在Windows(Windows)的早期，操作系统(operating system)通常是大多数恶意软件创建者的直接目标。在此过程中，微软(Microsoft)通过尽可能及时地为用户创建和交付安全补丁，在强化操作系统(operating system)方面做了大量工作。今天(Today)，Windows变得越来越安全，因此它迫使恶意软件创建者将注意力转移到寻找和使用流行Windows的漏洞上。(Windows)应用程序。因此，如果您想获得安全的计算体验，那么让所有已安装的应用程序保持最新就变得非常重要。那么，是否有一个应用程序可以自动搜索所有可用更新？我们的分析旨在回答这个问题，并向(question and show)您展示哪些工具适合这一特定任务。
我们测试的软件更新检查器(Software Update Checkers)
尽管有很多可用的选项，但我们还是尽力选择了一个组合，其中包括这个特定领域中流行和高效的程序。我们最终测试了以下工具：Appupdater 2.2、FileHippo App Manager 2.0、Ninite 4.5.2、Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) 3.0、Software Informer Client 1.4、Software Update Monitor (SUMo) 3.14和Heimdal Free 1.10.3。
我们用于测试的应用程序(Applications)
为了测试旨在使我们的应用程序保持最新的产品的有效性，我们选择了用于最常见计算任务的流行软件组合：7-Zip 9.20（64位(Bit)版本）、Adobe Reader 10.1.0、Adobe Flash Player 17.0.0.188、CCleaner 4.19.4867、Oracle Java 7.0.79（64位(Bit)）、VLC 2.1.0（32 位）、K-Lite Codec Pack Full 10.90、Adobe Shockwave Player 12.0.9.149、Mozilla Thunderbird 37.0 beta 1、PDFCreator 1.7.3、Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.5、Ashampoo Burning Studio 12.0.5, MiniTool 分区向导家庭版 8.11(MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition 8.11) , FileZilla 3.10.3 , Mozilla Firefox 38.0.5 , LibreOffice 4.4.2.2和VirtualBox 4.3.26。
如您所见，我们用于此测试的版本并不是每个应用程序可用的最新版本。
我们确保包含一些适用于 Windows 的最易受攻击的软件：Adobe Reader、Adobe Flash Player、Adobe Shockwave Player和Oracle Java。软件更新监视器(Software Update Monitors)( SUM(SUMs) )的有用性通过以下事实得到证明：它们有助于使恶意软件创建者和分发者经常作为目标的应用程序保持最新，从而提供更安全的系统。
测试程序
首先，我们安装了所有用于测试的应用程序，当然还有我们即将测试的应用程序。在采取任何其他行动之前，我们创建了一个系统还原点(system restore point)，以确保我们可以在必要时恢复我们的系统。
每个应用程序都使用以下标准进行评估：
- 对于我们用于测试的软件，每个监控程序(monitoring program)检测到了多少应用程序更新。
- 为我们在上一节中提到的 4 个最易受攻击的 Windows 程序检测到的每个测试程序有多少应用程序更新。
- 如果监控程序能够在Windows 启动(Windows Startup)期间运行并自动扫描更新。
- 如果我们测试的程序能够自动下载他们确定的更新。
- 如果他们能够自动安装他们刚刚确定的更新。
- 如果他们允许用户添加自定义位置以扫描已安装的应用程序。
需要事先(Beforehand)考虑的重要信息
我们的测试揭示了有关这些应用程序如何执行的一些重要事实：
- 检查更新是针对每个程序的开发人员正在积极维护的程序列表进行的。持续更新此列表需要付出很多努力。这意味着没有程序能够检测到您在计算机上安装的所有应用程序的更新。
- 理论上，如果一个程序是由一个大型网站提供的，几乎所有你能想到的软件都有下载，那么它的更新检测率(detection rate)应该是最高的。然而，这并非总是如此。
- 大多数供应商会尝试通过将不需要的软件（例如工具栏）与他们的安装程序捆绑在一起，或者让您从包含大量广告的网站下载更新来通过他们的应用程序获利。因此，在安装过程中(installation process)注意非常重要。
- 大多数程序只能通知您可用的更新。很少有自动下载和安装更新的功能。
- 没有免费的应用程序能够为所有应用程序自动安装更新。总会有您需要手动安装的例外情况。需要手动更新安装的应用程序的最常见示例是Adobe Reader。
- 选择进行自动安装更新（在提供此功能的应用程序中），请注意您允许的应用程序。您将使用默认选项进行静默安装。这意味着您可以在计算机上安装其他不需要的软件以及更新。最好将此功能仅用于不捆绑您不想要的东西的应用程序。
应用更新程序
Appupdater - 是一个由爱好者维护的个人项目。为了让一个人可以管理事情，Appupdater使用一小部分免费应用程序(small list of free applications)来跟踪更新。Appupdater将简单地忽略上述列表中未包含的任何内容。如果您碰巧使用了它跟踪的许多应用程序，那么该程序是一个合理的选择，因为它支持自动下载和安装(download and installation)更新。不过，请小心，因为自动安装仅适用于某些应用程序。正如我们已经提到的，如果您尝试更新Adobe Reader，您需要在下载完成后进行手动安装应用更新程序(Appupdater)。
我们发现令人担忧的一个方面是Appupdater的结果很弱，即使对于包含在其监视列表中的某些应用程序也是如此。例如，它无法检测到 7-Zip、Java、Thunderbird和VLC的更新，即使在支持(Supported Applications)的应用程序的官方列表中找到了这些应用程序。
FileHippo AppManager
FileHippo App Manager是一款小巧轻便的应用程序。它基于旧程序FileHippo Update Checker，但与旧版本不同的是，Appmanager将为您处理下载和安装。它检测到我们安装的几乎所有软件的更新，并且似乎与FileHippo的应用程序数据库(application database)连接得很好。此外，我们非常感谢它为所有更易受攻击的Windows应用程序提供更新。
使其脱颖而出的其他特征是：它可以显示可用于您的应用程序的测试版，允许您添加自定义位置以扫描程序和更新，可以安排在给定时间进行每日扫描，并且可以设置为当没有找到更新时关闭自身，从而释放它使用的少数资源。
海姆达尔免费
Heimdal Free是一款出色的应用程序，旨在让您的在线体验更加安全。它是Heimdal Pro 软件(Heimdal Pro software)的免费版本。它将扫描您的计算机以查找具有已知安全漏洞的第三方应用程序，并自动将这些程序更新到最新版本。可以在此处找到有关此程序及其所有版本的更多详细信息：所有人(Everyone)的安全性- 审查Heimdal Pro。
尼特
Ninite Updater Free是检查软件更新的简单解决方案。由于我们试图谈论监控软件更新的免费解决方案，因此我们不会谈论Ninite Updater的完整版。因此，要使用免费的Ninite服务，您必须前往官方网页(official webpage)，选择您想要保持最新的应用程序并下载根据您的选择创建的特殊“.exe”文件。(".exe")然后，您需要做的就是不时运行下载的文件，它会自动检测新的更新，并为您安装它们。
Ninite的一个重要功能是它会自动下载所有应用程序并在您打开它时将它们静默安装到您的计算机上。为了使事情更简单，还可以创建一个每周运行一次此文件的计划任务。它检测到我们用于测试的大部分应用程序的更新，包括 3 个最易受攻击的应用程序。
不利之处在于，如果您开始使用其数据库中的其他应用程序，则需要下载一个新文件，该文件将搜索先前应用程序和新应用程序的更新。此外，如果您不再使用某个应用程序并且已将其卸载，则当您运行相同的Ninite可执行文件时，它将再次将其安装到您的计算机上（因此您再次需要一个新文件）。此外，我们无法取消某些更新的下载和安装(download and installation)，这很烦人，因为整个更新过程都会被取消。我们会发现Ninite(Ninite)包含取消某些更新的机会非常有用，而无需停止其他更新的下载过程(downloading process)。
Secunia 个人软件检查员(Secunia Personal Software Inspector)( PSI )
Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI)是一个非常注重安全性的程序。因此(Therefore)，与我测试的其他程序不同，它会查找您(updates)计算机的某些驱动程序、运行时（例如Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables ）的更新，并评估您的Windows 更新(updates)的状态。它的扫描过程是所有过程中最长的，但在它结束时，您将收到一个有用的视图，了解您的系统如何使用最新的安全补丁。
您还可以将您的结果与Secunia 用户社区(user community)的平均分数进行比较。由于专注于安全性，Secunia选择监控重要更新，主要针对被认为安全性较低或通常被恶意软件攻击的软件。结果，它检测到的更新不到我们安装的应用程序的一半。但是，它涵盖了我们测试得很好的四个最易受攻击的应用程序。
我们测试的Secunia PSI版本提供驱动程序或Windows更新以及常规应用程序的自动下载和安装。(download and installs)关于自定义扫描位置，您只能选择您希望该工具扫描的额外分区和驱动器。您不能添加特定文件夹。这大大延长了扫描时间。
软件线人客户端
Software Informer Client是一种更新监控工具(monitoring tool)，可用于使您的软件和驱动程序(software and drivers)保持最新。它检测到大量应用程序更新，但错过了最易受攻击的Windows应用程序之一——Adobe Flash Player。该程序随着时间的推移得到了显着改进，当前版本可以很好地为您管理下载和安装更新。(downloading and installing updates)您可以从Software Informer(Software Informer)中卸载程序，而且您可以选择非常轻松地忽略某些更新。
配置选项很少：如果您对 beta 版本感兴趣，是否希望它在启动时运行，或者它应该多久检查一次更新。尽管如此，还是有一些有趣的功能可用，例如，您可以将此程序用作应用程序启动器(application launcher)。此外，基于Software Informer 的(Software Informer's)大型在线社区(online community)，一个很棒的功能是您可以查看（和撰写）软件评论、阅读文章并获得其他用户对任何单个程序的支持。此功能的绝妙之处在于您无需注册帐户即可参与。当Software Informer时，您将自动收到一个访客帐户(guest account)是第一次在您的计算机上运行。它已经不仅仅是一个更新检查器，现在它是一个相当可靠的软件管理器(software manager)和免费支持系统(support system)。该程序的唯一缺点是它有时会通知您实际上不可用的更新。
软件更新监视器 (SUMo)
软件更新监视器 (SUMo)(Software Update Monitor (SUMo))有积极推广其捆绑软件的历史。尽管如此，这个政策似乎已经缓和下来了，现在，如果你在安装它时非常注意，你可以简单地选择不让它安装任何其他软件。该程序的旧版本和名为Relevant Knowledge的不需要的软件的问题似乎已经解决，您现在可以安装SUMo而不会感到头疼。
撇开安装过程(installation process)不谈，SUMo在检测可用的应用程序更新方面做得非常好。该程序随着时间的推移不断更新，现在它的检测率(detection rate)有所提高。因此，它识别了我们用于测试的 17 个应用程序中的 16 个；它还确定了我们正在测试的其他软件更新监视器的更新。最重要的是，SUMo能够识别所有 4 个最易受攻击的Windows应用程序的更新。我们仍然不明白的是，这个应用程序是唯一一个没有真正提供下载页面或下载链接(download page or download link)的应用程序。点击获取更新(Get Update)按钮将您带到一个充满广告的页面和一些指向其他网站的链接，您可以在其中搜索和下载您需要的程序。或者，它允许您进行识别下载页面的(download page)Google 搜索(Google search)。这对用户没有任何价值，使更新过程比应有的时间长得多，而且确实令人沮丧。
最好的免费软件更新监视器(Best Free Software Update Monitor)
我们知道我们的读者喜欢一种简单的方法来理解这些测试的结果。所以，这里有一个概述给你……
从一开始，我们就必须告诉你，我们测试的 7 款免费软件更新工具中没有一个可以被认为是完美的。我们测试的所有应用程序都可以定期扫描您的系统以获取可用更新，并提供快速下载和安装它们的方法。此外，使用软件更新监视器(Software Update Monitor)将允许您关闭单个程序的内置更新程序并拥有集中的更新管理解决方案(management solution)。不幸的是，我们没有一个万能的答案，所以这一切都取决于你想从这些程序中得到什么：
- Ninite提供了让您的软件保持最新并具有合理检测水平的最无点击体验。当然，如果您使用其数据库中包含的许多应用程序并且您不介意将特殊的.exe文件作为计划任务运行，这是一个很好的解决方案。您还可以选择为独立应用程序(standalone application)付费，该应用程序将提供全面支持并能够在Windows 启动(Windows startup)时运行。
- 如果您主要对安全感兴趣并确保您的系统已针对最新发现的威胁进行了修补，我们建议您尝试使用Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI)。这个免费的软件更新工具主要关注与安全相关的补丁。它对4 个最易受攻击的Windows 应用程序(Windows apps)具有很高的检测率(detection rate)，它将确保您的操作系统没有因(operating system)Windows 软件(Windows software)过时而造成的安全漏洞。不幸的是，它将为少数第三方程序提供更新（我们列表中只有一个）。
- 在我们测试的所有应用程序中，检测率(detection rate)最高的可归因于软件更新监视器 (SUMo)(Software Update Monitor (SUMo))。但是，不幸的是，这就是这个软件更新检查器的所有好处。首先(First)，您必须非常小心如何安装它，因为这是您能够停止安装与其捆绑的不需要的软件的唯一方法。此外，SUMo不提供可用更新的直接下载链接或下载页面，这种情况会大大增加每次特定更新所需的时间。您将被引导至SUMo(SUMo's)杂乱无章的网站，该网站只会促进搜索更新。
- 最后，如果您正在寻找一款轻便、快速且易于使用的应用程序，可以让您对更新有很好的控制，并且没有烦人的广告或广告软件，我们建议您使用FileHippo 应用程序管理器(FileHippo App Manager)。由于不断增长的在线软件数据库(software database)、界面的开发以及下载和安装(download and installation)的自动化过程，它具有更高的检测率(detection rate)和高可靠性。因此，我们非常喜欢它和它的普遍友好性，我们将在我们的大多数计算机上使用它，因为它也与Windows 10兼容。
注意：(NOTE:)在我们结束此分析之前，我们必须向您解释更新的软件可能与您最初安装的版本具有不同的行为。此外，在某些情况下，更新存在使安装不安全的错误。如果您有任何问题，请尝试在Internet 上搜索(Internet search)升级本身以及是否存在任何已知问题。
结论
正如我们已经说过的，完美的软件是不存在的。因此，我们希望那些正在搜索更新检查器的人能够在上面的列表中找到帮助。此外，在您离开此页面之前，我们希望您通过评论表分享 - 您更喜欢哪种软件更新检查器，为什么？
The Best Tools To Check For Software Updates
Dυring the early days of Windows, the operatіng sуstem was usually the direct target of mоst malware creators. Along thе way, Microsoft has worked a lot on hardening the operating system by creating and delivering security patches to its uѕers in as timely a manner they possibly could. Today, Wіndows is becoming more and more secure and thereforе it forces malware creators to shift their focus оn finding and using vulnerabilitіes for popular Windows applicatiоns. As such, it becomes very important to keeр all yoυr installed applications up-to-date if you wаnt to have a securе computing experience. So, is there a singlе app that can automaticаlly search for all the available updates? Our analysis aims to аnswеr this question and show you which tоols are good for this particular task.
The Software Update Checkers We Tested
Even though there are plenty of options available, we tried our best to pick a mix that includes both popular and efficient programs in this particular niche. We ended up testing the following tools: Appupdater 2.2, FileHippo App Manager 2.0, Ninite 4.5.2, Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) 3.0, Software Informer Client 1.4, Software Update Monitor (SUMo) 3.14 and Heimdal Free 1.10.3.
The Applications We Used For Testing
In order to test the effectiveness of the products that are meant to keep our applications up-to-date, we chose a mix of popular software used for the most common computing tasks: 7-Zip 9.20 (64-Bit edition), Adobe Reader 10.1.0, Adobe Flash Player 17.0.0.188, CCleaner 4.19.4867, Oracle Java 7.0.79 (64 Bit), VLC 2.1.0 (32 bit), K-Lite Codec Pack Full 10.90, Adobe Shockwave Player 12.0.9.149, Mozilla Thunderbird 37.0 beta 1, PDFCreator 1.7.3, Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.5, Ashampoo Burning Studio 12.0.5, MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition 8.11, FileZilla 3.10.3, Mozilla Firefox 38.0.5, LibreOffice 4.4.2.2 and VirtualBox 4.3.26.
As you can see, the versions we used for this test are not the latest ones available for each of these applications.
We made sure to include some of the most vulnerable software for Windows: Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Shockwave Player, and Oracle Java. The usefulness of Software Update Monitors (SUMs) is proven by the fact that they help in keeping applications which are frequent targets for malware creators and distributors up-to-date and thus provide a more secure system.
The Testing Procedure
First, we installed all the applications used for testing and, of course, the applications which we were about to test. Before taking any other action, we created a system restore point, to make sure we could revert back our system when it was necessary.
Each of the applications was evaluated by using the following criteria:
- How many application updates were detected by each monitoring program for the software we used for testing.
- How many application updates each of the tested programs detected for the 4 most vulnerable Windows programs we mentioned in the previous section.
- If the monitoring programs are able to run during Windows Startup and scan automatically for updates.
- If the programs we tested are able to do automated downloads of the updates they identified.
- If they are able to automatically install the updates they have just identified.
- If they allow the user to add custom locations to scan for installed applications.
Important Information To Be Considered Beforehand
Our tests revealed some important facts about how these applications perform:
- Checking for updates is done against a list of programs that is being actively maintained by the developers of each program. Updating this list on a continuous basis involves a lot of effort. This means that there is no program able to detect updates for all the applications you have installed on your computer.
- In theory, if a program is provided by a large website with downloads for almost every piece of software you can think of, it should have the biggest update detection rate. However, this is not always the case.
- Most vendors will try to monetize their applications either by bundling unwanted software (such as toolbars) with their setup programs or by making you download updates from websites with lots of ads. Therefore, it is very important that you pay attention during the installation process.
- Most programs can only notify you of available updates. Very few have features for downloading and installing updates automatically.
- No free application is able to automatically install updates for all applications. There will always be exceptions for which you need to do manual installations. The most common example of an application requiring manual update installations is Adobe Reader.
- When choosing to do automated installations of updates (in the applications that provide this feature), pay attention to the applications for which you allow this. You will get silent installations using the default options. This means that you can get additional unwanted software installed on your computer, together with the update. It is best to use this feature only for applications which do not bundle things you do not want.
Appupdater
Appupdater - is a personal project maintained by an enthusiast. In order to keep things manageable for a single person, Appupdater uses a small list of free applications to keep track of updates. Anything that is not included in the above-mentioned list will simply be ignored by Appupdater. If you happen to use many of the applications it keeps track of, this program is a reasonable choice as it provides support for automated download and installation of updates. Still, be careful because the automated installation works only for some applications. As we have already mentioned, if you are trying to update Adobe Reader, you need to do a manual installation, after the download is completed by Appupdater.
One aspect we found worrying is that Appupdater had weak results even for some applications included in its watchlist. For example, it was not able to detect updates for 7-Zip, Java, Thunderbird, and VLC, even though these applications are found on the official list of Supported Applications.
FileHippo AppManager
FileHippo App Manager is a small and lightweight application. It's based upon an older program, FileHippo Update Checker, but, unlike the older version, Appmanager will handle downloads and installations for you. It detected updates for almost all of our installed software and it seems to be very well connected to FileHippo's application database. Also, we really appreciated the fact that it provided updates for all of the more vulnerable Windows applications.
Other characteristics that make it stand out are: it can show beta versions available for your applications, allows you to add custom locations to scan for programs and updates, it can be scheduled to do daily scans at a given time and it can be set to close itself when no updates are found, thus freeing the few resources it uses.
Heimdal Free
Heimdal Free is a great application that is designed to make your online experience more secure. It is the freeware version of the Heimdal Pro software. It will scan your computer for third-party applications with known security vulnerabilities and automatically update these programs to their latest versions. More details about this program and all of its versions can be found here: Security For Everyone - Reviewing Heimdal Pro.
Ninite
Ninite Updater Free is a simple solution to check for software updates. Since we are trying to talk about free solutions to monitor software updates, we will not talk about the full version of Ninite Updater. So, to use the free Ninite service you will have to go to the official webpage, select the applications you want to keep up-to-date and download the special ".exe" file created based on your choices. Then, all you need to do is to run the downloaded file from time to time and it will automatically detect new updates, as well as install them for you.
A great feature of Ninite is the fact that it automatically downloads all apps and silently installs them on your computer when you open it. To make things even simpler, it is also possible to create a scheduled task which runs this file once a week. It detected updates for a large part of the applications we used for testing, including 3 of the most vulnerable ones.
The downside is related to the fact that, if you started using other applications from their database, you need to download a new file, which will search for updates for both the previous applications and the new ones. Also, if you don't use an application anymore and you have uninstalled it, when you run the same Ninite executable file it will install it again on your computer (so again you need a new file). Also, it was very annoying that we could not cancel the download and installation of some updates, because the whole update process would've been canceled. We would find it very useful for Ninite to include the opportunity to cancel some of the updates, without stopping the downloading process for the others.
Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI)
Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) is a program that is very focused on security. Therefore, unlike other programs I tested, it looks for updates to some of your computer's drivers, runtimes such as Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables and also evaluates the state of your Windows updates. Its scanning process is the longest of all but, at the end of it, you will receive a useful view of how up-to-date with security patches is your system.
You can also compare your results with the average score of the Secunia user community. Due to its focus on security, Secunia chooses to monitor important updates mainly for software that is recognized as being less secure or generally targeted by malware. As a result, it detected updates for less than half of the applications we installed. However, it covered the four most vulnerable applications we were testing very well.
The Secunia PSI version we tested offers automated download and installs for drivers or Windows updates, and also for regular applications. Regarding custom scan locations, you can only select extra partitions and drives you would like the tool to scan. You cannot add specific folders. This contributes a lot to longer scanning times.
Software Informer Client
Software Informer Client is an update monitoring tool that can be used to keep both your software and drivers up-to-date. It detected a good number of application updates, but it missed one of the most vulnerable Windows applications - Adobe Flash Player. The program has improved significantly over time and the current version can manage downloading and installing updates for you quite well. It is possible for you to uninstall programs from inside Software Informer and, also, you can choose to ignore some updates very easily.
There are very few configuration options: if you are interested in beta versions, if you want it to run at startup or how often it should check for updates. Still, there are a few interesting features available, for example, you can use this program as an application launcher. Also, a great feature, based upon Software Informer's large online community, is that you can view (and write) software reviews, read articles and receive support from other users for any individual program. The awesome thing about this feature is that you do not need to register for an account to participate. You will automatically receive a guest account when Software Informer is run for the first time on your computer. It has become a little more than just an update checker and now it is quite a reliable software manager and free support system. The only downside of this program is that it sometimes informs you about updates that are not actually available.
Software Update Monitor (SUMo)
Software Update Monitor (SUMo) has a history of aggressively promoting the software it comes bundled with. Still, this policy seems to have mellowed down and now, if you pay a lot of attention when you are installing it, you can simply choose to not let it install any other software. The problem with older versions of this program and the unwanted software called Relevant Knowledge seems to be solved and you can now install SUMo without any headaches.
Leaving the installation process aside, SUMo did a pretty good job of detecting available application updates. This program was constantly updated over time and now it has an increased detection rate. Therefore, it identified 16 out of 17 applications we used for testing; it also identified updates for the other software update monitors we were testing. Most importantly, SUMo was able to identify updates for all the 4 most vulnerable Windows applications. What we still do not appreciate about it is the fact that this application is the only one that does not really provide a download page or download link. Clicking on the Get Update button takes you to a page filled with ads and some links to other websites where you can search and download the program you need. Alternatively, it allows you to do a Google search that identifies a download page. This provides no value to users, makes the update process a lot longer than it should be and it sure is frustrating.
The Best Free Software Update Monitor
We know our readers appreciate an easy way to understand the results of these tests. So, here's an overview for you…
From the start, we have to tell you that none of the 7 free software update tools we tested can be considered perfect. All of the applications we tested can scan your system on a regular basis for available updates and offer a quick way to download and install them. Also, using a Software Update Monitor will allow you to turn off built-in updaters for individual programs and to have a centralized update management solution. Unfortunately, we do not have a one-size-fits-all answer for you, so it all depends on what you want from these programs:
- The most click-free experience in keeping your software up-to-date and with a reasonable level of detection is offered by Ninite. Of course, this is a good solution if you use many of the applications included in their database and you do not mind running the special .exe file as a scheduled task. You also have the option to pay for the standalone application which will offer full support and the ability to run at Windows startup.
- If you are interested mostly in security and making sure your system is patched against the latest discovered threats, we recommend you try the Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI). This free software update tool focuses mainly on security-related patches. It has a high detection rate for the 4 most vulnerable Windows apps and it will make sure that your operating system has no security weaknesses because of out-of-date Windows software. Unfortunately, it will supply updates for a small number of third-party programs (only one from our list).
- The highest detection rate out of all the applications we tested can be attributed to Software Update Monitor (SUMo). But, unfortunately, this is where all the good things end for this software update checker. First of all you have to be very careful on how you install it, because this is the only way you will be able to stop the installation of the unwanted software bundled with it. Also, SUMo does not provide direct download links or a download page for available updates, a situation that greatly increases the time necessary for each particular update. You will be directed to SUMo's cluttered website that will only facilitate the search for updates.
- Finally, if you are searching for a light, fast and easy to use application that will allow you to have a good control over updates and no annoying ads or adware, we recommend that you use to use FileHippo App Manager. Thanks to a constantly growing online software database, developments for the interface and automated processes for download and installation, it has an increased detection rate and a high reliability. As such, we became very fond of it and its general friendliness and we will be using it on most of our computers because it is also compatible with Windows 10.
NOTE: Before we conclude this analysis we have to explain to you that it is possible for updated software to have a different behavior from the version you have originally installed. Also, there are some cases in which updates have bugs that make them unsafe for installation. If you have any issues, try to do an Internet search about the upgrade itself and if it has any known problems.
Conclusion
As we already stated, perfect software does not exist. As such, we hope that those of you who are searching for an update checker will be able to find a help in the list featured above. Also, before you leave this page, we would like you to share via the comments form - what software update checker do you prefer and why?
