Versions

5.15.4.23930	1.52%
5.15.4.23821	25.38%
5.15.2.23037	7.61%
5.15.1.22229	2.54%
5.14.1.20064	2.03%
5.14.1.20007	5.08%
5.13.2.19379	0.51%
1.4.445269	1.52%
1.4.445269	0.51%
1.4.342067	1.52%
1.4.236670	4.57%
1.4.134141	2.54%
1.4.1.29781	0.51%
1.4.1.28235	3.05%
1.4.0.25589	2.54%
1.2.536191	3.05%
1.2.436191	1.52%
1.2.436191	4.06%
1.2.435882	4.57%
1.2.333021	1.52%
1.2.333021	0.51%
1.2.6.45268	1.02%
1.2.6.45268	0.51%
1.2.6.44892	2.03%
1.2.5.42066	1.02%
1.2.3.33066	1.52%
1.2.3.30498	0.51%
1.2.3.30498	1.02%
1.2.3.30496	2.54%
1.2.3.29495	6.60%
1.2.3.29495	3.55%
1.0.0.16749	3.05%

updater.exe has 32 known versions, the most recent one is 5.15.4.23930. updater.exe is run as a standard windows process with the logged in user's account privileges. During installation, a run registry key for all users is added that will cause the program to run each time any user logs on to Windows. The average file size is about 1.51 MB. It is an authenticode code-signed executable issued to Ask.com by the certification authority VeriSign. The programs Avira SearchFree Toolbar plus Web Protection Updater, Ask Toolbar Updater and Photojoy Toolbar have been observed as installing specific variations of updater.exe. During the process's lifecycle, the typical CPU resource utilization is less than 0.01%, the average private memory consumption is about 4.46 MB with the maximum memory reaching around 7.38 MB. Addionally, typically read and write I/O disk operations is about 876 Bytes per minute for reads and 334 Bytes per minute for writes.

The Ask Toolbar is a free browser add-on that allows you to search the Web using the Ask.com search engine directly from the Internet Explorer browser. The Ask Toolbar is integrated with the 3rd party software downloads. During the installation of some software, users are presented with an option of downloading the Ask Toolbar. This is the software update portion of teh toolbar which automatically checks for new versions and updates the toolbar.