How in the Tech

Simplify software installing with Ninite

By Adam Myers ⋅ November 17, 2009 ⋅ Tags: Internet

Probably the only negative to purchasing a new computer is installing the multitude of applications that you require in order to get things done – whatever that entails. Likewise, a fresh install of Windows exhibits the same annoyance. Having recently performed a clean install of Windows 7, I’ve faced the same problem.

Most PC users likely have a downloads folder that contains the installers for any and all applications they use – the installers are likely kept around just for this purpose actually. The irony however, most installers are tied to the particular version of the software available at the time of download. Sure you may have the Firefox installer already on your computer but it’s going to install an old version of the browser that will still need patched and updated. Sound familiar? Furthermore, let’s assume you have the latest installers on hand, you are still looking at executing each one individually, and to be safe, sequentially. The process is very much ok this is done, what’s next?

Windows users all over tend to install the same software, or the same types of software. You likely have a couple browsers, a media player, perhaps a few chat clients, a photo editor, and security software installed. Ninite Easy PC Setup and Multiple App Installer is a mouthful to say but an easy concept to digest. From the Ninite website a user is able to select applications from common categories and then generate a custom installer that will work in the background to download and install the selected applications. Some of the categories include: browsers, media players, image editors, utilities, or security. In literally a 30 seconds a user can tick off everything they wish to install and allow Ninite to do the rest of the heavy lifting!

Ninite included just about every general application I require and even if yours isn’t listed, they do take suggestions for future inclusions. Lastly, the custom installer is intelligent enough to download the 64-bit versions when and where applicable – such as for iTunes.

Ninite is an amazing time saver that worked flawlessly for my latest clean install.