A: Software Director is
the shared component used to check for
updates in Cloanto applications. If
scheduled checks are set, then Software
Director also appears in the system Startup Apps (in
System Settings, or in Task Manager) and as an idle process in
Task Manager. This can be disabled or
enabled as described below.
Software Director allows you to
securely check for updates via an
application or within the Software Director
app, without sending any information about
yourself. It contains no spyware, adware,
malware or bloatware, and is completely idle
between checks. Nothing is ever installed
without your confirmation.
For full access and transparency,
Software Director may also be invoked as a
standalone application, from the Start menu
or via Control Panel. Select All Items from
the Tools menu to view or change the
applications that are using Software
Director to check for updates. Or select
Events to view or clear a list of recent
checks and other events.
If (and only if) automatic checks for
updates are enabled (e.g. weekly or daily),
then Software Director will appear in the
list of Startup Apps under Windows Settings.
This is an official, visible and
system-friendly mechanism for adding such a
task.
In Cloanto applications like Amiga
Forever and C64 Forever, the setup wizard
prompts to confirm the option
for automatic checks. This setting can be changed at any
time in Help/About. Once scheduled
checks are turned off, Software Director
will disappear from the Startup list and the
process will also be removed from Task
Manager.
Scheduled checks can also be disabled (or
enabled) in Software Director, under
Tools/All Items/Active Apps: right-click any
apps that are set to do a check on a
schedule, and set them to Off. The
application settings (e.g. under Help/About)
will reflect this, and vice versa.
Individual applications (e.g. Amiga
Forever, C64 Forever) may have a "Check on
launch" feature. If this option is enabled
(in Help/About), a check for updates is
performed when the software is launched (at
most once per day).
