Heimdal: Hassle-free solution to upgrade essential software

[LabZero]

Heimdal Free will keep your applications up to date, installing the latest security updates as soon as they are available. You'll never have to worry about software updates again! Heimdal Free will install the software updates in the background, without interfering with your daily activities or slowing down your computer. Moreover, both security and feature patches will be delivered to your system, so you can enjoy your favorite apps to the fullest. A optional Pro version is available that adds additional malware protection features.

Here is a list of the applications patched by Heimdal:
Java 6/7/8 (32bit-64bit), Adobe Shockwave, Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Air, VLC Player, Apple Quicktime, Microsoft Windows Media Player, Microsoft MDAC, Google Chrome (Non-Auto patching versions), Internet Explorer (Non-Auto patching versions).

Heimdal Pro (shareware)

Heimdal Pro has been specifically designed to protect you from financial and data stealing malware, secure your browsing while doing banking operations and keep you safe from Zero Hour malware and security exploits frequently employed by IT criminals.

Heimdal secures your private financial data by scanning your outbound traffic to ensure that your confidential information never leaks to the malicious servers controlled by IT criminals. Heimdal checks your Internet traffic and blocks sending data such as passwords or credit card details to a malicious hacker server or website.

Heimdal detects and protects your system against the latest financial malware threats by using advanced heuristics and proactive scanning technologies. The Heimdal intelligence database is also involved in the process of detecting and blocking cyber threats and cyber attacks.

Download: Heimdal Free 2.0.26 | 15.7 MB (Free, paid upgrade available)
View: Heimdal Website

SOURCE

 

[Moose]

Salutations/Holidays,Greetings!

I have that read they are slackers is this true? Also, are there any conflicts with other security software?
Heimdal Free and Pro | Page 10 | Wilders Security Forums

 

[LabZero]

Salutations/Holidays,Greetings!

I have that read they are slackers is this true? Also, are there any conflicts with other security software?
Heimdal Free and Pro | Page 10 | Wilders Security Forums

I don't know about that, but to have objective answers it would be interesting to test it.

 

[Moose]

Agree with above post # 3.

 

[Hangtooth]

First impressions vis a vis Sumo free which I normally use:

Sumo checks more installed software (59 products found vs 23 for Heimdal).

Sumo lets me decide to do with each out of date product found. Heimdal seems to want to auto-update and install software that I have previously had on my system but deleted ~ that's not good. I quickly shut down the auto-update ability before I could be sure it was going to install all that stuff. It might just be reminding me to install things like Skype etc that I have removed and never used, but I don't like it.

Wow, I didn't shut it down fast enough, but the GOOD news is it updated only the 5 core components that actually required updating and were worth updating, it's like magic!

Sumo suggests 7 updates, only one of which seems to be erroneous (Uplay which will not update further, I have tried).

Heimdal auto-installed 5 updates, but they are all core products, Chrome (twice - bug?) , Thunderbird, Adobe Flash, and 7-zip, all products I would have updated more laboriously through sumo links. However, the updates to Chrome and Thunderbird did not install as I just checked them and had to manually update them from the 'about' window.

Summary from a cursory examination: Heimdal looks good, easier to use and faster than Sumo free which forces me to click links to download updates and then apply them. However, it recommends installing things i have zero interest in and would just clutter my machine: 7-zip x86 when I only use the 64 bit version; Adobe AIR, I don't even know what that is so why would I want to install it; Filezilla? Uh no thanks; Foxit Reader - no already, no!; GIMP? no idea what that is; Google Drive; Miscrosoft Silverlight; VLC x64 and x86; Winrar 64. That's quite a list of 'Recommended' installs. All of which are crap recommendations, IMHO.

I like the updates it made, but I have no trust in the product for recommending I install such a large amount of useless clutter that I have either removed, already have installed or plain don't want. At least it didn't install them automatically or I'd be cleaning my machine for the next hour or more and be quite irate.

I'll stick with Sumo free, thanks. I don't Heimal because of their recommendations for all that crap it wants me to install, and don't like not being given a choice in updating components or not. I get enough of that from Microsoft. Heimdal free even failed 2 of the 4 updates it said it did... I also just checked the options, the auto-updating thing is not a toggle, it's always on unless you tell it not to scan, but then why would you even have it installed in the first place?

Wow, it even added each automatically updated item to the uninstaller entries, so now I have to go clean that crap up too. I'd recommend VIRTUALIZING to try Heimdal out for yourself, I just relearned that the hard way... note the 2 install entries for 7-zip now after Heimdal. They were separate installs, too... /sigh, definitely staying away from Heimdal.

 

[Tony Cole]

I've just reinstalled, I had a license key but Windows 10 not supported - seems very good. The last time it did block a lot of malware sites. Heimdal has a lot of corp customers who are well known (that's if their feedback statements are correct), for business reasons I wouldn't think they'd lie. Just go in to patch settings and uncheck the stuff you do not use; I just left Chrome and flash.

 

[FleischmannTV]

The software updater is a catastrophe at the moment imho.

It immediately starts updating applications which don't need updating, like replacing the 64-bit stable version of Chrome with the 32-bit pendant. I also had Firefox 43.0b9 64-bit installed and it installed the Firefox 42 32-bit alongside the beta version. It also replaced my up-to-date installation of 7-Zip 5.12 with 7-Zip 5.12.0 . I aborted before it got any further. I was careless and didn't use Shadow Defender on my first attempt, but thankfully a system restore point undid all the 'damage'.

Worst thing about the software updater: Even if you try to disable it right away after the installation of Heimdal is completed, it's already running installations before you have a chance to stop it.

It's a shame, because I suspect the other components might be very good. But with the software updater in its current state, big NO NO.

 

[Tony Cole]

I just activated, installed and shut down the internet connection. Unchecked all software updates apart from Adobe Flash and all working fine.

 

[Deleted member 178]

i still wondering why people use those kind of tools...

open your app --> go to update --> click the button

wow , it is so hard to do that i lost 10kg...

 

[Enju]

i still wondering why people use those kind of tools...

open your app --> go to update --> click the button

wow , it is so hard to do that i lost 10kg...

1. Not every application does have an integrated updater.
2. A lot of not tech-savvy users don't update their applications in years or just ignore the update messages.
3. Users like things that "just work".
4. There are a lot of lazy bums (like me ).
Software updaters do have their raison d'être, just because you don't need or like them doesn't mean that nobody needs them.

It's a shame, because I suspect the other components might be very good. But with the software updater in its current state, big NO NO.

Same happened to my Chrome x64 in a VM! I was beginning to wonder if I did something wrong.

 

[Deleted member 178]

1. Not every application does have an integrated updater.
2. A lot of not tech-savvy users don't update their applications in years or just ignore the update messages.
3. Users like things that "just work".
4. There are a lot of lazy bums (like me ).
Software updaters do have their raison d'être, just because you don't need or like them doesn't mean that nobody needs them.

1- just go to the site
2- yep , but those don't even bother to know heimdall or Secunia
3- surely
4- the biggest part of auto-updater's users ^^

 

[woodrowbone]

Ninite - Install or Update Multiple Apps at Once

I used the free version without any hiccups the last 2 years.
Yes, I know, you have to run it manually

/W

 

[jamescv7]

@Umbra: Well that kind of concept surely undergone of careful System Analysis and Design, as always people have different logic out there so using this updater is not irrational but yet practical to some people.