Free VersionTracker ?

[wdwpower]

Where can I find a free Windows XP software collecting installed software and eventually checking version ?

TIA
Willy

[m_s]

That's a great idea - I'm interested too...

[Veign]

Like Belarc Advisor?

[m_s]

I know Advisor; what I would like is something that would prepare an inventory (like Advisor), and then check online for updated versions of installed programs, so that I could then decide what I wanted to download...

[Veign]

Think about it from a logic standpoint.

How would an application know how to check a website for updates to software? 

You would have a ton of questions that would be hard to answer;
- Do they use PAD files? 
- How is the revision stored? 
- Do they have a simple text file with versions (how some apps check for updates)?
- Do you parse the HTML for revisions? If so, how do you indentify a revision over some other numbered text on a web page?

I think it would be way too hard to create an application that performs the tasks with some certainty.  Unless software websites had some commonality with they way revisions where stored / displayed....

Its a great idea, but one that I think could never be created....

[mouser]

well, it would be hard to do with 100% certainty, but probably wouldn't be very hard to do with high accuracy.

as i see it there are 3 parts to the issue:
1) identifying which software you have on your machine that you want to check for updates

2) assigning a web page for each such program where the author announces new version
(this is mostly a matter of maintaining some kind of master list matching programs to websites; not hard, but time consuming and could benefit from a community effort).

3) figuring out a way to detect new version announcements on this web page.
(this really shouldn't be too hard to do with fairly good accuracy).

[Carol Haynes]

A simple approach is to use on the download page for your chosen software with ChangeDetection. You get an email every time the page is updated so (in theory) you should be informed when updates are announced.

Might be a bit hit and miss if the site has loads of things listed on the same page ...

See http://www.changedet...ion.com/monitor.html for details.

[mouser]

a lot of us use a web page change monitoring tool for exactly this purpose - to keep an eye on new updates, etc.
see the donationcoder.com review of such tools:
https://www.donation...bWatchers/index.html

[wdwpower]

Like Belarc Advisor?

-Veign (September 20, 2005, 12:20 PM)

Thanks for your answer(s)
It is a tool to get some info about programs installed AND registered. With a few manipulations I can import it in a spreadsheet.
But what about programs installed via a zip-file ?

Regards
Willy

[Carol Haynes]

Hmmm .. the software looks nice. Shame the special offer has ended but at full price it is too much to contemplate really.

[mouser]

don't forget that at some point for some aniversary we plan to return to all the companies that have offered time-limited discounts to our members in the past and try to get them all to offer discounts again for some limited period.

[Veign]

How would you indentify a new version in a Microsoft Application?

I think it sounds easy but when you tried to implement it you will find a great deal of errors and applications that won't work.

Create the application and prove me wrong

[Veign]

One thing I had forgotten about was VersionTracker.com . This site will allow you to follow a piece of software and be notified when an update occurs...