Update Notifier Finds Newer Versions Of Windows Apps

@brianary: I've tried a few of them, this one and file hippo seem to be the best but this one recognized a lot more of my software. There is still no windows app the provides an equivalent experience to that of linux. This could possibly make a good HIVE FIVE.

It's saying there is a Firefox 3.0.9, but Mozilla's site shows the current version is 3.0.8.

Khristopher Ranger

@Saad Baig: I second FileHippo Updater

lbrtdy

Check out Sumo also:
[www.kcsoftwares.com]

I like a lot more than filehippo.

mjm01010101

I tried all of these update notifying apps and imho it's save to say that SUMo is the only one that comes even close to be a decent app. http://kcsoftwares.com/index.php?sumo

GianinaCatilina

I think it would be great if Fileforum or MajorGeeks had a program like that. FileHippo seems behind on the times. Right now for example, they're still showing FF 3.08.

I use SUMo primarily, Secunia PSI occasionally. The problem with SUMo is its database relies on human updates, and a lot of bogus or mistaken entries get in. It also doesn't separate payware from freeware, so it will keep reminding you to update to, say NAV 2009 when your 2008 is perfectly fine, and you have to set those to IGNORE.

I've read everyone's comments and decided to try the FileHippo one. That is pretty slick. Found updates to stuff I didn't remember even installing.. lol.

@[www.innovative-sol.com]

pointyblue

@[www.innovative-sol.com]

It's free and will tell you when new drivers are available and help you download and install them. Very, very cool app.

pointyblue

@chiieddy: It's probably just Lifehacker'd - try later. ;)

pointyblue

@SutapaHornet: Agree. I'm running Vista/Xubuntu dualboot and one of the *buntu features I really like is the automatic package update. MS should steal this feature.

pointyblue

Filehippo does the job.

Dina Dimopoulos

I use filehippo's update checker but I have this one too, they are all pretty much the same except they all seem to find different things. There is one called Sumo which is also pretty good. I think I like filehippo's the best tho.

@Merijn Bellekom: So Update Notifier or FileHippo Updater?!?! I want the best one

I don't update unless there's major security vulnerabilities and I have time to fix whatever program it is if it borks the install. Haven't had near as many computer problems since I started doing this.

ddthesm

I use FileHippo Update Checker.

wiedzmin

I concur. FileHippo works great. I don't see any reason to change.

What do you recommend to use to automatically check for hardware updates (drivers)?

Thanks

jpzsports

@Sopor42:

Wow. You must be the first person on Lifehacker to jump into a discussion about a Windows utility and remark that *nix does it natively. Way to add to the discussion.

Robert Stevens

Try SUMo. I use it to find updates that FileHippo misses. roybowls

MaribelPelops

@Sopor42: Yes, but Windows has a much larger library of software, little of it open source, and a lot of it not free. To create a huge repo, ala Linux, would be a massive undertaking, it's only really possible because of Linux's open source nature.

I've just gotten back into linux, and the sheer power of apt-get is impressing me. This is going straight into my utilities folder.

(The one thing that REALLY impressed me was typing "sudo apt-get install IRC", and being given a list of IRC clients, of which I chose ircII, downloaded it, and opened it. Windows has nothing that slick, which is an absolute bummer for setting up a new system :/)

@xxdesmus: +1 for FileHippo Update Checker

HildaHippolyta

@brianary:

Well it looks a lot better than appsnap or app-get. And when are things ever centralized and native on windows? =)

Some time ago I found the Personal Software Inspector from Secunia. It's more security-oriented. It scans your PC and lists programs that have possible security issues and, which is good, proposes a solution (usually a link to a new version) http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

LaneGoolay

So why is this better than AppUpdater, win-get, app-get, UpdateStar, AppSnap, filehippo.com Update Checker, Secunia Personal Software Inspector, and others?

It seems like Windows needs a centralized native updater if this concept is going to work.

brianary

I'm not sure if I want to install apps from a software company that can't maintain their website. I'll stick with the FileHippo Update Checker for now.

Pomodoro

The 'portable install' isn't very portable... it keeps all its data files in the user profile folder on the computer, instead of the USB drive...

Drakkim

I'm not sure if I can trust to download and use the apps from a software company that can't maintain their website.

SadhikaFelange

@Sopor42:

Strange, that Windows 7 doesn't seem to have this capability either...

Kashell

Site is down due to the Lifehacker Effect.

Guess I'll give it a try later.

Seriously though, I've been looking for something like this. I have a ton of applications installed, and it's a royal pain to keep them updated (I'm very anal about that).

TheShadesOfGrey

Is there anyone that knows of a server based solution for something like this? (I know there are some, but they're quite expensive and charge per pc that you want to update. I'm looking for something like WSUS that can do other apps... Anything?

ComputerCarl

@LeithMonkey: thanks

Ahh, so another add-on Windows app to do something that Ubuntu does natively ;-)

Don't get me wrong, this is a good idea! Just think it's humorous that Ubuntu and other Linux distros already have this built in.

Sopor42

Just found this overview yesterday:
[www.techsupportalert.com]

Might be worth a look.

Wenrod

@Merijn Bellekom: same here! And with file hipp, the app itself is portable, not just the programs (and that suits me perfectly).

JacquelineToad

Not bad I'll give it a try. But my bigger concern is driver updates, not software. What's a good freeware solution for some kind of driver update notifer?

Kyusaku

Doesn't seem to work behind a proxy?

well the website was down, but i gave filehippo update checker a shot. very quick and easy to find and download all of my updates.

Network Timeout,Ouch can't hold the load.

I have been using FileHippo Update Checker and am quite pleased

gpzbc

Everytime I try to run the program, it lets me know that the connection is busy. Apparently it's not ready for many users.

@Merijn Bellekom: Same. Had no problems with FileHippo's Update Checker. No real compelling reason to change.

AppSnap can do this; it has a pretty long list of supported apps and the author will add apps on request.

Update Notifier: For people who think that the constant harassment from their software to update isn't enough already.

Brendt Waters

I've been wishing for a program like this for decades! Does it support automatic MD5 cheksums etc.? Also this kind of thing should be built into Windows Update.

SutapaHornet

Check out Software Informer if you're looking for another option. I've been using it for quite a while now and like it. Does have some trouble handling beta versions of software, and sometimes shows new updates when there aren't any, but it's pretty nice anyway.

[software.informer.com]

I've been using the FileHippo.com Update Checker for this with very satisfactory results. It may not have this much features but it works fine.

[www.filehippo.com]

Merijn Bellekom

I just use the filehippo app, but most update themselves constantly these days.

YarkonaSulla

@Saad Baig: How about this for a reason to try Update Notifier: I just ran both it and FileHippo. Update Notifier found 17 updates, and FileHippo found two.

mljones1947

@Khristopher Ranger: Check for updates on Firefox's Help menu shows 3.0.9 is available.

mljones1947

@Khristopher Ranger: Check for updates on Firefox's Help menu shows 3.0.9 is available.

mljones1947

I can't understand people's reluctance to try something new. Sometimes the new alternative is worth testing: Update Notifier just found 17 updates while FileHippo found two. Not even close!

mljones1947

I can't understand people's reluctance to try something new. Sometimes the new alternative is worth testing: Update Notifier just found 17 updates while FileHippo found two. Not even close!

mljones1947

@Brendt Waters: That's what I was thinking. I have enough trouble finding updater tasks running on my computer without getting another one. I hate those things :(

Natnie

@Merijn Bellekom: I keep almost all my apps on a non-boot partition. Filehippo's app only checks for apps on the boot. Duh! I emailed them, no reply. Just tried this, and it found a ton of stuff. Nice config options too.

Beldar

@mljones1947: hey thats enough for me!

@Drakkim: Which makes sense, since its main goal is to update installed software - having data from another system would not be very helpful. Still, it would be nice if you could specify the location (say, if there's a file called portable.ini in the same directory as the app, it will prompt upon starting for the location of data files).

What's worse is that it's not finding any of my portable applications, anyway. It appears that it can only look for .exe files in the top level of whatever folder you specify, which is pretty useless. It really just needs to dig down one more stinking level for me.

@GianinaCatilina: I agree. SUMo is by far the best. I have several hundred portable applications. FileHippos's tool finds a total of 50 apps (installed and portable), this UpdateNotifier finds 53; SUMo finds 778!! (granted some of those are duplicates - several executables for an application each get flagged as that app, some apps include a copy of 7z.exe, etc.)

The others (AppSnap, AppUpdater, and others) are all unsatisfactory, buggy, or nearly as limited as the aforementioned two.

Just tried this app and it worked like a treat, and finds more updates than File Hippo.

However, when I used the download link from CleanSofts site for the newest version of Lingoes avast told me there was a sign of Win32:Trojan-gen in the d/l. Tried again from the original site with no such message.

No idea whether it was a false positive, but I quarantined it anyway. Anyone else had something like this?

@Phoshi: I don't think it matters which OS has the "slicker" way to get or update software. The apps on the Windows end are better generally. And it's worth a little extra pointing and clicking and looking around to find them. In the Ubuntu/Debian repos, all I see is vastness in quanity, but the calibre of software isn't there. There are exceptions of course, but they're not the rule. Point being, sudo apt-get doesn't mean a lot if you can't sudo apt-get the good stuff. I'm reminded of thrift stores, bargain bins, grab n run sales. Sure, there's lots there but quantity is the only real attraction, and even that novalty wears off soon enough.

paintbox

@mljones1947: Same story here. Update Notifier found 19 and FileHippo found 1. That was always my disappointment with the FileHippo app. There are programs a few programs (though I can't think of them now) that don't get flagged for an update even though they're downloadable from FileHippo. Plus, some progs I have just aren't on FileHippo.

jfairley

@Beldar: Not true, you can go into Settings and Custom Locations to add more locations.