silent automatic update making the future updates easier. It’s not that the automatic updates were missing in the previous versions, but from this version the updater will not ask for UAC control even if a user had it enabled. It’s always good to keep an updated copy of the software on the system but with Firefox updates, things go a bit different. I still remember that they released more than five beta versions for Firefox 12 before they came out with a stable release. If you are on an unlimited broadband connection, you will not even notice these updates but for people who are on slow, shared internet connection, these frequent automatic updates can be troublesome. Furthermore, after Firefox starts the automatic update, there’s no way that I know of to stop it without closing the active session.
Disabling Automatic Updates in Firefox
What one can do is disable the automatic updates altogether. That means Firefox will not install updates without asking you or even check for updates without your knowledge. To disable the automatic updates open Firefox options using the Firefox button. If you are using the old menu bar, you will find the option under Tools section. In the Options window navigate to Advanced—> Update tab and select one of the two options—Never check for updates or Check for updates, but let me choose when to install it. If you ask me, you should go with the second option. This will make sure that the updates will not be downloaded automatically but at the same time will keep you informed about all the latest builds you can download and install.
Conclusion
Disabling auto updates is fine as long as you are on a slow connection but for security reasons you should always install the updated versions as soon as you can. Also, don’t forget to check out FreeApps, an interesting tool using which you can automatically update most of the freeware installed in your system in bulk.
