Suggestions for introducing a very simple update that checks for a new version

Question

I want to add a very simple auto-update to my applications. I want to start with the simplest thing that will work.

Any suggestions on how to do this? Any suggestions for improvement (or an alternative) to the option below?

Here is one of the options that I am considering.

• The application displays a form that offers to check the new version, with the option to check again every X days.
• If the user clicks the Check Now button, launches the web page www.mysite.com/CheckNewVersion.asp?AppID= <> AppVersion = <? >
• The ASP script has a list of all program identifiers and available versions. IT then shows them either a page that says “No new versions available” or “New version with XYZ features / fixes” (and “Free update” or “pay here”).

This provides 80% of the benefits of automatic updates for only 10% of the cost. If no one clicks on autoupdate (and I suspect that an opportunity, because people don't want to worry), then it makes no sense to make it easier. There is no way to make it so simple that they do not need to at least click the "Update" button.

By the way, I understand that there is a similar question about SO, but this did not discuss implementation details. It seemed more theoretical and aimed at a more complex solution.

Answer 1

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Dim TargetRemoteSetupFile As String = "http://www.bungalowsoftware.com/downloads.asp?programlist=/download/aphasia_tutor_1_and_2_outloud_install.exe"
Dim LocalDownloadPath As String = System.IO.Path.Combine(System.IO.Path.GetTempPath(), "BungalowSoftwareInstall.exe")

Dim FileDownloaderWebClient As New System.Net.WebClient()

Try
   FileDownloaderWebClient.DownloadFile(TargetRemoteSetupFile, LocalDownloadPath)
Catch ex As Exception
   System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break()
   '...
Finally
   FileDownloaderWebClient.Dispose()
End Try

System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(LocalDownloadPath)

Answer 2

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