2024 — The free software I’m taking with me

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FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT By Deanna McElveen As yet another year passes without being able to fly to work like George Jetson, I’m listing the 2023 freebies I
[See the full post at: 2024 — The free software I’m taking with me]

7 users thanked author for this post.

Fred, AlexEiffel, Wayne, fisher75, SueW, pmbinc, lmacri

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Deanna

I live in the UK, and am a retired Senior Crime Analyst for an English Police Force.   Whilst far from being a ‘computer techie’ I have a highly developed enquiring and searching mind.

I would like to draw your attention to the following link which I discovered when carrying out some research into Updatehub, which you have just recommended.   All the contributors in the link are clearly far more knowledgeable on the subject, and I am forwarding their observations to you for information.   Please read them all.

https://www.ghacks.net/2023/07/24/update-all-windows-programs-with-updatehub/

Regards   Ray

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Deanna

I see that I have been identified as a Guest, but I have had an account for some time under the name of MS Doubter.

Ray

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You have to log in with your AskWoody ID and password before you can be identified as anything but “Guest.” “Guest is a not-logged-in User, a visitor.

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Re Xelitan PDF Reader – Looks great, but I’m addicted to Sumatra PDF reader because it not only is fast, but opens epub and mobi files. For me, that’s a huge plus.

Thanks for your great columns – I always look forward to them.

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Alex5723

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Deanna – thank you for your work.

I want to share concerns about HopToDesk that I found summarized on Github.

I did not produce the content, but I find the detail there to be concerning. I will not be exposing my systems to that “vendor.”  Please have a look: HopToDesk Concerns

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HopLite might not be safe and this guy believes it is at best very suspicious:

 

https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/discussions/2778

 

Maybe try rustdesk for now?

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Deanna,

I’ve been looking for an alternative for WordPad, which I’ve used more than most others over the years. I’ve come up completely empty. I know that there are ways to install old versions of WordPad after it’s been completely deprecated and removed from Windows, but I’d like to find a small program that might be kept up to date after that point in time. Essential Office might be exactly what I’m looking for, but before I install it, I’m wondering if it can open .RTF files. Do you know the answer?

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My Microsoft Defender says the PDF reader is unsafe and therefore does not install.  Any reasons for this?  Can I simply go into Defender and disable to install?

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Updatehub installs but before the scan will work, it requires something called WinGet, described as Desktop app installer from the MS Store. However, the Store takes me to some kind of widget app and further exploration I found a Win 11 only notice for WidgetsUI (or something like that).

An MS Store search for “Desktop app installer” got me nothing and nothing useful from a “WinGet” search either. Did I do something wrong or is my Win 10 PC inadequate? I’m not quite sure what widgets are, though I suppose they’re some kind of active icon like the wow7 weather icon on my samsung phone?

Thanks for any info.

Reading more above, I found Ray’s entry and read the link he provided. It appears that Winget and UpdateHub are two different updating programs, though the demand in UH described above suggests it depends somehow on WinGet. Or WinGetUI, Or whatever. Somewhat confusing, to say the least. Why should I need both? And the added MB’s?

It appears that checking for updates via Help when loading a rarely used program or browser might be the simplest solution, like if I load up VLC after a long absence or decide to see if Firefox has anything worth returning to from Brave, which I currently use.

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It’s a big shame that UpdateHub AND OlderGeeks AND AskWoody AND ghacks ALL fail to tell anyone how to get or update WinGet, which is used by both UpdateHub and WinGetUI.

The Microsoft App Installer which includes it is at;

https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9NBLGGH4NNS1

As documented by Microsoft at Install WinGet

(I don’t understand why it seems impossible to find by searching Microsoft Store.)

2 users thanked author for this post.

windbg, Alex5723

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Isn’t App Installer (Winget) part of Windows 10/11 at : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller.. ?

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I don’t think it’s included there until someone installs it.

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Alex5723

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Alex5723 wrote:

Isn’t App Installer (Winget) part of Windows 10/11 at : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller.. ?

Yes, it is, and it is updated via Windows Update when necessary.  There’s no need to update it manually.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Alex5723

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I got blocked from the faded folder icon, and it got too complicated from there. The link from b is over my head as a “home consumer” and I dare not risk the install process to see if the folder turns yellow to let me in, never mind adding UpdateHub on top of it.

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You don’t need to access that folder.

Just click Install at https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9NBLGGH4NNS1

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So, you recommend I download/install the winget app from your link and then the UpdateHub from Deanna? I’m gathering that Winget is a command-line app—definitely beyond me—and UpdateHub is a UI to simplify using it for semi-dummies like me that will put an icon for loading it when desired on my desktop.

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Wayne wrote:

So, you recommend I download/install the winget app from your link and then the UpdateHub from Deanna?

Yes.

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Having deleted the first installation of UpdateHub with Revo, I went to your link and was informed that the AppInstaller was already installed, so I went ahead and got a new UpdateHub from OlderGeeks. It installed, loaded, and said again I needed the appinstaller. I went back to b’s link, clicked on the blue box since the install-shaped box said “Share,” whatever that means, and that downloaded and installed itself with no further ado.

I then restarted UpdateHub and followed Deanna’s instructions and I now have a list of programs to update. Onwards and upwards! Thanks to everyone who got me this far, Wayne

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b

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bbearren wrote:

Yes, it is, and it is updated via Windows Update when necessary.  There’s no need to update it manually.

WinGet may exist in some recent versions of Windows 10/11, but it’s distributed/updated from Microsoft Store, not Windows Update:

The Windows Package Manager is distributed with the App Installer from the Microsoft Store.
…
Version 1.0 of Windows Package Manager will soon ship as an automatic update via the Microsoft Store for all devices running Windows 10, version 1809 and later.

Windows Package Manager — How do I get it?

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b wrote:

WinGet may exist in some recent versions of Windows 10/11, but it’s distributed/updated from Microsoft Store, not Windows Update:

I have 3 installations of Windows 11, they all have WinGet and they all have multiple folders of DesktopAppInstaller with various dates coinciding with Windows Update Tuesdays.  I have never made any attempt to download WinGet or to update anything in the WindowsApps folder.

Whether they are updated via Windows Update or through the Microsoft Store, I do know that the updates are not initiated by me.  And there’s this:

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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bbearren wrote:

I have 3 installations of Windows 11, they all have WinGet and they all have multiple folders of DesktopAppInstaller with various dates coinciding with Windows Update Tuesdays.

12/21/2023 wasn’t a Tuesday.

bbearren wrote:

And there’s this:

Optional extras.

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b wrote:

12/21/2023 wasn’t a Tuesday.

But it was a day when DesktopAppInstaller was updated and I did not use WinGet or the Microsoft Store to do it.

My point remains that I have WinGet in all three installations of Windows 11 and I did not install it, DesktopAppInstaller has been updated more than once in all three installations which was not initiated by me.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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bbearren wrote:

My point remains that I have WinGet in all three installations of Windows 11 and I did not install it,

But you have automatic updates enabled in Microsoft Store?

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b wrote:

But you have automatic updates enabled in Microsoft Store?

Yes.  However, I did not turn on the update setting in the Microsoft Store.

bbearren wrote:

My point remains that I have WinGet in all three installations of Windows 11 and I did not install it, DesktopAppInstaller has been updated more than once in all three installations which was not initiated by me.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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bbearren wrote:

Yes.  However, I did not turn on the update setting in the Microsoft Store.

My point remains that we can’t rely on that magic happening for everyone, as we’ve already heard from people wanting to use UpdateHub or WinGetUI who have a too-old version of WinGet or don’t have WinGet at all in Windows 10 or Windows 11.

b wrote:

The Microsoft App Installer which includes it is at;

https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9NBLGGH4NNS1

As documented by Microsoft at Install WinGet

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b wrote:

It’s a big shame that UpdateHub AND OlderGeeks AND AskWoody AND ghacks ALL fail to tell anyone how to get or update WinGet, which is used by both UpdateHub and WinGetUI.

Links to install WinGet (Store or Github) were given in the AskWoody Newsletter (Free & Plus) 7 months ago at Getting started with winget

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Found the ROBOCOPY note useful and pulled it down.  Happy with what I have tried, but ran into a problem, more with Windows 10 Pro than Robocopy.  Needing to (automatically) copy a file that is often in use, I set up the task and checked the “Use a volume shadow copy.”  This now produces an error that I do not have admin privileges.  Okay, so I went to the task and added the “Run as Administrator”.  It now shows up as Robomirror (Admin).  Great – except it didn’t fix anythig.  Still get the same error.

Actually right clicking and telling it to run as admin, or going to start and clicking on the app (and then okaying the resulting approval request) works fine.  Any ideas?

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Maybe I’m missing something but I have not found a way for Xelitan PDF Reader to print landscape. I usually make PDF copies of various reports (e.g. Quicken, Calc, …) for a final review and then make hard copies as necessary. Usually one can access printer driver options that offer landscape but not in the installation of Xelitan PDF Reader that I have.

The PDF displays as landscape but the printout is squished onto portrait pages using some unusual font. Not easy on the eyes at all.

My printer is an HP LaserJet Professional 1102w. Windows 10 Pro, up to date through November.

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I checked out Xelitan and found security warnings on Norton, Trend, Immuniweb and other sites so decided not to go there.

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