Disable automatic updates

[Mike G.]

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 installing v3?

[Sanchez]

Hi kayhikski, 

I’m sorry to hear about this, and I’ll make a note of your situation for our developers. 

There is a newer stable version of our app available here http://bit.ly/2oNhyQZ  if you’d like to try it out.

Thanks

[id019019824984]

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.

[protagonistic]

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.

[Lee P.6]

I use Little Snitch to stop the update accessing the net.   Little Snitch isn't without its problems, but anything's better than Dropbox downloading updates every time it sees that I've got poor web access on a hotel hotspot and need to urgently download a couple of mails.

[protagonistic]

---

@Lee P.6 wrote:

I use Little Snitch to stop the update accessing the net.   Little Snitch isn't without its problems, but anything's better than Dropbox downloading updates every time it sees that I've got poor web access on a hotel hotspot and need to urgently download a couple of mails.

---

I've been using that since version 1.   🙂   The thing most people don't like about it is that you have to be proactive. LS is how I caught on to the auto update in the first place. I set it to approve connections until I quit and then it will ask me again next time. When I fired up Dropbox I caught the auto update request and looked into it. As I mentioned I could have blocked it through my firewall but I shouldn't have to do it that way. Until they give me a way to turn off auto update the program will not be reinstalled. 

[salamurai]

I used this solution on the Mac, which is also what I did to stop Google's apps (way back when those had to be installed on your computer) from constantly trying to call for updates:

Locate the updater app, DropboxMacUpdate.app

LittleSnitch provides the pathname:    /Users/[your username]/Library/Dropbox

Compress/zip the original app, or delete if you prefer

add a blank text or image file, and rename it to "DropboxMacUpdate.app"

CMD-i for GetInfo window on that blank file

Make it a locked file, so it can't be overwritten

Ta-da, it's impossible for the Updater to even run. Leaving the locked file means future installs can't overwrite the file and resume running, and gives whatever process in the Dropbox app that calls for it something to look for.

However, you'll have to remember to manually look for and download future updates. According to other posts from employees, that's about every two weeks; at this time, the most recent update I know of is v25.4.28 released on May 1, 2017.

[protagonistic]

Thanks for the info. My only concern really is that in my opinion it is bad practice to code something like this without making it clear in the first place. If they are doing that what else are they putting in there and not telling me. All I get out of the application is a little convenience so I can do everything I need with other applications. The object of a program should be to make things easier for the customer, not to make things easier for the company.   🙂

[salamurai]

my "fix" above isn't perfect - somehow on my MacBook, the locked file unlocked itself and got replaced with the updater app, which atempted to call home 587 times in under a minute before I could make it stop.

Dear Dropbox, I consider this an unwarranted intrusion.

[protagonistic]

Thanks for that info. It just reinforces my decision to completely uninstall the application until such time as they actually fix the problem. It still amazes me that they don't think they have a problem. I encourage anyone who does not actually need the desktop app to do the same thing. There are other programs out there that will let you upload files to dropbox, get a shared link to send and do it without the invasive intrusion the Dropbox app has become.

[Kurt F.3]

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.