Best Free Software Update Monitor
It's usually desirable to keep the software installed on your computer up-to-date, but this is very difficult and time-consuming if you have many programs installed. Sometimes software will have automatic updates (such as Adobe Reader, Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird, Skype, iTunes, etc.), but this isn't true of all software. That's where Software Update Monitors (SUMs) are useful. A (sometimes) quick scan of your computer by one of these products will reveal which software is old and needs to be updated.
Secunia's Personal Software Inspector (PSI) is for those of you that are only interested in patching insecure software and do not require the updates that are not security related. It will let you know which programs are patched, which are insecure and which have reached their end-of-life. After it has scanned your PC, it can remain open in the background to keep an eye on any changes you make. It lists all your programs, and provides links to the vendor's homepage, technical details, the installation folder and "Add/Remove Programs". It also allows you to choose between informing you of easy-to-patch program updates only, or all updates. If it detects software that requires patching, it will provide a link to the download page. Unfortunately, it's in release-candidate (RC) stage, but it works well and I would suggest using it to ensure your computer has no security flaws due to out-of-date software.
FileHippo.com's Update Checker (UDC) is the fastest of the three and very easy to use, but detects only a limited number of programs. It scans quickly and takes you to a webpage that provides a list of the programs it detected and links to the FileHippo.com download page for the new software. It also allows you to decide whether or not to view Beta software. Although it's probably the best looking and easiest to use, it's very limited in what it detects. In order to improve its detection rate, you have to add your "Program Files" folder to its custom folder search and force it to evaluate all subfolders. This makes it slower, and it still doesn't detect all software; instead it detects only the software that's available on the FileHippo.com website. The advantage of this is that UDC informs you of software updates (after a scan) as soon as they become available, whereas the other programs occasionally show a delay in detecting updates. I would recommend this program to those of you who mainly use freeware available on FileHippo.com, feel least comfortable around a computer or want to be notified about every update that becomes available.
My favourite program is KC Softwares' Software Update Monitor (SUMo). It's faster than Secunia's PSI and FileHippo.com's UDC because it keeps a record of which software is installed thereby removing the requirement for a hard disk scan. During a normal scan SUMo will search your start menu for a list of programs, while a complete scan checks your "Program Files" folder, yielding more results. SUMo also let's you decide whether or not you want to be notified about Beta software. Another feature that you may or may not like about SUMo is the result you obtain by clicking on the "Update" link for new software. Whereas PSI and the Update Checker take you directly to a download page, SUMo takes you to a webpage with useage statistics about recent versions of the program, and displays the number of users who use each version. Although that may be interesting, there is no direct link to a download page. SUMo's page gives you links to three major download sites' search pages (which sometimes do not work with the information supplied by SUMo) and a link to a Google search for the software. The advantage of SUMo is that it informs you of updates to software that is not limited to security updates (such as PSI) or availablity on FileHippo.com (such as UDC). It also lets you add or remove programs to the list it scans for updates; a fantastic feature not available on any other software update monitor. Unfortunately it seems that some software cannot be added (such as Gimp, LaTeX Editor and Sumatra PDF), but there are few such examples.
This software category is is maintained by volunteer editor Frank Ortmann. Registered site visitors can contact Frank by clicking here.
Personal Software Inspector (PSI)
Website: https://psi.secunia.com/
Download Link: https://psi.secunia.com/
Author: Secunia
Current version: 0.9.0.4 (RC3)
Version date: 16 June 2008
License: Free for personal use
Download file size: 486 KB
Operating systems supported: Windows 2000(SP4)/XP(SP2)/2003/Vista
Additional software required: Latest version of Microsoft Windows Update Agent (WUA)
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable version available: No
Other languages supported: German & Danish
Other information:
- Requries access to Secunia servers (encrypted) via SSL (https://psi.secunia.com:443/)
- Requires access to Microsoft Windows Update servers
Update Checker (UDC)
Website: http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/
Download link: http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/
Author: FileHippo.com
Current version: 1.023 Beta
Version date: 7 July 2008
License: Freeware
Download file size: 149 KB
Operating systems supported: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista
Additional software required: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable Version Available: Yes, available here: http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/
Non-English languages supported: None
Software Update Monitor (SUMo)
Website: http://www.kcsoftwares.com/index.php?sumo
Download link: http://www.kcsoftwares.com/index.php?download
Author: KC Softwares
Current version: 2.3.1.57
Version date: 23 August 2008
License: Freeware
Download file size: 1.20 MB
Operating systems supported: Windows
Additional software required: None
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable version available: No
Other languages supported: Many - see here.
Related Topics:
- Best Free PC Tune-up Utility
- Best Free Program Un-installer
- Best Free Process Viewer
- Best Free Program Scheduler
- Best Free Startup Manager
- Best Free Vista 64 bit Software
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I also have a problem with Secunia on a Vista / Comodo combination - it hangs with "Please wait while Secunia PSI interface is loading". I can't find a contact point for the developers - does anyone know a cure or how can one contact the Secunia developers?
Have you tried support@secunia.com? I have mailed them three times myself, but did not get responses on 2 occasions. The one time I did get a response was when I added that I was the editor of this column. It is a pity they do not reply, I don't see a comment on their website that the free PSI does not have support.
I also have that combination, but the program doesn't hang; the startup however is much slower (15 to 20 seconds) than used to be in RC1 , and I've reported that. No response so far.
SUMo has been updated to v2.0 and take all your remarks into account.
Would you please update your article ?
I recently installed an tested Update Star. It has a very impressive interface and detects all you programs far faster it seems than the others by simply inspecting your Add/Remove Programs list. However, as impressive as this all was and it did find some updates I have yet to install, I seemed to have many programs that were newer than the versions they were aware of. I suspect that this is due to Update Star relying on its users to inform them of software upgrades. Not very useful when the users are either themselves unaware of upgrades, or they are too lazy to update the information.
If the program only inspects the Add/Remove Programs list, than it doesn't detect portable apps. That still makes Secunia #1.
I think this is a new site that looks like Filehippo but the big difference is their program recognizes 95.000 programs - so they say - while Filehippo recognizes only 300... this is a program to have a look in the future.
I recently installed "software informer" and i am not sure if i can trust it. I did search online but couldn't find anything helpful. I was not looking for a software updater but installed it accidentally with free download manager latest. Can anyone tell me anything about this software?
I have tried it and did not particularly like it. Too many false positives. They seem to often label the a program as having an update when, in fact, the new version is a development build that is still far from ready for public use. Rather stick with what I mention above.
http://aroundsap.wordpress.com/2008/06/01/removing-software-hijacker-sof...
Not the best endorsement I've ever seen.
Filehippo's program makes a terrific mess if ones OS it not English. It downloads programs that can't work with what you have already. Update Checker is not an international product. This site should warn people of that...
My OS is not english, and Filehippo is capable of detecting 18 apps. Not sure if my problem is the portable version I'm using. I don't get false positives, so I don't think that qualifies to "terrible mess", maybe you can explain your point. Secunia RC2 on the other and detects 73, which is closer to the truth.
Use Secunia.
I recently came across this article that compares the same SUMs (and some additional ones). It may be worth a look for those that are interested.
Hi
Well that article says that Secunia detected nothing, which is a bit strange. Though from personal experience it uses relatively a lot of resources and had some false positives.
I have yet to receive a false positive with Secunia. The reason it did not detect any updates in the test is that it is only for security updates. If software has no known security issues, Secunia will not inform you of updates even if newer versions are available. It will only inform you of updates if the older software puts your system at risk. UDC and SUMo inform you of any update released.
I agree with frank, that's also my personal experience. I wonder if you have experienced the same problem as I do, when I use Filehippo, it can only detect 18 of 70 possible updates. Most of them are available in Filehippo.
Best Software Updater is a RSS Feed Subscription. You can do it directly from Firefox/IE, no need to install anything and no false positives. Secunia is different though...
I was unable to find Best Software Updater. But I do have the RSS feed for updates to www.freeware-guide.com as one of my RSS feeds on my Firefox Bookmarks Toolbar. It often leads to the discovery of gems of freeware and, of course, updates to software I have installed.
I wasn't saying there's something called "Best Software Updater", but that with RSS, you can find anything you want, e.g., you can subscribe to VMware, Mozilla, Nirsoft... along side with complete DB as Filehippo, PortableApps, Download.com... and that's better than having UC, Radar Sync, or any other software installed in your PC... no installation, no false positives, 100% customizable.
Ah, I see what you mean. You make a good point. I suppose it is a personal thing. Installing something like UDC is easier than setting up RSS feeds for all the software I have installed. By using the feed from Freeware Guide with UDC and occasionally SUMo, I suppose I do both.
Well Frank, like I said I have RSS subscriptions for Filehippo, PortableApps, Download.com AND RSS for individual products like VMware Converter, some Firefox Extensions, Nirsoft apps etc. For me this is not really hard work... but the main thing is that I have a much better 'detection rate' than UDC or Sumo, and no 'false positives', although I must say I also use Secunia for security purposes and sometimes to update.
Please link to the RSS feeds. I can't seem to find them anywhere.
Oh, and Best Software Guide can be found here:
http://www.bestsoftwareguide.com/
The Freeware-Guide website seems to be far more complete than Best Software Guide. The RSS feed I use is http://www.freeware-guide.com/html/updates.xml
OK thanks!
Not mentioned in this article is Software Informer, included with Free Download Manager. It seems most similar to SUMo in its feature list and limitations. I've tried it, and personally don't like it as a large percentage of the results are false positives (i.e., beta versions which I'd rather not display, and incorrect version numbers). Like SUMo, you can't download the listed software directly; the program merely takes you to the program's homepage or directs you to Google.
I'll have to try PSI and see if I like that better.
I tried Software Informer and do not like it. The number of false positives it provides is staggering. Many of the software versions it provides are incorrect, even for popular software such as Thunderbird and iTunes.
However, the interface looks good and it scans your PC very quickly. Still, all the false positives are far too annoying for me to even consider using it. If the programmers can fix that problem, they could have a great program on their hands.
I will still use UDC every day and SUMo from time-to-time.
I wasn't able to get PSI to work, despite being logged in as administrator. The program keeps saying something or other hasn't registered properly.
Are you using Vista? I have a friend who also had a problem with PSI using Vista. I am running XP, so I fortunately do not have that problem.
No, I am using XP. Maybe Spybot is blocking the registry changes, but usually it pops up a window to ask for confirmation.
My firewall is Comodo, and I specifically added the exe file to its list of allowed programs.
Perhaps you should contact the developers. They may be interested to hear of your problem.
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