Where can I download old versions of software?
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Here's the question we got today.
Is there a site where I can get old versions of software?
Unfortunately, the best answer I can give you is maybe.
I definitely have some pointers for you,
but there are no guarantees that we can actually get
specifically what you're looking for, or that if we do, it'll actually work.
My first recommendation?
Go to the source.
Seriously, a lot of software vendors
will keep archives of their previous versions for a variety of reasons.
Now, that may not necessarily keep them forever, but very often,
especially if you're just trying to roll back one or two versions
because you're having a problem with their most recent, that's the place to start
and that's one of the reasons they keep the archives available.
They're not always obvious.
It's not always clear exactly where
the archives are, so make sure, and if you don't see them, obviously,
go to their support page and reach out to them and see if they don't have
pointers to the previous versions that they do make available.
Like I said, it's not all manufacturers and it's not all versions,
but it is by far the safest and most accurate prior version of whatever it is
you're looking for if you can get it from the place it came from originally.
In that same vein, my second suggestion, and this is one that applies to a certain
class of software, a lot of software we are using these days
is made available on a couple of different platforms, SourceForge.
N et and GitHub.
Both of those are architected as
open source open source collaboration platforms, which means that the source
code for whatever it is you're looking at might be available, might be visible.
But it's also a way for a lot of different
people to collaborate and all contribute to creating,
maintaining, or updating whatever software it happens to be.
If the software you're talking about happened to come from one of those
sources, go back there and look because it is not at all uncommon
for those to have extensive archives of prior versions.
Again, that would be the number one choice if you can do it because by definition,
it's the safest and the most accurate old copy
since it's coming from the exact same source it came from originally.
Now, I have a love hate relationship with download sites.
I really, really don't like them.
I really do prefer that you go to the manufacturer.
That's why I listed the original source first.
However, this might be a case where you have no other alternatives.
If the original source has disappeared or
doesn't make their archives available, then you may be stuck looking at download
sites to get what it is you're looking for.
Many download sites also keep archives of prior versions of software.
Here's where I ran into a little trouble.
There were a couple of sites that I was researching into this.
I was going to point you at, go to this site, go to this site, try that site.
The first one, it hadn't been updated in years, literally.
Clearly, it had been abandoned.
And in fact,
not only had it been abandoned, it had probably been compromised because I
got a warning that it was trying to install a crypto binder on my browser.
So that one went off the list.
Another one that had been recommended
a lot over the last several years was just completely gone.
It wasn't even around anymore.
A third, and this is a really popular download site.
It's been around for years.
It gets recommended all the time.
I'm not going to mention it because
when I got to a download page for a specific piece of software,
there were so many advertisements on that page, which I don't object to.
It's how they make money.
But all of those download page
advertisements had download buttons of their own.
In other words, they were trying to mislead you into clicking on the ad
rather than the legitimate download you were looking for.
Yep, the legitimate download was there if you knew where to look.
But you really had to be careful.
And that's the underlying sentiment here.
If you're going to go to download
sites to try and find older versions of software, my gosh, be careful.
Don't just blindly download and install.
You really don't know what you're going to get.
I strongly recommend if you can, do it on a safe machine that you don't
care about, do it in a sandbox, do it in a virtual machine,
download it and scan it for malware before you run anything, basically
assume you're downloading malware, assume the worst, and then do your best
to prove that it's safe before you actually try and install the program.
The other thing I would strongly
suggest you avoid are peer to peer file sharing networks.
Again, the technology is fine.
It's a wonderful way to share content.
The problem is that because there is
no accountability at all when it comes to peer to peer file
sharing, you really don't know what you're going to get.
I think that it's so scary that I would seriously say, don't even try.
If you can't find it from a regular download site and you can't find it
from the manufacturer, maybe it's time to move on and find something else instead.
Now, I do have to throw out one last thing about compatibility,
and that is a lot of these old versions of software are old versions for a reason.
They've been replaced for a reason.
There's a very good chance that even if you find whatever it is you're looking
for, depending on how far back you want to go, it won't work,
or it won't work safely, or it won't work completely, or there will be hiccups.
Remember that the software
has been progressing since that old version was released.
That progression can mean that the underlying technology,
the back end services have been completely changed
so that the software just has nothing to work with anymore.
It means that there are unfixed bugs,
and of most concern, there may be unfixed security bugs.
Again, you may need it.
I'm not saying don't.
What I am saying is please be exceptionally careful.
Remember that it's very possible that old
version you're looking for may just not work anymore.
For comments, for updates,
for links related to this topic and more, visit
Askleo.com/1928.
I'm Leo Notenboom.
This is Askleo.com.
Thanks for watching.