Keeping Windows Secure - Checking for and Installing Windows Updates

Keeping Windows Secure - Checking for and Installing Windows Updates
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Are you able to find Updates for Vista Easily?

I have provided you with quite a lot of applications for different purposes for Vista in the previous parts of this series. Almost all the drawbacks Vista has to offer can be overcome by installing replacements, but this only highlights another flaw of Windows Vista, that is, it has almost no software management feature.

Let us compare Vista with one of its competitors, the Linux operating system. If you are a Linux user and want to install or upgrade an application ­then in many cases you do not have to waste time searching for it online or manually downloading files or run installation programs. Instead you can just run your package manager provided to you and choose the program you want from a menu. You can then download the desired application and install it on your system and later this application upgrades itself automatically and there is hassle or fuss or complications.

But unfortunately, as far as Vista is concerned there are no package managers that deliver the same level of functionality. But again there is no need to panic as I will tell you about some tools that can at least make it easier to locate updates for your applications.

One of them is File Hippo Update checker which scans your PC checking for installed applications and reports back if there are any updates available. There is even a download link to the upgrade making it extremely easy to install it. So it is a simple way to find out about the latest versions of your favorite applications and get their new features, fix bugs and improve the speed of your PC, without having to keep popping back to their websites to check on what is available. Update checker is a piece of cake, but it doesn’t recognize that many applications, so it’s a good idea to install at least one more update manager to offer a second opinion.

Updatestar is another one that maintains a database of over 80,000 applica­tions and is probably the best choice. There is another one called Sumo. But I would recommend Secunia PSI a Personal Software Inspector which is excellent when it comes to warning you about security patches that you really should have installed a long time before. I have given you so many options, try them all and see which one works out best for you.

This post is part of the series: Taming Windows Vista

There is an old saying that nothing is born perfect. Same goes with Vista too, as this new Windows isn’t perfect at all. Some drawbacks are easier to spot and can be fixed to provide ultimate perfection. In this series, I have tried to find out what Windows Vista lacks and how to fill these spaces.

  1. Taming Windows Vista - Poor Performance Tweaks
  2. Taming Windows Vista - Optimize Your Windows Interface
  3. Taming Windows Vista - Security Options
  4. Taming Windows Vista - Backup & Recovery Solutions
  5. Taming Windows Vista - Bundled Applications & Add-ons
  6. Taming Windows Vista - User Access Control
  7. Taming Windows Vista - Installing the Latest Windows Updates
  8. Taming Windows Vista - Restore, Monitor Management & More
  9. Taming Windows Vista - Media Burning, Remote Access & More
  10. Taming Windows Vista - Sample Registry Tweaks & More