What we have been up to
Okay, I'll try to summarize what we have been working for the last couple of weeks, just to keep those of you who don't visit the forum as much up to date.
For the past couple of weeks we have been working on a new core version, AutoPatcher 5.6. This brings a lot of new features which we hope to use in upcoming releases. Some are already being used, as Renato (a.k.a. gandolas) has put AutoPatcher 5.6 to the test by creating a Vista release (check the torrents!). Version 5.6 also means that an AutoPatcher for Microsoft Office is now possible.
Since Lyndon (a.k.a. theblazingangel or just blaze) is the one who creates the official English releases, we have been working together in order to fine-tune certain aspects of AutoPatcher 5.6, which will hopefully allow him to create releases faster and easier than before.
And now the bad news. No, don't worry, it's not serious. Just a minor inconvenience caused by my desktop's power supply. I got back to my place today (Sunday) after visiting my parents for a few days. Unfortunately, the power supply has died, and with no replacement in hand, I'll have to wait until Tuesday (this Monday is a little special here in Greece) to replace it. Now, why, you ask is this worth mentioning here? Well, with no desktop, I'm left with my Linux laptop. And with no suitable Windows computer to work on, changes to AutoPatcher 5.6 will have to wait for a day or so.
I should go deal with some real life issues now, which means my verbal (or rather typing) frenzy has come to an end (for now). If, however, you like reading such "weekly reports", you can go ahead and say so. As always, comments are welcome!
Best regards,
Antonis Kaladis
February 18th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Thanks for the update, good to be in the loop as to what’s happening … :)
February 19th, 2007 at 7:20 am
Well… I doubt Microsoft will be as permissive for this as for XP AutoPatcher? If I were you, guys, I would keep myself at XP for a couple of months, to avoid a forced site shutdown… This is just an opinion, though.
Furthermore, what’s useful in Vista, besides BitLocker Drive Encryption (if you really need it), Windows DVD Maker, and a cool, new skin? Personally, I’ll stick to XP until the creation of much DirectX 10 games.
I just don’t want to loose you, guys!
Keep up the good work, though!
Much appreciated.
February 19th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Labroue:
The following applies to all AutoPatcher releases:
We don’t mess around with Microsoft’s patches. We don’t even repackage them. Anyone questioning AutoPatcher, in regard to the origin of the patches, can do the following simple test:
Use your favorite MD5 hashing tool and compare the MD5 of the files we include in AutoPatcher against the file one would get directly from Microsoft.
I understand that Microsoft does not support, nor recommends AutoPatcher. But we still need an easy solution to handle and install Microsoft’s administrative patches. I have read a few reviews about AutoPatcher, where, although they like the idea, they are worried about the patches’ origin. Given that these people are somewhat like newspaper journalists, shouldn’t they check if the files we include are the real deal before raising concerns?
Yes, we could mess with files, just like we could bundle adware or spyware. But we don’t. I’m a little touchy when it comes to software ethics.
Bottom line, AutoPatcher has been around since 2003. We’ve only made it this far by being honest. AutoPatcher was created to offer a portable, offline, easy to use alternative to WindowsUpdate which requires as little user interaction as possible and less rebooting. We believe we have done nothing wrong by offering such a solution. If Microsoft sees a problem with this approach, we will be more than glad to discuss it with them.
Antonis
February 19th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
I totally agree,
i’m using it for past 2 yrs, n till date not a single prob..
February 19th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Just started using it this past week. Great great great tool ! Had to build a new PC and was not looking forward to multiple iterations of Microsoft Update, reboot, repeat.
Autopatcher saved the day!
Would be nice if you could mark certain patches as NEVER install.
February 19th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Dear Mr. Kaladis,
I agree that you can update the same way via Microsoft & TimeCrack… (if you didn’t really buy Vista). So that doesn’t really matter to host patches here… I just meant that XP patches can be downloaded without WGA, and for Vista I think you need WGA to download updates, or first 30 trial days…
On another subject, I found a nice site you could post in some of your pages… it’s for Windows 98 updates… look at this beautiful pack for Windows 98 SE! You should make a link to this site! http://exuberant.ms11.net/index.html
Have a good day…
February 20th, 2007 at 1:34 am
Labroue,
Some XP patches require WGA too. For the record, I don’t even have Vista. I work on XP Professional. WGA downloads require a valid Windows license. Not specifically Vista though. I can download Vista patches on my XP machine.
February 20th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Dear Autopatcher Mods-Programmers etc…
As Labroue said , i really dont care if M2@#$@#$%$soft recommmends you or not.
I will keep on using autopatcher with no second thought.
Im really sorry for not being able to assist you guys on any matter.
PS : A nice translation to greek language would be realy nice , 4 us who use Xp Gr edition ( as it happened b4re)
February 20th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Jimtasop,
The Greek releases of AutoPatcher are handled by hezzel, since, although Greek, I only use English Windows XP, and thus cannot test a Greek release.
Last I heard, he would be doing a February release, but then again, it’s all up to him.
Greek releases have had a really interesting past. The first Greek release was prepared by myself, in the hope that somebody would pick it up and continue. That was not the case, and for a long time there was no Greek release. Last year, hezzel stepped up and offered to maintain the Greek releases. Now there has been no Greek AutoPatcher for several months and people are getting worried.
You need to understand that we just can’t do releases for all languages. Microsoft’s patches are usually language-dependent and naturally we can only focus on a very limited number of releases.
If you ask me, it seems that everybody wants a Greek release, yet nobody is willing to do it.
Antonis
February 20th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Just a suggestion from personal use -
Please set all the optional components as opt-in (meaning that I need to check a box to install). Too often, I forget to remove the check boxes for components I have no desire to install (ie: Windows Defender, WMP11, etc.)
Thanks -
February 20th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
“Version 5.6 also means that an AutoPatcher for Microsoft Office is now possible.”
I swear you guys read my mind. Just last week I was lamenting the absence of an Autopatcher for MS Office. I am very psyched about this. :) Please include Office 2000 in your efforts. Thanks!
February 21st, 2007 at 1:58 am
OK… I agree with Tagman about the “opt-in” - that would solve my issue with things like Defender that I have to remember to uncheck before using.
Also, I agree with Chris. I have valid licenses for MS Office 2003 and would love an Autopatcher for that to complement Autopatcher for MS XPSP2.
February 21st, 2007 at 6:53 am
A couple of guys have mentioned some of the options ( especially Defender), that they want to never install. Well, I use a small batch file to remove to relevant files and folder from the AP folder tree. AP works fine, without the removed options. One can also save the defaults in the first instance and load these for subsequent uses.
February 21st, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Hey guys, you’re making a great job, AutoPatcher saves so much energy, time, nerves, and traffic(=money).
And it’s good to know, you are thinking about extending it’s functionality and support of new versions.
Thanks and respects from Armenia. :)
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:19 pm
You have no idea how much time and effort this will save our Company. I stumbled across the program last week and I now it is part of arsenal when Rebuilding computers. I fully support this program and look forward to Vista releases when the time comes.
A little tricky to find the English releases but easy enough to dig through and find.
Cheers and thanks from Canada!
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Just an update on my desktop’s condition:
It’s worse than I thought. After hooking up the new power supply (and actually be able to keep the PC running for more than 3 seconds), it appears that my old power supply managed to fry the motherboard before dying :( Good s478 motherboards are really hard to find nowadays, so I’ll probably go for the well deserved upgrade. The bad news though is that this means more downtime :(
I guess the rule still applies: Computers break down when most needed.
Antonis
February 23rd, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Suggestion: create a subdomain for the Vista patches (e.g., vista.autopatcher.com for a simple example). That way, if MS decides to play the part of Steve Ballmer with a bad attitude and demand a site shutdown, it won’t affect the XP and 2000 patchers.
I use Autopatcher on the job (we have about 100 systems to patch every month) and I couldn’t stand to go back to the old way; this is saving me hours and hours of pointless reboots.
You guys are the best! Thanks for all your work!
February 24th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
great work. when you included mp11 mp10 disappeared which is a pain how about including both and we can choose i think most would choose mp10 keep up the good work thanks
February 24th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I think blaze is planning on creating IE6 and WMP10 packs which you could add to AutoPatcher.
February 27th, 2007 at 6:24 am
I also think he is making a WMP9 pack for XP.
Something that would be nice are addon packs for IE 5.01 SP4, DirectX 7, and MDAC 2.5 SP3, all for 2000 SP4.
February 27th, 2007 at 10:22 am
All I can say is that I really like this. It makes it a lot easier to install systems, and re-install my own. Instead of the system wanting 3 or more reboots, this goes in and installs everything just fine with 1 re-boot.
Adding Office support would be nice, but I only ever need to install the Service Pack and file converter pack. I always check the Microsoft Update page after everything as a just in case, and I can get everything in one hit from there.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:17 am
I absolutely agree with Ludicrous’ suggestion.
Keep up the good work!
February 27th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Hi Antonis
Ive been following your work for the last year and to say that I am impressed is a serious understatement, due to the lack of a thesaurus to look up words that truly describe how good this project really is.
I am seriously needing to upgrade to a 64 bit operating system in order to fully utilize some software that I want to use as well as get the most out of my CPU. I only noticed one autopatcher release for x64 platform (I could be mistaken though). Are you looking at improving autopatcher support for Windows x64 and Vista 64 bit version as well with this new 5.6 release? Fingers crossed :)
February 28th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Well, I too have been using Autopatcher for about a year. I don’t pay alot of attention, but to me the direct website seems new, and I love it. No doubt this is one of the best ‘freeware’ things to hit the web. It reminds me of a few other of my personal favorites I use daily: Irfanview, Spybot, foldreshare, and logmein.
Everything that has been mentioned above I just about agree with, here are some highlights (hope I don’t sound too pushy):
1. Probably the best ‘project’ on the web.
2. I also think the subdomain idea is great.
3. I also would like NEVER to be autoprompted to install; messenger, journal viewer, defender etc. I normally have to spend a bit more time making sure several of those ‘autoprompted’ selections are UNCHECKED.
4. I am sorry to hear Antonis had his PC die. I had two similar failures this month and it is a pain…
5. I am so impressed with autopatcher I just made a $100USD donation w/paypal. This is not something I race to do with any website (actually I have not done this for any freeware site before, but decided to hit hte donate button after about 100 seconds consideration)and this project is amazing, and I would really like to see it live and flourish.
I would like to see some of the other impressed and thankful users who posted above kick in a donation to the cause. The fellow who spearheads this project should AT LEAST get a decent PC to work with from people who are so impressed here! I too sometimes use this on other people’s PCs I take care of (personal and work) and it is invaluable. The time and hassle savings is enourmous, and any IT people here know exactly what I mean…
A few last little ‘nit picks’ or tiny complaints, to prove I am for real on all of this, is a little issue I have found (although maybe someone here will tell me I am doing something wrong!). There are several critical updates that show up as NOT done everytime I run the program. 98% of them are blue after running the program, but several keep showing up black (undone) each time I run the PC after reboot. Another is some of the very cool improvements - can’t remember exact section name - do not show up as done, so each time I run the program after an update I wonder if I have run them again, and check them off sometimes (like XP powertoys).
I liked how autopatcher 6.0 would go full screen, but did not like the interface overall nearly as much. Have no idea where 6.0 went, I suppose it would be discussed in a forum here somewhere. I would really like autopatcher 5.X to go full screen, as using that little box and scrolling up and down that expanded option list is a pain.
Lastly, I never know what ‘version’ or level a PC is at. Maybe I am missing something a 10 minute lok over this site will tell me to do, but when I run the program it does not tell me what ‘date’ the update database is at. What I have resorted to do is make a spare folder on the PCs harddrive called autopatcher and then inside of that make quick folders with the names of each date / update that has been run.
Wow, I hate people don’t hate my first post here for being such a verbal diatribe! I am rambling…
GREAT JOB
February 28th, 2007 at 1:12 am
Several typos in that last post, as I hit ’submit post’ by accident instead of scrolling up to see what typos I made! My last sentence is hte worst typo, I meant the third word to be HOPE!
“Wow, I HOPE people don’t hate my first post here for being such a verbal diatribe!”
Take care all, and great job autopatcher team!
February 28th, 2007 at 4:07 am
The current (5.1 based) release for x64 covers Windows XP Professional x64 and Windows Server 2003 x64. The Vista release supports both Vista 32bit and 64bit.
AutoPatcher 5.6 is pretty much a ‘merge’ of AutoPatcher 5.1 and 6.0. I kept the interface of 5.1 (being more consistent with windows itself) and added features which were planned for 6.0. Thus 5.6 :)
Oh, and 5.6 will add the much needed ReleaseInfo screen, which will give you information about the release you have (date, author, webpage, notes etc). All this is not something which *will* happen. It’s actually how AutoPatcher 5.6 *is* right now. Beginning with March releases, we’re switching everything to AutoPatcher 5.6, so you’ll finally have a chance to see it in action (in case you missed the Vista release).
Some updates (the ones which appear again and again in black instead of blue) are not actually installable. An example would be the Malicious Software Removal Tool. That tool can really only be run, just to check the system. Installing it won’t give you any sort of protection, so running it with each AutoPatcher installation makes sense. You are welcome however to point out which items don’t get installed. If there’s an error, we’ll make sure it gets fixed :)
February 28th, 2007 at 4:43 am
There is a small mistake there Antonis… x64 version was based in v6.0, not v5.1.
February 28th, 2007 at 7:50 am
Err, yep… evil typo… 5.1 isn’t x64 aware.
February 28th, 2007 at 9:35 am
With that extra good news, 5.6 coming soon, I now wish had not ordered the DVD of autopatcher last night - till Ver 5.6 was out! But it is great news anyway, can’t wait to try it. I really just wanted the DVD as a sort of keepsake, as I download the ‘latest’ online and use an other favorite I have - foldershare.com - to keep my autopatcher library synced on all my PCs automatically.
I am just thinking it would be nice, and a good possible donation generator, if there were ‘official’ autopatcher baseball caps, mugs, Tshirts etc. I know my wife (or 99.9% of people) would be clueless about what I my coffee mug meant, but I would enjoy it… a bumper sticker, or maybe one of those magnetic car logo things might be cool too. the car magnet would be great advertising for autopatcher.com etc.
I
February 28th, 2007 at 11:39 am
We actually had such things long ago… Maybe we could bring them back :)
February 28th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
god bless you all for all the hard work u guys put into this. U save lot of time and bandwidth. cheers
March 3rd, 2007 at 6:39 am
Just one thing to be said about Autopatcher - GREAT!!! Keep up the good work guys, all the best. Inclusion of Office patches will be great thing as well.
Best regards from Republic of Srpska.
March 3rd, 2007 at 11:47 am
The Greek Autopatcher is still stuck to the October Full release. Can we Greek windows users hope for some updates, please?
Thanx in advance.
Yannis
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Yes - it’s a brilliant tool. Just 1 or 2 hiccups - the M$ version 3 of .NET Framework just won’t run on XP, no matter what I do ! This is no fault of Autopatcher. And I can’t get POWERMENU to run - if you could kindly advize me what they ought to be, I could insert the Registry Entries in & set then to 1 ( = true ) .. I need to do some VXD DOS work to tidy up some missing Reg Edits. What a superb idea, to chain the patches all together, & enclose them in a wrapper. M$ should reward you - worth $10M for your sterling work ?
Les
March 3rd, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Yanni, check http://autopatcher.cns.gr/
March 4th, 2007 at 3:34 am
Thanx Antonis! You have just saved me from carrying a full desktop across Athens, to get my brother-in-law the whole update procedure from my ADSL connection! Now I have only to carry a CD.
March 4th, 2007 at 9:28 am
@Les Kobiernicki: PowerMenu, when installed, should add some new options on the context menu of programs (when you click their icon on the titlebar or just right click them on the taskbar. Stuff like “always on top”, “priority” and “opacity”. For some of us these make a lot of sense and make our life with Windows easier :) Selecting it in AutoPatcher should add it to your startup list, which means that it would be running. There will be no indication (though you can allow it to use a system tray icon), but the new options should be present on the menus. About Microsoft, I don’t know. Back when we started AutoPatcher, our intention was not to get Microsoft’s attention. Back then we had troubles updating our computers, and needed an automated way to use Microsoft’s administrative update (since those are portable).
@Yannis: I’m glad it saved you time. I know how much trouble things can be on slow lines (back in 1998 all I had is a 56k modem). I guess I’m lucky I have an ADSL connection in both Athens (where I used to live) and Lamia (where I study). :D
March 4th, 2007 at 10:50 am
When installing Windows XP (or a repair install) my standard practice has been to use a WinXP slipstream CD created by updating a Windows XP SP2 CD-ROM with the RyanVM Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack (http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html). I follow this install by running the latest AutoPatcher.
For whatever reason, these two methods of packaging Windows updates don’t seem to agree on what is a official, or critical, Windows patch; each contains some updates that the other does not. This isn’t really a problem for me since I run one after the other.
My only gripe about AutoPatcher is that it doesn’t seem to detect if a patch is already installed (items are listed in black, not blue, with a checkmark beside them) when the initial installation of the patch was done using a slipstreamed, patched XP CD-ROM. If I visit the Windows Update site it does recognize the slipstreamed patches as installed and does not offer to reinstall them.
Maybe I’m the only person who cares about this, but updating AutoPatcher to better detect slipstreamed patches would be a good thing to add to the to do list. The workaround for me, since I know what patches are already slipstreamed, is to uncheck those I don’t need to install when I run AutoPatcher.
March 4th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
AutoPatcher 5.6 supports detection through filecheck, which would make sense for hotfix detection (check if a file version is = a specific version). I could of course extend this to support a >= check instead of just plain =.
Blaze, Gandolas and the rest of the team would need to adjust their modules appropriately in order to make use of such file-based detection, but in the end of the day, I’m sure that it would be worth it since it would be able to more accurately detect installed patches, especially when the hotfixes were installed in a non-standard way.
March 5th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Are the daylight saving time issues resolved in a previous version of autopatcher, since Microsoft has acted like they were completed some time ago?
March 5th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
the file checking thing is a bit tricky. using just file detection isn’t going to work, either we would be checking the version number of one file which could have been updated by a different patch and *fools* AutoPatcher into thinking the patch were checking for is installed when it may not be, or we would have to check the file version for every single updated file which would severly impact module load times i would imagine.
i think the best way to handle it is as follows:
1) check basic registry detection for patch (ensures some version of that patch has been installed)
2) if a newer version of that patch, check version number of one file thats changed since the last version to see which version has been installed.
however there are two issues that need addressing
1) part two above can be fooled by another patch updating the file were checking for, how do we solve this issue?
2) *big issue* a lot of patches contain updated files for multiple service pack levels, however the different files have different file versions. this currently means that one apm (amc) file can only be aimed at one version of windows and one sp level… so perhaps file detection needs expanding so we can specify different file detections for different sp levels…
i do know that some people have complained that registry detection hasnt worked for some reason, perhaps because a user has used nlite and ryan vm’s update pack to install updates, i’m sorry but we check for registry detection installed by the updates themselves, nothing specific to AutoPatcher, if ryan vm’s update pack or whatever your using doesn’t install the registry entries then please direct complaint’s there way not ours.
@witcraft, what DST issues?
*edit*: @raptor, i read your comment as though it was already using >= for file detection not just =, but my comments still apply, just installing another patch that updates the file we’re checking, rather than fooling AutoPatcher into thinking a patch is installed when it might not be, it would fool AutoPatcher into thinking a patch is not installed when it may be.
March 6th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Lyndon:
The US government has, in their highly limited wisdom, decided the change the dates on which DST begins and ends. This has caused many difficulties with computers which are set to local time, since they would have been auto-updating the local time on the wrong dates this year.
Windows itself, MS Outlook, MS Exchange, and I don’t know how many other apps are directly effected by the problem. Furthermore, some apps would fail to launch after the DST patch was installed, so we had to “backpatch” a hotfix from the app vendors - and at this time I have no idea if the DST patch from MS is now disabled, or if it will work. I guess we’ll find out on Sunday.
March 6th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
@Ludicrous, if witcraft meant KB914387 (http://support.microsoft.com/?id=914387) then no, we did not include this update. microsoft did not release an installer for this update, only manual instructions, i didn’t bother with it because of the potential issues with applications and because its a bit complex so needs more time spent working out exactly what to do. does everyone want this update included if i can do it?
March 7th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Antonis, thank you and your fellows for every update. The world appreciates what you have done for those of us who install windows. Thank you very much. May fortune and good luck bless you all.
March 8th, 2007 at 3:11 am
thanks again i was wondering why there is a 3 -4 month differance between the full version and update esp. english great work.
March 10th, 2007 at 3:59 am
Hi just downloading via torrent sounds good after spending 6 hours formatting and doing
windows update on my friends pc !!
Thanks hope its good sounds good
Thanks
March 10th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Horray! I finally received and assembled my stuff today!
My old computer will now be used as a server. Haven’t decided yet on what *kind* of server, but it could serve as a file server or a proxy server.
My desktop is now a shiny Core 2 Duo. Still haven’t installed everything (that will hopefully be done tomorrow), but it feels damn nice to have a desktop again! This is the only machine with Windows on it, so I will be able to implement some long-due requests by fellow AutoPatcher Team members.
Kudos to my laptop, which served me well during my desktop’s absence!
Some of the requests to be implemented:
- Set initial folder of answer files to AP’s folder when looking where to save to or load from (in Ctrl+S and Ctrl+L).
- Allow multiple, flagged FileDetection parts, in order to accurately detect a hotfix by the version numbers of *all* its files on *all* different service packs or operating systems.
Have fun!
Antonis
March 14th, 2007 at 1:37 am
Thank you for your efforts. I find this free software is extremely useful.
March 14th, 2007 at 5:10 am
i just want to tell you people you are the best!!!! i just found the site and this concept looks fantastic!!! it will save me lots of time!! thank you :)
March 14th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Autopatcher for the update of exchange server & the definitions related to IMF (Intellegent Message Filtering) would be a nice sub-feature to add…..
Than for terrific program, keep up the good work!!
March 20th, 2007 at 6:49 am
Waiting for March AutoPatcher 5.6 Match 2007 , 11 More Days in Month …. :)
March 20th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
You guys are great! How can I find current information about autostreamer? I just used version 1.0.33 to create my 2K3 SP2 CD. I’d like to get a current release if possible.
Thanks again for a great application!
March 21st, 2007 at 1:03 am
You stite shows the status as Autopatcher March 2007 released but where are the download links.
March 21st, 2007 at 10:26 am
@Rahul, all the progress bar does is just guess, i’ve still got a lot of work to do before there done.
March 21st, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Thank you!!!
March 22nd, 2007 at 1:02 am
when will be the march 2007 autopatcher v 5.6 will be available
for downloading any idea…only 9 days left for this month
March 22nd, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Thanks for all the hard work that you all are doing, it is a great benefit to the computing community.
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:29 am
One word says too much. BRAVO
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:31 pm
people that complain about how many days are left in March, must just remember this program is free and fantastic.
March 24th, 2007 at 1:33 am
I am using Autopatcher from more than a year. You guys have always been improving it & giving more features. I really appreciate your efforts. None has to worry about any @%$wares in it.
You have made the life of a sys-admin easier.
All the best.
March 24th, 2007 at 5:57 am
phenomenal! that’s all i have to say! this is like a dream come true, no really it is. it’s like wishing for something and finding it later down the road. amazing work guys, i love you all for your hard work! i’m going to be a walking advertisement when it comes to this stuff!
March 24th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Please be patient.
The March releases will be based on autopatcher 5.6, a completely new (don’t let the version number fool you) release, written from scratch. Many things that used to be the source of trouble, work ‘by-default’ now, because of this rewrite. There are many new features for those who write modules (namely the members of the autopatcher team who prepare the releases you all like to download). Keep in mind that the more they become familiar with the new ‘engine’, the better the releases will be.
I blame it all on February having 28 days ;-) If it had more, our team would have some time to rest between releases!
The above was a joke, but it also holds some truth. We spend a considerable amount of our free time, sometimes even as much as a full time job.
Don’t worry, we are doing our very best to finish up the March releases. Just be patient :-)
March 24th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Why don’t use guys use Windows Update Agent to determine which updates are needed? Then there are no issues about determining what updates to install - it comes direct from Microsoft. It’s like running Windows Update locally!
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa387099.aspx
March 25th, 2007 at 5:21 am
because i’m using pirated windows.. hehehe
March 25th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Because u don’t have to download it for every pc you want to upgrade. Because these pc may not have internet access. Because there are some additional programs included in the release. Because the update/s and restarts are easier and faster. Because you may not want to download from microsoft. Because, because, because…….
March 25th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Sorry Jimtsiros, I didn’t explain well enough - Windows Update Agent is an installable update (which most XPSP2 PCs already have) which based on a Microsoft signed definition file can report which upgrades are required. A new definition file is created with each new update set once a month. It’s the same that Windows Update uses, it just runs entirely locally. This way, instead of using registry keys to determine which updates are required, MS software can “officially” report it to AutoPatcher. You can still install updates in the same fashion, without download, in the same order, and without a restart. It would just be a more accurate way of detecting which updates are required. Then, if there is ever an overwrite of a patched file, WUA will detect the update is required where as AutoPatcher will think the update is already installed since the Installed registry key value will exist as “1″. This can be seen with certain Windows Media Player updates. New WMP player installs will overwrite patched files that need to be re-patched, but AutoPatcher won’t recognize the overwrite and WUA will. It could be added seamlessly to AutoPatcher and only add to its accuracy, not take away from its ease of use or convenience. Just a thought - there were some discussions in previous posts about how to best detect which updates are required. Keep up the good work!
March 26th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Hi Antonis,
Just wanna say thanks a lot for Autopatcher. if i were rich i’m gonna donate a lot of money ^_^
too bad i’m not, can’t even buy a original XP.
cheers.. for indonesia
March 26th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Hi Antonis,
Just wanna say thanks a lot for Autopatcher. if i were rich i’m gonna donate a lot of money ^_^
too bad i’m not, can’t even buy a original XP.
cheers.. from indonesia
March 27th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
You guys rock!!
I have been looking for a program like this since the early days of Windows 95! I even tried to create a similar program using batch files for all the updates. Never worked though…
I came across Autopatcher about 6 months ago, and I can tell you now that Microsoft Windows Update is simply a bad memory!
Just 2 questions for interest sake:
1. Why is an update made available every month or so and a full release every few months? Is it simply from a downlaod size point of view, or is there a more sinister reason? :-)
2. About 4 months ago I saw the first mentions on the net of an Autopatcher 6 release. Is that the version that has now become 5.6, or is a 6 release still on the cards? Being the fan I am of Autopatcher, if a 6 release is on the cards, when?
Since I came across Autopatcher, this is THE gotta have program for any tech. Thanks for The Ultimate software program.
Can’t wait to see what the future holds. Keep going. I speak for many people when I say we really need you and your team.
Can’t say everything good - got to have at least one negative - so are we getting a March release or what? :-)
Thanks guys….
March 30th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Ordered and received the Autopatcher DVD about a month ago. When it arrived i tried to run it but my DVD Drive would not read it. I e-mailed sales about the issue and I received an almost immediate reply from Ben. He sent me 2 more copies on different formats for me to try. As it turned out the only one my Drive would read was the DVD+R.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. It is nice to know that there are still some organizations that know the true meaning of “Customer Service”. Congrats to uou and all the AP Team for a Great Product and Service to match.
I am anxiously awaiting AP 5.6 to see how you could make it better.
Thanks Again.
March 31st, 2007 at 9:49 am
W Arnold, I was informed of your case. We do our best to make sure that nobody is dissatisfied. Ben is very helpful and it seems that people like him a lot.
April 7th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Great job guys !!!
It’s already one year I’m using the autopatcher and I’m really looking froward to the new 5.6 version.
Would be great to patch Office and Vista !!!
THANK YOU GUYS !!!!
April 8th, 2007 at 3:32 am
I’m excited about the prospect of Office updates being included. Hopefully these will include all versions of Office but if not, at least 2007.
My question is will you be releasing a separate Autopatcher for Office or will it be included in the Windows/Vista Autopatcher? Personally, I prefer a separate solution to avoid installing XP updates.
April 8th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Office releases will be separate. We would have no problem including everything in one package (remember, AutoPatcher always load the items which are compatible with your running environment — an office 2003 patch would not even show up if you run autopatcher on a system with office 2007).
The trouble is that such a package would be huge (if we were to include patches for Windows XP, 2000, 2003, Vista and all versions of Office).
May 28th, 2007 at 3:46 am
i m not using service pack2 and i dont want to install it.
will it be possible to install programs that require sp2 on my machine if i use autopatcher.
June 14th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Hi, I have downloaded the June 2007 realese of Autopatcher but when I try to install it, it says “Generating tree… no compatible items found.
I have Windows XP SP2 and office 2003, so I don´t understando why these aren´t compatible.
My regards.