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Disable automatic updates
How can I prevent dropbox from automatically updating itself? The new dropbox 3 has a very anti-windows-7 UI that I don't like, so I reinstalled 2.10. How do I stop dropbox from continually install...
oliostro wrote:
Hi! I was curious about that situation and find some kinda-low level solution to our problem. Generally speaking, we can disable it. Here is how to do it:
1. open Terminal app
2. type command "launchctl list |grep dropbox" (w/o quotes) it will show annoying agent which name is "com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent"
3. then remove it from your system by typing "launchctl remove com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent"
(if it's does not work you may need some permission to do operation, then type "sudo " prefix before "launchctl remove" command)4. check that the agent is switched off by typing again command "launchctl list |grep dropbox" and it must showing no more abuse agent in you system.
Hope it's help. Cheers!
Yeah, I already removed that after I uninstalled dropbox. If you uninstall the way Apple sugests that little file gets left behind. For now I untend to leave the app off my system until this problem is fixed. I can upload files and get the link to share files without using the dropbox application and I don't need syncing so that works best for my situation. The real problem is that this should have never happened in the first place. I expect that kind of actions from MS but not from the Mac world. Anyway, thanks for the info as I am sure others may be able to use it.
I am a System Administator.
Almost all my users use Dropbox. I have no control over this.
The automatic update process has broken Dropbox for my users twice in the last few months.
When it breaks like this my users come to me to fix it.
I have tried downgrading to an older (working) version but Dropbox auto-updates back to the most recent (broken) version in short order and becomes inoperable.
Dropbox became unusable again yesterday with version 24.4.16.
What gives, Dropbox?
- Sanchez
Dropbox Community Moderator
For Windows OS, I have done two things to prevent the automatic update and it seems to work for now, as of 2017-04-28.
For Mac OS, I am assuming that similar procedure may be possible.
1. Go to "Computer Management" inside Start Menu>Programs>Administrative Tools; Go to Services and Applications>Services; Find "Dropbox Update", right click, go to Properties, and select Disable Service.
This will disable dropbox update from running upon boot. However, this alone does not prevent the updater from running when Dropbox runs. To prevent updater from running when Dropbox runs, do the following.
2. Go to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Dropbox\Update" from "File Explorer". Change the name of "DropboxUpdate.exe"--I changed mine to "DropboxUpdate.exec".
After #2 was done, I find that "DropboxUpdate" no longer shows up in "Task Manager" even when Dropbox application is running and I no longer gets a pop-up message to allow administrative permission to the updater. At the same time, my Dropbox is running normally.
Yeah, you can disable the auto update through a similar process on OS X but I suspect Windows, similar to OS X minus the registry part, will leave traces in the registry. I could have blocked it with my Firewall as well but I shouldn't have to. I chose to uninstall the app entirely as I do not need the sysnc feature in the app. I have a program that allows me to upload without the app and capture a share link if I need that. Personally I don't like apps that phone home without asking me if I am ok with it and giving me a chance to turn it off.
id019019824984 wrote:
For Windows OS, I have done two things to prevent the automatic update and it seems to work for now, as of 2017-04-28.
For Mac OS, I am assuming that similar procedure may be possible.
1. Go to "Computer Management" inside Start Menu>Programs>Administrative Tools; Go to Services and Applications>Services; Find "Dropbox Update", right click, go to Properties, and select Disable Service.
