Third party add ins reminder

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One of the things that I plan to start adding as a reminder to my patching checklist/to-dos is to check your add-ins. From browser add ins to operatin
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Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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ClearThunder, Great Lake Bunyip, Perq, SueW, Elly, Alex5723, AlphaCharlie, opti1, J9438, lmacri

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Do browser extensions need updating? I have a couple of the “check web addresses for scams” type and there seems to be no way to update.

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In FF Extensions/Manage Addons … there is a cog wheel that reveals I have chkd – Update Addons Automatically – . Might your Browser have similar?

W10 Pro 22H2 / Hm-Stdnt Ofce '16 C2R / Macrium Pd vX / GP=2 + FtrU=Semi-Annual + Feature Defer = 1 + QU = 0

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J9438

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CraigS26 wrote:

there is a cog wheel that reveals I have chkd – Update Addons Automatically

I don’t see that option after opening the cog wheel, but I only have Win Home and I see yours as Pro.

Also strange at the top I see an underlined blue link that says my browser is managed by my organization. I have no idea where that came from as this is just a home version used only at home. There was no way to turn that off.

It also shows no apps installed on the browser.

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The option @CraigS26 is referring to is in each individual browser’s settings not Windows and, for most Chromium-based browsers, it’s not a cogwheel but a button!

The default setting for most browsers is to automatically update installed extensions but it’s possible to force a manual update check as follows:

Right-click the extension icon on the right-hand side of the menu and select Manage Extensions and you should now see something similar to this at the top of the list of installed extensions.

Click it to initiate an update check.

BTW, if you don’t see it, turn ON developer mode.

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J9438

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I leave my browser’s setting to update extensions at default and would not bother with a manual update of extensions before Windows update. I only bother doing that if a browser had issues. Even then, the usual process is to disable all and test the one-by-one to work out the problem.

On my ‘must update’ first list is BIOS. I suffered a system lockout once, eventually needing to reset the laptop. Two other people brought me their same-make laptops with the same issue.

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J9438

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If you use Firefox, you can make the Menu Bar display by a right-click at the top of the browser window and choose ‘Menu Bar.’  It’s 20th century, but for me, a menu bar is a great navigation tool that sadly has disappeared from most browsers, including FF, which has the menu bar turned off by default after install for some reason known only to Mozilla.

I mention this because it’s a lot easier and faster to access your add-ons and extensions (and everything else) and update them rather than looking around for a tiny icon.

"War is the remedy our enemies have chosen. And I say let us give them all they want" ----- William T. Sherman

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J9438

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n0ads wrote:

BTW, if you don’t see it, turn ON developer mode.

Yep, I had to turn that on. Talk about something not very intuitive! How many people would think to turn that on?

Still no way to tell if extensions are being automatically updated. To try to manually update every time a browser is accessed is impossible.

I still cannot get Chrome to update automatically although Edge does seem to update.

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Unless it’s been specifically disabled via a Group Policy or registry setting (and yes, there are Windows Group Policies for Chrome), both Chrome & Edge automatically check for and install any extension/add-on updates when first started and then every 5 hrs or so until they’re shutdown.

However, there is a possible gotcha to the autoupdate extensions functionality.

The “developer” of the extension/add-on must include an autoupdate URL so the browser knows where to look for possible updates!

While most reputable developers do that, there are a few who don’t and, if they don’t, even a manual check for updates won’t work to find possible updates.

For those types of extensions/add-ons, the only way to tell if there’s an update is to open Manage Extensions, note the version# of the particular extension, click on the Details option for that extension, select the View in ?? store option at the bottom of the details screen, and check whether the version# in the store is newer than what you have installed.

If so, to update it you’ll need to install the new version over the existing version.

BTW, the only way I know of determining exactly when an extension/add-on gets updated is to install the Extensions Update Notifier extension which will generate a pop-up notification whenever an extension gets updated (it works for most Chromium-based browsers).

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J9438

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