Google auto-update sucks
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The auto-update facility for Google Toolbar is really annoying me. Version 6 of the toolbar does not play nicely with my company proxy server (the proxy server complains about badly formed queries). However version 5 works fine for me. And they have a link on their nicely minimal google toolbar home page for previous versions. However they have an auto-update feature that they are quite proud of - they have it in their list of features: Auto Update There is no need to check for new versions of Google Toolbar; updates are installed automatically, so you will always have the latest and greatest version. But you cannot turn it off! WTF! :mad: Why on earth provide previous versions if you cannot turn off the auto-update? Why would google engineers think that this was a good idea? Do they think forcing me to uninstall the auto-updated toolbar, reinstalling the previous version and then reconfiguring it would lead to an enjoyable user experience? As for the latest and greatest - it definitely isn't the greatest because it doesn't work for me. And don't even get me started on the bloat that they add with every version: autofill - meh, don't use web forms enough to make it worthwhile; access your bookmarks from any computer - nope, don't need that either; store my credit card details - whoa, not even with an encrypted hard disk and strong password. Why doesn't their software follow their minimalist theme to their web site? I just want to be able to get to google search quickly - that's it, nothing more. If anyone is interested, the way to turn off the auto-update, apparently, is to add the following line to your hosts file:
127.0.0.1 toolbar.google.com
Thank you for your patience in letting me let off steam. Rant over. I'm calmer now
Graham Librarians rule, Ook!
There was this 'study' that said auto-updating apps were the most secure :suss: but I think that was for the average user - most geeks want a finer level of control. As to why you would want a toolbar, I'm stumped.
Cheers, Vikram.
Recent activities: TV series: Friends, season 6 Books: Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen J Dubner.
Carpe Diem.
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I'm just curious - why do you use a toolbar anyways? Almost all the browsers now have a search box and blocks pop-ups, remember paswords, etc., What additional feature is a toolbar offering you? Also, I absolutely hate and despise anything that puts a toolbar on my browser. X|
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
Also, I absolutely hate and despise anything that puts a toolbar on my browser
Me too! Especially if it's that stupid Yahoo! toolbar that is very hard to remove all traces of. Worse yet, it uses a stupid "marketing" technique (even though it's free so why does it bother?) - it includes itself in programs that are useful such as CCleaner and you must explicitly deselect them. I wish I could configure my virus scanner to automatically include any Yahoo! related software but sadly that's not possible.
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Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
Also, I absolutely hate and despise anything that puts a toolbar on my browser.
Me too. I always prefer my IE/FF to have cleaner link bars. Even the Favorites menu's default folders like 'Links', I delete them off and keep it clean. I have my own small Windows Forms application and an XML file that manages favorites for me from system tray. Whenever I need it, it launches the appropriate URL for me.
Vasudevan Deepak Kumar Personal Homepage
Tech Gossips
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep!Vasudevan Deepak Kumar wrote:
I have my own small Windows Forms application and an XML file that manages favorites for me from system tray. Whenever I need it, it launches the appropriate URL for me.
Perhaps an article? ;)
Cheers, Vikram.
Recent activities: TV series: Friends, season 6 Books: Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen J Dubner.
Carpe Diem.
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I'm just curious - why do you use a toolbar anyways? Almost all the browsers now have a search box and blocks pop-ups, remember paswords, etc., What additional feature is a toolbar offering you? Also, I absolutely hate and despise anything that puts a toolbar on my browser. X|
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
The only thing I've ever found useful on the google toolbar that I don't get out of the browser is the page rank. Some of our clients like to know their page rank, and they can use this feature quickly and with a minimum of effort.
"WPF has many lovers. It's a veritable porn star!" - Josh Smith
As Braveheart once said, "You can take our freedom but you'll never take our Hobnobs!" - Martin Hughes.
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I'm just curious - why do you use a toolbar anyways? Almost all the browsers now have a search box and blocks pop-ups, remember paswords, etc., What additional feature is a toolbar offering you? Also, I absolutely hate and despise anything that puts a toolbar on my browser. X|
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
Because my company is stuck on IE6 and the Google Toolbar search is so much more responsive than typing in the address bar
Graham Librarians rule, Ook!
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I'm just curious - why do you use a toolbar anyways? Almost all the browsers now have a search box and blocks pop-ups, remember paswords, etc., What additional feature is a toolbar offering you? Also, I absolutely hate and despise anything that puts a toolbar on my browser. X|
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
I'm just curious - why do you use a toolbar anyways?
Bookmarks, quick list of new CP articles, RSS topics, gmail etc. and for search...CP, wikipedia, current site etc.
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
Also, I absolutely hate and despise anything that puts a toolbar on my browser.
It was not put there, I did. Best regards, Paul.
Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.
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Toolbars are just another kind of spam - hate them!
Apathy Rules - I suppose...
Its not the things you fear that come to get you but all the things that you don't expect
That is exactly how I feel about these. If there is an option not to install them I take that.
John
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Because my company is stuck on IE6 and the Google Toolbar search is so much more responsive than typing in the address bar
Graham Librarians rule, Ook!
Graham Shanks wrote:
Because my company is stuck on IE6
X| Ask them to wake up and smell the coffee. OTOH, I'm aware that at some places we cannot make decisions of this sort and the ones who can make these decisions are too dumb to do anything that's worth.
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
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Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
I'm just curious - why do you use a toolbar anyways?
Bookmarks, quick list of new CP articles, RSS topics, gmail etc. and for search...CP, wikipedia, current site etc.
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
Also, I absolutely hate and despise anything that puts a toolbar on my browser.
It was not put there, I did. Best regards, Paul.
Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.
I use the bookmarking feature built into the browser (and use foxmarks sometimes). You can get a list of latest CP articles as an RSS feed. Gmail can be accessed without a toolbar too. Searching wikipedia, CP, internet, etc., can be done without a toolbar. But, that's just *my* way of thinking. By all means you must install plenty of toolbars, if you like them.
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
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That is exactly how I feel about these. If there is an option not to install them I take that.
John
If I cannot install an app without installing a toolbar, I'll opt to find an alternative app or not install it at all.
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
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I use the bookmarking feature built into the browser (and use foxmarks sometimes). You can get a list of latest CP articles as an RSS feed. Gmail can be accessed without a toolbar too. Searching wikipedia, CP, internet, etc., can be done without a toolbar. But, that's just *my* way of thinking. By all means you must install plenty of toolbars, if you like them.
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
I use the bookmarking feature built into the browser (and use foxmarks sometimes).
I think it is a well known feature, just that it does not go with me to my work place and back.
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
You can get a list of latest CP articles as an RSS feed.
Why does it become a problem if you get it right on a toolbar?
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
Gmail can be accessed without a toolbar too.
Yes, again well known. I talking a quick list of recent mails - right there on my toolbar along side the CP new article list.
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
Searching wikipedia, CP, internet, etc., can be done without a toolbar.
Of course, yes. Just same as we can work with VS.NET without any of the addins. Best regards, Paul.
Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.
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Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
I use the bookmarking feature built into the browser (and use foxmarks sometimes).
I think it is a well known feature, just that it does not go with me to my work place and back.
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
You can get a list of latest CP articles as an RSS feed.
Why does it become a problem if you get it right on a toolbar?
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
Gmail can be accessed without a toolbar too.
Yes, again well known. I talking a quick list of recent mails - right there on my toolbar along side the CP new article list.
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
Searching wikipedia, CP, internet, etc., can be done without a toolbar.
Of course, yes. Just same as we can work with VS.NET without any of the addins. Best regards, Paul.
Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.
I remember telling in my previous post that it were all my opinion. Again, if you like toolbars, please install them. You should not expect me to provide you justification on why I have a different opinion than you. But, may be I'll comment.
Paul Selormey wrote:
I think it is a well known feature, just that it does not go with with to my work place and back.
If you need the bookmarks *everywhere* you go, then probably a social bookmarking portal makes sense. I use foxmarks for that (I mentioned in my previous post, not to mention you've quoted it as well).
Paul Selormey wrote:
Why does it become a problem if you get it right on a toolbar?
I have absolutely no problem, as long as the crappy toolbar is not installed on any of my machines.
Paul Selormey wrote:
Of course, yes. Just same as we can work with VS.NET without any of the addins.
There are things that Visual Assist does and VS cannot do (or takes AGES to do).
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
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The auto-update facility for Google Toolbar is really annoying me. Version 6 of the toolbar does not play nicely with my company proxy server (the proxy server complains about badly formed queries). However version 5 works fine for me. And they have a link on their nicely minimal google toolbar home page for previous versions. However they have an auto-update feature that they are quite proud of - they have it in their list of features: Auto Update There is no need to check for new versions of Google Toolbar; updates are installed automatically, so you will always have the latest and greatest version. But you cannot turn it off! WTF! :mad: Why on earth provide previous versions if you cannot turn off the auto-update? Why would google engineers think that this was a good idea? Do they think forcing me to uninstall the auto-updated toolbar, reinstalling the previous version and then reconfiguring it would lead to an enjoyable user experience? As for the latest and greatest - it definitely isn't the greatest because it doesn't work for me. And don't even get me started on the bloat that they add with every version: autofill - meh, don't use web forms enough to make it worthwhile; access your bookmarks from any computer - nope, don't need that either; store my credit card details - whoa, not even with an encrypted hard disk and strong password. Why doesn't their software follow their minimalist theme to their web site? I just want to be able to get to google search quickly - that's it, nothing more. If anyone is interested, the way to turn off the auto-update, apparently, is to add the following line to your hosts file:
127.0.0.1 toolbar.google.com
Thank you for your patience in letting me let off steam. Rant over. I'm calmer now
Graham Librarians rule, Ook!
Simple solution - uninstall it.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
I remember telling in my previous post that it were all my opinion. Again, if you like toolbars, please install them. You should not expect me to provide you justification on why I have a different opinion than you. But, may be I'll comment.
Paul Selormey wrote:
I think it is a well known feature, just that it does not go with with to my work place and back.
If you need the bookmarks *everywhere* you go, then probably a social bookmarking portal makes sense. I use foxmarks for that (I mentioned in my previous post, not to mention you've quoted it as well).
Paul Selormey wrote:
Why does it become a problem if you get it right on a toolbar?
I have absolutely no problem, as long as the crappy toolbar is not installed on any of my machines.
Paul Selormey wrote:
Of course, yes. Just same as we can work with VS.NET without any of the addins.
There are things that Visual Assist does and VS cannot do (or takes AGES to do).
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
I remember telling in my previous post that it were all my opinion.
But you seem to have forgotten that I was only responding to your question "I'm just curious - why do you use a toolbar anyways?".
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
I have absolutely no problem, as long as the crappy toolbar is not installed on any of my machines.
We all know there is no software without problem. But, I am not having any yet with my toolbar. It is normal to use those words; I have used it here to force a MS PM to cause his Japanese support to send me a hot fix for a VS.NET 2002 and he even wrote an article on it. I have used it on Visual Assist team to force them to add update notifications. But anything beyond that is below the belt, as you see in some of the posts on this issue. Best regards, Paul.
Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.
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If I cannot install an app without installing a toolbar, I'll opt to find an alternative app or not install it at all.
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
If I cannot install an app without installing a toolbar, I'll opt to find an alternative app or not install it at all.
I thought I was the only one! Were we separated at birth, or something?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
I remember telling in my previous post that it were all my opinion.
But you seem to have forgotten that I was only responding to your question "I'm just curious - why do you use a toolbar anyways?".
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
I have absolutely no problem, as long as the crappy toolbar is not installed on any of my machines.
We all know there is no software without problem. But, I am not having any yet with my toolbar. It is normal to use those words; I have used it here to force a MS PM to cause his Japanese support to send me a hot fix for a VS.NET 2002 and he even wrote an article on it. I have used it on Visual Assist team to force them to add update notifications. But anything beyond that is below the belt, as you see in some of the posts on this issue. Best regards, Paul.
Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.
I did not forget what you were replying to, but I was commenting on your question: Why does it become a problem if you get it right on a toolbar?
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
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Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
Also, I absolutely hate and despise anything that puts a toolbar on my browser
Me too! Especially if it's that stupid Yahoo! toolbar that is very hard to remove all traces of. Worse yet, it uses a stupid "marketing" technique (even though it's free so why does it bother?) - it includes itself in programs that are useful such as CCleaner and you must explicitly deselect them. I wish I could configure my virus scanner to automatically include any Yahoo! related software but sadly that's not possible.
Definitely! It takes a lot of efforts to remove that yahoo crap from your browser.
The narrow specialist in the broad sense of the word is a complete idiot in the narrow sense of the word. Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.
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Because my company is stuck on IE6 and the Google Toolbar search is so much more responsive than typing in the address bar
Graham Librarians rule, Ook!
I've used Googler[^] since long before "browser helpers" became the latest way to spam. Simple and clean. On the first computer I used it on, it took up the same space as a shortcut (one allocation unit), so I put the program itself in the start-up menu.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
If I cannot install an app without installing a toolbar, I'll opt to find an alternative app or not install it at all.
I thought I was the only one! Were we separated at birth, or something?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
Mark Wallace wrote:
I thought I was the only one! Were we separated at birth, or something?
Quite possible, if you're 26 too! :-D
It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini
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The auto-update facility for Google Toolbar is really annoying me. Version 6 of the toolbar does not play nicely with my company proxy server (the proxy server complains about badly formed queries). However version 5 works fine for me. And they have a link on their nicely minimal google toolbar home page for previous versions. However they have an auto-update feature that they are quite proud of - they have it in their list of features: Auto Update There is no need to check for new versions of Google Toolbar; updates are installed automatically, so you will always have the latest and greatest version. But you cannot turn it off! WTF! :mad: Why on earth provide previous versions if you cannot turn off the auto-update? Why would google engineers think that this was a good idea? Do they think forcing me to uninstall the auto-updated toolbar, reinstalling the previous version and then reconfiguring it would lead to an enjoyable user experience? As for the latest and greatest - it definitely isn't the greatest because it doesn't work for me. And don't even get me started on the bloat that they add with every version: autofill - meh, don't use web forms enough to make it worthwhile; access your bookmarks from any computer - nope, don't need that either; store my credit card details - whoa, not even with an encrypted hard disk and strong password. Why doesn't their software follow their minimalist theme to their web site? I just want to be able to get to google search quickly - that's it, nothing more. If anyone is interested, the way to turn off the auto-update, apparently, is to add the following line to your hosts file:
127.0.0.1 toolbar.google.com
Thank you for your patience in letting me let off steam. Rant over. I'm calmer now
Graham Librarians rule, Ook!
Graham Shanks wrote:
autofill
One of the best features.
Graham Shanks wrote:
access your bookmarks from any computer
Another one of the best features.
Graham Shanks wrote:
store my credit card details
I never use that.
Graham Shanks wrote:
I just want to be able to get to google search quickly - that's it, nothing more
So why do you use the toolbar? Why have it installed at all?:confused: You can search from the search box in all the latest browsers. You're not stuck on IE 6 are you? (I do still use the Google Toolbar because I like the two features mentioned above plus a few more.)
Kevin