suppress updates on Firefox

On Firefox 54, updates are loaded to

C:\Users\jws\AppData\Local\Mozilla\updates

Erasing any directory there will stop it from updating.

about:preferences#advanced

about:preferences -> advanced -> updates should be set "never check for updates" as well

This may be necessary for various updates, which are being added to Firefox which are screwing things up.  Not sure if and when it will stabilize, so freezing updates become necessary.

Here is a further bit of info on downgrading if the updates happen anyway.

Note that from Server  2003, which is similar to XP to later versions, which have a C:\user directory, and stores profiles there, the updates are not present in the profiles directory.  Where they are, is still not known.

https://www.wikihow.com/Downgrade-Firefox

1

Go to the Firefox install guide. This page has information on how you can download an old version of Firefox. Since the link to access the page with old versions of Firefox is constantly updated, you'll have to access it from this page.

2

Scroll down to the "I still want to downgrade" section. It's about halfway down the page. 

 

Click Directory of other versions and languages. This link is below the yellow Firefox warning box that's in the "I still want to downgrade" section. Clicking it will take you to a list of all Firefox versions.  

4

Select a version number. Click a number on this page to go to the download page for that version of Firefox.

• For example: you would click 45.1.0esr/ to go to the download page for Firefox version 45.1.0.

 

5

Select your operating system's folder. Since the folders here aren't clearly labeled, here's how to identify your operating system's folder:

• Windows - Look for "win32/" (32-bit Windows) or "win64/" (64-bit Windows) in the link text. If you don't know your computer's bit number, check it first.
• Mac - Look for "mac/" in the link text.

 

6

Select the language folder. The list on this page is abbreviated regional languages. Select the one that matches your region. For example, if you speak English and are in the United States, you would click the "en-US/" folder. 

 

7

Click the download link. This will prompt your selected version of Firefox to begin downloading to your computer.

• Depending on your browser settings, you may be prompted to confirm the download or select a location to save to before the download will begin.

 

8

Double-click the Firefox setup file. Once the download has finished, double-click the setup file to begin the installation process. On Windows, this will be an application (EXE) file, while Mac users will double-click the Firefox DMG file.

• On a MacOS Sierra and later, you may have to manually allow the installation before continuing.
• On Windows, you may be prompted to click Extract all first. If so, click Extract all, then open the extracted (non-ZIP) folder and double-click the Firefox application again.

 

9

Select your add-ons if prompted. Depending on the version of Firefox you're using, you may have the option of continuing to use some or all of your add-ons. 

 

10

Wait for Firefox to open. Once Firefox opens, you will be using the version that you selected. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30

support for ancient ubuntu releases

I've got a couple of machines that probably won't upgrade nicely, and the "gee why can't you upgrade them" comments are useless.  The ones I had were appliance downloads popular at the time I obtained them, and there was not the usual trail of how they were built accompanying them.

since one is my email archive I will continue to run it till SMTP POP3 and IMAP protocols die without any update.

Here is a link which worked for my oldest version, hardy, which is Ubuntu 8.  The date of the release is to probably 2006 maybe earlier.

https://superuser.com/questions/339537/where-can-i-get-the-repositories-for-old-ubuntu-versions

Here is the most useful answer (including the useless suggestion to update). 

**********************

Your system is End-of-Line (EOL), therefore not officially supported. Unless you have a good reason for sticking with 9.04, upgrade to a newer version. 16.04 is the next long-term supported release for Ubuntu, which will continue to receive updates.
To access old Ubuntu repositories, take a look at http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/.
There is also an official Ubuntu documentation for EOL upgrades
They say you should be able to access your packages by putting the following into /etc/apt/sources.list. Important: Change CODENAME to your distribution's code name, e.g. jaunty.

## EOL upgrade sources.list
# Required
deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ CODENAME main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ CODENAME-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ CODENAME-security main restricted universe multiverse

# Optional
#deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ CODENAME-backports main restricted universe multiverse

Just run apt-get update and you can use them.

Windows XP Update looping problem

sometimes an svchost on an windows xp system will loop because of a Microsoft update problem they didn't fix. 

These are some references to stop it.  No fix yet, just useful hits so far.

http://superuser.com/questions/692412/win-xp-sp3-windows-update-wont-work/696222

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/list-services-running-under-svchostexe-process/