You can try to see if it is turned off in the Options Menu.

Firefox > Options > Advanced > Update > Then disable it

Just to be clear, when I say I checked all boxes I mean I used the Firefox > Options > Advanced > Update > GUI settings.

When I say I changed items in about:config, I mean I changed the settings in http://about:config and then opened the file at C:\Users\dgoodrich\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\XXX\prefs.js to confirm the changes were made.

user_pref("app.update.auto", false);
user_pref("app.update.disable_button.showUpdateHistory", false);
user_pref("app.update.enabled", false);
user_pref("app.update.lastUpdateTime.addon-background-update-timer", 1369743059);
user_pref("app.update.lastUpdateTime.background-update-timer", 1369742594);
user_pref("app.update.lastUpdateTime.blocklist-background-update-timer", 1369742474);
user_pref("app.update.lastUpdateTime.browser-cleanup-thumbnails", 1369771035);
user_pref("app.update.lastUpdateTime.search-engine-update-timer", 1369763955);
user_pref("app.update.mode", 0);
user_pref("app.update.service.enabled", false);

Neither has worked for several versions. We have several hundred machines across the city at different departments and they all update regardless of the settings we choose. This is unacceptable as we have a standard image that we use for all PCs and this makes FF unmanageable.

So, how do I make it stop updating?

DAve

are you sure it is not off.

First, if you are running an enterprise roll-out of Firefox, you should be using Firefox ESR, not Firefox Release. http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/

This version lets you keep your users up to date with security updates without having to roll out full versions every 6 weeks. In this case you only get a new major version once a year instead of every weeks. It's a better solution than leaving your users on ancient versions that are insecure.

First, if you are running an enterprise roll-out of Firefox, you should be using Firefox ESR, not Firefox Release. http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/

This version lets you keep your users up to date with security updates without having to roll out full versions every 6 weeks. In this case you only get a new major version once a year instead of every weeks. It's a better solution than leaving your users on ancient versions that are insecure.

Is the maintenance service installed to facilitate updating in the background without user interaction?

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/what-mozilla-maintenance-service

This service can be uninstalled separately, it shows up as a new item under add/remove programs.

I think the update I had the other morning was a good indicator that the updates are still happening.

We will look into ESR, thank you.

The internet is a horribly unsafe place, and it will never get better.

maintenance service has now been uninstalled on my PC as a test.

Please please please don't tell me how important the updates are and how ancient my seven week old insecure version is. Just tell me if I can turn the updates off. That is my question, and I have not found an answer yet.

Yes the internet is horribly unsafe, and you want all the cards in your favor by staying up to date with your software.

are there different user accounts on the computers? the settings in the user profile will only take effect for the current user, but a an update performed by one user will affect the whole machine...