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Forum Discussion
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...
I wasn't even aware Dropbox automatically (and uncontrollably) updated itself until today when I looked at my installed programs and saw that Windows thought Dropbox was installed yesterday - obviously an auto update.
Giving anyone unfettered remote admin access to my computer is unacceptable. Even if Dropbox has the purest of intentions, my computer is still a hostage to any error they make or any lapse in their security. I don't know what their security is like, but however good it is, it's not good enough to trust my security to. It is only a matter of time before an employee folds under external influence, or even before someone walks into a place like Dropbox with a mask a USB stick and a gun and says "push this update out or I shoot people". With the amount of money at stake with ransomeware, does anyone think Dropbox is any more immune to violent criminal action than a bank is? Once criminals wise up to the opportunity that real-time forced automatic updates affords, this is only a matter of time.
I already have to go through a significant amount of pain with Windows 10 to prevent it from automatically updating itself, I don't need to try and manage that in Dropbox too. The propensity for vendors to adopt uncontrollable automatic updates is getting out of hand. I must use Windows 10, unfortunately, but I don't have to use Dropbox. Dropbox has therefore been summarily uninstalled in favour of a complete migration to Syncthing. I control Syncthing end-to-end. I obviously control nothing of Dropbox.
As has been mentioned earlier it isn't hard to prevent Dropbox from auto updating with a firewall but that isn't the point for me. I shouldn't have to do that. I will leave the program off my system untul they allow me to cahnge that in the settings. I have other program options to use it and don't need their program. If you really need their program you should also be able to keep it from phoning home if you use a good firewall.
This will cause me to move away from Dropbox. I had no idea that it auto-updated. My bad.
