30 replies to this topic

[raccoon]

I'd like to see the ability to specify a (or multiple) locations to scrape files from; including local directories of perhaps old Autopatcher builds, downloaded torrents, http "Index Of"listings, ftp perhaps. So all one would really need is a signed script telling Autopatcher what it needs, and a user to tell Autopatcher where to look to find it.

[_def_x_]

raccoon, on 21 May 2012 - 10:06 PM, said:

I'd like to see the ability to specify a (or multiple) locations to scrape files from; including local directories of perhaps old Autopatcher builds, downloaded torrents, http "Index Of"listings, ftp perhaps. So all one would really need is a signed script telling Autopatcher what it needs, and a user to tell Autopatcher where to look to find it.

What exactly are you wanting APUP to find, can you be more specific, what files are in your script?

I do believe APUP2 is multi-threading, but beyond retrieving files from Microsoft, Adobe, etc, what is the purpose of sniffing an ftp or torrent sites, what are you looking for?

What do you mean "old AutoPatcher builds"? If you're referring to the old builds that we used to archive and offer as a single file download, those are illegal and are what got the project shut down in 06' or 07', that's why APUP was developed. If the project was to continue on we needed to have all Microsoft updates download directly from Microsoft, we couldn't offer the updates in a collection as if we owned the rights!

Edited by _def_x_, 21 May 2012 - 10:32 PM.

[ViroMan]

If you edit the script files you can change all the download location to local/network locations(this only works for apup2).

Downloading torrents is not in the foreseeable future. I am not saying it won't happen but, I don't see any usable trade off for how much work it would be to add it in. What would it torrent? the scripts? they are tiny. The updates? that will get our butts another cease and desist from Microsoft.

You can point both apup and apup2 to different locations to download release.list from already. You can have your own version of a list in your dropbox that points to your own scripts if you want.

[raccoon]

Oi Vey.

I said 'Locations to SCRAPE files from". Eg, Old Autopather folders on one's computer from 2 years ago. Rather than downloading files that physically exist on the computer already, just pluck them out of the dirty messy 2-year-old junk heap and repurpose them providing they match the hash.

Someone could download an Autopatcher torrent (using uTorrent, not Autopatcher), that may be clean and good, or perhaps contain some viruses, but Autopatcher could (as above) scrape the local harddrive contents of the download to pluck out the GOOD files it seeks, copy them to the legitimate Autopatcher folder and give those files a clean bill of health.

THEN, and only then, would Autopatcher download from Microsoft whatever missing files that are not already local. SAVE BANDWIDTH. RECYCLE.

*** Practical Example ***

"Autopatcher has found an old version of Autopatcher already installed on your computer. Would you like to reuse any of the patches that are still valid from that install before downloading them again from Microsoft? (Hint: This saves time and bandwidth)"
[ Yes ] [ No ] [ Cancel ]

(I give permission to use that text verbatim)

Edited by raccoon, 22 May 2012 - 11:53 PM.

[ViroMan]

ahh.. I see you want to detect an already installed AutoPatcher. Well AutoPatcher doesn't install so that would mean searching an entire HD for older versions. This is not out of the question... I could create a button in the option area of APUP2 to search for other installs. I would probably set up a hardlink instead of copying the files.

Edited by ViroMan, 23 May 2012 - 01:23 AM.

[_def_x_]

raccoon, on 22 May 2012 - 11:41 PM, said:

Someone could download an Autopatcher torrent (using uTorrent, not Autopatcher), that may be clean and good, or perhaps contain some viruses, but Autopatcher could (as above) scrape the local harddrive contents of the download to pluck out the GOOD files it seeks, copy them to the legitimate Autopatcher folder and give those files a clean bill of health.

THEN, and only then, would Autopatcher download from Microsoft whatever missing files that are not already local. SAVE BANDWIDTH. RECYCLE.

Not a bad idea, in a sense APUP does this to a degree, it will run the script through the \modules folder looking for files on the list, only those files missing will get downloaded.

I will take you a step further, APUP should be SMART, it should also tell you what files are not part of the script, it should point out the extra files as well. My friends application does exactly this - if you drop anything in a folder designed to run as a programmed script, it will point out the new or unknown file in the script routine.

As an example, you drop in a random file(s), run the program, it will alert you to any new or unknown files, print the details, and ask if you want to add or remove said files from the package, delete to Recycle Bin - whatever.

A brief log may look like this:

The following files are new or unknown to: _def_x_ Windows XP SP3 x86

me.jpg - size, hash, origin, date added, etc
you.png - size, hash, origin, date added, etc
us.exe - size, hash, origin, date added, etc

-:- Add -:- Remove -:- View -:- Scan -:- Delete -:-

The obvious problem with AutoPatcher is the files get downloaded to a single folder with many of the updates sharing folders - \Critical... Easily fixed but it takes work and good organization, a bit of planning to use a good scheme so it's only done once but doable!

[Whatacrock]

Interesting concept but why would you want to use older updates if the latest have already been installed!!!
If you want the older updates why not just search for them and match their hashes.

A lot of the torrent files floating around the internet are for old releases dating as far back as 2005, searched several sites but not mentioning which ones, only found a few that are recent dating back to the start of this year. Not relly a reliable source if you want prevoius releases...asking ViroMan or _def_x_ -are the previous releases archived or deleted when newer ones are uploaded?

My 2 bob thrown into the ring

[ViroMan]

all the old scripts still exist back to 2008 in some cases... I have been going through the server though and have a few of them sorted into folders which I plan to remove soon. As for the actual update files you download from Microsoft... they get removed when they are no longer "current". If they are replaced by another update... the script gets updated with the new update and a delete command is placed in to remove the old files.

In reality... if your using older files say 2 years ago... it may save you 1/4-1/3 of the total download but, I am fairly sure your going to be downloading allot still. I can't be sure though since there are way too many files to keep track of in that manner.

Edited by ViroMan, 23 May 2012 - 07:57 AM.

[excalibur]

I was thinking of raccoon's suggestion a couple of years back...

My scenario is that I manually download updates and keep then in an AP temp directory.

I then copy them into the current AP modules directory )Keeping the directory structure), run AP and if they are not the same, AP will remove MY downloaded versions and re-download them from the products website.

I would like to see an option or a switch for a source directory.

If there is one, then AP should check this directory, and it's subs, first for files that it needs to download.
If the hashes DO NOT match, download it from the website.
If the hashes DO match, COPY it accordingly.

E

[raccoon]

PS. Not everyone updates Autopatcher for the active system running. So yeah, old patches may still be valid for the church's computer or one's parents.

And if Autopatcher can scrape valid files from a directory (not necessarily an Autopatcher structure), this could allow someone to WGET a dump of patches from an HTTP directory "Index of /MSDN/KB/" off some random person's server, especially in the event that Microsoft's own servers are heavily loaded and slow. Autopatcher could do this itself, assuming it knows HTTP, but WGET works fine for me.

PSS. Autopatcher should COPY, not HARDLINK. I would prefer to archive or delete the defunct 2yo Autopatcher or the HTTP/Torrent source files once Autopatcher gets everything it needs from it.

Edited by raccoon, 23 May 2012 - 09:00 PM.

[ViroMan]

We know that not everyone updates for the current computer they are using... It is one of the primary reasons for this projects existence. To download updates on a faster connection and use it for another computer with a slower connection or multiple computers at once over network.

This is a hardlink http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Hard_link A ntfs hardlink is at the filesystem level and virtually undetectable to the OS. Its limitation is that it can't be done on directories or if the file is stored other then on the same HD. If what we want to link is on another HD or system, I will of course have to do a copy instead. Deleting the original file a hardlink points to only deletes the reference to the file... The hardlink becomes the true link to the file so the file is never deleted unless you delete all references to it.

Edited by ViroMan, 23 May 2012 - 09:51 PM.