Can't stop Firefox from updating
A company I do work for has a web application that ONLY works with IE and pre-38 versions of Firefox. I run the latest Firefox, but also have a v37 version I keep on my Mac with a slightly different name. I only use the 37 version to get into this one web site, so I have created a second profile to be used only with v37 so I can turn off auto-update, set the one web site I need as default, and tweak any other preferences I need. However, it keeps auto-downloading the update even though I turned that feature off in Preferences. It's about 3/4 of the way finished downloading and I can't figure out how to make it stop (other than closing the app!) When it's done will it just not update (if so, where is the file so I can delete it?) If it's going to finish because it has already started (no matter the setting) is there a way to stop it?
All Replies (8)
You can disable automatic updates from the Firefox options dialog. To do so, please try the following:
- Open the Firefox options
- Navigate the the Advanced section
- Open the Update tab
- Select Never check for updates (not recommended: security risk)
- Uncheck Use a background service to install updates
If that doesn't fix the issue, you can also try changing some settings in the Firefox configuration window, by following these steps:
- Enter
about:configin the Firefox address bar - Click the I'll be careful, I promise! button
- Search for the
app.update.autoboolean - Change the value of this boolean to
false - Search for the
app.update.enabledboolean - Change the value of this boolean to
false
The above should stop Firefox from updating automatically, but if you still experience an issue, please let us know.
Hello, if above Wesley Branton's suggestion does not work, then try to lock the preferences :
app.update.auto - false app.update.enabled - false app.update.silent - false
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Locking_preferences
thank you
All of the above settings were already set to false. It's still downloading the update.
try to lock the preferences and probably the problem will be solved
thanks again
No dice... if I understood the procedure properly. I created a mozilla.cfg in the /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS directory with:
// lockPref("app.update.auto", 0); lockPref("app.update.enabled", 0); lockPref("app.update.silent", 0);
Then a local-settings.js file in /Applications/Firefox.app/defaults/pref with:
pref("general.config.obscure_value", 0); pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");
I get "Configuration Error Failed to read the configuration file." I believe I've successfully saved both files in "ANSI" per the instructions (I'm using TextWranger in which I think ANSI = Western (Windows Latin 1).
Every time I go in to try something, I get closer to the end of the download. It's like a ticking timebomb!
// lockPref("app.update.auto", false); lockPref("app.update.enabled", false); lockPref("app.update.silent", false);
Same error.
Since I wasn't getting anywhere, I decided to remove the local-settings.js file, let it finish updating, then restore the old version from backup hoping that maybe it wouldn't start updating again. After launching, I went into "About" and it's no longer downloading, and holding at v37. No idea what transpired, but I guess it's good for now.