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OBrienPC - The official website of James E. O'Brien. A computer and network support technician in the Seattle area.
           
 

.Net Framework issue in Mozilla

If you use Mozilla Firefox on a Windows XP or Vista system, you are definately going to want to pay attention to this fix. In February 2009, Microsoft released as part of it's Windows security updates, the MS .Net Framework Assistance for Mozilla's Firefox browser, and it was installed as a Firefox extension without any notification to you. The problem is that the .Net Framework Assistance adds many of the same vulnerabilities to Firefox that are inherant in the Internet Explorer browser. The same vulnerabilities in fact that caused most Firefox users to dump Internet Explorer as their default web browser. 

To make things even more interesting, Microsoft made the .Net Framework Assistance extension difficult to remove. Fortunately, I found a way to manually remove the .Net Framework Assistance extension at Annoyances.org. Here are the steps Firefox users have to take to remove the .Net Framework Assistance:

Warning: Removing the .Net Framework Assistance extension requires that you modify the registry. You should be extremely cautious to follow these steps exactly as posted here

  1. First, we need to open the open Registry Editor by typing  "regedit" (without the quotes)  in the Start menu Search box in Vista or Windows 7, or in XP's Run box).
  2. Expand the branches to the following key:
    1. On 32-bit systems: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Mozilla \ Firefox \ Extensions
    2. On x64 systems: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Wow6432Node \ Mozilla \ Firefox \ Extensions 
  3. Delete the value named {20a82645-c095-46ed-80e3-08825760534b} from the right pane.
  4. Close the Registry Editor when you're done.
  5. Open a new Firefox window, and in the address bar, type about:config and press Enter.
  6. Find the general.useragent.extra.microsoftdotnet setting.
  7. Right-click general.useragent.extra.microsoftdotnet and select Reset.
  8. Restart Firefox.
  9. Open Windows Explorer, and navigate to %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Windows Presentation Foundation. (You can copy and paste this in the Address Bar of the Explorer window)
  10. Delete the DotNetAssistantExtension folder entirely.
  11. Open the Add-ons window in Firefox to confirm that the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant extension has been removed. 

Disclaimer: The information provided on this page is provided for informational use only. While the processes described here are deemed to be accurate as described, if you choose to follow these proceedures, you assume all risks and responcibilities for any consequential damage or loss of data or functionality on your computer. If you have any doubts about the proceedures described here, I strongly suggest that you seek the assistance of a professional technician in your area. 

Copyright: The information on this page was written by James O'Brien of obrienpc.net. This information may be printed or replicated as long as this copyright notice is included on the printed or replicated media. 

 

   
 
 

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