So you sit down at your computer and down in the corner of your screen, Java is nagging you to update it again. You went through this last week, but you click through the screens to download and update Java again. Oops, you clicked through the screens too fast without reading them and now your homepage and default search engine has been hijacked and changed to Yahoo!

If this sounds all too familiar, you should be excited to hear that there is a better way tokeep browser plugins and other essential free programs up to date! Hop on over to ninite.com, where you will find a plethora of free programs you can download all in one place. Ninite includes browsers like Chrome and Firefox, runtimes like Java and Silverlight and dozens of other great programs. Simply check the boxes for the programs you want and click “Get Installer”.

After your installer is downloaded, just run it and everything you picked will be downloaded and installed in the background without any toolbars or other unwanted junk. This can save a lot of time when setting up a new computer because computers don’t always come with all the applications you need to get things done.

Now your computer is up to date with everything you need, but don’t delete the Ninite installer yet. When you run it again later, Ninite will go get updates just for the selected programs that are out of date. So next time Java is nagging you for an update and another shot at changing your search engine, just run your Ninite application and it will automatically be updated without any annoying choices to click through.

If you really want to automate things and never have to worry about keeping these programs up to date, you could set your Ninite installer to run when your computer starts up. An easy way to set this up in any modern version of Windows is to use the Run command (Windows button + R is the shortcut) and type “shell:startup” (without the quotes) and click “OK”. This will open a window with a startup folder. Just copy your Ninite installer and paste it in this startup folder. Now every time your PC starts up, Ninite will analyze your programs and update anything that is out of date. If you already have the latest version, Ninite will skip downloading and installing that application.

I believe that Ninite is the only way to keep the free programs on your PC up to date without any hassles. While setting it up to run automatically would be best, even manually running it a couple of times a month should be often enough to keep most vulnerabilities in programs like Java patched. Hopefully you will enjoy Ninite as much as I do.

Eric Wright is a member of the Information Technology Senior Seminar course and is currently employed as a Systems Support Specialist at Town & Country Federal Credit Union. A more detailed copy of this article can also be found online at http://ericwright.wrightbrostechnologies.com/ninite