If you recently installed any Windows Essentials programs such as Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Live Writer, or Live Mail on your computer, you may have noticed a new process running on your system called SeaPort.exe. So what is this process and is it worth worrying about?
Fortunately, seaport.exe is not a virus or malware. This is the Microsoft SeaPort search extension broker process. This process basically loads some configuration files to enhance search capabilities in various Windows programs. This program will also work if you’ve installed the Bing Toolbar in IE.
If you open the Task Manager, you will see the program is running and terminate the process if desired. However, this is only a temporary solution. When you restart your computer, seaport.exe will reappear.
The process description in Windows looks like this:
Discovers, downloads and installs the latest configuration files for Bing Bar. Also provides communication with the server for the Customer Experience Improvement Program. Stopping or disabling this service may prevent you from receiving the latest Bing Bar updates, which could expose your computer to security vulnerabilities or functional glitches in Bing Bar.
It used to be that seaport.exe was just an automatic update tool for Microsoft Search Enhancement, and that might be true if it was installed with Windows Live, however if it was installed with Bing Bar it could prevent the computer from installing the latest updates security for the toolbar.
I recommend leaving this alone if you’ve installed Bing Bar. If you installed Windows Essentials, then there is no need to save the process because it basically runs all the time and consumes resources. Of course, in general it takes up very little space, but it is still an additional process that is not necessary.
Remove SeaPort.exe from your computer
Depending on what you have installed on your system, the procedure for uninstalling seaport.exe may differ. The first method involves disabling the service through the services console. To do this, you first need to see which service is starting the process. It will be either SeaPort or BBUpdate (Bing Bar update).
Step 1. In the Processes tab of Windows Task Manager, right-click the seaport.exe file and select Go to Services.
Step 2: You will go to the Services tab, where you can see the name of the service. In my case it was called BBUpdate. Now click the “Services” button in the lower right corner of the window.
