Updating programs on a computer is called. Automatic software updates in a minute

Not many people know about this, but new viruses appear every day. And today they are capable of causing such harm to a computer that it would have been difficult to imagine yesterday. Therefore, every user should be aware of the relevance of protecting their operating system. To keep your Windows secure, it needs to be updated regularly. But if the virus has already settled on your PC, check out and download a free antivirus from our catalog.

The importance of Windows updates

If a couple of decades ago Windows 98 was ideal and, as was believed, safe system, then there is no need to talk about it now. Microsoft hasn't released updates for it for a long time. The corporation took a different path, releasing Windows XP, then Vista, later Windows 7, etc. So-called “patches” are regularly issued for them.

The patch represents a specific software package, increasing system security. At the time the operating system is released, it is safe. But every day, hackers all over the world try to find new vulnerabilities and find them; failures unexpected during development appear in the system, leading to various system problems. Installation of scheduled Windows updates in most cases it helps solve these problems.

Windows operating system update

The first step is to enable automatic updates. To do this, you need to go to the “Control Panel” and find the “Windows Update” item in it.

The next window requires configuration. Select “Settings parameters”.

The shield icon with a checkmark has a drop-down list.

It is important that one of the first three points is selected. The best is considered to be an automatic process, which is recommended by the system.
When choosing the last item, you cannot count on 100% security of the OS.

After configuring the update settings, click the “OK” button.

The screenshot shows which updates are important and optional. IN in this example There are 14 important pieces, and 38 unimportant ones.
Important updates should always be installed. The second depending on the wishes of the user (Administrator).

Software update

The user works on the computer and has fun using various programs and games. The problem is that hackers regularly look for holes in installed software. How can this be used against the computer owner?

For example, VLC player can play streaming video and audio. Knowing this, an attacker can attack the port he is using this program. Therefore, very often various software notifies that an update has appeared. Usually the user is prompted to download it. Also on the download site (official website) there is information about bugs fixed in the previous version and apologies in the new one.

SUMo (Software Updates Monitor)

This one is small free utility is able to find all kinds of updates for installed programs on your computer.

The EXE file opens without installation. The program has a Russian-language intuitive clear interface.
Before you start using SUMo, you should understand the settings.

Here you can select the interface language and make some program settings. By default they are set optimally. Nothing needs to be changed here. Points 2 to 4 must be checked. They make it easier for the user to work with the program.
By clicking on the “Automatically find installed applications” button, the program will begin searching for outdated software and updates for it.
In the example, all programs with exclamation point require updating. SUMo indicates available new versions. For example, Winrar 3.71.0.0 can be updated to Winrar 5.31.0.0.

By clicking on the “Update” button, the update process will begin.

You can also run this procedure in another way, which is shown in the screenshot below.

Two ways to increase system security will make the lives of PC users more relaxed and reliable!

Every conscientious software developer monitors errors that users discover during their work and promptly fixes them by releasing updates. If, in addition to corrections, there are no significant changes in the program, then the new version is usually assigned an intermediate number, for example, "5.1.14". This numbering allows the user to decide whether to update the program or not. If the application is stable, it is hardly worth wasting your time searching for and installing a newer interim release. However, when the program closes with an error or conflicts with the hardware, in this case an update is simply necessary. Another reason to regularly monitor updates is the security issue. If the program stores confidential user data (for example, a utility for storing passwords, a browser, an antivirus, or an application for working with systems electronic payments), updates should be made as often as possible. The number of installed applications on a computer can be in the tens or even hundreds. Most of them receive regular updates. And even if you adhere to simple logic and update applications only when necessary, it is not always possible to notice the release of a new version. It's good if the program has a function automatic check updates every time you start or at a specified frequency. But if it is not there, constantly monitoring the release of new versions takes a lot of time, because you need to regularly visit the official website of the program and look for an update in the appropriate section.

In most cases, the developers of a particular program offer to subscribe to the manufacturer's newsletter. This service can be provided on the official website of the program and is offered during its installation process. This option is convenient, but not without its drawbacks. Emails with notifications of this kind are often identified by anti-spam protection as advertising junk, so in order to find the desired letter in the spam folder, you need to waste your time again. In addition, in addition to information about updates, Mailbox You may receive truly useless messages, for example, about the presentation of a new utility or about discounts on purchasing programs. However, there is a simple, but very effective method solving the problem of finding and installing program updates - using special applications to monitor new software versions.

Update Checker 1.032

Developer: FileHippo.com
Distribution size: 154 kb
Spreading: free This project was implemented by the popular online software directory - FileHippo.com. Update Checker is a tiny client that allows you to use the online service of this portal. Update Checker does not have an interface as such - it uses a browser window to display information. In order for the program to run, the Microsoft .NET Framework must be installed on the system. After launching, Update Checker searches the system for a list of installed applications, and then sends a request to the FileHippo.com website. By comparing the versions of programs from the list with those available in the catalog, the service generates a list outdated programs, indicating a download link next to each one. On the page with a list of programs you can see latest version each application, as well as the one installed on the computer. A separate list on the page shows beta versions of popular programs.

SUMo 2.6

Developer: KC Softwares
Distribution size: 1.5 MB
Spreading: free This utility was created by the same developer who made a lot of others useful utilities, including such well-known ones as VideoInspector, KFK, AVIToolbox and others. The somewhat unusual name of the utility - SUMo - is actually an abbreviation and stands for Sofware Updates Monitor. SUMo allows you to search for updates on the Internet both for a single application and for all programs installed on the system. If you need to manually check the availability of an update for a specific utility, just drag its executable EXE file into the working window, then select a new item in the list and select the “Check” command in the program’s context menu. Similarly, you can “open” in the program DLLs and ActiveX files.

SUMo can also scan for installed applications. During the scanning process, data about the number will be collected installed version and compared it with the latest available version. Scanning can be done in two modes - normal and advanced. The second option allows you to more accurately determine the list of installed software, but it will take more time to use. In the list of detected installed software, you can see the current version number and the name of the developer company. If the program detects that the installed application can be updated, the phrase “Update available” will be displayed in the “Update” column of the list of software being checked, and the update number will also be shown.

For clarity, each program in the list is marked with its own icon, which makes it possible, by taking a quick glance at the list of applications, to quickly determine which of them installed utilities updated, for which updating is not necessary, and for which, on the contrary, it is strongly recommended. Downloading updates is not very convenient - in order to download an update, you need to perform several steps. If you select the command in the context menu of the program "Update" or use the button of the same name in the SUMo window, the utility will redirect to the project page, where several links will be generated. Contrary to logic, these are not download links, but search queries, mainly from various large software catalogs. As a result, a somewhat strange picture emerges - Sofware Updates Monitor detects the presence of an update for the application, but the user often has to search for the update distribution package on his own. If the list of installed programs contains some for which you do not need to search for updates, you can create a list of applications prohibited for monitoring.

AppSnap 1.3.3

Developer: Ganesh Viswanathan
Distribution size: 5.2 MB
Spreading: free To monitor new versions of applications, the AppSnap utility accesses its own database. Unfortunately, the number of supported programs is not very large, so it is possible that in the “Installed” section you will not see even half of the software available on your computer. The fact is that the program searches the system only for those applications for which it can show the availability of the latest versions. This is a very big drawback, although, in fairness, it should be noted that the small list of programs for which AppSnap can track updates is well selected. Indeed, it contains the most common utilities - 7-zip, Winamp, Firefox, uTorrent, Opera and other popular programs (several hundred in total).

You can download and install updates directly from the AppSnap window. During the boot process, a process status bar is displayed on the screen.

The developers entrusted users with replenishing the program database. So, so that in subsequent versions the utility can check for an update of a program that is not in the database, " unknown application" must be entered manually by filling out the appropriate form on the official AppSnap website.

UpdateStar Premium 4

Developer: UpdateStar
Distribution size: 4.8 MB
Spreading: shareware The UpdateStar interface is presented in the form of a ribbon with tabs, each of which contains its own settings and tools. The program has multilingual support, including Russian. To make monitoring updates as convenient as possible, the program developers have endowed it with a number of features. Firstly, UpdateStar users will not need to search the Internet for software distributions, since the utility redirects to a page with download links. Secondly, the program has one very convenient function - sorting applications according to different criteria. Among these criteria there is, for example, “Security level”. This parameter is shown as a set of stars and characterizes how relevant it is for this application problem of ensuring data confidentiality. Obviously, for programs with higher priority (with big amount asterisks) you should update first.

By identifying the software installed on a computer and providing information about programs (latest version number, application security rating, etc.), UpdateStar relies on its own online database. Despite the huge number of applications indexed by this utility (about three hundred thousand of all kinds of titles - from graphic editors And antivirus programs to professional packages for application development, engineering design, etc.), during the work process, errors and inaccuracies are possible, which may be associated with erroneous entries in system registry, as well as the fact that the database may not have a record of the found application. But even in this case, UpdateStar allows you to work around the problems. So, for example, a program that the program has not identified can be flagged and a request can be made to the UpdateStar developers about it. After some time, it will already be included in the database for monitoring updates, the volume of which, by the way, is constantly increasing. The accuracy of determining installed applications is quite high, but still, before starting a system scan, it would be a good idea to use the integrated registry cleaning tool. If, as a result of incorrect uninstallation of an application, unnecessary entries remain in the system registry, this tool will allow you to remove them. To be on the safe side, before deleting “junk” entries in the registry, in UpdateStar you can do backup copy deleted data. In this case, if unplanned errors occur, you can import data into the registry, returning to the previous state.

In order to keep track of the release of new versions of programs, it is not at all necessary that they all be installed on this computer. You can check the availability of new releases using a pre-exported list of programs. This list can be saved in UpdateStar's native format or as an HTML file. If, say, the update rating used by a program by default does not coincide with the user's ideas about which programs should be updated first, he can use an additional criterion - his own rating. By setting each program its own priority, you can quickly determine in the future which programs you use should be updated. You need to spend some time compiling your own rating. If you're too lazy to do this, you can simply focus on the average rating of applications, which is determined as the average data about user priorities in UpdateStar. Data statistics about installed applications The program also presents it in the form of a visual diagram. UpdateStar stores update history. In the program, you can view statistics that contain data about the installation time of a particular application.

Once launched, UpdateStar analyzes the system and determines the versions of installed programs. By creating a list of installed software on the "Programs" tab, opposite each application whose version is outdated, the utility generates a link to download a more recent release. After clicking on this link, a browser window will open in which you will be presented detailed information about the selected program - screenshots of the application's working window, a link to the developer's official website, training videos demonstrating the program's capabilities (if any), and, of course, a direct link to download the new version. UpdateStar can automatically download along with the system and allows you to run scheduled update checks. The built-in task scheduler allows you to automatically monitor updates daily, weekly or monthly at a specific time. To download information from the Internet, the program can work with the specified proxy server settings and also use a secure SSL connection.

Conclusion

At first glance, the SUMo program looks the most attractive. It contains all the tools needed to quick search and downloading software updates, while it has a Russian interface and, importantly, is distributed free of charge. However, there is a “fly in the ointment” - inconvenient downloading of discovered new versions of programs. If you close your eyes to the fact that UpdateStar Premium is a commercial product, of all programs for automatic detection updates, a slight advantage remains with her. This is the only program that allows you to monitor application updates in automatic mode Scheduled. Unfortunately, most of UpdateStar's features are only available for the commercial Premium version. For example, the free version does not have a registry cleaner, there is no ability to create a list of programs, updates for applications are shown only the most significant, and checking for new versions occurs much less frequently. And yet, even free version UpdateStar can make a lot of people's work easier. As for AppSnap, this program can only be useful for a collection of “emergency” flash drives. Some users believe that installing new version The program is not worth it if the previous release works without problems and is satisfactory in all respects. This definitely makes sense, because, as mentioned above, most intermediate versions do not contain fundamental changes, but only eliminate inaccuracies in the application. Well, as for whether to install a new release or not, everyone must decide for themselves. The main thing is to remember: “new” does not mean “better”.

Updating programs is one of the most important procedures that must be performed on a computer. Unfortunately, many users neglect to install updates, especially since certain software can handle this on their own. But in a number of other cases, you should go to the developer’s website to download the installation file. Today we'll look at how you can easily and quickly update the software on your computer using UpdateStar.

UpdateStar is an effective solution for installing new versions of software, drivers and Windows components or, more simply put, updating installed software. Using this tool, you can almost completely automate the process of updating programs, which will allow you to achieve the best performance and security of your computer.

How to update programs with UpdateStar?

1. Download installation file and install it on your computer.

2. At the first launch, a thorough system scan will be carried out, during which the installed software and the availability of updates for it will be determined.

3. Once the scan is completed, a report of the software updates found will be displayed on your screen. A separate item displays the number of important updates that should be updated first.

4. Click the button "List of programs" to display a list of all software installed on your computer. By default, all software that will be checked for updates will be checked. If you uncheck those programs that should not be updated, UpdateStar will stop paying attention to them.

5. A program that requires an update is marked with a red exclamation point. Slightly to the right of it there are two buttons "Download" . Clicking on the left button will redirect you to the UpdateStar website, where you can download the update for the selected product, and clicking on right button“Download” will immediately begin downloading the installation file to your computer.

6. Run the downloaded installation file to update the program. Do the same with everything installed. software, drivers and other components that require updates.

Surely you have not one program installed on your computer, but dozens. And it’s no secret that they also need to be updated periodically. Why do this?!

And you need to do this:

• To use new features in updated programs. It is true that the development of software and computers does not stand still. They develop and become better, and this is realized through new versions of the software.
• To better protect your computer from hacker attacks. Hackers exploit vulnerabilities in old, not updated programs. The same viruses exploit similar vulnerabilities. And the more popular and widespread the software, the higher the likelihood that its vulnerabilities will be exploited. The same developers of famous browsers spend millions of dollars to close holes in their programs.
• To fix existing software problems. Developers constantly monitor the operation of their programs on people’s computers and, through updates, eliminate errors in their operation. There are a lot of different programs installed on the computer that constantly interact with each other. And as a result of such interaction, problems may arise, and the developer must eliminate them in each subsequent version.

These are the main reasons: “Why you need to update the software for your computer.”

Most programs for automatically updating programs work according to two principles:

• You are launching a program. It finds updates for your software and provides download links from official sites. This is the safest and most reliable option. Because you download new versions from the official website.
• The program itself downloads updates for you and installs them. This is already much more convenient than the first option, but there can often be problems. Special program to automatically update programs, it may not correctly determine the version of your program, and in the end you will, at best, download and try to install old version, and in the worst case, an attempt will be made to install versions not designed for your Windows version. Therefore, you should always be very careful with such software.

Similar software is also divided into two groups:

• update regular programs. That is, they search for and install updates for simple applications, which run from Windows. This could be software for calls via the Internet, browsers, and so on. These include: Secunia Personal Software Inspector, arambis Software Updater and UpdateStar.
• For example, drivers for various devices, which are located inside the computer ( motherboard, processor, video card, and so on) or connected from outside (media player, Bluetooth adapter, and so on). This software requires more caution, since any errors in its operation or use of it can lead to a crash on the computer. These are programs such as ASUS BIOS Live Update.
• update the operating system. That is, they will help you correctly update, for example, Windows XP to Windows 7. And here, again, before working with such software, it is important to do this. These are programs such as Paragon System Upgrade Utilities 2010 Free Edition.

Programs for automatic software updates (just click on its name to go to the analysis and then download it): It is appreciated for its excellent BIOS update; for reducing the computer startup time. She is valued for her developer experience; for free. She is valued because she is useful; for improving computer protection against viruses and other threats; for availability large quantity professional awards; for excellent work year after year.