Belarc Advisor Security Definitions v.2008.3.11.2

Question

'The currently released Belarc Advisor Security Definition updates include all Microsoft security bulletins through March 11, 2008.  This update ensures that the System Security Status panel in the computer profile report reflects the true number of missing Microsoft Security Updates.'   Current users of Belarc can update through the program.   For those not familiar with Belarc Advisor, it is a free program that displays a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, CIS (Center for Internet Security) benchmarks, and displays the results in your Web browser. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server. Well worth getting:http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

volvogirl1 · Answer

You say Current users of Belarc can update through the program. I clicked on the link in the program and got a page to download. It looks like I need to re-download the program again, not just update the one I have? Is that right?

Christine

Dimension E520 Desktop
MS Media Center Edition 2005 - Current
Intel Core 2 Duo processor E6300
2GB dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM
Integrated Audio - SigmaTel High Def
Video - NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE
320GB HD
D: is Philips DVD-Rom DROM6316
E: is NEC DVD+-RW ND-3650A
Monitor is E207WFP

Inspiron 6000
Win XP sp2 - Current
Intel Pentium M 730 (1.6ghz/2MB)
Accelerator 900 Graphics
80GB HD
Phillips DVD+-RW SDVD8820
Intel PRO/wireless 2200

Inspiron 1501
Win XP MCE
2gb AMD Turion 64
1GB DDR2 533MHz 2 Dimm
Phillips DVD+-RW SDVD8820

Comcast Cable Modem to Alpha Shield firewall to Netgear Router. Wireless to Inspiron 6000 & 1501 and wire to Dim E520.

ky331 · Answer

Joe,

In terms of checking for the latest Microsoft updates, do you have any sense/preference of using BelArc vs. the Secunia online inspector? I would assume these are basically equivalent, so far as this one particular aspect is concerned???

ky331 · Answer

Christine,

what version of Belarc do you have installed?? -- the latest is 7.2v

one of the nice features is that it prompts you to search for new updates... and in fact, when presented with this prompt, you can click on an option to automatically serach/download in the future, without having to prompt you again.

ky331 · Answer

i just checked their website, and yes, it's a real "x".

by the way, it's 7.2x not simply 7.x

generally speaking, when we talk about [for example] version 5.x , it's referring to a potential class of updates... like 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, &etc.

however, in this case of Belarc Advisor, they've been cycling through the alphabet, using letters rather than numbers to indicate versions, so, as noted above, it's a real "x" in this instance.

the 'a' version was indeed very old.

when you got the 'x' version, did it prompt you to look for updates? and offer you the option not to be prompted in the future?

volvogirl1 · Answer

I had v7.a. I guess that was older so I downloaded the new version which is v7.x, not 7.v as per your post. I guess this is a real "x", I thought when you see ".x" the x means any letter.

Christine

Dimension E520 Desktop
MS Media Center Edition 2005 - Current
Intel Core 2 Duo processor E6300
2GB dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM
Integrated Audio - SigmaTel High Def
Video - NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE
320GB HD
D: is Philips DVD-Rom DROM6316
E: is NEC DVD+-RW ND-3650A
Monitor is E207WFP

Inspiron 6000
Win XP sp2 - Current
Intel Pentium M 730 (1.6ghz/2MB)
Accelerator 900 Graphics
80GB HD
Phillips DVD+-RW SDVD8820
Intel PRO/wireless 2200

Inspiron 1501
Win XP MCE
2gb AMD Turion 64
1GB DDR2 533MHz 2 Dimm
Phillips DVD+-RW SDVD8820

Comcast Cable Modem to Alpha Shield firewall to Netgear Router. Wireless to Inspiron 6000 & 1501 and wire to Dim E520.

ky331 · Answer

i'm updating mine from 'v' to 'x'...

upon installation, here is the wording of the prompt:

"would you like to check for new advisor security definitions"

tabs to click YES or NO

followed by a box to check to "Remember this choice and don't ask me again"

Message Edited by ky331 on 03-12-2008 01:03 PM

joe53 · Answer

I don't have any preference for Belarc over Secunia as far as detecting uninstalled MS security updates- both are updated fairly frequently, and recently after every Patch Tuesday. I think they are complementary.

Secunia, of course, checks for security updates to other programs as well that Belarc does not (Firefox, Adobe Flash player, Sun's JRE, etc).

Belarc gives that nice comprehensive log of installed updates and date installed (not just security related) plus links to the MS details. Plus I'm not sure if MS Office/Outlook updates are included in Secunia's scan. Belarc also tells you if your AV is up-to-date, although I wouldn't rely on that to include daily signatures.

I've had Belarc for years for its many other uses, but have been impressed with its security-related improvements recently (the internal automatic checking for recent MS updates being the latest). Like you, I didn't use to check for new versions frequently- now it's at least monthly.

dalem29 · Answer

Thanks for the heads up, brought the program up to date...haven't paid much attention to Belarc's versions. After reading about Secunia  I went to that site and tried to do a scan, but got a message that I didn't have 'Sun Java' installed. But actually, I have Java 6 Update 3, which I think is current. At any rate, the scan seems to hang up. Any ideas how to fix it up?

ky331 · Answer

Dale,

the latest Java is JRE 6 update 5 (for newer systems, such as XP)

[ or JRE 5 update 15 (for older 98/ME) systems ]

but an older Java shouldn't be preventing you from accessing secunia.

can you confirm that your java is installed and running?

go to http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp

to VERIFY INSTALLATION

Virus & Spyware

Belarc Advisor Security Definitions v.2008.3.11.2

Was this post helpful?