Updating software thats out of date

When you're home visiting the family, often times you'll find yourself updating a few computers that have fallen behind. While updating software isn't hard to do, you've probably run into a family member or two who have yet to learn how. This guide is for them.

To help you out in your tech support role, we're offering easy-to-email guides to teach beginners the basics of using a computer. You can find all of the guides here. Today we're going to take a look at keeping system software and third-party applications up-to-date. You'll find the instructions below, but the same instructions are also available in video form above.

System Software Updates

First, let's look at updating system software. You always want to keep your system updated as much as possible as updates most often focus on bug fixes, so your system will run better, and additional security, so your computer doesn't end up with a virus or something like that. To update system software on a Mac, just follow these steps:

1. Click the Apple menu (up in the top left corner of your screen) and choose "Software Update."
2. Software Update will load and check for updates. When it finishes, it'll let you know if there are any updates to install. Click "Show Details" to see any updates Software Update wants to install, or just click the "Install" button to install them.

The process is similar on Windows computers. To update your system software on Windows, just follow these steps:

1. Click the Windows icon in your task bar to open up the Start menu. (If you don't already know, this icon is in the bottom left corner of your screen.)
2. Click "All Programs."
3. Click, "Windows Update."
4. After Windows Update opens, click "Check for Updates" on the top left side of the window.
5. Once Windows finishes checking for updates, click the "Install" button.
6. When the updates have finished installing, restart your computer (if prompted).

Software Update (Mac) and Windows Update (Windows) will periodically run all by themselves and ask you to update. Nonetheless, you may not notice this or ignore it from time to time, so it's good to check yourself once in a while.

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Note: If you're worried about messing up your computer, don't. It's very hard to make a mistake when updating your software nowadays, and Windows Update even creates a restore point for you in case an update goes south. If you're on a Mac and already backing up with Time Machine, you'll be able to restore as well. The chances of something going wrong are pretty slim, however, so as long as you don't turn off your machine during an update you have nothing to worry about.

Third-Party Software Updates

Third-party software describes any software created by a third party and did not come with your computer's operating system. This primarily includes any software you, yourself, have installed on your machine. Because third-party software is created by different people, the way you update it varies.

Web browsers, such as Firefox and Google Chrome, update themselves. You don't have to do anything at all. Other software may also update itself, or notify you of an update so you can choose whether to install it or not. Most software will allow you to check for updates manually. The location varies, but you'll almost always find a "Check for Updates" option in one of the program's menus. Some software will not notify you of updates and you'll have to visit the software's web site in order to find out if a new version is available. If it is, just download the available update or the most recent version and install it like it's a new program. If it asks you to replace the previous version, it's okay to allow that. Finally, if you downloaded an application from the Mac App Store, simply open the Mac App Store, click the "Updates" tab, and install any available updates.

Those are the basics of updating software. It's a good idea to set a day and time each week to check for new updates to make sure you don't forget. It only takes a few minutes and your computer will be better off for it.

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A software updater is a program you install on your computer to help you keep all your other software updated to their latest versions.

Install one of these freeware tools, and it will first automatically identify all of your programs and then determine if an update is available. Then, depending on the app you're using, it will either point you to the newer download on the developer's site or maybe even do the downloading and updating for you!

By no means do you have to use one of these programs to update your software. Checking for a new version yourself, and then downloading and updating manually, is certainly an option. However, a dedicated software updater makes the process really easy. The fact that all of these excellent ones are completely free is even better.

Patch My PC Updater

What We Like

• It's easy to see what's outdated

• Installs updates for you

• Can run on a schedule

• Supports hundreds of software programs

What We Don't Like

• The interface isn't as clean as most software updater tools

Our Review of Patch My PC

Patch My PC is another free software updater that we like, not only because it's completely portable, but also because it will install software patches—no clicking and no manual update checks!

It's easy to quickly tell the difference between applications that are already updated and ones that are outdated because the green titles indicate up-to-date software, while the red ones show outdated programs. You can update all of them at once, or uncheck the ones you don't want to patch (or, of course, let the scheduled auto-updates do it for you automatically).

There are lots of optional settings you can enable, like disabling silent installs, enabling beta updates, forcing programs to shut down before updating them and many others. It can also work as a simple software uninstaller.

The only thing we don't like about it is that the user interface isn't quite as friendly, but don't skip trying this tool just on those grounds.

We really like the fact that it works so quickly, can be run from a flash drive, and supports truly automatic updates. These are certainly the most important things we look for in a software updater.

It should work with all versions of Windows. We tried it out in Windows 11, 10, and 8, and it worked great.

Download Patch My PC

IObit Software Updater

What We Like

• Very easy to use

• In-program updates (no browser needed)

• Bulk downloading and updating

• Recommends other software

What We Don't Like

• Shows features that are only available if you pay

• Limits updates to two per day

IObit has this really simple and easy to use software updater that has nearly all the features you need in one of these programs.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the current and new program version number is clearly stated so that you know how outdated the program is. Maybe you'll want to skip a version or two if it isn't a huge deal, but either way, you can very obviously see on this screen how much newer the update really is.

The program supports single updates and bulk updates. Automatic updating and updating more than two programs per day are available only if you pay.

In the settings are options for when IObit Software Updater should check for new updates to itself; it can update automatically or just notify you when updates are available. You can also control whether restore points are made automatically before every installation and if installer files should be deleted after setup finishes.

It works with new and old Windows versions, including Windows 11 and Windows 10, and older ones like Windows 7 and XP.

Download IObit Software Updater

Heimdal Free

What We Like

• Fully automatic (scanning, downloading, and updating)

• Settings can be tweaked to your preference

• Recommends new program downloads

What We Don't Like

• Shows several things that only upgraded users can take advantage of

Heimdal Free (also called Thor Free) is useful if you want to keep your security-critical programs up-to-date without having to think about it. This program will automatically and silently download and install patches when necessary.

It can work in automatic mode to keep all compatible programs updated automatically, or you can choose a custom setup.

A custom configuration lets you choose which installed programs should be monitored for updates and which ones should be auto-updated. This means you can have Heimdal Free monitor some but not update them, or not monitor or update others—it's totally up to you.

It checks for updates every few hours by default. It also includes recommended programs and makes them just one click away.

This program has the unique feature of checking for and updating programs automatically, but it's not very user-friendly. Then again, you shouldn't really need to open the program often because it will do everything in the background, so you can really just install it and forget about it.

Heimdal is capable of auto-updating several programs, but in the free version you don't get the features that are only in the pro edition, like malware detection and website blocking.

It's said to run on Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and macOS.

Download Heimdal Free

During installation, choose the free option and then enter your email address to activate it.

OUTDATEfighter

What We Like

• Automatically performs a virus scan on all updates

• Updates can be found for lots of programs

• Also works as a third-party Windows Update tool and software uninstaller

What We Don't Like

• Didn't seem to locate as many outdated programs as similar tools

• Can't set up an auto-scan schedule to find outdated programs automatically

OUTDATEfighter does just as the name suggests—it protects your computer from outdated software by acting as a free program updater.

It just takes one click to batch download or installs updates. This means you can place a check next to all the programs that need to be updated to have OUTDATEfighter download them all one after the other, and then start launching the setup files. Before downloading updates, the setup files are even scanned for viruses, which is really helpful.

At any time, you can open OUTDATEfighter to check for software that requires updates. You can also ignore any update to prevent update notifications for that particular program.

We really like the fact that you don't need to open a web browser or search for the updated setup file on the internet. Everything is done from inside the program, and you can clearly see the old and updated version numbers (and sometimes release dates) for comparison.

There's also a program uninstaller and a Windows Update utility included in this tool.

It updates software on Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. Windows Server 2008 and 2003 are also supported.

Download OUTDATEfighter

UCheck

What We Like

• Portable version available.

• Download and install updates in bulk.

• Includes other useful tools.

What We Don't Like

• Some features you see aren't free to use.

Over 200 programs can be updated through UCheck, which scans quickly, is easy to use, and doesn't make you open your web browser even once to get updates.

Just scan for outdated software, check the box at the top to select all the outdated programs, and then select the update button. All available updates will download one after the other and then install on their own.

You can also download and install updates individually if you want to not update a particular program for whatever reason. In the settings is a Windows Update option that you can enable to see updates for the Windows OS in UCheck, too. A program uninstaller is built-in as well.

Exclusions, scheduled scans, changing the cache directory, and some other features are available if you pay.

We used UCheck in Windows 11 and Windows 10, but it should work just as well in older versions of Windows, too.

Download UCheck

Update Notifier

What We Like

• Gets updates from the program's original source

• Set up a scan schedule

• Check for updates in custom program installation folders

• Portable version is available

What We Don't Like

• You have to download the updates manually from your web browser

• Updates aren't installed automatically

• The program itself no longer gets updated

Update Notifier installs in seconds and can monitor software installations in the background to notify you when a program needs to be updated. A schedule can be setup to check for updates every so many days and hours, like every 3 hours or every 7 days, for example.

Updates must be downloaded via a browser because Update Notifier does not let you download files directly through its program. However, the files from Update Notifier's website are pulled directly from the official websites of the applications, which help guarantee clean, up-to-date, original downloads.

You can also configure it to scan a particular folder outside the regular program files location. This would be ideal for finding updates to portable programs. Like some of the other program updaters from this list, Update Notifier also lets you ignore updates.

A Watch List can be built if you sign up with Update Notifier so you can get alerts by email when new software updates are available.

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 are the official supported operating systems, but we've used it just fine in Windows 10 as well. It can also be run as a portable program if you choose that option during setup.

Download Update Notifier

Glarysoft's Software Update

What We Like

• The updater can start with Windows

• Lets you enable or disable beta software scans

• Updates can be ignored

• Results are easy to read

What We Don't Like

• Makes you download the updates manually

• None of the updates can be installed automatically

• Setup tries to install an additional program

• Hasn't been updated since 2020

Glarysoft has a free program update checker for Windows that isn't much of a program itself, but when you run the checker, it opens the results in your browser and gives you direct download links to the program updates.

Software Update sends the scan results to a file download website called Filepuma that's owned by Glarysoft. From there are download links to the program updates.

You can customize the updater program to ignore beta versions and to run when Windows starts, but that's about it. The results list can be customized too so that you can ignore updates for specific programs or ignore just this one updated version for any program.

Clearly, Software Update isn't as advanced or helpful as some of the updaters at the start of this list that can download and update programs for you, but it's still a functional program that's really lightweight and can run all the time without affecting performance.

It works on Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 2000.

Download Glarysoft's Software Update

Once Software Update has finished installing, but before setup closes, you're asked if you want to install Glary Utilities. If you don't do anything, the program might install automatically, so be sure to uncheck that option if you don't want that as well.

Avira Software Updater

What We Like

• The list of outdated programs is displayed within the software

• Checks for outdated software automatically

• The interface is minimal and easy to use

What We Don't Like

• Download links open in web browser

• Can't download more than one program update at once

• Won't install any updates for you automatically

• You can't customize the scan schedule

You can quit searching for updates manually if you have Avira's Software Updater program installed. With just one click, it will check your entire computer for outdated applications and tell you which ones need updated.

The program is quick to find an entire list of old programs and gives you download links to open in your web browser so that you can download the updates yourself.

Compared to similar programs, this updater seems to find a good number of outdated programs but unfortunately, it's limited in a number of ways.

Avira Software Updater is just the free, limited version of the paid edition that has additional features. For example, the free edition won't download or install program updates for you. Instead, just use the link next to any program's "Update" button to find the download page online.

This program also doesn't let you choose when it should automatically scan your computer for outdated programs, but it does seem to do so periodically. Otherwise, you need to open it and use the Rescan button each time you want to check for outdated software.

You can use it in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7.

Download Avira Software Updater

During installation, you're asked to install some other Avira software, but you can just avoid those requests if you don't want them; they won't install unless you click them.

SUMo

What We Like

• Finds newer versions of lots and lots of software

• Distinguishes between apps that need a minor and major update

• Lets you choose the folders in which to look for software updates

• Can be run normally or from a portable location

• New versions are released often

What We Don't Like

• Doesn't show the download page to update the software

• Searches are usually slow because of the vast number of apps it supports

• Won't find outdated programs on a schedule; you have to open the program yourself

SUMo is a free software updater for Windows that's absolutely amazing at finding updates. You can install it to a computer or launch it portably from a custom folder.

The program takes quite a while to scan your whole computer for outdated software, but it definitely found more programs that needed updates than any other tool in this list.

Every program it finds is listed out, even those that don't require an update. The ones that do need updating are labeled as requiring a minor update or a major one so you can quickly decide which programs you may want to update. The version numbers are clearly visible, so you can quickly glance at the outdated and updated versions. It can even search for beta releases.

SUMo not only searches for programs installed in the regular installation directory of your computer, as you can even add custom folders and files for it to scan, like if you have portable software stored on another hard drive.

A huge downside is that it doesn't provide links to the download pages for updates. Instead of providing a direct link inside the program, or even just linking to a download page, SUMo simply lets you search for the program on the internet, where you'll then need to find the download yourself, manually.

We tested this program in Windows 10 and Windows 8 without any issues, so it should work in other versions, too, including Windows 11.

Download SUMo

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