Firefox and Thunderbird install an optional service called the Mozilla Maintenance Service which allows application updates to occur in the background, without requiring you to click in the Windows User Account Control (UAC) dialog.
How does the Mozilla Maintenance Service work?
When Firefox or Thunderbird downloads an application update, the Mozilla Maintenance Service gets permission from Windows to allow the update to be applied, without requiring you to click in the Windows User Account Control (UAC) dialog. Until that time, the service doesn’t run so it doesn’t use any computer resources and, once the update process begins, the service quits.
Want more technical details? Check out the Mozilla wiki.
Disabling the Mozilla Maintenance Service
If you’d like to be prompted to authorize updates, you can disable the Mozilla Maintenance Service as follows:
Firefox
- Click the menu button
and choose . - Click the panel.
- Scroll down to Firefox Updates. (Tip: You can also search for updates in the search box.)
- Uncheck the box next to Use a background service to install updates.
Thunderbird
- At the top of the Thunderbird window, click the menu and select , or click the menu button
and choose . - Click the panel.
- Click the tab. The update options are displayed.
- Uncheck the box next to Use a background service to install updates.
- Click to save your changes and close the Options window.
Uninstalling the Mozilla Maintenance Service
You can uninstall the Mozilla Maintenance Service from your computer, if you wish.
- Windows XP: See Microsoft’s article, To change or remove a program.
- Windows Vista: See the Microsoft forum thread, Add/Remove Programs in Windows Vista.
- Windows 7: See Microsoft’s article, Windows 7 – How to properly uninstall programs.
- Windows 8: See the Microsoft Community forum thread, How do I delete or uninstall a program in windows 8.
- Windows 10: See Microsoft’s article Repair or remove programs.