How good is CCleaner Professional's new Software Updater?
The most recent version of CCleaner Professional comes with a new Software Updater tool designed to inform the user about outdated program installations.
Software updates are a complicated thing on Windows as there is no central repository available. Some programs come with custom build updating routines, others come without them.
Keeping software up to date is essential (most of the time) as updates may patch security vulnerabilities, incompatibilities, and other issues.
Programs that scan for outdated programs on Windows are anything but new. Programs like SUMO or UpdateStar have been around for over a decade. Developers of security solutions, for example Avira and Kaspersky, introduced options to check for software updates as well.
CCleaner Software Updater
Piriform, an Avast company, introduced the Software Updater in version 5.55 of the application released in March 2019. The tool is included in the Professional version of CCleaner only at this point in time.
You may access it with a click on Tools > Software Updater after you have made sure that you run at least CCleaner Professional 5.55.
The application lists outdated programs in its interface when you select the tool. It lists the program name, size, the installed version and the new version that is available.
The Software Updater detected fewer out of date programs than comparable software updaters such as Sumo. CCleaner Professional detected 18 programs with updates, Sumo 35.
Note: The tool may hang if you hit the "update all" button without selecting at least one program first.
What you can do currently
The only options provided at the time are to select programs and to update the selection. There is no option to visit the developer website to find out more about an update, nor are there options to ignore updates or minor updates, include beta versions, or uninstall a program.
The updating happens in CCleaner; that is comfortable and probably preferred by the majority of users (Sumo redirects to its own website from where you may download the updates).
CCleaner Professional does not indicate from where the updates are downloaded, however. It would be great if the program would indicate that to the user.
CCleaner downloads the installer and runs it automatically. It is still necessary to complete the installation manually at this point; silent installations don't seem to be supported.
The application displays a "completed" message in the end and buttons to restart the PC or ignore the restart option for the moment.
Closing Words
CCleaner Professional's software updater is a useful but limited tool. The Software Updater makes it easy to update software that CCleaner has in its database. The database of supported applications could be larger though, and it would certainly benefit from improved functionality on top of that.
No false positives were detected during tests; this worked properly.
Now You: Do you use Software Updaters? If so which? If not, why not?
I have been using Iobit Driver Booster for a couple of years on 3-units and have had no problems with what was provided. Is there a problem with this software that may have been missed?
I wouldnt use a software updater (for the many reasons already noted). However, I like to run a secondary AntiMalware scanner in RogueKiller (by Adlice) once or twice a week. No affiliation, just a fan of their Portable AM…
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/
If inclined, try the Portable version (64bit or 32bit options avail). Adlice gives you a month Premium “free”, of which Ive more than taken advantage (but “support your valued software” is typ. my M.O.). RK has a built-in Updater check (UCheck), which can be enabled/disabled in Settings. UCheck can’t update your software but simply notifies you of any updates needed.
For eg, I learned about the important WinRAR update the same day news of its recent exploit was announced -thanks to UCheck. Simply go to whatever software’s trusted homepage is and DL update from there (if you can’t do it within the Application itself).
Rogue Killer goes pretty deep with their scans too, so the uCheck software update notifications are icing-on-the-cake. My only gripe with RogueKiller are the occassional False Positives (but their Cust Svc., if you send them a log, typ. replies in less than 24 hours should you get a PUP or PUM detection you are unsure is legit). Thanks M.B.!
This is exactly what SUMo has been designed for…. give it a try : https://www.kcsoftwares.com/?sumo
I used the free version of Sumo for a long time. Because I used the program nearly everyday and I liked it very much, I went years ago with the Pro. Version. The Pro version did not do anything new for me that the free version did. I just wanted to Support Sumo.
I like Sumo because if you have a program that you do not want to update, there is a place in the program to disable it’s update, or to delay it”s update.
Kyle has never failed to answer any concerns about the program. Yes sometimes the program wants to update a beta even tho you have beta versions turned off…But Kyle will always fix that!
Thank you ! (I’m SUMo developper)
for that , i prefer chocolatey , Patch My Pc or visit each websites of the softwares. This option of CCleaner is really really bad ! it found 3 software that don’t exist in my pc ! i think to uninstall definitively CCleaner, i prefer privacy eraser or bleach bit !
I second Chocolatey.
No updater software is perfect, but SUMO in my opinion is far better than all the others in terms of detection. Ccleaner updater is rather poor at the moment.
I was able to turn off the Software Updater in CCleaner by doing the following…
1. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Piriform\CCleaner
2. Set (Cfg)SoftwareUpdater to 0.
3. Set (Cfg)SoftwareUpdaterIpm to 0.
Hello
How does this compares to SUMo ?
From my first test, they have a very low detection rate compared to SUMo (i’m the developper of SUMo) but they automatically roll our updates for a limited number of programs.
Any feedback ? Better or worse than SUMo ? Complementary to SUMo ?
https://www.kcsoftwares.com/?sumo
If i update software, which i seldom do, i do it manually.
The Avast Free AV program for Windows(7) also comes with the same Software Updater tool = a free tool. I find it quite useful as a central updater tool.
……. Users can choose to ignore certain software updates, eg to not update Firefox 52ESR or 56. For software/programs like 7Zip and Java RE, after updating, users need to uninstall the old versions.
I used to use Glary’s updater, should say it checked whether I wanted to or not until I blocked the updater in my firewall.
Now I rarely update the OS, Win 10, since the process is so screwed up. Otherwise, most of the stuff installed checks for new versions when opened, so no need for a utility.
Was hoping to read some good news about CCleaner, but no, they just added some partially functional and mysteriously working junkware to it.
The firewall is configured to block everything except for programs that require an internet connection and Windows Update. Feeds are enough. Honestly, I don’t see why I have to obsessively update all installed programs to the latest version.
I do not use and do not like the related tool in my Internet Security and not only that (system cleaning and other crap) . The general rule is: a dedicated software often do a better job than a suite.
> “The tool is included in the Professional version of CCleaner only at this point in time.”
‘Software Updater’ is also displayed up-front in CCleaner Free, auto-scans user’s PC for installed programs, & shows which ones are up-to-date/ out-dated. But ‘Software Updater’ is not explicitly labelled as a Pro feature, & there is no way to disable the scanning.
Only when user clicks on the Update button would CCleaner “kindly” display advert nagscreens to inform user that the update function of ‘Software Updater’ is available as trial mode for CCleaner Free users.
https://forum.piriform.com/topic/53569-software-updater-in-free-version/?tab=comments#comment-304401
> “CCleaner Professional does not indicate from where the updates are downloaded, however. It would be great if the program would indicate that to the user. […] The Software Updater detected fewer out of date programs than comparable software updaters such as Sumo.”
CCleaner pulls a pre-filtered list from the FileHippo software portal (ie. the official distribution partner for Piriform products.) This is probably why ‘Software Updater’ lists fewer up-to/out-of-date programs than similar software-update managers.
However, it is not clear how Piriform decides which software to include & exclude from ‘Software Updater’.
https://forum.piriform.com/topic/53596-more-info-on-software-updater-required/?tab=comments#comment-304542
> “The tool may hang if you hit the “update all” button without selecting at least one program first.”
Likewise, ‘Software Updater’ during the scanning process may hang, or complain about connection errors — if the PC is disconnected from the internet, or if user has blocked CCleaner.exe/ CCleaner64.exe from connecting online, eg. using a firewall rule. (It appears that ‘Software Updater’ is integrated into the main CCleaner binary.)
Obvious Disadvantage: As mentioned, this pro ‘Software Updater’ & its auto-scanning routine can’t be disabled or terminated — even though it is useless to CCleaner Free users. The scanning gets triggered when user clicks on the ‘Tools’ menu (within which ‘Software Updater’ is the first-listed sub-menu item).
https://forum.piriform.com/topic/53585-ccleaner-v5557108-64-bit-upgrade-error-on-windows-10/?tab=comments#comment-304477
https://forum.piriform.com/topic/53569-software-updater-in-free-version/?tab=comments#comment-304507
I’ve used Ninite and Patchmypc was good at one time. Now I use Linux.
I wouldn’t trust CCleaner for anything, even less security tasks, considering their own security issues :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCleaner#Security_issues
I tried out the updater and it worked well enough. I tend not to use software updaters, as I like as much control over my computer as I can have in these times. I updated one app and refused another which had notified me as part of its own update service ( and which I didn’t want)
I don’t find it particularly useful, but I guess they have to have some new gimmick with at least some updates. One doesn’t have to use it if one doesn’t want to, at least at this point.
If it becomes compulsory, I will be ending my relationship with CCleaner Pro.
Best of the bunch is the free Patch My PC, already reviewed here: https://www.ghacks.net/2018/02/19/patch-my-pc-updater-4-0-review/
It doesn’t support every program on the planet, but for the large number it does support, it offers not only safe, silent updating but also installation and several other options.
SUMo seems to support almost everything (as if it’s doing some sort of Google search to search for updates) but isn’t really an alternative. I use it as a secondary check. It will only tell you if updates are available (reporting many false positives, usually beta versions). You will have to perform all updates on your own.
CCleaner’s current state cannot be compared to anything, it’s quite bad.
I use SUMo as it is the only app that scans other drives and identifies portable apps.
You can disable checking beta versions.
Patch My PC also handles portable apps. What I said about SUMo falsely reporting beta updates as regular updates stands. The aggressive way which SUMo uses to check for updates causes this, and the option to “Allow Beta versions” has nothing to do with it. It is actually mentioned in its home page: (“More compatibility and less false positive than others Update Monitors, according to users feedback”)
https://www.kcsoftwares.com/?sumo
Here’s one example, verified just now: https://i.imgur.com/X890SLT.png
WPD 1.2.940.0 is reported is having an available update (1.3.1083.0). But, WPD 1.3 is still a beta version. Sure, you can report it to the developer and it will be promptly fixed. Just know that this happens quite often with SUMo.
https://wpd.app/
Don’t get me wrong, I like SUMo a lot but it’s not an updater (it doesn’t update anything on its own). It’s a checker.
Patch My PC doesn’t handle any of my portable apps. Out of all the apps on my PC, Patch My PC displays 9 installed apps !!!
Microsoft OneDrive – 19.012.0121.0011
.NET Framework 4.7.03056
Adobe Flash Player 32 NPAPI – 32.0.0.156
Google Chrome Beta – 73.0.3683.75
HandBrake 1.2.2
iCloud – 7.10.0.9
iTunes – 12.9.3.3
NVIDIA PhysX System Software 9.19.0218
TeraCopy version 3.26
I never let any auto update (except for anti-virus) for any software on my PC. I use SUMo and manually download from developers sites.
@ilev looks like you are not bothering reading any of the messages, let alone program guides and FAQs. PMPC will not magically detect your portable apps. It will work with the ones it supports, and needs to be configured first (for the portable ones only).
The complete, current list is here: https://patchmypc.com/home-updater-supported-products
…so there is no point in posting your own installed apps. Note that currently it only supports free programs. It doesn’t support paid programs, or free software that might install ad/crap/malware or software that does not provide a silent installer.
Like I said, it’s very different than SUMo and they cannot be directly compared. SUMo is a checker, Patch My PC is an all-round checker/updater/installer, with several other functions too.
It would make things easier, but I’d never use a global software checker/updater. Just would not be able to get past the “go ahead and scan my entire computer and upload the results to X.”
In the end it’s not too hard to check the 20 most used apps’ websites once in a while.
I use SUMO and PatchMyPC since Secunia passed away.
I use PatchMyPC, and have never had a problem with it.
Indeed I think SUMO is one of the best software updaters ever. :)
It’s good, but it’s not an updater. As mentioned on its website, it’s a Software Update Monitor. It doesn’t update programs, it checks them for available updates. The actual updating is done by the user, with the usual methods (download update, install update).
First thing is that I have and install far less applications/software than in the good old times of XP.
Less software, less updates. I don’t use a whatever software updater; I rather check via RSS feeds software portals (‘BetaNews File Forum’, ‘Freeware Files’ (with javascript disabled for this one, lol), Neowin and SnapFiles : if I don’t have all my applications’ names in mind I nevertheless spot those I have when reading their names). For less known apps which never appear in software portals I ask followthatpage.com to alert me when one of those apps’ download page has changed.
In the past I remember having used SUMO but increasing paranoia tied to brains getting older (and weaker) made me fear exposing my installed apps to an unknown site could be unwise :=)
One thing is sure : I wouldn’t use a software updater without knowing from where it checks for updates and downloads accordingly.
I’m happy to use Sumo – but only as a convenient guide.
If I took it seriously I’d spend more time updating than working.
Not especially keen to update simply because the Bulgarian/Korean/Suomo language files have been modified.
Also pretty cynical of its far-too-frequent updates.
And like other posters, I really do agree that newer not only isn’t always better in software. In fact I find its rarely the case, other than with security issues.
Thank you ! (I’m SUMo developper)
Yah, but you won’t even update, (err… I mean downgrade) to Windows 10 so what do you know??! So there!! ;> )
@Valrobex, always a pleasure reading your comments especially when surrealistic :=)
You’re right about Windows 10, I mean that anyone who hasn’t suffered cannot really know life.
I absolutely hate the idea of software updaters for other software. I also hate the idea of websites like ninite – bulk download of the latest version of different software. Who teaches people that “latest is greatest”, “newer is better”, etc..? ..without also telling them “newer means untested” or that “older means proven”?
I run many older versions of software because after a certain point in their lifecycle they either became bloatware or start having conflicts witth other software I run.
This was why I really liked Secunia’s PSI. While they no longer offer it, it used to let you know if there is a newer version that contains security fixes, or if the version you use is EOL. It did not automatically list the newer version just because it came out, only if it fixes a security bug.