Skype Updater
Skype became a de facto standard of VoIP application. Millions of people use Skype on a daily basis. Skype application is actively maintained, software updates are shipped to keep users up to date with recent changes which provide the latest functionality and fix critical bugs. But sometimes updates are not welcome.
Skype recently became an object of criticism for its aggressive update policy. Due to this aggressive policy Skype's behavior is commonly compared to Malware [5].
Known Update Targets
- Skype
Official Ways for Disabling
Skype provides a recommended way to disable updates. See [1].
Since version 5.9 Skype has a built-in way to disable updates: Tools > Options > Automatic Updates. This way disables Skype Updater service.
Support by Update Freezer
Update Freezer offers several options to manage Skype updates.
-
Disabled. All updates are disabled. Update Freezer uses three methods.
- Official method [1] that turns off all minor updates.
- Another official method: stop and disable Skype Updater service.
- Unofficial method [2,3,4] which completely disables all Skype updates. The idea of this method is to block access to the file %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp\SkypeSetup.exe that Skype uses for downloading updates.
- Major Only. Only major updates are allowed. Minor updates are disabled via an official way [1].
- Enabled. All updates are enabled.
Drawbacks of Update Freeze
By disabling automated updates you have a risk to stay unprotected from vulnerabilities covered by regular maintenance updates of software.
References
-
Skype IT Administrators Guide:
http://download.skype.com/share/business/guides/skype-it-administrators-guide.pdf -
How to disable Skype 5 auto update:
http://proger.i-forge.net/How_to_disable_Skype_5_auto_update/7RS -
Skype - How to disable automatic updates:
http://www.qa.downappz.com/questions/skype-how-to-disable-automatic-updates.html -
Skype forum thread containing an unofficial way to disable updates (JonoMac's post):
http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows/How-to-disable-Skype-updates/td-p/6710/page/2- How to disable automatic updates in Skype 5? You can’t. It’s Malware.
http://asiteaboutnothing.net/blog/?p=40 - How to disable automatic updates in Skype 5? You can’t. It’s Malware.
Piyush Nasa:
May 17, 2013 at 06:00 AM
I have written a blog post on how to disable Auto Updates in Skype when you are packaging it for silent installation:
http://msiworld.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/packaging-skype-with-auto-update.html