It is not recommended to turn off upgrades. Some of the changes are security fixes and are then made public and so can be exploited.

• https://www.mozilla.org/security/known-vulnerabilities/firefox.html

It should be possible to prevent upgrades by clearing the URL used, and although I can not recommend that see /questions/929483?page=2#answer-345675

Hi DR_MAC, Moses makes a good point, some of the security advisories are listed here Known Vulnerabilities Please keep these in mind with updates.

Thanks to both of you. I am grateful for your efforts and realise that Firefox is volunteer based. However well intended, forcing someone to accept updates is too much like Microsoft/Big Brother. I never install xx.0 of anything and offering work arounds for this isn't acceptable. I don't want to give up on Firefox as many folks I know have. Please just make it comply with "Check for updates, but let me choose whether to install them". That's clear enough, and I'd still be notified. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.

What has updating plugins got to do with updating Firefox? Those are independent of each other. If you really want to prevent automatic Firefox updates, you can change these settings in about:config.

• app.update.auto
• app.update.enabled
• app.update.silent

Set all to false.

I have had a number of add-ons disabled by Firefox updates and only told after the fact that they were incompatible.

If you proceed after someone says no, it's called rape. The program should honour the user's selected choice.

Thanks for the about:config settings, I had missed one, but a user shouldn't have to go past "Here be Dragons" when the checkbox is already selected.

Time will tell if this works.

Hyperbole!
Plus their is no need to enter the dragons lair!

(Tools) - Options > Advanced -> Update = Never check for updates. (not recommended: security risk)

Not hyperbole!

(Tools) - Options > Advanced -> Update = Never check for updates. (not recommended: security risk)... Is ignored!

If the preceding line was respected, then there would be no need and I would have never filed a complaint.

Did you click on the "Check for Updates" button? I would not recommend trusting that. It will ignore your settings and get the latest update if it is available.

No I did not click "Check for Updates".

I was just using the browser normally, the update nag screen came up, I closed it.

The next time FF started it was updated.

It is a good idea to have the updates to make sure that your browser is secure. If you uninstall it and install it again, it will come with the newest version available, so that is not suggested. You may want to check again to see if the updates are off if you really don't like the updates for whatever reason.

DR_MAC:

I'm thinking that Firefox is ignoring the settings for updates because of a locked/corrupted prefs.js (that stores all of your saved preferences). Follow this link to "reset" that file

• Fix prefs.js

Can you also post your troubleshooting information here by going to about:support via Address Bar then click Copy raw data to clipboard then paste it here.

Thanks!

Sorry bermea,

My previous post which is now gone referred to the user.js not prefs.js

I accidentally selected the wrong file.

The attributes are the same not read-only.

Thanks for the feedback. I don't like FF30, thank you. I don't plan to use FF-esr, thank you. I don't care if it makes me vulnerable. I'm on Windows, so that's a moot point.

Autoupdating was disabled at install. Then it was diabled at the options menu. Even then, it updated. prefs.js is not read-only. And it shouldn't be corrupt because, well, I had to frmat and reinstall this whole thing past monday. How corrupt can it be? (yes, I just checked anyway, the file's healthy). It makes no sense to force the users to mess with about:config to disable something that is already disabled through the installation and options menu.

So... does anybody has any other suggestion, or should I look for another browser that doesn't force its will into how I want it to work?

USE THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Export your bookmarks etc. first.

I uninstalled FF and re-installed version 28.

XP is no longer supported so the security is as you said moot, I use other layers of protection. DON'T USE ONLINE BANKING for example.

I'm gradually abandoning M$ in favour of Linux and hoping FF returns the lost functionality in a new version.

The user must have the final say on what he/she has control over.

Remember that FF is maintained by volunteers and as such they deserve thanks for their efforts, even if they sometimes make tragic mistakes.

I am the last hold-out amongst the people I know that sill uses FF and hoping it gets fixed before a good thing dies.