Pros & Cons
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- Identifies and downloads updates for non-Microsoft programs and drivers.
- Offers detailed information about available updates.
- Optional toolbar offers links, Web tools, games, more.
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- Not all found updates install correctly.
- Program sometimes recommends updates that have already been installed.
- Lacks an option to suppress problem updates in future scans.
RadarSync Free Specs
| Free: | Yes |
| OS Compatibility: | Windows Vista |
| OS Compatibility: | Windows XP |
| Type: | Personal |
Malware writers love finding bugs in Windows that let them sneak malicious code onto computers—it's like enlisting Windows as an unwitting accomplice to their crime. Naturally, Microsoft plugs these holes as quickly as possible once they're discovered. That's why the average user ought to keep Automatic Updates turned on: to receive any new patches for Windows or Microsoft Office applications as soon as possible. But malefactors can attack through other vectors. They've been known to exploit vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader, Firefox, QuickTime, RealPlayer, and many others. To protect your system's security, you should keep all your programs up to date, and RadarSync Free is designed to help you do just that.
When you launch RadarSync's system scan, it checks your computer's drivers and applications against a database of known current versions, listing any for which a newer version is available. In the past, that's all the free edition did: You had to download the updates yourself. But with this latest release, free for all commercial or noncommercial uses, RadarSync downloads the updates for you. The only real differences are that the paid edition offers priority tech support and a feature that automatically scans for new updates in the background. In either version, an optional RadarSync toolbar for Internet Explorer includes a button to launch the update scanner and numerous other unrelated features.
For each out-of-date item, RadarSync displays a link to detailed information about the company, the item's version number (your version and the current version), a revision history, and even information about competing products. You can download one item at a time from the detail view, but it's more convenient to download them all at once. The download process naturally takes quite a while if the system needs many large updates, but fortunately, it's fully automatic.
As each download finishes, RadarSync displays a balloon notification above its tray icon. You can click the balloon to launch the specified update. But because RadarSync can't tell which updates have been installed already, it's smarter to wait for the whole process to finish and then install the updates one at a time so you don't accidentally try to install the same one twice. Clicking the Action link next to an item lets you install, redownload, or delete that item; there's also an option to get the same detailed information that was offered in the scan results screen. Just work your way down the list installing and then deleting each update. When finished, run the full scan again to make sure everything is up to date. Simple! By default, RadarSync offers to save a System Restore point before each update installation. You can turn off this feature if you wish, but I'd recommend setting it to make the offer just once per session.—
Imperfect Performance
I installed RadarSync Free on several real-world systems running Vista and XP. Right away, I noticed some oddities in its user interface. A number of the found items had long names that differed only at the very end, and the end was cut off in the display. I enlarged the program's window to give them more room, but the window contents didn't expand to fill the space. I managed to view the names by widening the column in the list, which pushed the Action column out of view—awkward! Also, the label for the all-important button that downloads all found updates misspells "download" as "downlods"; I hope there are no misspellings in the program's source code!
On my main working system (running Windows Vista), RadarSync found 18 items needing an update. I chose to download all of them. When these items finished downloading, I started working through them and immediately ran into problems. The installer for HP PhotoSmart Essentials refused to install, reporting a newer version already in place, so I abandoned this install. I attempted to install a new driver for the Intel G965 Express chipset family, only to be told that the computer "does not meet the minimum requirements." An update for VMware Player reported (correctly) that VMware Workstation, not VMware Player, is installed on this system. A mouse driver update couldn't proceed because, it said, the existing driver was fully up to date. Still, quite a few of the updates seemed to install correctly. I did everything I could, rebooted, and ran the scan again.
Imagine my surprise at finding 16 of the 18 items still listed as needing a newer version. Of these, 11 were drivers for various Intel components, all of which seemed to install correctly the first time around. Trillian, an IM aggregator from Cerulean Studios, appeared in the update list even though I updated it (with apparent success) the first time around. And of course, those that failed the first time showed up in the list again. I went through the entire process of scanning and installing twice more, but the app still claimed that those 16 items needed an update.
There's no way to tell RadarSync Free that it should ignore specific drivers or applications in future scans. If a newly released update for some other program or driver shows up in the list during a future scan, I'll have to wade through those same 16 "duds" to find it. What's more, I'd have to remember that the 16 were duds or else go through the hassle of reinstalling them (and having them fail) all over again. I did use the program's built-in mechanism to report the installers that failed for one reason or another. But there's no mechanism to deal with updates that appear in the list, even after you've installed them. Maybe the company needs to think about patching its own app!
One other event sapped my faith in the program's capabilities: I know for a fact that there's a version of RoboForm newer than what's installed on this system; it told me so itself. RadarSync didn't detect this well-known program as being out of date. I have to wonder how many other outdated programs weren't reported as such.—
Small Successes
On a Windows XP test system without many installed programs, RadarSync identified updates for Firefox and Windows Media Player. I installed them, rescanned, and got a lovely message that my computer was in good shape. That's what I want to see! My children's system, running Vista, also reached the "good shape" stage after I installed the handful of updates that RadarSync requested.
Ironically, another system couldn't run RadarSync at all until I installed—an update! After I updated the Windows .NET Framework and completed the installation, RadarSync identified a full two dozen outdated drivers and programs. A couple of them seemed to be dead links; the app never managed to download the update installers. Most of the rest installed okay. But as with my main Vista system, some installers didn't work, and some seemed to work but reappeared in subsequent scans.—
Do-All Toolbar
If you accept the default settings, RadarSync installs a toolbar in your browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox).[05/22/08 Editor's Note: Originally this review incorrectly stated that the program does not support Firefox.] It also offers to install a free trial of the Carbonite online backup service, which I ignored since it's not part of RadarSync. The ostensible purpose of the toolbar is to keep that Scan button in front of the user, thereby encouraging frequent scans for updates. But the toolbar includes so many unrelated features that just finding the Scan button can be hard.
The toolbar's search box returns Google-based results plus some additional sponsored links. Apparently, the income from those links helps the company stay afloat as it gives away its product. Three buttons offer direct access to RadarSync's download pages for Freeware, Web Apps, and Open Source products. The Tools button opens a menu of online tools such as DNS lookup and WHOIS lookup, a very extensive set of free online virus scanners, and more. If you're looking for entertainment, the Gadgets button brings down a menu of games and other amusements, such as a calorie counter and a unit converter.
There's also a built-in Internet radio player, a new-mail notifier, a pop-up blocker, and a local weather indicator. In fact, your Internet Explorer window has to be over 1,200 pixels wide just to display all of the toolbar components that are enabled by default. Fortunately there's an option to shrink the toolbar by omitting button labels, and you can turn off any components that you never use. Or uninstall it completely: RadarSync Free works just fine with no toolbar installed.
RadarSync Free will almost certainly find some updates that your system needs. It's also likely to find some that don't work, and it may miss other out-of-date programs or drivers. I'd expect it to do more if I were paying for it. But since it's free, by all means take advantage of the help it can give.
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Final Thoughts
RadarSync Free
Windows' Automatic Updates keeps your Microsoft software up to date; RadarSync Free does the same for everything else. At least it tries to. Some of the updates don't work, and some get detected again after installation.