Dales Computer Services

Microsoft has been installing add-ons into Firefox without users knowledge or permission. This occurs during the regular Microsoft update process which is enabled in Windows XP, Vista and 7 automatically. Recently there has been some confusion because Firefox has been popping up a message similar to:

and automatically disabling these addons because of security issues.

This is a bit of a worrying development from Microsoft because the automatic update process is only supposed to install updates that are important for security. It isn't the first time MS have been caught behaving like this and Mozilla (the creators of Firefox) are to be applauded for standing up to the software giant!!

If you want to read more about this see:

Mozilla Disables Microsoft's Insecure Firefox Add-on at The Washington Post

Mozilla Wrangles With Microsoft Firefox Add-ons at internetnews.com

Such was the response from users to this unwarranted intrusion into their computers, and also the potential security implications, that Microsoft have issued a solution.Go to Update to .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for the .NET Framework Assistant 1.0 for Firefox to download the patched version which allows you to uninstall the offending addon altogether. After installing the update you must restart Firefox and then if you go to Tools > Add-ons menu you will find the Microsoft addon has been re-enabled but now the uninstall button is available to remove it completely.

For a full explanation of the patch see Microsoft's Fix for the Firefox Add-on Snafu at the Washington Post website.