Should I remove Sophos AutoUpdate?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
18% remove it82% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #2,634
United States Rank #2,111
Reach 0.2319%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 16.48 days
486.24 days >
Average installed length: 255.48 days
Versions
| Version | Distribution |
| 5.15.166 |
0.07% |
|
| 5.11.206 |
0.77% |
|
| 5.11.177 |
0.09% |
|
| 5.10.139 |
1.25% |
|
| 5.7.533 |
0.31% |
|
| 5.7.220 |
1.84% |
|
| 5.7.51 |
0.02% |
|
| 5.6.484 |
1.12% |
|
| 5.5.3.0 |
1.66% |
|
| 5.5.2.1 |
0.18% |
|
| 5.4.0.751 |
0.02% |
|
| 5.4.0.724 |
2.47% |
|
| 5.3.0.516 |
2.58% |
|
| 5.2.0.276 |
7.96% |
|
| 5.2.0.221 |
0.63% |
|
| 5.1.2.0 |
0.96% |
|
| 5.1.1.1 |
0.28% |
|
| 5.0.0.39 |
0.20% |
|
| 4.3.10.27 |
13.87% |
|
| 4.2.2.1 |
0.09% |
|
| 4.2.0.37 |
0.18% |
|
| 4.1.0.273 |
11.16% |
|
| 4.1.0.143 |
0.07% |
|
| 4.1.0.65 |
3.33% |
|
| 4.0.5.39 |
0.22% |
|
| 4.0.0.93 |
0.11% |
|
| 3.1.4.241 |
0.59% |
|
| 3.1.4.81 |
7.24% |
|
| 3.1.4.39 |
0.02% |
|
| 3.1.1.18 |
11.33% |
|
| 3.1.0.522 |
0.11% |
|
| 3.0.0.600 |
0.04% |
|
| 2.10.1.357 |
0.61% |
|
| 2.10.1.354 |
0.11% |
|
| 2.9.0.344 |
17.98% |
|
| 2.7.8.335 |
0.20% |
|
| 2.7.5.326 |
0.07% |
|
| 2.7.4.317 |
9.17% |
|
| 2.7.1 |
0.20% |
|
| 2.6.0 |
0.33% |
|
| 2.5.30 |
0.37% |
|
| 2.5.10 |
0.22% |
|
Typically installed together
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Rankings
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- #2,632 FreeCommander XE by Marek Jasinski
- #2,633 VAIO Power Management by Sony
- #2,634 Sophos AutoUpdate
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- #2,636 The Sims 3 Ambitions by Electronic Arts
- #2,637 EVEREST Home Edition v2.20 by Lavalys Inc
- #2,638 Spelling Dictionaries Support For Adobe Reader X
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Sophos AutoUpdate
What is Sophos AutoUpdate?
Sophos AutoUpdate is the updater program which runs with Windows (in the background as a service) and automatically starts up when your computer boots. It checks for updates and automatically downloads and installs them if found based on the user's settings. This is the AutoUpdate service, run as 'System User'.When the service first starts up it performs an update check to the CID.ALSvc.exe runs a scheduler that triggers scheduled updates. It provides an interface that allows an update to be started.
ALUpdate.exe is the file responsible for connecting to the network and downloading files. ALUpdate.exe runs during the update as the system user, but impersonates the local SophosSAU account. See the ‘Significant accounts/groups’section for more details on this user. When ALUpdate.exe is called, it runs with the following parameters: Alupdate.exe -ManualUpdate -NoGUI -RootPath"C:\Program Files\Sophos\AutoUpdate"
ALMon.exe is a DCOM server ("dcomcnfg" - "DCOM Config" - "iMonitor"), which allows Sophos Anti-Virus to display virus alerts to the user desktop. It is launched from the ‘All Users’ Start-up menu (C:\documents andSettings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\AutoUpdate Monitor.lnk), and it runs as the logged on user name.
Overview
The most used version is 2.9.0.344, with over 98% of all installations currently using this version. Upon installation and setup, it defines an auto-start registry entry which makes this program run on each Windows boot for all user logins. It adds a background controller service that is set to automatically run. Delaying the start of this service is possible through the service manager. A scheduled task is added to Windows Task Scheduler in order to launch the program at various scheduled times (the schedule varies depending on the version). The main program executable is ALUpdate.exe. The software installer includes 32 files and is usually about 9.92 MB (10,401,277 bytes). SophosUpdate.exe is the automatic update component of the software designed to download and apply new updates should new versions be released.
Program details
URL: www.sophos.com/en-us/support/knowledgebase/36262.aspx
Help link: www.sophos.com/support
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Sophos\AutoUpdate\
Uninstaller: MsiExec.exe /X{15C418EB-7675-42be-B2B3-281952DA014D}
(The Windows Installer is used for the installation, maintenance, and removal.)
Estimated size: 9.92 MB
Files installed by Sophos AutoUpdate
| Program executable: | ALUpdate.exe |
| Name: | Sophos AutoUpdate |
| AutoUpdate synchronisation component module |
| Path: | C:\Program Files\Sophos\AutoUpdate\ALUpdate.exe |
| MD5: | 1a98438fdf13b6adb9d16f1ef39eb9cb |
Additional files:
-
SophosUpdate.exe - Sophos Endpoint Security and Control (Sophos Endpoint Updater)
-
SUL.dll - Sophos Update Library
-
ALMon.exe - Sophos AutoUpdate (Sophos Endpoint Security and Control)
-
ALMsg.dll - Component to show Windows 8 notifications
-
ALsvc.exe - Sophos AutoUpdate Service.
-
ALUpdate.exe - AutoUpdate synchronisation component module
-
AUAdapter.dll - AutoUpdate management component module
-
ChannelUpdater.dll - Sophos Channel Updater library
-
cidsync.dll - Directory replicator for Sophos AutoUpdate
-
config.dll - Sophos AutoUpdate configuration manager
-
crypto.dll - Cryptographic library
-
EECustomActions.dll - Sets AutoUpdate configuration during install
-
inetconn.dll - Sophos AutoUpdate connection component
-
InstlMgr.dll - Sophos AutoUpdate installation manager
-
ispsheet.dll - Sophos AutoUpdate configuration pages loader
-
Logger.dll - Sophos AutoUpdate logging component
-
retailer.dll - Sophos SDDS client library
-
SAUConfigDLL.dll - AutoUpdate configuration component module
-
SingleGUIPlugin.dll - Component to show AutoUpdate's elements on the unified user interface
-
SophosAlert.exe - Sophos AutoUpdate Alert
-
swlocale.dll - Sophos AutoUpdate resource search order provider
-
xmlcpp.dll - C++ XML wrapper
Behaviors exhibited
2 Scheduled Tasks
- ALUpdate.exe is scheduled as a task named 'Sophos Update Win7' (runs daily at 4:50 PM).
- ALMon.exe is scheduled as a task with the class '{D9D950DB-7132-4B2E-BEE1-166A6872968B}' (runs on registration).
Scheduled Task (Boot/Login)
- ALMon.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named Sophos AutoUpdate Monitor_Reg_HKLMWow6432Run.
Service
- ALsvc.exe runs as a service named 'Sophos AutoUpdate Service' (Sophos AutoUpdate Service) "Parte del sistema di aggiornamento dei componenti Sophos".
Startup File (All Users Run)
- ALMon.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'Sophos AutoUpdate Monitor' which loads as "C:\Program Files\Sophos\AutoUpdate\almon.exe".
Resource utilization averages
Show technical details
| ALMon.exe |
| Memory: | 7.41 MB | |
| Total CPU: | 0.0000680632% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00004700% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00002106% | |
| CPU cycles/sec: | 492,341 | |
| I/O reads/min: | 17 Bytes | |
| ALsvc.exe |
| Memory: | 3.34 MB | |
| Total CPU: | 0.0000626551% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00005797% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00000468% | |
| CPU cycles/sec: | 72,016 | |
| I/O reads/min: | 39.97 KB | |
| I/O writes/min: | 39.95 KB | |
How do I remove Sophos AutoUpdate?
You can uninstall Sophos AutoUpdate from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
- On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
- Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
- When you find the program Sophos AutoUpdate, click it, and then do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
- Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
- Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Sophos AutoUpdate.
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
 |
Uninstall it 18%
Keep it 82%
|
|
|
GLOBAL RANK
 #2,634
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
| Windows 7 |
56.33% |
|
| Windows 10 |
36.45% |
|
| Windows XP |
4.39% |
|
| Windows Vista |
2.61% |
|
| Windows Server 2003 |
0.22% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
| Windows 7 Professional |
29.88% |
|
| Windows 7 Home Premium |
14.93% |
|
| Windows 10 Home |
11.41% |
|
| Windows 8.1 |
8.81% |
|
| Windows 7 Enterprise |
8.19% |
|
| Windows 10 Pro |
5.77% |
|
Geography
59.75% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
| United States |
59.75% |
| United Kingdom |
9.65% |
| Germany |
7.26% |
| Italy |
3.64% |
| France |
2.97% |
| Australia |
2.63% |
| Netherlands |
2.06% |
| Canada |
1.63% |
| Belgium |
0.79% |
| DK |
0.69% |
| India |
0.62% |
| Brazil |
0.45% |
| Taiwan |
0.45% |
| Switzerland |
0.44% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
| Dell |
37.82% |
|
| Hewlett-Packard |
32.36% |
|
| Acer |
8.07% |
|
| Toshiba |
6.50% |
|
| ASUS |
5.16% |
|
| Lenovo |
4.02% |
|
| Intel |
2.01% |
|
| GIGABYTE |
1.84% |
|
| Samsung |
1.57% |
|
| Apple |
0.64% |
|
Common models |
| Hewlett-Packard p6716f |
4.94% |
|
| HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ... |
3.18% |
|
| Dell OptiPlex 7010 |
2.87% |
|
| ASUS All Series |
2.79% |
|
| HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P... |
2.79% |
|
| Dell OptiPlex 790 |
2.55% |
|
About Sophos Limited
Sophos is a developer of security software and hardware, including anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware, network access control and data loss prevention for desktops, servers, email systems and other network gateways.
Publisher URL: www.sophos.com