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Secunia PSI
Version: 1.5
Downloads Count: 123,619
License Type: Free
Price: Free
Date Added: Aug 8, 2009
Operating Systems: Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003
Requirements: Administrative privileges on PC
File Size: 604 KB
Author: Secunia
- Ad-Aware Free 15,916,929
- WinPatrol 2009 729,592
- BHODemon 449,438
- Lavasoft Personal Firewall 2.0 (32-bit) 374,145
- Password Remover 343,257
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Add Your Review
Most recent User Reviews for Secunia PSI
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Reviewed by: hartford3
11-18-2009
Duration of ownership: 1 Months
Strengths: Not real sure. Had me uninstall an old Adobe update I still had. Every thing else was good. I guess. Seemed useful. Every time I changed something it was checking me.
Weaknesses: Every time I opened it it says I have to change some scripting buttons for IE. Don't use IE and avoid it at all cost. Even it says IE is unsecure browser. Too complicated for me.
Overall Evaluation: Seemed cool but couldn't deal with the internet option prompt all the time. Couldn't understand the duplicate listings either. Uninstalled it for now.
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Reviewed by: DataHaunt
11-11-2009
Duration of ownership: 1 Years
Strengths: None with all the problems
Weaknesses: Several listed below
Overall Evaluation: I was an early adopter of Secunia PCI and this program is still SNL software; Not yet ready for prime-time. I cannot see how this program would of benefit to any user with all the remaining problems with it. Let me detail them: Double entries for the same vulnerable program. PSI cannot handle portable applications. Lists vulnerabilities based upon the full version. A program Install executable is listed as vulnerable and installed program. Deleted executables, like portable applications or deleted installation programs, located in the Recycle Bin listed as installed and vulnerable programs. Really?! Why is PSI scanning the Recycle Bin? You cannot tell PSI not to scan a folder containing portable applications or other applications it cannot handle due to limited programming foresight on the part of Secunia. Instead you have to create ignore rules for each and every program. I get better results from FileHippoâs update scanner than Secuniaâs. Avoid PSI until a finished product is actually released.
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Reviewed by: wsmacl
10-15-2009
Duration of ownership: 6 Months
Strengths: It makes sure my programs are all fully up to date, and warns of potential security holes.
Weaknesses: Not always easy to discern how to resolve the problems it finds, but with patience (and perhaps the help of a techie friend) everything can be resolved.
Overall Evaluation: Great product. Perhaps the most important security program you can have on your PC. Much of mal-ware these days comes by way of a browser or other exploit. Exploits that have often been patched. Keeping your programs updated can help stop even new mal-ware that your AV program does not have a signature for yet. It can be tough to keep yourself updated with all the patches. This program helps immensely with that task. I don't leave it running all the time (although I could), but I am sure to run it every few weeks.
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Reviewed by: timr999
09-28-2009
Duration of ownership: 1 Years
Strengths: Attempts to stay abreast of ALL software updates. Does a good job.
Weaknesses: A recent scan continued to tell me that a version of Adobe software was not current, when it was.
Overall Evaluation: ZD Net has a similar program and found 3 additional outdated programs.....I will use the program regularly along with others that identify outdated programs/software. Definitely use it.
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Reviewed by: craigchiavetta
09-07-2009
Duration of ownership: 1 Days
Strengths: Found 2 out of date programs that CNet TechTracker didn't.
Weaknesses: None
Overall Evaluation: It's a keeper.
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Reviewed by: tome0001
09-07-2009
Duration of ownership: 2 Years
Strengths: Quickly and accurately identifies available software updates
Weaknesses: No major weaknesses found
Overall Evaluation: Outstanding
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Reviewed by: solopixil
08-10-2009
Duration of ownership: 1 Months
Strengths: Simple to use, bulletproof, identified several legitimate security issues. Program also points you in the right direction for fixing the threat.
Weaknesses: Sometimes too thorough. Can identify items that are not really a threat so the user has to do research on them.
Overall Evaluation: This is a very useful program and one that I keep on all the time. You do have to know when you're getting a false threat indicator, but overall it identifies real threats and indicates how to fix them.
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Reviewed by: jaikala2424
08-10-2009
Duration of ownership: 0 Months
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Overall Evaluation:
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Reviewed by: LindaA
07-01-2009
Duration of ownership: 0 Months
Strengths: Does what it's supposed to do, namely, find out-of-date and end-of-life programs.
Weaknesses: None that I'm aware of.
Overall Evaluation: This is an excellent program to run on a regular basis. Tells you what programs need updating and provides the links to the developers' sites so that updates can be performed. I HIGHLY recommend it!
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Reviewed by: djtyme
06-14-2009
Duration of ownership: 2 Years
Strengths: Finds All Your Updates For Your Software
Weaknesses:
Overall Evaluation:
-
Reviewed by: gemalin
05-25-2009
Duration of ownership: 2 Years
Strengths: Secunia PSI is very thorough and it keeps programs up to date with needed security patches. Great record displays and keeps expansive logs
Weaknesses: Level of use difficulty is high enough to get it bad raps from beginners.
Overall Evaluation: I would not run my PC without having it routinely scan my programs for needed patches.
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Reviewed by: Pigseye
05-20-2009
Duration of ownership: 6 Months
Strengths: Finds Secunia Security flaws
Weaknesses: I use it with Vista Business and it eats system resources bringing my system to a crawl. It finds phantom security flaws. It restarts itself and has crashed my system. It is unclear what the solution is to most security vulnerabilities, What ever you do don't remove dll's. It takes the slege hammer view to system security.
Overall Evaluation: It uses too many resources and is self propagating with far too many false positives. It is a good idea but I can't reccomend it.
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Reviewed by: caliban
02-18-2009
Duration of ownership: 2 Weeks
Strengths: Thorough exploration of the drives. Found malware & security weaknesses that others missed.
Weaknesses: Runs OK from tray, but when enabled during initial start-up it makes boot up S-L-O-W and system may crash: as in, MS gives you up a 'dumpprep 0 -k' alert-box and you reply NO, then system may act like it has a driver-problem and begin 'reboot forever' mode.
Overall Evaluation: Very Good
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Reviewed by: number6
01-29-2009
Duration of ownership: 2 Months
Strengths: Finds security flaws in many different apps. Useful tool.
Weaknesses: Sometimes it's slightly unclear what the solution is to the security vulnerability, but I can usually figure it out.
Overall Evaluation: You may want to disable it from starting at boot. I close it after the initial scan.
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Reviewed by: normpink
01-22-2009
Duration of ownership: 0 Months
Strengths: updates software
Weaknesses: reports software that is updated as not being updated.Is a format for evaluating pay shareware after supposedly updating A PROGRAM!!!
Overall Evaluation: NEGATIVE, annoyances overcome advantages.
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Reviewed by: jimcoons
01-19-2009
Duration of ownership: 6 Months
Strengths: Simple automatice alerts when updates are needed on your software.
Weaknesses: Doesn't always have a ready solution
Overall Evaluation: A great product at a great price (free)
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Reviewed by: PSzilard
12-23-2008
Duration of ownership: 12 Months
Strengths: Excellent in highlighting new updates for installed programs
Weaknesses: Non really, but "novice" users might get worried when it shows security "exposures".
Overall Evaluation: I install this on all my clients' PCs and it is in my Must Have Toolkit on my USB.
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Reviewed by: WayV
12-17-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Days
Strengths: It worked as advertised
Weaknesses: None noted
Overall Evaluation: Worked well and found 3 security problems that were fixed and plugged.
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Reviewed by: Holmes7
12-11-2008
Duration of ownership: 14 Months
Strengths: Nice interface; links to update your software
Weaknesses: Even after you update, scan still shows you have out of date software
Overall Evaluation: Secunia has 2 options, an online scan (checks fewer things) and the free installed program (checks more things). The idea behind this program is excellent, however, this tool needs major improvement. It will advise when it finds software that is "out of date" and urgently advise you to remove it which may cause you problems or at the least confusion. Example: On Secunia's advice I uninstalled my older Macromedia Flash 7 player, installing a newer version and then my Encarta encyclopedia no longer worked. I had to reinstall Encarta from the disc. There was no way for me to advise Secunia directly. Example: I had Yahoo Toolbar 6 for Internet Explorer and Secunia flagged it as outdated. I visited Yahoo and downloaded Toolbar 7. There were no instructions at Yahoo as to whether to uninstall 6 before adding 7 or not, nor have I been able to get an answer from Yahoo on this. So I just installed Toolbar 7. A follow up scan with Secunia still shows I have Yahoo Toolbar 6, that it is "end of life" and a security risk and advises that the problem is a specific .dll file in Windows related to Yahoo toolbar 6. At this point I don't know if this .dll file is needed for Toolbar 7 or if it is safe to delete. Secunia offers no help on this, only a lot of warnings that unless you are knowledgeable you should not remove any files. This scenario has repeated with Secunia and Java software among others. Unfortunately, the software distributors usually do not bother to tell you whether you should first uninstall the older version or whether the newer one overwrites it, and Secunia gives no help either. Lastly, I would appreciate it if Secunia would do a short article on its website stating exactly how much of a security risk such programs are. Is the risk as great as unpatched Windows, especially when you do have the updated version as well?
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Reviewed by: Rock
11-25-2008
Duration of ownership: 2 Days
Strengths: None
Weaknesses: Not a safe 3rd party program to trust on your pc.
Overall Evaluation: Don't waste your time with this download it crashed my pc.
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Reviewed by: whiteh20
10-22-2008
Duration of ownership: 2 Days
Strengths: This program is very helpful in updating applications.
Weaknesses: No weaknesses yet.
Overall Evaluation: Very good. Analyzed and corrected insecure and out of date programs.
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Reviewed by: gwow
10-12-2008
Duration of ownership: 4 Days
Strengths:
Weaknesses: It freezes up my computer when I try to access the internet
Overall Evaluation:
-
Reviewed by: CDavEvans
10-02-2008
Duration of ownership: 10 Months
Strengths: Let's me know which programs need updating and when an update is available. I like the fact that lets you know how to update and also provides the link.
Weaknesses: Haven't found any.
Overall Evaluation: I've been using this for many months now and I highly recommend it.
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Reviewed by: azlarry
08-07-2008
Duration of ownership: 0 Months
Strengths: Couldn't find any
Weaknesses: Doesn't run
Overall Evaluation: the pits
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Reviewed by: mrwarrenzhang
08-04-2008
Duration of ownership: 2 Years
Strengths: This product is essential to anyone who wants a secure PC. It helps patch all of the possible flaws in my system, even ones I didn't know I had
Weaknesses: None
Overall Evaluation: I love this product. Everyone needs it.
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Reviewed by: val7
06-05-2008
Duration of ownership: 7 Days
Strengths: It worked great for a couple of days..!
Weaknesses: I uninstalled it, then reinstalled it just to find out it wouldn't work anymore. No matter what I do, it just won't work!
Overall Evaluation: I definately don't recommend you to waste your time with this program. Many software has its own "update advisor" so I think it's better to check out for yourself which ones of your fave programs needs an update, at least once per month.
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Reviewed by: Grateful
06-02-2008
Duration of ownership: 4 Months
Strengths: Growing better all the time. It points out what programs on your computer are in need of a current security fix, and provides all the necessary information to obtain and install the update. It has icons with each listed program that outline the steps needed to correct your situation, a download link for the update, an icon to open the folder in which the program resides and a wizard icon that gives extra information. There are others. The personal version is free, but networks need ti invest a little for the network version. Home networks could use the number of personal programs for each separate machine, as I do.
Weaknesses: Very few. Sometimes an update won't delete the unsafe file (individual companies' updating software policies) which is not truely Secunia's fault, but I use RevoUninstaller, a free product, to remove every single file in an uninstall in these cases. Actually, I use RevoUninstaller for every uninstall- it truly removes every single file and registry key referencing the uninstalled software.
Overall Evaluation: An incredibly helpful program to keep you up-to-date on all your software's critical updates in an easy and organized fashion. There are some driver update programs, but they only cover drivers. This covers everything else, such as Java, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, etc.
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Reviewed by: vellste
05-26-2008
Duration of ownership: 2 Days
Strengths: Found a lot of insecure and out of date programs.
Weaknesses: I ran the scan 3 times in 2 days, downloaded and installed updates and it still said they were insecure or out of date on the next scan.
Overall Evaluation: Don't bother. Takes a while for each scan, then downloading and installing update, and it still shows them in the next scan results.
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Reviewed by: Dork
04-26-2008
Duration of ownership: 0 Days
Strengths: Good test of your virus/malware programs
Weaknesses: This download has a 'surprise' attached to it. I tried it twice to make sure it is this download that is bringing in the registery corruption, named 'joke'.
Overall Evaluation: Shame on PC Mag. This is the SECOND time one of your downloads had attempted to load malware onto my computer. It makes this segment of your magazine quite useless to me and I will NOT renew my subscription andf I CANNOT recommend your 'expertise' and reviews to anyone.
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Reviewed by: Elijah
01-15-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Years
Strengths: Great Program. Highly recommend it.
Weaknesses: None.
Overall Evaluation: Essential program Download it today!
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Reviewed by: robgtx
01-02-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Days
Strengths: Quick scanning, found a few obscure and old programs lurking on my 3 year old PC
Weaknesses: Would be nice to integrate add/remove programs to allow automatic program removal
Overall Evaluation: Thought this was a wonderful program, I ran it purely out of curiosity and found some old versions of Flash and Shockwave that I did not even know I had. Very useful for reviewing an old machine or getting rid of bloatware that commonly ships with new machines.
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Reviewed by: mbudwey
09-10-2007
Duration of ownership: 1 Weeks
Strengths: ?
Weaknesses: Never finished scanning.
Overall Evaluation: The program never completed the "Initial Scan". The timer stopped counting sometime after 15 hours, but it still said to wait for completion of initial scan. I could find no help in the user interface nor on their web site. I finally gave up and uninstalled it.
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Reviewed by: Pcfreakske2000
09-06-2007
Duration of ownership: 1 Months
Strengths: Monitors your system on the software you use and install. Will tell you when some applications need an update and also gives more information about the applications you have on your computer. You can do a scan to see how well your computer is protected against vunerabilities and security issues with the software that you use.
Weaknesses: None that I can think of. Doesn't recognize all applications, which is normal, I guess.
Overall Evaluation: I have been using this program for a while now and I must say it's a must-have download for every computer user. This program is a great tool to verify you have the latest program versions installed or not.
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