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Is there any program in Windows that would notify me when some program that I have installed can be updated or upgraded because a new version has been released?
pupeno
Posted 2009-08-23T14:35:36.830
Reputation: 8 223
Maintain all programs up to date on Windows?
Answers
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Filehippo has a version checker.
They seem to maintain their own database for program versions, how reliable that might now be.
TFM
Posted 2009-08-23T14:35:36.830
Reputation: 4 243
2I personally just got the exe version from them, with no installer or anything resident in memory. I just launch it occasionally. So it's not completely automatic, but it satisfies my need for constant upgrades. – Noam Gal – 2009-08-23T14:50:31.717
Of course, this only supports applications via FileHippo... – Rowland Shaw – 2009-08-23T14:51:50.120
Well, one can check the list of applications on their webpage, or alternatively, run the version checker software, and see if it's worth the effort. – TFM – 2009-08-23T14:55:42.017
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In short, not for every piece of software.
To achieve this, you'd need to have every vendor support some kind of open interface for notifying of updates. Some of the the larger vendors have solutions that capture all updates for their software (like Windows Update, and Adobe Updater) but at present, there isn't a solution for all vendors in a single place
Rowland Shaw
Posted 2009-08-23T14:35:36.830
Reputation: 3 607
Well, for Mac OS X there are several directories of software and programs that check your local versions against them. It's not fool-proof but it works quite well. – pupeno – 2009-08-23T14:54:55.543
1They're still not going to cover every application you have – Rowland Shaw – 2009-08-23T15:27:29.427
They surely are not going to cover every application, but with the set I have installed, they'll probably will. Thanks for the answer, I'm checking it now. – pupeno – 2009-08-26T18:50:48.700
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You might want to consider Secunia PSI (http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/). It is free for personal use. It is aimed at security, so it might not be exactly what you were looking for. I have used it and found it to be very comprehensive. In fact it was kind of a pain at first. Once I got everything up to date it was fine though.
railmeat
Posted 2009-08-23T14:35:36.830
Reputation: 181
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You can download FileHippo.com Update Checker
The Update Checker will scan your computer for installed software, check the versions and then send this information to FileHippo.com to see if there are any newer releases. These are then neatly displayed in your browser for you to download.
And the good thing about FileHippo.com is that they make the beta versions available for download that you normally wouldn't find on other download sites.
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Software Updates Monitor does what you want to achieve. It scans the installed programs (from your Programs and Start menu) and checks if their database has an updated version recognized. You can also add custom locations for software if you have something installed which is not recognized automatically or correctly.
The default version of SuMo comes with an optional component "RK" which is something like a IE-toolbar. You can disable it during the install or download the Lite-version of SuMo upfront (use the icon with the stroked graph) if you do not want to install this "Relevant Knowledge".
Kosi2801
Posted 2009-08-23T14:35:36.830
Reputation: 111
I have experience with this and can confirm that it does work well to a certain extent, but somtimes confuses operating systems. – KdgDev – 2009-08-23T16:26:05.050
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You are maybe looking ketarin. It's keeping all your installation packages up-to-date. Artenatively you can try win-get. It's analogue to apt-get for linux, but i think this project is dead already
Mailo Světel
Posted 2009-08-23T14:35:36.830
Reputation: 211
0
Since Windows isn't a linux distro, there isn't such tool ;)
Anyway, even if you don't fully trust it, there are some solutions which does quite a good job in keeping you notified when updates to your software are available.
I recommend update notifier. Keep in mind it doesn't support every little piece of software out there, but it does pretty good job on the most popular once (and some of the less popular).
Moshe
Posted 2009-08-23T14:35:36.830
Reputation: 562
Linux distros still don't fit the bill, as they can't copy with every application... – Rowland Shaw – 2009-08-23T15:26:31.470
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I too (@moshe) have used Cleansofts.org update notifier without problems for the more important programmes. You can ignore software and choose which to download the updates for. They link to their own "checked for viruses etc." downloads. Run auto or manual.
0
There's VersionTracker, and a slew of other programs.
ripper234
Posted 2009-08-23T14:35:36.830
Reputation: 9 293
1If there were such a thing, would you trust it? – Chris W. Rea – 2009-08-23T14:39:51.253
cwrea, why not? – pupeno – 2009-08-23T14:57:01.250
I trust the one I use on Arch Linux and if Microsoft would offer something similar I would definitely use it. – miloshadzic – 2009-08-23T15:11:02.377
@nagnatron Have you not seen Microsoft Update? That will notify updates for their main applications, like Office and Media Player. – Rowland Shaw – 2009-08-23T15:30:43.723
Of course but that is a pretty limited subset of applications that I'm using on Windows. Windows Live, for example, is not updated trough Microsoft Update. – miloshadzic – 2009-08-23T15:50:12.360
Allow me to me elaborate: If a third party tool offered to look for "updates" for all of your installed software, and let's say it also offered to download (and maybe even install) those updates, would you trust it? Let's assume the tool is not from Microsoft. How would you know the source for any given update is genuine, and not a trojan? Wouldn't you also be concerned that a list of all of your installed applications may be sent to a third party? Just some food for thought -- you might not want to use such an app, even if something like that existed. – Chris W. Rea – 2009-08-23T16:18:46.733
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Duplicate: http://superuser.com/questions/2403/keeping-up-to-date-with-updates
– Travis – 2009-08-24T14:58:10.590cwrea: any third party application, not only the software updater, could do that. And I'd be happy if this updater only pointed me to the download page, that's enough. – pupeno – 2009-08-26T18:49:51.573