Well, if you have then you have or had recently been attacked by a malicious software-worm called Verecno.
Verecno is a malware classified as worm. This malware infection is most possibly dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded by drive-by download technique when users visit malicious sites.
Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essential will detect this virus as Worm:Win32/Verecno.A
The verecno worm drops the following files into your computer's registry:
- C:\Google\Autoit3.exe
- C:\Google\Google.lnk
- C:\Google\Windowsupdate.lnk
- C:\Google\GoogleUpdate.lnk
- C:\Google\GoogleUpdate.a3x
- %User Startup%\GoogleUpdate.lnk
- %User Startup%\GoogleUpdate.a3x
- %User Startup%\WindowsUpdate.lnk
- {removable drive letter}:\Hot.lnk
- {removable drive letter}:\Movies.lnk
- {removable drive letter}:\My Games.lnk
- {removable drive letter}:\My Pictuers.lnk
- {removable drive letter}:\My Videos.lnk
Each time at Windows startup the Line 0 (File"C:\Google\googleupdate.a3x") error message window will appear because of this worm removed by anti-malware or an antivirus installed in the system. The malicious registry entry created by the malware to auto-start & run itself on every reboot will still be present thus invoking the computer system to display this error on startup.
"googleupdate.a3x" is one of the malicious files dropped by verecno malware and it's the one that will always be displayed during Windows startup.
Please follow the following steps in order to see off a successful verecno malware removal and how to fix googleupdate error:
- Press Win+r, type regedit and enter.
- Now press ctrl+f, type googleupdate.lnk and hit find.
- Windows registry search and show detect entries under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run path just delete it and hit find to found next.
- Similarly search with autoit3.exe, windowsupdate.lnk, googleupdate.a3x
- And delete each found.
