Firefox has many good things about it that push it far above its competition. But the one thing I think we can all agree on about Firefox is that we hate that silly nag screen.
Last year, Google Chrome deleted all my bookmarks without warning – for the second time! I don’t know how the Millennials are doing it, but I have been saving and using bookmarks since Netscape for OS/2. For any browser to just go ahead and delete bookmarks is the ultimate sin for browsers. So, I uninstalled Chrome for the last time and started using Firefox.
Firefox is the Dinosaur of Browsers: It’s big, clunky and slow. It’s big because it’s old and new features keep getting added to it, so the code base grows. Big code usually means more memory usage. It’s clunky, well, because it’s old and big. It’s slow mainly because of it’s primary goal of being secure. Firefox is so secure it’s sickening. Does the average Joe really need that much protection? Well, sadly, the answer is yes, We need security. And Firefox has way more security than Google Chrome has on it’s little digit. (hey keep it clean, I meant finger).
But, in having so much security, Firefox can become annoying. In my opinion, Firefox’s most annoying feature is the update nag screen. I hate it. It interrupts my work, my play, and when I say “ask later” I mean “ask never”.
So, how do I prevent Firefox from nagging me to death like a Centauri Diplomat?
Here is how to stop that annoying nag screen:
In your Firefox address bar, type in “about:config”. If you have never done this before, click the button that says “I’ll be careful, I promise!” Search for the following settings and set them to false by double-clicking:
- app.update.auto
- app.update.enabled
- app.update.silent
And just like Microsoft Windows, it is usually best to restart Firefox after changing its settings.
Congratulations! You now have a peaceful, subservient web browser.
Cheers!
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