Thank you for your posting, John99 but it is not helpful. As I have stated somewhere above I have unchecked (un ticked) the three auto update boxes in tools, updates, etc. but Firefox still insists on updating my 3.6 to version 12 in one hit without my permission. This has happened three times now and I do not like it. If there was a way to stop Firefox taking control of my PC I would happily keep using it but no one seems to know how to stop it. And frankly, I'm getting tired of hearing the same old dogma about security issues from the other Firefox devotees.

I will reboot into windows and check my 3.6 As I think was mentioned above is the problem that you have multiple versions of firefox and so any possibility you are using the wrong profile or sharing a profile.

I stated earlier in the thread- "there is only one user profile set in my installation. Is it possible that somehow there may be more than one? I did the installation myself and no one else ever touches my PC. Is there a way to find out how many profiles have been set up?" And no one came back with any useful info.

Try clearing the URL for the Firefox update system from preferences.

Type about:config in the URL bar and hit Enter.
If you see the warning, you can confirm that you want to access that page.

Pref = app.update.url

Right-click that pref and select Modify - then clear the URL from the dialog box which appears.

I would be happy to have a go as per your instructions but when I hit Enter, nothing happens.

This does seem to be overriding the users choice.

I have 3.6 on a Windows 7 computer now, and am not very familiar witth Windows 7 (directory structure, search feature etc differs slightly from XP) but it does seem to be both giving me nag screens and trying to update to Firefox 12.

Firefox 3.6 does have its own profile, and it is set to not upgrade. (Maybe if left alone it will download fx12 but not install it)

Any other ideas or suggestions ed ?

Not sure yet if the-edmeisters advice works modifying the URL to something invalid does not seem to stop downloads once they start. I am busy tonight and working tomorrow but I will look back at this again next week. I am not too concerned about actually having to re-install, it is onnly used for test/comparison purposes, the profile contains nothing of significance.

I am just rather surprised that it seems to ignore a user set preference.

Gentlemen, I have finally managed to get into the about:config (registry?) area. I managed to wreak a bit of havoc amonst the auto update entries. I deleted three urls and switched app auto update to "false". I will report back if it seems to be doing the trick.

This is not something I am expecting to spend time on but just thought I would add a couple of tips.

1. To prevent Updates completing
   Delete or rename the update folder. This is only a temporary measure as it will be replaced, but if you go offline &/or closedown Firefox it gives you chance to stop the update that has started to download.
   • explained in the archived article Updates reported when running newest version_delete-update-configuration-files
   • vista-win7 paths given in the article http://kb.mozillazine.org/Updates_reported_when_running_newest_version
2. Quick re-installs
   Just in case I do loose this [fx 3.6.28] to an upgrade I have downloaded the installer and put it somewhere safe, outside firefox related paths. Re-installing only takes seconds on my system, and I can now do that offline and even with no browser available. (I have multiple firefox versions and other browsers available so having no browser is unlikely)
   • Install an older version of Firefox contains advice,warnings, and links such as to
     • https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/3.6.28/
3. And at your own risk
   (I can not see it doing harm, but have not tested this properly to see if it works)
   • I disabled updater.exe for 3.6 because even with the
     Pref = app.update.url
     having a null value firefox seemed to try to update.
   • It may well be worth trying setting
     Pref = app.update.channel
     Value = default
     It appears that the intention of that preference is to lockdown Firefox when no update channel is available. (I wonder if a blank/Null value works)
     • see http://kb.mozillazine.org/Software_Update#Update_channels_-_Advanced

As promised, I called the radio show to express all of your grips with the latest update. Well, I tried to advocate for the user but Leo offered no solution plus he hung up on me before I can ask him for his one and last recommendation. Funny he says the reason for the update is because of a security patch. I have no such problems. If anything else, it's freezing and crashing that's the big headache. These "experts" don't know what they are talking about.

So if any of you get a chance to call in this weekend (Saturday or Sunday), call this number and carry on the fight:

1-888-ASK-LEO (Sat & Sun: 2pm EST/11am PST)

http://techguylabs.com/radio/ShowNotes/Show886#toc16

Hear my rant at 01:21:00 of podcast (move bar 3/4 in)

http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/twit.cachefly.net/ttg0886.mp3

I think your radio rant mentioned not being able to use the Firefox search bar. Firefox 13 still has a multiple search bar available, if you have problems with that maybe start a new thread but it is still available in Firefox 13:

• Search bar - add, change and manage search engines on Firefox