How to stop Windows 7 from asking to update?

Post by b***@invalid.com
I'm using Windows 7 with Firefox 115.17.0esr.
How do I keep Firefox from continually asking me to download an update?
The only choice in the Tools menu is
Automatically install updates (recommended)
When Firefox is not running
or
Check for updates but let you choose to install them
My only choice was to check for updates or auto install them.
I don't want either.
How do I stop FFx from continually popping up the "Check for updates"
message?

In folder

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\distribution
or
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\distribution

create file policies.json with content

{
"policies":
{
"DisableAppUpdate": true
}
}

Exit and restart Firefox. Done.

Example reference:

'policy-templates'
<https://mozilla.github.io/policy-templates/#disableappupdate>

b***@invalid.com

2024-11-25 18:15:44 UTC

Post by Frank Slootweg

In folder
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\distribution
or
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\distribution
create file policies.json with content
{
{
"DisableAppUpdate": true
}
}
Exit and restart Firefox. Done.
'policy-templates'
<https://mozilla.github.io/policy-templates/#disableappupdate>

Thanks, but I ended up using Newyana2's version of the same with a few
additional gimmicks added to it.

Thanks again.

2024-11-26 07:49:08 UTC

Post by Frank Slootweg

Using Windows GPO is more convenient, since GPEdit has editors for almost
all types of setting value. Since the policy template contains all settings
including their descriptions, they can be searched very fast. And sometimes
I found a setting which I never thought I would use. Like ... blacklisting
Firefox's built-in extensions which have no setting to specifically disable
them (Muuaaaahahaha!).

Frank Slootweg

2024-11-26 10:02:43 UTC

[...]

Post by Frank Slootweg
In folder
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\distribution
or
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\distribution
create file policies.json with content
{
{
"DisableAppUpdate": true
}
}
Exit and restart Firefox. Done.
'policy-templates'
<https://mozilla.github.io/policy-templates/#disableappupdate>

I post the method using the policies.json file, because Windows GPO
(i.e. GPEdit) is not available on Windows Home, which is what many
people, me included, have.

2024-11-27 02:50:55 UTC

Post by Frank Slootweg

Post by JJ
Using Windows GPO is more convenient, since GPEdit has editors for almost
all types of setting value. Since the policy template contains all settings
including their descriptions, they can be searched very fast. And sometimes
I found a setting which I never thought I would use. Like ... blacklisting
Firefox's built-in extensions which have no setting to specifically disable
them (Muuaaaahahaha!).

I post the method using the policies.json file, because Windows GPO
(i.e. GPEdit) is not available on Windows Home, which is what many
people, me included, have.

I forgot about that. But there's Policy Plus (freeware) for those which
don't have GPEdit. IMO, it's actually better than GPEdit.

Newyana2

2024-11-26 13:30:38 UTC

I think there's also a Registry option. More convenient? That
depends on whether a person is familiar with the method. Most
people don't like to use the Registry. Few people know about
Group Policy Editor and it's not even installed on Windows Home
versions.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the GPE and Registry methods seem
to also require that one first install a "template" for the settings
to show up there. And of course, one needs to know how to use
such a template.

2024-11-27 02:50:53 UTC

I think there's also a Registry option. More convenient? That
depends on whether a person is familiar with the method. Most
people don't like to use the Registry. Few people know about
Group Policy Editor and it's not even installed on Windows Home
versions.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the GPE and Registry methods seem
to also require that one first install a "template" for the settings
to show up there. And of course, one needs to know how to use
such a template.

Well... policy settings are not meant for all users. They're meant for
administrators; including power users of their own machines. And I wasn't
referring to manual registry editing via registry editor application. GPO
and GPEdit is a much better way for registry based policy setting.

Yes, GPO requires policy templates (those *.ADM/X and optional *.ADML
files). Databases of policy settings including their description, default
value, and possible/allowed values. The files need to be placed on specific
folder:

Pre-Vista: C:\Windows\Inf
Vista+ : C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions

GPEdit is how we use those policy templates. Or use Policy Plus (freeware)
if GPEdit is unavailable.

Paul

2024-11-27 05:27:58 UTC

I think there's also a Registry option. More convenient? That
depends on whether a person is familiar with the method. Most
people don't like to use the Registry. Few people know about
Group Policy Editor and it's not even installed on Windows Home
versions.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the GPE and Registry methods seem
to also require that one first install a "template" for the settings
to show up there. And of course, one needs to know how to use
such a template.

Well... policy settings are not meant for all users. They're meant for
administrators; including power users of their own machines. And I wasn't
referring to manual registry editing via registry editor application. GPO
and GPEdit is a much better way for registry based policy setting.
Yes, GPO requires policy templates (those *.ADM/X and optional *.ADML
files). Databases of policy settings including their description, default
value, and possible/allowed values. The files need to be placed on specific
Pre-Vista: C:\Windows\Inf
Vista+ : C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions
GPEdit is how we use those policy templates. Or use Policy Plus (freeware)
if GPEdit is unavailable.

There have, on occasion, been Excel spreadsheets, that map
GPEdit policy, to a set of registry entries. I do not
have a copy of any of these.

Paul

Newyana2

2024-11-27 12:36:22 UTC

Post by Paul
There have, on occasion, been Excel spreadsheets, that map
GPEdit policy, to a set of registry entries. I do not
have a copy of any of these.

I find it more straightforward to just know the Registry
setting. I found a copy of gpedit for my Win10 Home because
that's become such a fad. But it's really just a tool for
corporate sysadmins who don't know how to use the Registry.
An additional wrapper to learn.

JSON is a horrific format, but it's really not hard to add the
handful of settings I care about to policies.json. Then I have
that to easily copy between machines and store as backup
for updates.

2024-11-27 19:18:08 UTC

Post by Paul
There have, on occasion, been Excel spreadsheets, that map
GPEdit policy, to a set of registry entries. I do not
have a copy of any of these.

I find it more straightforward to just know the Registry
setting. I found a copy of gpedit for my Win10 Home because
that's become such a fad. But it's really just a tool for
corporate sysadmins who don't know how to use the Registry.
An additional wrapper to learn.
JSON is a horrific format, but it's really not hard to add the
handful of settings I care about to policies.json. Then I have
that to easily copy between machines and store as backup
for updates.

Of course. But it's having the database of all possible settings, which is
the important thing. Knowledge is more important than the tool. The database
is in plain text. GPEdit is not required to read it. GPEdit is just a tool
which is specialized for it. Notepad and RegEdit can still be used.

Newyana2

2024-11-25 17:26:15 UTC

Inside the Mozilla Firefox program folder, create a folder
named "distribution". Inside that, create a text file names policies.json.
Inside that file, add this:

{"policies": {
"DisableAppUpdate": true,
"DisableFirefoxStudies": true,
"DisableSystemAddonUpdate": true,
"DisableTelemetry": true}
}

You only need the first setting, but the others will also reduce
Mozilla's intrusiveness. This is a change that was made with v. 60,
I think. In alignment with a lot of other software, Mozilla have made
the program much more difficult to control for the average person,
but left in place hidden options for corporate admins. If you add
this file then the settings window will say something like "Your
administrator is controlling your settings."

For convenience, make copies of the distribution folder ad json
file. Mozilla are especially sleazy on this point. When I download
and install a new update, it deletes the distribution folder without
asking! So it helps to have extra copies on hand.

b***@invalid.com

2024-11-25 18:20:37 UTC

Inside the Mozilla Firefox program folder, create a folder
named "distribution". Inside that, create a text file names policies.json.
{"policies": {
"DisableAppUpdate": true,
"DisableFirefoxStudies": true,
"DisableSystemAddonUpdate": true,
"DisableTelemetry": true}
}
You only need the first setting, but the others will also reduce
Mozilla's intrusiveness. This is a change that was made with v. 60,
I think. In alignment with a lot of other software, Mozilla have made
the program much more difficult to control for the average person,
but left in place hidden options for corporate admins. If you add
this file then the settings window will say something like "Your
administrator is controlling your settings."
For convenience, make copies of the distribution folder ad json
file. Mozilla are especially sleazy on this point. When I download
and install a new update, it deletes the distribution folder without
asking! So it helps to have extra copies on hand.

It worked, dammitt!

I did use all the extras you had in the file.

The nerve of this FFx outfit as to how they are continually screwing up
their users. That is why I stick to the older version - which is a big
enuf p.i.a.

Oh, the good ol' days of Netscape.. .<sigh>

Frank Slootweg

2024-11-25 19:40:54 UTC

***@invalid.com wrote:
[...]

Post by b***@invalid.com
It worked, dammitt!
I did use all the extras you had in the file.
The nerve of this FFx outfit as to how they are continually screwing up
their users. That is why I stick to the older version - which is a big
enuf p.i.a.

I use the same trick for Thunderbird (which I only use for e-mail, not
for Usenet/NetNews). For an e-mail program, there's even less need to
have the latest and 'greatest', so I use a 'stone-age' version (60.9.0).

Post by b***@invalid.com
Oh, the good ol' days of Netscape.. .<sigh>

What's up with that new-fangled 'Netscape' [1] stuff!? Isn't Mosaic
good enough!? :-)

[1] FTR, it's Netscape Navigator.

b***@invalid.com

2024-11-25 20:55:14 UTC

Post by Frank Slootweg
[...]

Post by b***@invalid.com
Oh, the good ol' days of Netscape.. .<sigh>

What's up with that new-fangled 'Netscape' [1] stuff!? Isn't Mosaic
good enough!? :-)

Was not aware of a Mosaic program. I didn't leave DOS until Windows
3.1. I ain't tek inclined. I pretty much understand only menus
consisting of Up, Down and Sideways. I get nosebleeds from anything
more complex.

Matter of fact, I use Windows 7 only for certain web sites which lock
out my XP. I HATE 7.

Post by Frank Slootweg
[1] FTR, it's Netscape Navigator.

dillinger

2024-11-26 16:17:51 UTC

It worked, dammitt!
I did use all the extras you had in the file.
The nerve of this FFx outfit as to how they are continually screwing up
their users. That is why I stick to the older version - which is a big
enuf p.i.a.
Oh, the good ol' days of Netscape.. .<sigh>

You're a bit late to the party, on Windows 7 Firefox 115.17.0esr will
only update to 115.18.0esr, a security fix.
Which may very well be the last ever update for Firefox on Windows 7.

b***@invalid.com

2024-11-26 18:00:09 UTC

It worked, dammitt!
I did use all the extras you had in the file.
The nerve of this FFx outfit as to how they are continually screwing up
their users. That is why I stick to the older version - which is a big
enuf p.i.a.
Oh, the good ol' days of Netscape.. .<sigh>

You're a bit late to the party, on Windows 7 Firefox 115.17.0esr will
only update to 115.18.0esr, a security fix.
Which may very well be the last ever update for Firefox on Windows 7.

That doesn't worry me. If I'm searching for something that relates to my
privacy, I use Tor. I use FFx only for simple everyday searches.

As for why I don't care about any of those supposed security enhanced
versions, I'm always in a virtual mode. Any bad junk comes down, It's
gone with a reboot. Anything I do want to download goes to a USB drive
and is checked with VirusTotal and Jotti.

One is never totally secure against all malware, but I've operated for
years this way without any those AV or Internet Security programs.
Those drove me nuts long ago with their false alerts and other nonsense.
I use simple firewall settings to keep most programs from phoning home.
So far I've never had any malware affect my computer.

That's about the limit for my non-tech abilities.

dillinger

2024-11-26 18:28:18 UTC

It worked, dammitt!
I did use all the extras you had in the file.
The nerve of this FFx outfit as to how they are continually screwing up
their users. That is why I stick to the older version - which is a big
enuf p.i.a.
Oh, the good ol' days of Netscape.. .<sigh>

You're a bit late to the party, on Windows 7 Firefox 115.17.0esr will
only update to 115.18.0esr, a security fix.
Which may very well be the last ever update for Firefox on Windows 7.

That doesn't worry me. If I'm searching for something that relates to my
privacy, I use Tor. I use FFx only for simple everyday searches.
As for why I don't care about any of those supposed security enhanced
versions, I'm always in a virtual mode. Any bad junk comes down, It's
gone with a reboot. Anything I do want to download goes to a USB drive
and is checked with VirusTotal and Jotti.
One is never totally secure against all malware, but I've operated for
years this way without any those AV or Internet Security programs.
Those drove me nuts long ago with their false alerts and other nonsense.
I use simple firewall settings to keep most programs from phoning home.
So far I've never had any malware affect my computer.
That's about the limit for my non-tech abilities.

You missed the point, you don't need tricks to stop Firefox updating
beyond 115.x on Windows 7 because it won't update beyond 115.x on
Windows 7 anyway. It's been like that for a year or so now.

b***@invalid.com

2024-11-26 19:37:23 UTC

Post by b***@invalid.com
I'm using Windows 7 with Firefox 115.17.0esr.
How do I keep Firefox from continually asking me to download an update?

DEL

Post by b***@invalid.com
Oh, the good ol' days of Netscape.. .<sigh>

You're a bit late to the party, on Windows 7 Firefox 115.17.0esr will
only update to 115.18.0esr, a security fix.
Which may very well be the last ever update for Firefox on Windows 7.

That doesn't worry me. If I'm searching for something that relates to my
privacy, I use Tor. I use FFx only for simple everyday searches.
As for why I don't care about any of those supposed security enhanced
versions, I'm always in a virtual mode. Any bad junk comes down, It's
gone with a reboot. Anything I do want to download goes to a USB drive
and is checked with VirusTotal and Jotti.
One is never totally secure against all malware, but I've operated for
years this way without any those AV or Internet Security programs.
Those drove me nuts long ago with their false alerts and other nonsense.
I use simple firewall settings to keep most programs from phoning home.
So far I've never had any malware affect my computer.
That's about the limit for my non-tech abilities.

You missed the point, you don't need tricks to stop Firefox updating
beyond 115.x on Windows 7 because it won't update beyond 115.x on
Windows 7 anyway. It's been like that for a year or so now.

I know that's what Mozila as said, but I don't trust them. My original
concern was simply to get rid of that dang update popup. It was a heck
of an annoyance. It use to popup only on starting FFX, then it started
popping up every 10 minutes or so. Enuf was enuf.

dillinger

2024-11-26 21:04:30 UTC

Post by b***@invalid.com
I'm using Windows 7 with Firefox 115.17.0esr.
How do I keep Firefox from continually asking me to download an update?

DEL

Post by b***@invalid.com
Oh, the good ol' days of Netscape.. .<sigh>

You're a bit late to the party, on Windows 7 Firefox 115.17.0esr will
only update to 115.18.0esr, a security fix.
Which may very well be the last ever update for Firefox on Windows 7.

That doesn't worry me. If I'm searching for something that relates to my
privacy, I use Tor. I use FFx only for simple everyday searches.
As for why I don't care about any of those supposed security enhanced
versions, I'm always in a virtual mode. Any bad junk comes down, It's
gone with a reboot. Anything I do want to download goes to a USB drive
and is checked with VirusTotal and Jotti.
One is never totally secure against all malware, but I've operated for
years this way without any those AV or Internet Security programs.
Those drove me nuts long ago with their false alerts and other nonsense.
I use simple firewall settings to keep most programs from phoning home.
So far I've never had any malware affect my computer.
That's about the limit for my non-tech abilities.

You missed the point, you don't need tricks to stop Firefox updating
beyond 115.x on Windows 7 because it won't update beyond 115.x on
Windows 7 anyway. It's been like that for a year or so now.

Bizarre really, you're on security updates now only for almost a year
and at the very last update you decide updating has to be turned off.
Whatever floats your boat, good luck with your weekly Windows reset. ;)

b***@invalid.com

2024-11-26 23:13:00 UTC

Post by b***@invalid.com
I'm using Windows 7 with Firefox 115.17.0esr.
How do I keep Firefox from continually asking me to download an update?

DEL

Post by b***@invalid.com
One is never totally secure against all malware, but I've operated for
years this way without any those AV or Internet Security programs.
Those drove me nuts long ago with their false alerts and other nonsense.
I use simple firewall settings to keep most programs from phoning home.
So far I've never had any malware affect my computer.
That's about the limit for my non-tech abilities.

You missed the point, you don't need tricks to stop Firefox updating
beyond 115.x on Windows 7 because it won't update beyond 115.x on
Windows 7 anyway. It's been like that for a year or so now.

My virtual mode will also keep Windows as it is.

Newyana2

2024-11-26 18:03:46 UTC

Thanks for the tip. It's nice to get rid of the constant nag.
"Updates disabled by your organization"

Here's the complete list of options:
https://mozilla.github.io/policy-templates/

Boris

2024-11-26 16:29:19 UTC

Inside the Mozilla Firefox program folder, create a folder
named "distribution". Inside that, create a text file names
{"policies": {
"DisableAppUpdate": true,
"DisableFirefoxStudies": true,
"DisableSystemAddonUpdate": true,
"DisableTelemetry": true}
}
You only need the first setting, but the others will also reduce
Mozilla's intrusiveness. This is a change that was made with v. 60,
I think. In alignment with a lot of other software, Mozilla have made
the program much more difficult to control for the average person,
but left in place hidden options for corporate admins. If you add
this file then the settings window will say something like "Your
administrator is controlling your settings."
For convenience, make copies of the distribution folder ad json
file. Mozilla are especially sleazy on this point. When I download
and install a new update, it deletes the distribution folder without
asking! So it helps to have extra copies on hand.

Thanks for the tip. It's nice to get rid of the constant nag.

'About Firefox' now shows:

"Updates disabled by your organization"

https://postimg.cc/cr1ft8DC

Boris

2024-12-02 21:08:36 UTC

How would I 'undo' one or all of those policies? Edit 'true' to 'false',
and apply? Or is there a way to toggle these policies?

VanguardLH

2024-12-03 02:52:03 UTC

Post by Boris

Post by Frank Slootweg
policies.json
{"policies": {
"DisableAppUpdate": true,
"DisableFirefoxStudies": true,
"DisableSystemAddonUpdate": true,
"DisableTelemetry": true}
}

How would I 'undo' one or all of those policies? Edit 'true' to 'false',
and apply? Or is there a way to toggle these policies?

Rename the .json file, so Firefox can't find it when it loads.

2024-12-03 06:17:51 UTC

Post by VanguardLH

Post by Boris

Post by Frank Slootweg
policies.json
{"policies": {
"DisableAppUpdate": true,
"DisableFirefoxStudies": true,
"DisableSystemAddonUpdate": true,
"DisableTelemetry": true}
}

How would I 'undo' one or all of those policies? Edit 'true' to 'false',
and apply? Or is there a way to toggle these policies?

Rename the .json file, so Firefox can't find it when it loads.

Not recommended. Because it'll leave telemetry enabled.

But since he want auto update when he want to, I don't think telemetry would
matter.

j***@bleep.org

2024-12-03 16:41:00 UTC

Post by Newyana2
"DisableTelemetry": true}

What in the heck is "Telemetry" in regard to Windows?

2024-12-04 01:56:47 UTC

Post by Newyana2
"DisableTelemetry": true}

What in the heck is "Telemetry" in regard to Windows?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemetry#Software

The concept has been abused by many softwares to spy on users about the
usage of their software. Although not software makers abused it, there's no
way of telling it unless we can personally inspect and confirm it.

j***@bleep.org

2024-12-04 03:15:30 UTC

Post by Newyana2
"DisableTelemetry": true}

What in the heck is "Telemetry" in regard to Windows?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemetry#Software
The concept has been abused by many softwares to spy on users about the
usage of their software. Although not software makers abused it, there's no
way of telling it unless we can personally inspect and confirm it.

I do know about phoning home. I use a firewall to stop it. The problem
is that the average ignorant user doesn't have a clue which files can
phone home. I don't believe those simple menu choices given us to stop a
program from phoning home. I can screw the liars from planting junk
stuff on my machine by operating in a virtual mode, but it's a guess as
to which files to block from "phoning home".

Paul

2024-12-04 11:39:10 UTC

Post by Newyana2
"DisableTelemetry": true}

What in the heck is "Telemetry" in regard to Windows?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemetry#Software
The concept has been abused by many softwares to spy on users about the
usage of their software. Although not software makers abused it, there's no
way of telling it unless we can personally inspect and confirm it.

With CEIP (a feature in visual Studio), the program can send CEIP
info (max RAM used, hours of use, that sort of thing) goes to
Microsoft and is stored on a Microsoft server. The outside dev
has to get an account, and log in to look at the "trove" of info.
Some devs seem to have switched that on, but based on the dev
never fixing anything, it's doubtful they ever log in to look
at the info.

Some developers have their program send packets directly to
a server they control. For example, Firefox has telemetry,
but without CEIP. The packets go to Mozilla. One thing
they do take seriously, is memory consumption, as a Canary
condition for "more work required" on their new modules.

Firefox also has a FOSS crash recorder, which logs crashes
and sends the crash log to Mozilla. A Mozilla dev can
look at the log and see "49.3% of users of 115.10.2 get
0xC0000005 when saving a download", and by looking at the
pattern, it reduces the amount of work they have to do
to determine the range of affected program versions.

What I don't know, is if the FOSS crash recorder, interferes
with the collection of .dmp files for Windows purposes (such
as a user wanting to run "dumpchk.exe" to get some idea
what died). The Reliability Monitor (accessible by typing
"Relia" in the Settings search box), if you click on the crash
icon for some of the entries, you can get enough of a summary
to start looking online for examples. For example, the Test Machine,
I plugged in a Windows C: I don't use that often, it's a "developer"
installation full of dev tools, and when Windows installed a
new NVidia driver, it broke some stuff. And the OS is
crashing on the way up, and blowing donuts (NVidia driver,
no real details available, so I would have to roll back driver).
I sure hope the telemetry is sending the details of that mess in :-)

Well, at least I learned a little bit about what a mess
Windows could be for any exotic work (machine learning,
wouldn't want the machine blowing farts into the room
while I'm working). You can screw up a users "software lineup"
by arbitrarily installing the latest NVidia driver. Now the
CUDA SDK no longer aligns with the driver version.

Paul

2024-12-05 04:26:56 UTC

Post by Paul
With CEIP (a feature in visual Studio), the program can send CEIP
info (max RAM used, hours of use, that sort of thing) goes to
Microsoft and is stored on a Microsoft server. The outside dev
has to get an account, and log in to look at the "trove" of info.

Geez... That's just worse. Third parties want a piece of the cake too.

That's similar to Google's too-good-to-be-true free services for web
developers such as analytic, tag manager, Firebase, etc. Provide the free
services which are so good to the point that they're irressistible. Make
everyone help Google gather user data and track users.

VanguardLH

2024-11-26 20:07:31 UTC