Type microsoftdotnet in the Filter field to quickly find the setting.ħ. Open a new Firefox window, and in the address bar, type about:config and press Enter.Ħ. Close the Registry Editor when you're done.ĥ. Delete the value named from the right pane.Ĥ. * On 圆4 systems: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Wow6432Node \ Mozilla \ Firefox \ Extensionsģ. ![]() * On 32-bit systems: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Mozilla \ Firefox \ Extensions Expand the branches to the following key: Open Registry Editor (type regedit in the Start menu Search box in Vista/Windows 7, or in XP's Run window).Ģ. Here's the bafflingly-convoluted procedure required to remove this garbage from Firefox:ġ. Unfortunately, Microsoft in their infinite wisdom has taken steps to make the removal of this extension particularly difficult - open the Add-ons window in Firefox, and you'll notice the Uninstall button next to their extension is grayed out! Their reasoning, according to Microsoft blogger Brad Abrams, is that the extension needed "support at the machine level in order to enable the feature for all users on the machine," which, of course, is precisely the reason this add-on is bad news for all Firefox users. Since this design flaw is one of the reasons you may've originally choosen to abandon IE in favor of a safer browser like Firefox, you may wish to remove this extension with all due haste. This update adds to Firefox one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities present in all versions of Internet Explorer: the ability for websites to easily and quietly install software on your PC. NET Framework Assistant firefox extension without asking your permission. NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 update, pushed through the Windows Update service to all recent editions of Windows in February 2009, installs the Microsoft. NET Framework Assistant (ClickOnce) Firefox Extension Secondly - to Microsoft - this is a great example of how not to convince people to trust your security updates. Firstly - to my readers - I apologize for overlooking this."feature" of the. Microsoft has heard these criticisms from others who long ago commented on this unfortunate development (see the comments underneath this post).Īnyway, I'm sure it's not the end of the world, but it's probably infuriating to many readers nonetheless. Then I found that I wasn't the only one who had these ideas. When I first learned of this, three thoughts immediately flashed through my mind:Ģ) The right way would have been to just publish the add-on at Mozilla's Add Ons page.ģ) This kind of makes you wonder what else MS is installing without your knowledge. What's more, Microsoft tells us that the only way to get rid of this thing is to modify the Windows registry, an exercise that - if done imprecisely - can cause Windows systems to fail to boot up. The trouble is, Microsoft has disabled the "uninstall" button on the extension. NET update automatically installs its own Firefox add-on that is difficult - if not dangerous - to remove, once installed.Ī, which lists various aspects of Windows that are, well, annoying, says "this update adds to Firefox one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities present in all versions of Internet Explorer: the ability for Web sites to easily and quietly install software on your PC." I'm not sure I'd put things in quite such dire terms, but I'm fairly confident that a decent number of Firefox for Windows users are rabidly anti-Internet Explorer, and would take umbrage at the very notion of Redmond monkeying with the browser in any way.īig deal, you say? I can just uninstall the add-on via Firefox's handy Add-ons interface, right? Not so fast. ![]() I'm here to report a small side effect from installing this service pack that I was not aware of until just a few days ago: Apparently, the. Having earlier checked to see whether the service pack had caused any widespread problems or interfered with third-party programs - and not finding any that warranted waving readers away from this update - I told readers not to worry and to go ahead and install it. A number of readers had never heard of this platform before Windows Update started offering the service pack for it, and many of you wanted to know whether it was okay to go ahead and install this thing. NET Framework, like other updates, was pushed out to users through the Windows Update Web site. NET Framework, which Microsoft and plenty of third-party developers use to run a variety of interactive programs on Windows. Microsoft Update Quietly Installs Firefox ExtensionĪ routine security update for a Microsoft Windows component installed on tens of millions of computers has quietly installed an extra add-on for an untold number of users surfing the Web with Mozilla's Firefox Web browser.Įarlier this year, Microsoft shipped a bundle of updates known as a "service pack" for a programming platform called the Microsoft.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |