Resolved Understanding Belarc Advisor

Hello Everyone,

I have Balarc Advisor and I dso not understand what to do about the report it has provided.

I was advised to install it, but not how to use the information.

There are many items marked with a red cross, like Windows updates, for example. When I went to information about the first one, I found that there are so many "issues" that may appear after it is installed, that it is probably just as well that the automatic download did not install!

For another example, the benchmark security score is 1.88 out of 10 !!

If you have seen me here before, you will know that I am not very technically knowledgable, so if you are able to give me any advice on this, or whether I should keep or get rid of the Belarc programme, I would be grateful for some advice.

Thank you,

Colinito

 

Hi,

I've found Belarc Advisor rather useful on my own & other people's PCs mainly because of the info it gives regarding things like drivers & what's installed in terms of hardware (it gives model numbers, serial numbers, BIOS details & more) & software (version details & licence numbers, for example). All of this info can be found out one way or another but the Belarc report keeps it all together in one place - in fact I usually update it & print a copy once every month or so. Some of that info can be useful - indeed is sometimes essential - when seeking tech support or advice. So I certainly wouldn't recommend removing Belarc; it's a well-regarded & useful utility & doesn't take up much space anyway.

As regards the Windows updates, I shouldn't worry too much. I'm pretty sure I'm correct in saying that MS stopped providing updates for XP in April, except for critical security issues, so you won't be able to download 'routine' ones now anyway. If you have Automatic Updates switched on then everything you really need will have been installed. If Auto Update isn't already switched on, open Control Panel (classic view), click on Automatic Updates & switch it on there. When done, return to Category View if that's what you're used to. That'll get you any essential updates as & when necessary.

With the Benchmark Security score, you can click on 'details' next to the score & it'll tell you what it thinks is missing / inadequate. How you deal with these is of course up to you as your requirements will be individual. To use mine as an example, it lists a whole load of Account Policies, logons & passwords as 'failures' but I'm not bothered as I'm the only person with access to the PC. If other people ever used it (or could get at it) then I'd tighten the security as per Belarc's recommendations but if I did that now then it'd just mean that I'd have a load of hoops to jump through & long passwords to remember & key in every time just to do things I want on my own, unshared PC. In summary, the fact that you've a low score might mean there are 'holes that need fixing' but not necessarily - the level of protection you have may be adequate for your needs even though it falls far short the perfect 10 for a 'bombproof in all circumstances' machine. If others have access to your PC I'd certainly advise adding strong passwords where indicated, though.

I hope I've explained that reasonably clearly; this forum tends to attract some rather knowledgeable & helpful people so I'm sure you'll get further, possibly more useful, replies.

Best wishes,
Martin Berry

 

Hi Colinito, Belarc Advisor is self explanatory. It shows you what is installed in your computer including MS KB's (patches/hotfixes) and will indicate with the X if there are any patches that have not installed properly. It gives you all the Software Installed and the Keys/licences. eg. if you have lost the key to your installed XP Pro OS it's recorded for you to copy and record again. The Benchmark rating is only visible if you have Windows 2000, XP Pro and 2003. It would relate to AV, Firewalls, Spybot systems etc. that you have installed on your comp. Its up to you whether you want it on the comp or not so if you want to remove it, go to Control Panel > Add & Remove > click on Belarc and remove. > Close out. Cheers Neil.

 

Thank you Martin. I shall keep it. I can close down my computer without clicking the red icon that indicates that there are downloads. They are always there, even if I click on it. There used to be a yellow shield indicating that they were in, but needed installing. Now they just say that they were not able to be done. I will plough through the "Xs" to try to understand what to do, if anything. My computer is clean as I was guided through this by a very helpful and knowledgable member named Broni.
Once again thank you for your advice.

Colinito

 

Neil,
Thank you. I have decided to keep it. I shall try to use it as best as I can. martin Berry explained about it, and I believe that it is a good programme to have, if only to use for obtaining details of my system.

Regards

Colinito