.exe does not appear to do the tasks as mentioned above, it is most probably a virus, trojan, worm or spyware that camouflages the Wuauclt program. Virus with the same name includes Backdoor.Clt and Troj/Cult-B. If this program is located outside System32, it may be a virus. If this is the case, then you need a reliable anti-virus software to help you get rid of Wuauclt virus as well as other computer threats that may be running in your system.
Task Manager | taskmgr.exe
While many people find delving into the more intricate components of Windows intimidating, there is really no reason that everyone who owns a Windows based computer cannot use Windows Task Manager. Let us discover the different uses of the task manager and how it can help you.
Accessing the task manager is easily done with three keys, press the “alt” key, then while holding it press the “ctrl” key, while keeping these two keys held press the “delete” key and the task manager will pop up in a small box on your screen.
There are five different tabs in the task manager box, the first one is titles “Applications” and it comes up first by default when you open task manager. The applications tab manages just what you would think, applications that you currently have open, by right-clicking on individual applications you can switch them to the active application, bring them to the front of your screen, minimize or maximize them, end them or go to their process (covered under the “Processes” tab). The most beneficial of those actions tends to be “end task” which will shut down any inactive programs that are not cooperating.
The second tab “Processes” looks even more intimidating, there will be anywhere between 10 and 100 process shown in this tab at any given time, these are all the different services running on your computer, these differ from applications in that you might not be actually interfacing with them but they have to run to keep other applications running or to keep the system running, drivers for your monitor, printer and other peripherals are found in the processes section and if you can identify them then you can troubleshoot any problems you might be having. You can also set priority of different process here, if you want your photo editing program to use more of your CPU than your browser, find it in the processes, right click and set the priority higher, be careful with this though because your CPU only has a certain amount of work it can do before you will start having problems, try to only set one application at a time to high priority.
The “Performance” tab is a handy resource for seeing how much of your CPU and page file is being used. There are no options to configure here but you can check the performance tab if you are curious as to why a program that requires high resources is running slowly, it is possible that your CPU just isn’t up to the task!
The “Networking” tab is next and another place just to view information. The green graph will show you how much of your network is being utilized and the text box below it will show you which adapters are using how much of the network, this is a convenient way to find out which computer is hogging all the network resources.
Finally comes the user’s tab, again this tab is mainly informative but it also gives you the ability to logoff, disconnect, connect or send a message to different users. Probably one of the greatest benefits of it is having an easily accessible spot to view all the different user accounts on your computer.
Windows task manager is a fantastic tool covering all sorts of system functions that you can use on a daily basis, start utilizing it today by clicking “alt + ctrl + delete” and discover for yourself how you can use it to its greatest abilities.
