Wanted freeware to review applications........

  • Thread starter Thread starter P
  • Start date Start date
P

P

Is anyone in the NG aware of a freeware application that will check
you HDD and report what applications are installed and the last time
that they were used?

MT's
 
In P posted:
Is anyone in the NG aware of a freeware application that will check
you HDD and report what applications are installed and the last time
that they were used?

MT's
Click to expand...

Not with the last time used, but there is always Belarc Advisor.
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

DanlK, FYI Services
www.FYIS.org
Visit our Commemorative Collectible www.FYIS.org/estore!
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P said:
Is anyone in the NG aware of a freeware application that will check
you HDD and report what applications are installed and the last time
that they were used?

MT's
Click to expand...

Don't have a link but WinAudit will do it, all except the last time used.
 
Is anyone in the NG aware of a freeware application that will check
you HDD and report what applications are installed and the last time
that they were used?
Click to expand...

Such an application doesn't exist. There are only applications that
list what is installed as per the registry. One can have applications
that install and do not put entries in the registry.

Regards, John.

--
****************************************************
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/ Oz \ John Fitzsimons - Melbourne, Australia.
\_,--.x/ http://www.vicnet.net.au/~johnf/welcome.htm
v http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/
 
John Fitzsimons said:
Such an application doesn't exist. There are only applications that
list what is installed as per the registry. One can have applications
that install and do not put entries in the registry.
Click to expand...

Exactly. (Further yet, some of us remove entries from the registry. My reg
has entries for some 5% of the programs I've installed to local drive.)

The approach would be a file utility. Something that lists execs, and
their last access date. Re last access date, might need to take into
account various circumstances that can affect it. Re list execs, you'd
want to eliminate helper execs, and things like setup.exe, uninstall.exe,
and so on. I did once have a payware eval that did a fair job on this last
part. It also listed the formal names of the programs. I didn't keep it,
so would have trouble remembering its name. But my point is that such a
thing exists, so perhaps it also exists in freeware...

.. . .

(Btw, yes, listing execs only would then exclude some other types of
programs. Such as shell extensions that exist only as DLLs. Or scripts,
that may not be programs per se, but often offer equiv functionality.
That's getting down to real details. I don't think that one should
hold any expectation of an exhaustive list.)
 
I might have found a program that does what you are asking for (but I don't
think it tells you the last time the application was used).

It is NOT freeware, it is shareware.

It's called Application Inventory
Application Inventory locates all .exe files on your computer, not just
those that are installed via a standard installer. This means the program is
useful for tracking down all .exe files on your computer. The results can be
sorted or searched (press F3) to help you locate alike files. The program
defaults to looking for .exe files but a special switch is available to look
for any specific file type. Finally, although Application Inventory is
intended as a reporting tool, you can use the various windows properties
sheets for files and shortcuts to make actual edits. Do so at your own risk
though.

You can download the shareware version of it at:
http://www.funduc.com/app_inv.htm

ChgoDeb
 
ChgoDeb said:
I might have found a program that does what you are asking for (but I don't
think it tells you the last time the application was used).

It is NOT freeware, it is shareware.

It's called Application Inventory
Application Inventory locates all .exe files on your computer, not just
those that are installed via a standard installer. This means the program is
useful for tracking down all .exe files on your computer. The results can be
sorted or searched (press F3) to help you locate alike files. The program
defaults to looking for .exe files but a special switch is available to look
for any specific file type. Finally, although Application Inventory is
intended as a reporting tool, you can use the various windows properties
sheets for files and shortcuts to make actual edits. Do so at your own risk
though.

You can download the shareware version of it at:
http://www.funduc.com/app_inv.htm
Click to expand...

Ah, that's the one that I had tried. Now, we just need an equiv in freeware.

I have thought over some directory catalogers. Yet I don't seem to have
any that provide both of the key fields for this purpose: The product name
of the exe; and the last access date. One would have to piecemeal together
a set of tasksr. Use a directory cataloger who does give the product name.
Export the catalog to csv. Extract data from the csv. Then run some
commandline type prog on a list of the exes to get access dates. All far
too messy for what the OP probably had in mind....
 
ChgoDeb said:
I might have found a program that does what you are asking for (but I don't
think it tells you the last time the application was used).
Click to expand...

Regarding the last use part. I run RUPL, Recently Used Programs List.
When I run programs, it creates .lnks to them. (Puts them in its directory
on the startmen). It automatically updates those .lnks to when I last
launched the program.

It only keeps max 50 or whatever at a time. But it would be easy enough
to do a one time thing of setting a bat file that would store some large
collection. One could then sort all the .lnks by date, giving a history
of when theylast launched programs, as well as access to the program's
location on disk.

My solution separates the OP request into two different things. One is a
catalog of installed programs. And this other is the history of program
use. I don't think it would be all that bad, having it this way.

RUPL, that is a PCMag util. So unless one already has it, it is not
available as freeware. However, I have vaguely noticed that there are
a couple other programs out there that offer similar functionality. One
by Mike Lin, maybe it was? I expect that others here might have specific
familiarity for RUPL substitutes...
 
omega wrote in said:
Regarding the last use part. I run RUPL, Recently Used Programs List.
When I run programs, it creates .lnks to them. (Puts them in its directory
on the startmen). It automatically updates those .lnks to when I last
launched the program. [...]
RUPL, that is a PCMag util. So unless one already has it, it is not
available as freeware.
Click to expand...

<ftp://ftp.singnet.com.sg/pub/systems/simtelnet/msdos/pcmag/v16n02.zip>

Can not see any "no-distro" clause in this archive (1996). Don't think
they started using "no-distro" clauses for the pcmag utils until
sometime in 1998.

All the best,
Bjorn Simonsen
 
Bjorn Simonsen said:
omega wrote in said:
Regarding the last use part. I run RUPL, Recently Used Programs List.
When I run programs, it creates .lnks to them. (Puts them in its directory
on the startmen). It automatically updates those .lnks to when I last
launched the program. [...]
RUPL, that is a PCMag util. So unless one already has it, it is not
available as freeware.
Click to expand...

<ftp://ftp.singnet.com.sg/pub/systems/simtelnet/msdos/pcmag/v16n02.zip>

Can not see any "no-distro" clause in this archive (1996). Don't think
they started using "no-distro" clauses for the pcmag utils until
sometime in 1998.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks, Bjorn!!

RUPL is one of my most valued utilities. I assumed I'd have to keep
half-muted about it, not thinking to look into date/license. Now,
I can recommend it freely.
 
omega wrote in said:
RUPL is one of my most valued utilities. I assumed I'd have to keep
half-muted about it, not thinking to look into date/license. Now,
I can recommend it freely.
Click to expand...

Well it depends, on Windows version it seems. Can not make it run
under Win2k (don't know about WinXP). Win2k shuts it down after a
short while (access violation). Don't know why (drwatson cryptic as
always - output not meant end users like me). Maybe someone will try
it under XP and let us know if it works there....

All the best,
Bjorn Simonsne
 
Bjorn Simonsen said:
Well it depends, on Windows version it seems. Can not make it run
under Win2k (don't know about WinXP). Win2k shuts it down after a
short while (access violation). Don't know why (drwatson cryptic as
always - output not meant end users like me). Maybe someone will try
it under XP and let us know if it works there....
Click to expand...

I'd think if it doesn't run under Win2k, it also won't run on XP. This
surprises me. I mean, it's just creating some files in the startmenu.
That part has to be the same in both OS. It must have to do with the way
it hooks the process windows. Judging by experience that I've seen some
NT-family-only process hooking type utilities, I guess that there is some
deep level difference that can get into play there...

Unfortunate, the incompatibility. I'll have to modify: "Now, I can recommend
it freely - for W9X users." Thanks for the heads-up about the limit.
 
omega said:
Bjorn Simonsen said:
omega wrote in <[email protected]>:
Click to expand...
<ftp://ftp.singnet.com.sg/pub/systems/simtelnet/msdos/pcmag/v16n02.zip>
RUPL is one of my most valued utilities.
Click to expand...
[...]
Well it depends, on Windows version it seems. Can not make it run
under Win2k (don't know about WinXP). Win2k shuts it down after a
short while (access violation). Don't know why (drwatson cryptic as
always - output not meant end users like me).
Click to expand...

I'd think if it doesn't run under Win2k, it also won't run on XP. This
surprises me. I mean, it's just creating some files in the startmenu.
That part has to be the same in both OS. It must have to do with the way
it hooks the process windows. Judging by experience that I've seen some
NT-family-only process hooking type utilities, I guess that there is some
deep level difference that can get into play there...
Click to expand...

My paragraph was a bit of a mess. In case it can't be deciphered...
About being surprised, and about "both OS" I meant: 95/98/ME v 2K/XP.

When I get around to purchasing a new notebook, I expect to install w2K.
I depend on RUPL. So, if anyone ever spots a replacement, which is w2K
compatible, I'd very much want to hear about it. In freeware, of course.

What it does. Whenever you launch a program (and doesn't matter how you
launch it, from explorer, or Run, or whatever), it makes an .lnk file
(aka shortcut) for it in a special folder in the startmenu. It also
updates each time the date for those .lnks.

I don't want something that mixes in other recently-used things, mainly
documents. Although I /would/ want, independently, a good recently-used
documents utility, that lets me define, restrictively, specific file
extensions to track. But that's a separate matter...
 
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