Wuauclt.exe?

seun

seun

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My computer has been noticeably slower than usual lately. I've done the usual of defragging it, running a cleanup and deleting old files. After checking what processes are running, I've come across two things - both wuauclt.exe. They're using up a hell of a lot of memory. I've found conflicting info on Google. Some sites say they're to do with updates from Microsoft and others say they can be Trojans. Either way, is there anything I can do about this?

Ta muchly.
 
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alleycat

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I noticed that too. Microsoft installed some very large updates this week; it might have had something to do with that (just guessing). One of your generic services (svchost) might also be using a lot of memory (probably the one that contains Task Scheduler).

A couple of things you might do for now:
Increase your virtual memory.
Temporarily increase the priority of the tasks you're actually using (in Task Manager).
 
RJK

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What version of windows are you running?
Do a search for the file and see if you have any instances of it NOT in the C:\windows\system32 directory. If you find any, delete them and then reboot.
Do a second search to see if they were reinstalled. If they were, you're going to need a good spyware program. Spybot is free and works well, but I don't know if it will catch this bug.
 
alleycat

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Adding to RJK's post a bit . . .

It would be a good idea to check to make sure it's not a trojan, but I don't think it is in this case.

Also, you can get a free Microsoft download for Process Explorer (if you don't already have it); it's better than Task Manager for checking out which processes are running, who owns them, where they are, and how much of your processor they're using.
 
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seun

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Thanks for the replies, people. The updates from Microsoft really slowed me down a couple of days ago. I did notice when they eventually finished that one had failed. It seems it's updating and installing now which could explain a few things. My computer is old and tired so it can't cope with more than a couple of things running at the same time :)

I've got Windows XP and did increase the virtual memory a month or so ago. It helped until this week when I got the message about 'virtual memory is too low' for the first time in a while. Looks like this wuauclt deal is legit. Just a pain in the bottom.
 
alleycat

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You could also turn off automatic updates. Have it ask first.

Have you checked what you have running on startup? If you haven't set it, you probably have a bunch of stuff running that doesn't need to be. This isn't really the problem with the updates, but it might also help your computer run a little faster, especially if it's an older computer.
 
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seun

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alleycat said:
Have you checked what you have running on startup? If you haven't set it, you probably have a bunch of stuff running that doesn't need to be. This isn't really the problem with the updates, but it might also help your computer run a little faster, especially if it's an older computer.
Click to expand...

I went through the start up programmes a little while ago and it has helped. Saying that, it could be worth doing again.

The update just finished with the message that it couldn't be installed. What's the betting the bastard thing will try installing again tomorrow? :rant:
 
alleycat

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You might try this.

Set your updates to download but not install.

Shut down your computer, then turn it back on. If it asks you, let it download the updates.

When you think it's finished downloading the updates, shut down your computer again. It should give you a message that it's installing the updates and will then shut down.
 
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alleycat

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If you do get the message that it's installing the updates, it might take a while before it shuts down. It took a while for it to download and install the latest updates on my computer.
 
alleycat

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I wonder if seun is still waiting for his updates to install . . .

;-)
 
seun

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alleycat said:
I wonder if seun is still waiting for his updates to install . . .

;-)
Click to expand...

Haha. I'm not 100% sure. It tried to install a particular update twice over the weekend. Both times it finished with the message 'update could not be installed'. So I went to the Microsoft update site, downloaded it from there and it seemed to work. In any case, I've turned off automatic updates but left it at notify me when they're available.
 
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