Keep Software Updated with Secunia PSI
Keeping all the software we have on a computer updated is a pain - open this program, check for updates, open this program’s updater - Secunia Personal Software Inspector takes the work out by profiling all your programs and then checks for updates, and provides a link to the file you can update with. We’ll be showing use of Secunia PSI in this tutorial, and you can download it here. We assume you’ve installed it.
Secunia PSI Usage
When you first start Secunia PSI, it’ll connect to the Internet and scan your computer for applications, then check against the downloaded list.
Let the scanner run its course. Should take a couple of minutes at most.
While you wait, head over to the Settings screen and select what you want. I disabled “Show only ‘Easy-to-Patch’ Programs” and startup/program monitoring.
Secunia will show you how many insecure and end of life programs you have. Click View Insecure Programs.
Patching with Secunia PSI
Secunia will display a list of programs that it believes are unpatched. Some of these programs are simply repeats or have other difficulties being patched.
This list is more of a reference of what needs to be updated, but it contains a simple interface for automatically downloading and installing the updates you need. Click a program you want to patch.
You’ll see a bunch of options, including Download Solution and Ignore Program. To update an application, click Download Solution. If you believe Secunia’s being stupid, click Ignore Program.
That covers basic usage of the Secunia PSI. Hope you’ve found this tutorial and the program itself useful.
I'm Jason, the main author of Third Error, and many of the topics I'll focus on concern Windows (and applicable software), web applications, web design, and a bit of *nix (Ubuntu mainly). My computer runs Windows XP, with virtualized Ubuntu and OS X handy.