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Wouldn’t it be good if you could update all of your programs at the click/tap of an icon?
The good news is that you can.. Well, maybe two icons/clicks , or even set some of the update process to auto even.
However there are still a number of programs out there that require manually updating. That can pose further problems, as using an old version of a program can at times cause a security risk – but if the program itself doesn’t tell you that there’s an updated version waiting for you to install it, then you’re none the wiser as you continue blissfully using the old version.
Herein we discuss possible solutions to this problem; of which I know of two: The two solutions together are fairly thorough.
I’m unaware, at this point in time, of any non-self-updating program that isn’t at least notified of a need for an upgrade by these two solutions when run jointly.
Patch My PC
The first solution to the issue is a program called “PatchMyPC”‘. This program has a compiled list of third-party software which it checks against your PC’s installed programs list, and forces a silent upgrade process as necessary. It can also be preset to run automatically at intervals in the background. – But, as you may imagine, the compiled list of third-party software is far from exhaustive, so PatchMyPC doesn’t upgrade every non-auto-upgrading program there is every time.
Winget
In the light of the above, the other solution that I recommend that you run along with PatchMyPC is a routine that’s built into Windows. 
Winget. It is accessible via the command prompt. It can also be more conveniently run manually by creating a shortcut to the routine. Even more conveniently you can add the routine to the Windows Task Scheduler, so that the task runs automatically at intervals.
Here’s a rundown of how to use Winget in various ways: –
First of all you’ll need to structure the command for purpose. What we need looks like this: –
winget upgrade --all
Open a command prompt and run this command to upgrade a percentage of your software automatically as a one-off.
You can also enter this as a location of a shortcut that you create on your desktop if you want to run it manually at will. – This is what I do, even though I’ve set PatchMyPC to run every 24 hours.
As another option – and I haven’t done this yet, though I see no reason why it can’t be done, is to get the Windows Task Scheduler to run this command on a daily basis.
Below are instructions for creating a shortcut, which, when clicked/tapped, will run Winget and update at least some of your software: –
1) Go to your desktop and right-click an empty portion of it.
2) In the box that appears on screen, hover over the word ‘New’ and click/tap ‘Shortcut’ in the adjacent box that appears.
3) A wizard will appear asking you to type the location of the item.
Enter ‘winget upgrade ––all’
and click/tap ‘Next’.
4) The wizard will ask you what you would like to name the shortcut. I suggest something like “Upgrade Software”, though what specific name you give it is up to you: It makes no difference what you choose here – though keeping it short makes things easier in the long run. You could even use the text ‘winget.exe’ that Windows suggests.
5) Click/tap ‘Finish’, and the shortcut you just created appears on your desktop.
That’s how it’s done.
Keep it Up-Dated
It’s always good practice to ensure that you keep your software updated at all times. – Particularly your browser – which should update automatically in most if not all cases. It’s good practice to manually check that your browser is regularly auto-updating from time-to-time – because your browser is such an important software component to look after from a security standpoint.
(Automatic updates of browsers can fail. – I’ve even seen Microsoft Edge fail to auto-update before now!)
Another Useful Thing About PatchMyPC: –
When you’ve just installed Windows and you’re sitting there with a blank canvas – ready and wanting to install some programs – rather than trawling all over the internet for individual programs, and maybe even risking downloading something nasty from questionable sites in your haste; why not, instead, install PatchMyPC as the first program on the new operating system [After you’ve downloaded all the cumulative patches and updates from Windows Update.] and use it to select and install most of the programs you want to use?
I’m not endorsing all of the programs that are downloadable via PatchMyPC. – In fact there are several programs in that list that I’d avoid using; particularly the products of IOBit Technologies and AShampoo. – But if you’re careful and wise you’ll come to no harm if you know which dodgy programs to avoid.
Stay safe online.
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