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Main Area and Open Discussion => General Software Discussion => Topic started by: justice on June 02, 2007, 11:28 AM

Title: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: justice on June 02, 2007, 11:28 AM
Researching for automatic update programs, I found Appget (direct download (http://appget.nl/appget_setup_05.exe)) (site is in dutch, but program is in english -- so use the babelfish translation (http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr?doit=done&lp=nl_en&target=translate&url=appget.nl&;/print) to read more).

It scans the system for installed program then submits this list and compares it to the lists other users have submitted. If other people are running a newer version then it will notify you. It's possible to ignore items like windows updates, report version comparison problems (right click), submit urls for up-to-date versions, and search the app using google.

The application works really well but only programs that are detected through the add/remove programs list are detected. Also it depends on enough people using it so updates are found. Apart from these minor niggles, it's worth a look!

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The author is very reponsive and friendly, I have discussed features in the past and sent him a link to this topic. :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Nighted on June 02, 2007, 11:38 AM
woah, I will check this out immediately! Nice find.  :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: lanux128 on June 02, 2007, 02:41 PM
another program that is similar but still in beta - filehippo.com Update Checker.
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=8142.0
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: jozydapozy on June 02, 2007, 03:43 PM
Nice! a topic about my own application ;)
First of all I've to say that the date of version 0.5 is incorrect. It's from February 2007, not 2006.
I'm currently working on version 0.6 which will be released within the next few days. Comments and suggestions are more then welcome in this thread or on the website (www.appget.nl)
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: justice on June 02, 2007, 03:48 PM
another program that is similar but still in beta - filehippo.com Update Checker.
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=8142.0
-lanux128 (June 02, 2007, 02:41 PM)
It is the same but it is different. FileHippo checks only applications that FileHippo provides for download, but always knows the real newest version. AppGet works with any application but depends on someone having the newest version installed.

Welcome to the forum jozydapozy, I was thinking maybe you could create a custom searchengine (http://google.com/coop/cse/) that queries the main download sites and change the "search" link to that page, you'd get better results. http://fileforum.betanews.com, filehippo, snapfiles.com, download.com that should probably cover most applications. In the customsearch you can choose just to mark these sites as most important, so not to exclude the rest of the net.

Also fileforum and filehippo (probably others) have an RSS feed where they announce their newest versions. if you could read in this data (xml) and update versions automatically that would be a major step forward.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: mouser on June 02, 2007, 09:39 PM
welcome to the site jozy! glad to have you stop by  :up:
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: jozydapozy on July 25, 2007, 06:42 PM
Just wanna let you know there is a new version of Appget available. :)
You can download (http://www.appget.nl/download/) it from my website, or go here (http://www.appget.nl/news/4/Appget_0.6_released.html) to view the release info.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: mouser on July 25, 2007, 06:47 PM
Cool!
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: justice on July 26, 2007, 03:50 AM
Still getting a fatal error message when synchronizing:
http://www.screencast.com/t/HgFlSTy8
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: jozydapozy on July 26, 2007, 04:06 AM
Still getting a fatal error message when synchronizing:
http://www.screencast.com/t/HgFlSTy8
-justice (July 26, 2007, 03:50 AM)
Nice video. Could you run Appget with the parameter 'debug'? (start --> run --> "c:\program files\Appget\appget.exe" debug)
In the titlebar it should say 'debug-mode' and while in the debug-mode Appget will create a logfile called c:\program files\appget\logreg.txt
If you could post that here, or send it to me, maybe I can find out what's going on.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: justice on July 26, 2007, 05:21 AM
see attached.
Running Vista Enterprise 32bit, UAC Off.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Curt on July 26, 2007, 10:11 AM
Same problem here! My log is >300 KB, but is STARTING like this:

[Select]
<26.07.07 17:07:52:781|0.6.4.0> a
<26.07.07 17:07:52:781|0.6.4.0> b
<26.07.07 17:07:52:781|0.6.4.0> c
<26.07.07 17:07:52:921|0.6.4.0> d
<26.07.07 17:07:53:609|0.6.4.0> a
<26.07.07 17:07:53:609|0.6.4.0> b
<26.07.07 17:07:53:609|0.6.4.0> e
<26.07.07 17:07:53:609|0.6.4.0> f
<26.07.07 17:07:53:750|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate A
<26.07.07 17:07:53:750|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate B
<26.07.07 17:07:53:750|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate C
<26.07.07 17:07:53:750|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate D
<26.07.07 17:07:53:750|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate E
<26.07.07 17:07:53:781|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate F
<26.07.07 17:07:53:781|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate G
<26.07.07 17:07:53:781|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate H
<26.07.07 17:07:53:781|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate I
<26.07.07 17:07:53:781|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate J
<26.07.07 17:07:53:843|0.6.4.0> UpdateApplicationCollectionAndListView A
<26.07.07 17:07:53:843|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection A
<26.07.07 17:07:53:875|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection B
<26.07.07 17:07:53:875|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection C
<26.07.07 17:07:53:875|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection D
<26.07.07 17:07:53:875|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection E
<26.07.07 17:07:53:890|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection F
<26.07.07 17:07:53:890|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection G
<26.07.07 17:07:53:890|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection H
<26.07.07 17:07:54:046|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection I
<26.07.07 17:08:02:890|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection J
<26.07.07 17:08:02:890|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection K
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection L [aantal=394]
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection L 0 (7-Zip)
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[DisplayName]
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[DisplayName] 7-Zip 4.51 beta
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[DisplayVersion]
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[DisplayVersion]
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[URLUpdateInfo]
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[URLUpdateInfo]
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[UninstallString]
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[UninstallString] "C:\Programmer\7-Zip\Uninstall.exe"
<26.07.07 17:08:02:906|0.6.4.0> GetVersion2 [C:\Programmer\7-Zip\7zFM.exe] A
<26.07.07 17:08:02:953|0.6.4.0> GetVersion2 [C:\Programmer\7-Zip\7zFM.exe] B
<26.07.07 17:08:02:953|0.6.4.0> GetAppVersionInfo [C:\Programmer\7-Zip\7zFM.exe] A
<26.07.07 17:08:02:953|0.6.4.0> GetAppVersionInfo [C:\Programmer\7-Zip\7zFM.exe] B
<26.07.07 17:08:02:953|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection L 1 (930172F1-AD44-48f5-BE9A-619127B1CFC5_is1)

- and ENDING like this:

[Select]
<26.07.07 17:08:08:234|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[DisplayName]
<26.07.07 17:08:08:234|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[DisplayName] BedreWord/faktura
<26.07.07 17:08:08:234|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[DisplayVersion]
<26.07.07 17:08:08:234|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[DisplayVersion] 3.4.4.0
<26.07.07 17:08:08:234|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[URLUpdateInfo]
<26.07.07 17:08:08:234|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[URLUpdateInfo]
<26.07.07 17:08:08:234|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[UninstallString]
<26.07.07 17:08:08:234|0.6.4.0> TRegistry.ReadString[UninstallString] MsiExec.exe /X{FCBA2AF7-1B55-4E81-9D1F-52F8BD0C6FC8}
<26.07.07 17:08:08:234|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection M
<26.07.07 17:08:08:234|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection N
<26.07.07 17:08:08:625|0.6.4.0> FillApplicationCollection O
<26.07.07 17:08:08:625|0.6.4.0> UpdateApplicationCollectionAndListView B
<26.07.07 17:08:08:875|0.6.4.0> UpdateApplicationCollectionAndListView C
<26.07.07 17:08:08:921|0.6.4.0> TAppgetMainForm.FormCreate K
<26.07.07 17:08:08:921|0.6.4.0> g
<26.07.07 17:08:08:937|0.6.4.0> h
<26.07.07 17:08:22:328|0.6.4.0> An unexpected error occured [2]:

Access violation at address 004041E0 in module 'agrun.exe'. Read of address 00000094
<26.07.07 17:08:45:421|0.6.4.0> i

XP Home SP2

Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: jozydapozy on July 26, 2007, 10:30 AM
I think i've found the bug. Could you try it with the included version (Appget 0.6.7)?
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: justice on July 26, 2007, 10:43 AM
yep works fine here.  :up:
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Curt on July 26, 2007, 10:45 AM
Ohh YES; Josha, this is so much better :-) Now I have 247 all updated programs instead of 155 programs that AppGet 0.64 did not know the latest version number of. Thanks a lot! Only problem now is for me to report the remaining 65 undertermined programs - it seems a little too tiresome to me that I have to right-click and report each program one by one..??

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Curt on July 26, 2007, 11:04 AM
Also, it would be nice if you could tell Appget that it doesn't HAVE to use the Dutch Google ...
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: jozydapozy on July 26, 2007, 04:20 PM
And another release:
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Curt on July 26, 2007, 05:28 PM
Wow!  Yes!  -again! This is really getting somewhere!
 - this Appget is on the way to become awesome!

And I really like the server response; nice motivating feature!

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]



The "Latest version" of SUPER is actually older than the one I already have
- the problem may be that SUPER versions are named by Year / Version / Month / Date / Year !!

Appget failed to determine the installed version of Windows Media Player 11 other than as version 11 ?! ("not yet checked")- and named latest version 9.00.36.36   

And the suggested update of DivX Web Player to latest version 1.4.0 is in fact still Beta 1
- you will need to have a policy on Beta versions.


Josha, would you consider adding "Copy" (marked line / text) to the right-click context menu?

Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Curt on July 26, 2007, 05:33 PM
Speaking of Beta versions: Microsoft  have launched .NET Framework 3.5 Beta 2 (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa569263.aspx).
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Curt on July 26, 2007, 06:49 PM
I forgot to mention that I still have 29 undetermined programs
- (some of the executing files have very strange names):

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]


- when pointed to the right exe   Karen Kenworthy's very old (updated Dec 13, 2001) Version Browser v3.1 (http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptbrowse.asp) determined 12 of these 29. The source code is free.  http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptbrowse.asp
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Grorgy on August 10, 2007, 06:08 AM
I've been using this for a little while now and I have 2 problems with it. 1. Beta versions, it would be good to have an option for seeing them or not and 2. Updates for other operating systems, ie, i run windows xp and the latest (highest number anyway) is the vista version, which isnt for xp. 

They are my only complaints, apart from that its a great little program and I run it every so often, usually when i check windows updates,  :Thmbsup: good work
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Curt on August 10, 2007, 07:56 AM
@ Grorgy: Congratulations on yet a new avatar. Nice looking!  :up:

--

I have made excatly the same notes: Wrong OS, and Beta versus Stable versions.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Grorgy on August 10, 2007, 08:17 AM
Gotta keep me guessing Curt, never know who I am  :huh: :tellme: a new avatar is as good as a holiday  ;) (well closest i'll get to one for a while anyway).  The avatar I picked up over at http://www.wincustomize.com/ in their avatar section, by quentin94, just had a look and there are some new ones which look good to.   ;)
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Lashiec on August 10, 2007, 09:24 AM
Thanks for the avatar tip, Grorgy. I've been wanting to change my jagged avatar for some time, and I think this could be a good resource. </offtopic>
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Darwin on August 10, 2007, 09:43 AM
Secunia (http://secunia.com) also has a personal updater package (https://psi.secunia.com/) in beta testing. I've tried it and it works as well as their online service (http://secunia.com/software_inspector/).
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: TrueSatan on August 27, 2007, 06:16 AM
I'll add that the Secunia product senses additional drives and not yet installed downloads showing that these are possibilities that could be added to AppGet...all in all however it is an excellent product and I thank the author for his hard work as well as look forward to new versions with the suggested improvements mentioned in this topic.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: J-Mac on August 28, 2007, 01:32 AM
Downloaded and installed.  Great application!

Thanks jozy!

Jim
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Darwin on August 28, 2007, 01:36 AM
Still haven't tried this - will download and do so now. Neglected to mention in my earlier post (it was quite brief!) that I didn't keep Secunia around for long. It kept botherin me to uninstall no longer developed/supported software and there was no way to disable it from running in the system tray other than to kill it via Task Manager.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Curt on August 28, 2007, 09:07 AM
Darwin, your post confused me. I have Secunia running ("Secunia PSI is monitoring your software"), and I also have 1 'end-of-life' program installed. Secunia will tell me when I ask it, but it has never been "botherin me to uninstall".
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Darwin on August 28, 2007, 10:08 AM
Well... maybe I got a little carried away  :-[ When installed, Secunia does as you say - it tells me after a scan that I've got "end-of-life" software installed and suggests that I uninstall it. The biggie for me is having it in the tray with no way to turn it off. I really don't see the point of having it run all the time.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: justice on August 28, 2007, 10:35 AM
I agree and uninstalled that too but they're looking for feedback so it might be worth sending feedback.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Darwin on August 28, 2007, 11:57 AM
I agree and uninstalled that too but you're looking for feedback so that might be worth it.
-justice (August 28, 2007, 10:35 AM)

Yeah, that thought has occurred to me - I should write to them about this - it's the whole point of the beta!
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: Curt on October 16, 2007, 09:08 AM
 Create a custom software update notifier (http://cybernetnews.com/2007/10/11/cybernotes-create-a-custom-software-update-notifier/)


One of the most common things that I’ve been getting asked is how people can stay up-to-date on the latest software. I got really excited about the free UpdateStar application which I mentioned last week, but it still didn’t have information on a lot of the software that I used.

There are hundreds of sites out there that provide RSS feeds for downloads, and I began to think to myself that there had to be a good way to use some of those feeds to my advantage. Then Yahoo! Pipes came to mind since I had just used that last week to show how to translate RSS feeds, and it works perfectly in this situation.

–Overview–
What we’re going to do with Yahoo! Pipes is combine several feeds from popular download sites into one central feed. I recommend a handful of sites at the end of this article that should offer exactly what you’re looking for.

Then we’re going to use Yahoo! Pipes to sift through every item in each of the feeds, and pull out only the items that interest us. Because of the nature of Yahoo! Pipes it will only take a second to go back and add more things to watch for, so don’t worry if you forget to put an app on the list to be monitored.

-CyberNotes

–Instructions–

CyberNet Technology Newsmail's instructions on Yahoo! Pipes, at:
>> http://cybernetnews.com/2007/10/11/cybernotes-create-a-custom-software-update-notifier/ <<

+ http://pipes.yahoo.com/ 
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: justice on October 16, 2007, 09:56 AM
There's a lot to like about Appget.
It's listing of installed software is exhaustive, the developer is enthousiastic.
The program works well with good information!

However the quality of the information lets down Appget, users don't fill in download urls (which can only be added when software is up to date -- imho this is too late i am not interested in maintaining this info anymore at that point). Getting version info from product version strings proves unreliable.

According to the appget.nl website there's a new version coming sometime this month. It looks promising -- mor work is done on the server.
The problem I see on my system is unfortunately that it looks like appget will never get close to getting my pc up to date. This is because version numbering is not uniform and there are too much different systems around.

Vista versions being higher than xp versions of the same product
alpha / beta / release canditates
secret forum versions
registration only versions
version strings with languages in them
developers following 7.9 with 7.10
comparing 7.10 with 7.1.0

It's a nightmare. That's why DcUpdater works so well it not just looks at versions but also at release dates, with official information from the developer instead of guessing from version strings.

I'm not sure how it works behind the scene, there's definately scope to make this work.
Version system templates, then applying them to products, maybe with some intelligence comparison  / user voting -- could potentially solve it.
Allowing people to fill in download urls anytime.
Importing download info from download managers.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: J-Mac on October 17, 2007, 01:50 AM
Justice,

I just updated to AppGet 0.6.9 and it wasn't easy!  Kept telling me I had to update for it to work - I updated four times but the old version kept starting. I checked Program Files and the agrun.exe and apget.ini are not updated with the rest of the program. Even uninstalling AppGet does not remove those - and they run in the background. I had to delete them manually for the update to 0.6.9 to take.

Next, I now have 152 applications that need updating. Not really, but that's what this version of AppGet is reporting. It's claiming some really weird version numbers are available when there are no such versions. Also - in some cases - it is pulling version numbers for SDK versions instead of regular versions, and some I can't figure out where it got the "new" version numbers but they don't exist in a lot of cases. Many of the programs that the previous version of AppGet said were updated now say they are not and cite non-existent version numbers as available.

Something is definitely not working in the latest version.

Thanks.

Jim
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: justice on October 17, 2007, 03:02 AM
I can confirm the updating problems but I think it occurred because appget closes to the system tray. Manually exiting it from there and then updating solved the problem for me.

Can also confirm the version numbering problems. At the moment I am using FileHippo + DcUpdater but clearly I am missing out on a lot of software updates.
Title: Re: Appget - user-run software update program
Post by: J-Mac on October 17, 2007, 03:15 AM
Thanks justice.

BTW, I had closed AppGet fully - the process was no longer running. However a process called agrun.exe had apparently not closed.  That stayed even after uninstalling AppGet. Weird.

Jim