1. FileHippo Update Checker
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FileHippo
Update Checker is one of my favorite as it is extremely small in size
and very easy to use. After the installation, FileHippo Update Checker
will scan for installed software and send the information to FileHippo
servers to compare the versions of software installed on the PC and
available on FileHippo.com.
It
will then display a list of updates available and the download links to
new updated software. One has to manually download the software and
install it on the computer. FileHippo Update Checker is very good for
those who want to keep an eye on everything that is being updated or
installed.
One
drawback of FileHippo Update Checker is that it does not support all
the new software being released daily but it supports majority of the
popular software. FileHippo Update Checker works on all versions of
Windows but it requires .NET Framework 2.0 or later to be installed.
2. CNet TechTracker
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CNet
TechTracker is from the owners of download.com which is considered to
be a one stop destination for software downloads. Usually the updates to
the software are available on CNet software catalog sooner than other
sites. Another advantage of installing CNet TechTracker is that most of
the software are tested for spyware and malware before being updated.
CNet
TechTracker is the best tool for those who want to have a “set it and
forget it” functionality. One thing to note that while installing this
software updater, it will also install a search toolbar which can be
annoying for many users. You have to be careful while installing
TechTracker and select “I do not accept” when the toolbar offer is made.
3. SUMo
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SUMo
(Software Updates Monitor) is another great software updater which is
easy to use and can automate the software updates process. The biggest
disadvantage of SUMo is with its installation procedure. You have to be
very careful while installing SUMo because it will ask you to install
some useless toolbars and software which you should always decline.
After
the installation, SUMo will give you an option to either open SUMo
settings or automatically detect installed software. After automatic
detection, you have to click on the next button “Check for updates for
your installed software”. The scanning and
updating process is very fast and takes just a few moments to get the
results. You can update the software by selecting it and clicking on the
Get Updates button. You can also select multiple items by using Ctrl
and Shift keys.
SUMo
makes use of different software download sites in order to get the
updates. The download sites include FileForum, Softonic, Download.com,
Softpedia, Snapfiles, FileHippo etc.
Note: The
best way to keep away from bundled software which comes with SUMo is to
download the zipped versions of SUMo instead of the installer.
4. UpdateStar
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UpdateStar
is another popular software updates client. UpdateStar is one of the
first software updater that I started using. The interface of UpdateStar
is not as user friendly as other software updater discussed above.
There are two editions of UpdateStar – free and premium. The premium
edition is paid and is fully automated. You don’t have to touch anything
in order to update the software installed in the system. UpdateStar
premium will automatically update the software and let you know in the
system tray. This feature is not available in the freeware edition of
UpdateStar.
UpdateStar
delivers only major releases of the installed programs making sure that
you always have the stable version of software installed.
5. R-Updater
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R-Updater
is a light weight software updates monitor program which does not take a
lot of resources when running. It is available as an installer as well
in portable edition. R-Updater starts with Windows and keeps on checking
for new versions of installed software every now and then. You can also change the checking schedule in the settings.
The
best feature of R-Updater is that in addition to checking for new
updates, it also offers to download Giveaway of the day software daily.
Going to giveawayoftheday.com and checking for new giveaway daily is hard while R-Updater notifies about the latest giveaways on your desktop.
6. Secunia PSI (Personal Software Inspector)
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Secunia
PSI is another popular automatic software updating solution. When it
comes to security updates and patches, Secunia PSI is the best in the
competition. I’m currently using Secunia PSI 3 beta. With version 3, the
software gets a really simple and user friendly interface. It takes a
few moments to open. You will need to scan your PC for installed
software in order for Secunia PSI to start working. It will also scan
for Windows security updates and let you install the updates from within the program interface.
Overall Secunia PSI is a bit slower than other software updaters but it delivers solid security and software updates.
Other software updaters
The
above mentioned software updaters were the most popular update
monitoring software used by millions of users. There are a few others
worth mentioning. I found all these updating software while researching
for this article.
- Carambis Software Updater – includes multilingual support and a very quick scanning engine with one click scanning option.
- Glarysoft Software Update – informs whenever a new update of a software is available. You can share information and comment on the new software updates.
- RadarSync – automatically download and installs new updates to installed software.
- Appupdater – very similar to Linux apt-get and yum and provides the automated installation and maintenance of installed software.
- Update Notifier – a portable software updater with a watch list feature where you can add programs to your watch list.
- Ketarin – Ketarin keeps the setup packages up to date instead of the installed programs. So if you have a software repository in your computer, Ketarin will keep it up to date.
- Software Informer – lets you find new software according to your needs while keeping the installed software up to date.
- FileREX Update Checker – automatically detects installed apps and then gives download links to the latest versions available.
The
good thing about these software updaters is that usually they do not
conflict with each other. If you want to install multiple software
updater monitoring programs, you can do it without any problems.