The process name for the file softwareupdate.exe is Apple Software Update. The file usually gets installed when you update your Apple or QuickTime software for the first time. After this initial update, the process will be the one to automatically look for updates; which happens, by default, once per week. This is the default schedule of the task. The thing that most users find a bit annoying is that both Apple and QuickTime already alert the user if updates are available; hence, the file comes as a completely unnecessary addition to scheduled tasks running in the background. The general disk image location of the process is C:\Program Files\Apple Software Update\softwareupdate.exe. Basically, the file comes in different versions; usually depending on the Windows OS installed on the computer. For instance, file version 2.0.0.21 is compatible with Windows XP Home Edition. If the file will be installed on a PC with a different OS version, the file version will most likely be different from the one mentioned here. This file version is approximately 545.59 kilobytes in size.

Most non-system processes that are running can be stopped because they are not involved in running your operating system. softwareupdate.exe. is used by Apple Software Update, If you shut down softwareupdate.exe, it will likely start again at a later time either after you restart your computer or after an application start. To stop softwareupdate.exe, permanently you need to uninstall the application that runs this process which in this case is Apple Software Update, from your system.

After uninstalling applications it is a good idea to scan you Windows registry for any left over traces of applications. Registry Reviver by ReviverSoft is a great tool for doing this.

The ReviverSoft experts have not yet reviewed softwareupdate.exe

A process usually a part of an installed application such as Apple Software Update, or your operating system that is responsible for running in functions of that application. Some application require that they have processes running all the time so they can do things such as check for updates or notify you when you get an instant message. Some poorly written applications have many processes that run that may not be required and take up valuable processing power within your computer.

We have not received any complaint about this process having higher than normal impact on PC performance. If you have had bad experiences with it please let us know in a comment below and we will investigate it further.

The first thing you should do if softwareupdate.exe. is causing errors on your computer is to run a Windows registry scan with Registry Reviver If you are still seeing errors after this you should uninstall the program that softwareupdate.exe, belongs to, in this case Apple Software Update