What is the "appupdater.exe" process on Windows 8? Is the "appupdater.exe" process a virus? Can I terminate the "appupdater.exe" process?

"appupdater.exe" process represents "Dell Support Center Updater" program.

"appupdater.exe" process is normally running under the parent process "Boot" as shown in the process tree below:

Boot
   appupdater

On the Processes tab of "Task Manager", "appupdater.exe" process may be listed as:

Image Name                 Memory   Description
--------------------   ----------   -----------
appupdater.exe            2,632 K   Dell Support Center Updater

Additional information about "appupdater.exe" process:

Command line:
   "C:\Program Files\Dell Support Center\updater\appupdater.exe" -x "" -silent

Programe file information:
   Name: appupdater.exe
   Location: C:\Program Files\Dell Support Center\updater\appupdater.exe
   Description: Dell Support Center Updater
   Version: 6.0.6032.39
   Size: 503336 bytes
   Last modified: 7/17/2012 4:27:22 PM
   Company Name: PC-Doctor, Inc.
   
Some data files used:
C:\Program Files\Dell Support Center\updater
C:\Windows\assembly\pubpol5.dat
C:\Program Files\Dell Support Center\updater\appupdatercommon.dll
C:\Program Files\Dell Support Center\updater\appupdatercore.dll
C:\Users\fyi\AppData\Roaming\PCDr\Update\Logs\appupdater.2016-12-28 08-57-06-6245.log
C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.9200.16579_none_418ab7ef718b27ef
C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.9200.16579_none_418ab7ef718b27ef
C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft.windows.gdiplus_6595b64144ccf1df_1.1.9200.16518_none_726fbfe0cc22f012
C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.9200.16579_none_418ab7ef718b27ef
C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.9200.16579_none_418ab7ef718b27ef

Some registry keys used:
HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Nls\Sorting\Versions
HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\SESSION MANAGER
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework
HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\.NETFramework
HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Nls\Sorting\Ids
HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default
HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Nls\Locale
HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Nls\Locale\Alternate Sorts
HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Nls\Language Groups
HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDescriptions\{7C5A40EF-A0FB-4BFC-874A-C0F2E0B9FA8E}\PropertyBag

Some DLL libraries used:
C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\MSCOREE.DLL
C:\Windows\system32\KERNEL32.dll
C:\Windows\system32\KERNELBASE.dll
C:\Windows\system32\ADVAPI32.dll
C:\Windows\system32\msvcrt.dll
C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\sechost.dll
C:\Windows\system32\RPCRT4.dll
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\mscoreei.dll
C:\Windows\system32\SHLWAPI.dll

"appupdater.exe" process is not a virus. You should not terminate "appupdater.exe" process.

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