What Will Happen If I Disable Avgupd.exe?

Avgupd.exe is the program that updates AVG Anti-Virus.

Avgupd.exe is the updater program that automatically updates your AVG anti-virus protection. When you install AVG, the updater is automatically added to your startup menu, allowing the program to perpetually check for new information, downloads, and upgrades for your current version of AVG. Disabling avgupd.exe has little direct impact on your computer, but it forces you to assume responsibility for keeping AVG current.

Computer Performance

As with most anti-virus programs, AVG’s avgupd.exe updater file is designed to open and begin running as soon as you turn on your computer, as well as keep running in the background as you use your computer. This impacts your computer’s startup time and performance; when more programs open at startup, your computer takes longer to boot. By disabling avgupd.exe, you are removing an item from your startup menu. This has the potential to increase your computer’s startup speed -- but most frequently, this slight increase in speed will not be noticeable.

Manual Updates

Updating many software programs can be done whenever you please, but anti-virus programs don't offer that luxury. Anti-virus and Internet security programs often receive updates and downloads on a daily basis; some companies send out updates several times each day. When you disable avgupd.exe, your AVG anti-virus program will not automatically search for these updates. As a result, you must pick up the habit of opening AVG every day and manually running the updates. This is the only way to ensure that you will receive all of AVG’s updates in a timely manner.

Significance

Keeping your AVG anti-virus program up-to-date is essential to the health of your computer. AVG updates itself frequently so you are protected from the newest viruses, malware, and threats that circulate through the Internet. Without regular updates, AVG will not know which new viruses to search for, opening up you and your computer to the potential of having malware unintentionally loaded on your computer.

Another Option

In lieu of completely disabling avgupd.exe, you also have the option to set your own automatic update schedule. This prevents the updater from running all the time as one of your computer’s background functions, but removes the burden of having to remember to update AVG on your own. You can choose how frequently or infrequently AVG searches for updates and time it according to when you are not likely to be using your computer. To keep AVG running as effectively as possible, you should schedule avgupd.exe to run once per day or once every other day.

Resources

• AVG: Anti-virus and Internet Security