SlimDrivers ... Legit & Good?

Has anyone used this SlimDrivers App?

http://www.driverupdate.net/

A friend of mine said she used it recently and it helped fix her extremely problematic computer.

Not that I’m having any problems with my computer.
But, if there were to be any outdated Drivers in my computer and the updated Drivers could give it any extra edge in the speed & performance department, I’d sure welcome it.

Any issues I should be aware of with this SlimDrivers App?

I strongly advise against using any similar apps. At best they are broken and offer irrelevant/incorrect driver updates, worst case it’s a scam that lures you into paying for “full” version - which is exact same piece of junk as the limited one.

How difficult is it to check manually? I mean, what do you want to update to get better performance - drivers for you graphics card? Just check the website (ATI/nVidia).

+1 Those programs never work correctly. However, if you are having a particular issue, they can sometimes steer you in the right direction. Just don’t download any drivers through them.

Thanks for the feedback, Doktornotor … Simion.

I found this review at Softpedia. It pretty much gives the Good and the Bad.

http://www.softpedia.com/reviews/windows/SlimDrivers-Review-183447.shtml

Apparently for the outright main function of it … to detect which Drivers are out of date, it does a great job. It has it’s other issues that don’t appear to be huge.

Interestingly enough, my friend said she originally had a PAID App that was supposed to do this same function, but it didn’t do too well. She then tried the SlimDrivers App and was pleasantly surprised that Free as it was, the SlimDrivers App easily outdid the paid App.

To reiterate, my computer doesn’t actually have any issue.
I was simply entertaining thoughts of possibly using this SlimDrivers App since my friend had raved about how well it fixed her computer’s problems.

I’ll probably download it and just have it handy, just in case I ever do encounter some serious issue that requires trying out all possible fixes.

If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it! :slight_smile:

Hi, this is Chris from SlimWare Utilities, the creators of SlimDrivers. I just wanted to clarify a few things I noticed here. First off, I’m a huge fan of Avast, recommend it all the time. Second, just wanted to address the Softpedia review. We appreciate their attention to our app, but the Windows updates were not downloaded by our app because they were already downloaded by Windows agent. Also, our software updates are restricted to those prone to security vulnerabilities, not every application on the Internet. At least not yet :wink:

Also, just to clarify, SlimDrivers is in fact, absolutely free. We push out over 1 TB of cloud-based anti-virus tested (think VirusTotal) and completely repackaged drivers to automate install initiation daily to our users for free.

We offer a different product, a fee-based premium version of our application with a very obvious value proposition: Instead of waiting to download each driver individually and rebooting after each install, the downloads come in as the current driver is being installed. This saves hours for PC tech’s, DIY’s, or anyone who doesn’t like waiting around for install all of their drivers. Our premium version also patches things, and updates Windows, Adobe, Java etc.

In summary, SlimDrivers is free, and we also sell a premium version, just like Avast!

So @Chim, it’s safe to use our app, we do driver backups and system restore points by default, and it’s 100% free. There are a lot of fake driver applications out there, just like there are Rogue AV’s, but we’re the real deal. MajorGeeks.com recently did a review/tutorial on using SlimDrivers if you need a quick how-to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo6S3-2hXxY

Hope that helps!

Chris Cope
CEO SlimWare Utilities

Thanks for the additional Info and the link to the MajorGeeks Tutorial, Chris.
I’ll be looking into this some more. There’s no rush to HAVE to do this. As I mentioned, my computer doesn’t actually have any issues. True, it’s old, underpowered and slow, but that’s to be expected given the hardware that I have. I’m NOT into Gaming or any Graphics activity as per what the MajorGeeks Tutorial mentions would be one of the major reasons to keep Drivers up to date. I don’t even use my computer for playing Audio CDs. I only on a very minor scale periodically play Audio Clips and VidClips. Otherwise it’s pretty straightforward … Browsing, Blogging and downloading the Updates for my various Apps. I don’t even have a CD Burner in this computer, just a regular CD ROM Drive.

As I previously mentioned, I’ll no doubt download it and keep it handy.
I might even run the Scan to see what it finds.
I won’t necessarily pull the trigger and install the Updates at this time for whatever it finds.

Thanks again, Chris.

Thanks Chris,
Another gem I can pass along when I’m going the security seminars.
I’m always asked if I know of a Safe places to receive driver updates.

That website just looks like one of “those sites”. You know, the Rogue Anti-viruses, the “free DVD Ripper”, the free this, free that, etc. sites.

If it’s a legit service, then great. Unfortunately as soon as I see it, it looks like one of those “As seen on TV” ads. At least it doesn’t give you a warning “Wait! You’re missing out on your FREE TRIAL! Are you sure you want to leave???” popup when you close the page.

+1

I am not sure if Slimware tried to scam me of if it was Safecart.com. But an attempt was made to play the “EVENVIEWER” scam when I called the phone number required for “registration” of my software. I’ll explain below

I purchased Windows 7 Driver update software. This is made by Slimware. It is advertised all over the internet and it seemed legitimate. PC magazine and Cnet both recommend it.

When I tried to use the software after downloading and installing, I was lead to a website for safecart.com/driverupdate1
This website said I needed to call 1-888-986-8408 to “register” my software. I also received an email from DriverUpdate Activation support@driverupdate.net

After being put on hold I was connected to a technician who asked if they could remote into my machine in order to “ensure” that my system was “compatible” with their software.

Like a dummy I allowed this.

I was asked to go to www.fix22.com as part of the procedure.

The tech proceeded to open task manager and pointed out how I had a lot of background processes running. Then the tech opened Window 7 event viewer and pointed out how many warnings there were. I was told hat my system must have some sort of malware. Furthermore it could not “cleaned without a “level 3” tech’s help who would manually remove the many issues. Reformating wouldn’t help. They problems would just come back. It would only cost $250.

This is a common scam referred to as the EventViewer scam. Having messages there is common and NOT an indication of malware…necessarily. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXdFRzkIypI

Something is up, I finally concluded and got off the phone. Then immediately uninstalled the software. I did not make any driver changes. I also contacted my credit card company and had the charge canceled and blocked any charges by Safecart.com
Again…I am not sure if Slimware is behind this scam or if it is Safecart.com……or somebody else.

Never accept help from someone who needs access to your computer unless it is someone you truly trust.
Once they have access to your computer, you loose all control and have no way of knowing what they take from your system.
If you want a safe and free driver update utility, take a look at:
DriverBooster (Free)
Unfortunately you just missed a chance to get one year of the Pro version for free:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=111724.msg1042894#msg1042894

I am using DriverBooster free since first beta version and it is working great.

Using Slimdriver and it is excellent.

+1
It works and has never caused me a problem. :slight_smile:
(Don’t install Advanced System Care)

So it wasn’t just my imagination.
I installed Advanced System Care about 3 or 4 weeks ago since I had somewhat gathered (I believe on MajorGeeks) that it was very good. Well, I kid you not, I don’t think it was in my system longer than about 15 minutes before I uninstalled it. I just got a bad feeling about it.

Background info on IOBit

http://blogs.computerworld.com/15026/iobit_accused_of_stealing_from_malwarebytes

And that is why I don’t use there products :slight_smile:

Only products from iObit that are actually good are DriverBooster and Uninstaller.
Everything else is “dodgy”.

I’m certainly not endorsing their past practices but,

this has nothing to do with a product that updates your drivers and actually does that job
better than other products.

My personal and very recent experience.
I was not able to apply Windows 8.1 Update 1.
Then I format, reinstall Windows and install all the updates.
Not a single driver was missed and, believe me, my notebook is clean and fast, without that huge quantity of Intel, AMD, wifi and network, chipset, bla bla bla… drivers.
Man I’m VERY happy :slight_smile: