Comments on: .NET Framework Assistant & Windows Presentation Foundation Plugin Blocking Update

By: muhammad khaider

muhammad khaider — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:15:03 +0000

I agree with Mozilla. I feel very strongly that no add-on should be allowed to install themselves in this way.

By: David-Sarah Hopwood

David-Sarah Hopwood — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:01:00 +0000

Having just learned about this affair, I’m extremely displeased with both Microsoft and Mozilla’s conduct.

It is not acceptable to install anything without user permission, period. That is characteristic of malware.

Having blocked said malware, it is also not acceptable to *unblock* it without asking user permission. It doesn’t matter whether there are no longer any *known* vulnerabilities in the malware.

This is pretty much the final straw for me; I’ll be moving away from both Windows and Firefox.

By: Betty

Betty — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:28:09 +0000

Around Oct 15 My computer got a Vundo virus that McAfee can not fix. We went to the Microsoft page to try to get instructions to try to fix it. We are having no luck getting rid of it. Any ideas on what we can do or does this new update isolate it.

I am not too tech savvy. Thanks for any help on this.

By: cedo

cedo — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:59:01 +0000

I disabled the .Net Framework Assistant & Windows Presentation Foundation, I had to re-disable them after the latest firefox update. They are not safe.

By: sikiş

sikiş — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:37:41 +0000

Sorry, I’m not a technical person, so I’m not familiar with the assumptions here.

I didn’t allow Mozilla to block this program because I thought it was a hoax, such as I’ve received before, asking me to delete MS programs. What does the plugin do? Do I need it? Was it fixed by the MS automatic update of October 15, called “Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Security Update for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (KB974417)”.

If not, what do I need to do now?

By: Chris Splinter

Chris Splinter — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:03:48 +0000

I agree with VanillaMozilla. I feel very strongly that no add-ons should be allowed to install themselves in this way.

If this behavior is allowed to continue, I still have to object on the grounds that .net framework assistant is broken. We now have an uninstall button, but it’s not fully functional. It doesn’t undo changes to the user agent, for one. Secondly, it leaves behind an installer stub as a hidden extension. This hidden extension previously broke adblock and no-script. We have nothing but the appearance of a working uninstaller. That’s a broken extension in my book.

Escaping this sort of thing is the reason I moved from IE to (Mozilla Suite to) Firefox in the first place. I want Firefox to be a lightweight browser out of the box again. Minimalism should be the default, not something that can be achieved with extensive effort.

All this aside, I oppose the proliferation of any new plugins. These add-ons will undermine the cross-platform nature of Firefox, and stifle innovation on the Web. I wish Mozilla would fight this.

By: Kushal

Kushal — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:38:06 +0000

jinlye, that would be good except I would suggest a slide down like the “Do you want to remember the password?” dialog or the ActiveX Control Bar on IE. (Oh, and please no more pop ups. I dont think anyone NEEDS one more pop up (which is also why default settings are so important). Please keep it disabled by default.

By: jinlye

jinlye — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:04:24 +0000

The smart thing for Firefox to do would be, when it starts, to check for any plugins that have added themselves (added themself, note, not added via the Firefox UI) since you last used Firefox. “It looks like the ‘Microsoft .Net 3.5 Assistant’ plugin has been added since you last used Firefox. What do you want Firefox to do with this plugin? [Enable] [Disable] [Remove]“

By: Ron Osborne

Ron Osborne — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:57:35 +0000

I am having problems at the moment regarding pop ups when I go into certain websites like bulletin boards to do with stocks and shares.
I never had this problem since using Mozilla but since the latest update They seem to come very regular and without the normal menu bar and I do not seem to be allowed to block the sites which leads me to believe it is something that has got into my computer.

Has anyone else got the same problem since the last update of Mozilla Firefox.

Ron Osborne

[This is quite a bit off topic, please visit our support site --dveditz]

By: Tama

Tama — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:41:07 +0000

So Windows Presentation Foundation is blocked even though the computer is patched? I would call that a blocking fail.