System Cleanup Series: How To Use PatchMyPC to Keep Your Programs Up to Date
In this post, I’ll talk about downloading, installing, and using PatchMyPC as an all-in-one installer for many of the most commonly used free programs and as an easy way to keep your programs up to date! Using a program like PatchMyPC is an excellent alternative to the time-consuming process of manually going to each website, downloading each program, and installing it yourself.
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Download PatchMyPC directly from their website.
The printable PDF version of this post is only available to paid subscribers. A printout is easier to reference as you learn. To be clear, it isn't simply a printout of this page. It's a handmade step-by-step guide with bookmarked jump links to get to the parts you care about in a given moment: no extra wasted pages and no ads.
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For the FREE version, you can click to visit PatchMyPC.com and click the “Home Users” link at the top of the page. This page is a bit confusing. There’s a green download button, but all that does is scroll the page down a couple of inches to the blue “Download Patch My PC Home Updater” button, so click whichever you like.
When you first open PatchMyPC, the program will do a quick scan of your installed programs, and you’ll see the programs needing updates at the top of the list in the right-hand pane with a red-colored font.
After you download PatchMyPC, it will most likely end up in your "Downloads" folder. If you download a lot of files, it may get buried and hard to find fairly quickly. I recommend moving it into it's own folder, and "pinning" it under "Quick Access" on the left using the right-click menu.
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To be clear, PatchMyPC itself does NOT install on your computer. It's a standalone application, essentially portable.
On the left-hand pane, you can scroll down through 300+ applications. Put a checkmark next to each one you want PatchMyPC to download and install. Then, click “Perform X Updates,” “X” being the number of programs you've selected to be updated.
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Please remember that if you have chosen to update applications that are open or running in the background, PatchMyPC may be unable to update them.
Remember to close any other programs you have open before running the updater. Occasionally, PatchMyPC will prompt you to close any program you might have missed.
You may need to right-click on the program icon in the System Tray by the clock in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen and left-click “Exit” or “Close Program.” These may also appear as “Show hidden icons” for some when hovering over the “up arrow” symbol.
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This process is called an “Unattended” or “Silent Installation” and requires no user interaction. You can grab a cup of coffee or something and return in 5-10 minutes when it’s done. Voila, you close it and use your computer as usual.
As mentioned above, PatchMyPC is an absolute lifesaver in terms of time! Before tools like this existed, especially for regular consumers (vs. enterprises), it could take a significant amount of time to manually go to each website, download, and install each program. That time could add up when a customer had multiple programs to update or needed to be installed following a Fresh Install of Windows.
I would pay to use PatchMyPC, but their free version does what I need. Their paid version is for enterprise customers and supports the free version for home users. I honestly can't thank them enough for that.
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