Is there a program out there that manages updates for software?

[Red Squirrel]

I can't be bothered to update every single thing every single day, not to mention all the reboots, so I only update the most critical stuff like anti-virus, browser etc... but I really should update everything else. I ran the Securina PSI and I have like 60 apps that need updated. This would take a ridiculously long time to do and be very tedious, only to have to do it again the next day, day after day.

Is there some kind of program out there that seeks out these programs and runs updates for all of them at once, then just needs to reboot once? That would be nice.

 

[gitano]

i know a free one named Sumo http://kcsoftwares.com/index.php?sumo

but never used it 😀


Edit: tried it for curiosity and nod32 reports it as add-ware, looks like its "sponsored" free,
you need to take in some adds, so ill pass 😀

 

[Crusty]

If you would actually keep your programs up to date they wouldn't bug you everyday to update...

 

[EagleKeeper]

All programs do not update every day. USually MS does once a week unless very critical.
Checking for an update once a day will take no time and can probably be scheduled during your off time

 

[mechBgon]

Actually, Microsoft updates once per month... "Patch Tuesday" is the second Tuesday of each month, rather than every Tuesday.

One thing that would help, is to get the Microsoft Update engine rather than the stock Windows Update engine. The MU engine will take care of a lot more patching of Microsoft stuff than the WU engine does (for example, Office, Silverlight, Network Monitor, etc).

To get the MU engine, visit http://update.microsoft.com once for the engine upgrade, then go back to see what's available (or let Automatic Updates get it for you).

Regarding the original topic, it's like washing my dishes... if I do it after every meal, it takes a couple minutes. If I procrastinate until I'm totally out of silverware, it'll take an hour. Oh the humanity 😀 Anyway, once you're caught up, it's not going to take a ton of maintenance from there on.

 

[Red Squirrel]

MS stuff is not a big deal, I'm talking about all the little apps like 7zip, putty, filezilla, pidgen, notepad++ and the list goes on. While some apps don't update once a day, a lot of them do, especially adobe products like flash.

 

[theAnimal]

I check majorgeeks.com daily and if the software I use has a new version listed then I update.

 

[sourceninja]

Do you need daily updates? I update my system once a month typically. It's not that rough to do. In fact most applications tell me when there are updates (VLC, Firefox, adium, etc). Chrome just updates itself without asking....

 

[Chiefcrowe]

As far as I have heard, there is no program that does this automatically besides for some patch management enterprise systems. If you use secunia and just update everything once, then subsequent new versions will be pretty quick.

 

[Nothinman]

It's funny because I generally update my Linux boxes daily because it's so simple to just run aptitude while doing other things. But I'm sure the software on my Win7 laptop is pretty old because it is so much more work to check on everything and so much stuff wants a reboot after an update.

 

[sourceninja]

I have a script that runs aptitude update and aptitude -s upgrade daily and emails me if I need to do anything.

I still only actually upgrade about once a month. Of course we are talking about my servers and not my desktop.

 

[Nothinman]

I generally just use apticron for servers, I was talking about my Debian desktops.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah that's one advantage of Linux, way easier to update. At least most software. 3rd party apps wont be listed in the yum/apt repositories but a lot of well known standard ones will. Lot of the stuff that requires a 3rd party tool in Windows, is built into Linux or part of packages available.

I'm considering Linux more and more as my main desktop OS. Still have a lot to learn before I can use it in full production as a desktop though, and I don't know if I can let go of certain apps like photoshop, vegas and autocad, the free alternatives arn't as good. Guess I could use those in a VM.

 

[Binky]

The Filehippo updater will flag some of these programs for updating. It isn't automatic though.

http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/

 

[mechBgon]

MS stuff is not a big deal, I'm talking about all the little apps like 7zip, putty, filezilla, pidgen, notepad++ and the list goes on. While some apps don't update once a day, a lot of them do, especially adobe products like flash.

Once a day? I think you're misinformed. Adobe updates every 3 months now. The only software I've ever had that updated daily was antivirus software.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Once a day? I think you're misinformed. Adobe updates every 3 months now. The only software I've ever had that updated daily was antivirus software.

That must be a recent change then. I used to keep up with flash/pdf reader updates, and like every day, I'd get prompted. I just gave up because I was sick of rebooting all the time.

 

[lxskllr]

It's damned rare that I need to reboot for any update that isn't a Windows update. What kind of software are you running?

 

[Red Squirrel]

A lot of stuff, and it's all stuff I use. Some I use less often, while others I use more often. Stuff from media programs, to network apps etc...

Come to think of it, what are things that are a must to update, maybe I can start with those. Like, do I really need to update programs like 7zip, or media encoders every single time there's an update? I can't really see how just having those on my PC can open it to exploits on it's own, but maybe I'm overlooking something.

If I just have to worry about web programs like PDF readers, Flash, Java, Silverlight, and all those other type of apps, then it may not be so bad to do it manually.