Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Firefox updated itself w/o permission!

Nov 5, 2014 7:06PM PST

I was using Firefox, closed it and opened it later like I usually do, and all of a sudden it all looked different. I checked the about button and they just updated me to 33.0. It didn't even ask me if it could upgrade! I have my settings to never check for update. I hate this new version. Thing I hate the most is that I can't manually go into Private browsing mode which goes in private on the same page, not in a new window. I hate that! Why did Firefox do this? I didn't even see anything on my screen saying "installing". I'm on Old versions of firefox, but I don't know which version I last had. Is there a way to find out a history log of versions I've had? I'm installing all kinds of different versions trying to find the right one. Headache!

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
stop auto update
Nov 10, 2014 5:09AM PST
- Collapse -
Answer
Bottom-Line Answer To Unwanted Updates
Sep 20, 2015 6:17AM PDT

Simple answer. Install one of the MANY portable versions of Firefox on a thumbdrive or secondary harddrive. Set it up exactly the way you want it .. including HOMEPAGE, all desired FAVORITES, Extensions, etc. Be certain it is the way you want it .. THEN zip up the installed program for saving. If or when ever Firefox should suddenly decide to upgrade itself, merely delete the entire portable installation .. and unzip your saved archive. Voila ! Everything is back to the exact moment when you made the archive. Remember, portable Firefox versions don't make volatile registry entries. I have been using Firefox 27.0 since it came out, and have replaced numerous auto-upgrades.

- Collapse -
Answer
Haven't read this?
Sep 20, 2015 7:36PM PDT