AutoPatcher

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AutoPatcher

Developer(s)	Antonis Kaladis & Jason Kelley
Stable release	5.6.0.81 (AutoPatcher) 1.1 (APUP) / 2009-11-03; 47 days ago
Preview release	1.0.0.6
Platform	Microsoft Windows
Available in	English (Other translations available)
Type	Software utility
License	Freeware
Website	AutoPatcher.com

AutoPatcher is an alternative to Microsoft's Microsoft Update system that also contains a comprehensive collection of up-to-date security patches, addons and registry tweaks collated into a single package and was designed and implemented by Antonis Kaladis and Jason Kelley. The stock AutoPatcher releases are designed to update Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista Service Pack 1 systems from a local source without the need to use Windows Update or connect to a network.^[1]

The project suffered a major setback on August 29, 2007 after distribution of the program was halted due to Cease and Desist orders being issued to members of the AutoPatcher team, Neowin (home of AutoPatcher's forum) and several of the download mirrors by Microsoft.^[2][3][4]

Despite the project being effectively shut down, Kaladis decided to resume production of AutoPatcher to avoid unofficial third-party packages being released, possibly tainted with malicious software. To work around Microsoft's objections, AutoPatcher packages are now collated on-the-fly on the client's machine by a companion program, APUP (short for AutoPatcher Updater), which downloads the updates directly from Microsoft's servers.^[5]

Contents 1 Project History 1.1 Version 1.0 1.2 Versions 4.0 - 4.2 1.3 Version 4.5 1.4 Version 5.1 1.5 Version 5.6 1.5.1 Windows 1.5.2 Office 1.5.3 Custom Modules 1.6 Project Shutdown 1.7 Comeback 2 References 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Project History

[edit] Version 1.0

The original AutoPatcher program was a simple batch script created by Jason Kelley and released on the Neowin forums on October 15, 2003.^[6] This original release contained 22 updates and could only be used on Windows XP SP1. Upon its release people asked for more updates, features, and a modern GUI. Jason was contacted by Antonis Kaladis and the two of them rewrote the AutoPatcher program and began maintaining and distributing the program.

[edit] Versions 4.0 - 4.2

Versions 4.0 - 4.2 were a great stepping stone from the old batch processes and the next stage of the program. These releases saw the use of the .AXP file format^[7] for custom programs as well as more stability. There was only one release created for this series, the Full release that contained all critical, recommended and component updates, commonly used applications such as Sun Microsystems's Java Platform, and registry tweaks.

[edit] Version 4.5

Version 4.5, introduced in March 2004, saw some major changes from the previous v4 releases. This release was the first time there were multiple release packs; Full, Lite, and Ultralite releases all contained critical updates. The Lite release contained all recommended updates and a few extra applications that the UltraLite release did not have. The Full release contained critical, recommended and component updates, commonly used applications such as Java, and registry tweaks. Version 4.5 also saw the integration of an XML database, and the current icon, designed by Foood.^[8]

[edit] Version 5.1

There were three 'release types' used in the 5.1-era; Full and Lite releases both contained critical, recommended and component updates, commonly used applications such as Java, and registry tweaks. The Lite release contained fewer extra applications than the Full release. Update releases were for updating previous months releases with the latest copies of files found in the latest Full & Lite releases, these smaller downloads were designed to reduce the amount of bandwidth needed for distribution.

[edit] Version 5.6

Version 5.6 of the AutoPatcher engine included a new user interface, and more "intelligent"^[9] scripting than the previous version, 5.1.

Changes from version 5.1 include:

• Support for Windows Vista and Windows XP Media Center Edition;
• New detections: Windows Media Player, Windows Live Messenger/MSN Messenger, DirectX, .NET and Windows Installer;
• Microsoft Office components detection: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher, OneNote, FrontPage, InfoPath, Visio, SharePoint Designer and Groove;
• Detect hotfixes that were slipstreamed.

[edit] Windows

New releases using this version started with the May 2007 release with a change in release terminology.

• Full releases were replaced with Core releases. The Core releases still contain the critical updates, recommended updates, optional updates, and various tweaks present in the Full releases, but most of the large add-ons were moved to separate Add-On packs.
• Lite releases no longer exist, due to add-ons being moved to their own packs.
• Update releases remained the same, and are available every month to update the Core release.

AutoPatcher Core releases were cumulative; previous versions are not required. AutoPatcher Update releases were incremental; All of the previous Update releases since the latest Core release need to be installed first. Thus, the order in which to install the releases is:

   Core + Addon(Optional) + Update [+ Update [+ ...]]

[edit] Office

The first AutoPatcher Office packages were released on August 20, 2007, consisting of AutoPatcher Office 2002 Core, AutoPatcher Office 2003 Core, AutoPatcher Office 2007 Core and AutoPatcher OfficePack Addon.^[10]

The AutoPatcher Office releases follow the same naming structure as the AutoPatcher Windows releases.

[edit] Custom Modules

It is possible to produce custom "Stand Alone" modules for use with AutoPatcher to install other third-party programs, tweaks etc. This can be useful, for example, inside businesses where bespoke software needs to be maintained.

The AutoPatcher team maintained a list of stand alone modules that have been authenticated, signed and packaged for use with AutoPatcher, but that are not eligible for inclusion into the add-on packs.^[11]

[edit] Project Shutdown

The AutoPatcher team was forced to shut down the project after receiving e-mail from Microsoft requesting them to stop distribution on August 29, 2007.^[3] Microsoft cited the security risks of third party distribution of their patches as their reason behind the decision. They denied that the possibility of circumventing their Windows Genuine Advantage protection with the software was behind it.^[2] To at least partially support their decision, Microsoft stated that Firefox users could now access the Windows Update website for pre-Windows Vista systems. However, the Windows Update and Microsoft Update websites still require Internet Explorer version 5 or later.^[12]

[edit] Comeback

Kaladis revealed in the AutoPatcher Blog that his biggest concern after the project was shut down by Microsoft was that "people around the globe [would] start writing their own custom modules and start redistributing their own releases", adding that one of the security features in AutoPatcher "would automatically flag these releases as unofficial", but that if end-users only had a choice of unofficial releases the spread of malicious software would be very easy.

As a result the AutoPatcher Updater, or APUP, tool was created to automatically download the required patches from Microsoft's web servers and store them in the same file structure used in previous AutoPatcher releases. Once the files have been downloaded "everything remains as you know it."^[5]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Offline Update
• Project Dakota
• Slipstream (computing)

[edit] External links

• AutoPatcher Homepage
• AutoPatcher Forum
• What's next for Autopatcher? Feature and interview with Kaladis on Webuser.co.uk