SillyDog701

[profman]

Evidently the Microsoft Net 3.5 Service Pack installs an add-on (Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant 1.0) to Firefox and the (.NET CLR 3.5.30729) extension to the browser's UserAgent. See the discussions below for info on this distasteful, although probably harmless, tinkering by Microsoft.

Microsoft NET 3.5 SP (KB951847) adds extension

Microsoft does have an article entitled: How to manually remove the .NET Framework Assistant for Firefox

I apologize in advance if this topic has been discussed at SillyDog earlier. I certainly had not noticed the UserAgent modification until today although it evidently its been occurring since an MS update in January of 2009.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

[Don_HH2K]

One particular problem with this is the method that the .NET Framework Assistant uses to append the version string to the browser's useragent. It uses a user pref in the user's profile to do the appending, so if you run multiple browsers off the same profile, it'll show up regardless of whether the plugin is installed or not.

In my case, the .NET Framework Assistant carried the UA change over from the 32-bit Firefox to the 64-bit Firefox, even though the 64-bit Firefox isn't even capable of loading the plugin in the first place.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1 x64; en-US; rv:1.9.2a1pre) Gecko/20090404 Minefield/3.6a1pre (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

[Fulvio]

I think that I have an x86 computer with WinXP-SP3. My latest answer with 3.0.0.10 showed the addition to the string, although it did not showed it to 3.5b5. I don't see anything in my add-ons. Microsoft's directions to manually remove the assistant are a bear. Where is the beast?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.10) Gecko/2009042316 Firefox/3.0.10 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

[profman]

I think that I have an x86 computer with WinXP-SP3. My latest answer with 3.0.0.10 showed the addition to the string, although it did not showed it to 3.5b5. I don't see anything in my add-ons. Microsoft's directions to manually remove the assistant are a bear. Where is the beast?

Could the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant be installed under one of your other versions of Firefox? It should show up under Firefox's list of add-ons.

I suppose that its possible for the extension to be made non-functional without having removed the extra words from the UserAgent. The link that I gave earlier (to the mozillaZine article) gives lots of information including how to reset the UserAgent.

There is another link below related to editing the registry to remove the add-on:

How to uninstall Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant from Firefox

BTW, there is also installed a plugin, "NPWPF.dll", for Windows Presentation Foundation. The plugin may be disabled by simply renaming it to something unusable as a plugin. (The guy at mozillaZine renamed it "NPWPF.DLL.bad".)

I have not personally made any attempt to disable either the Microsoft add-on or plugin.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

[Fulvio]

The plugin is found only in Windows|Microsoft.net....
There is no evidence of an add-on in the two Firefox3.0.0.10, the common variety, and the Portable. There is no microsoft.net in my FF3.5b5 nightly. I use, of course, different profiles for each FF.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1b5pre) Gecko/20090512 Shiretoko/3.5b5pre

[profman]

Here's the easiest way to get rid of Microsoft .NET Assistant:

How to remove Microsoft .NET Assistant from Firefox

Now, navigate to the following folder:
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\
Windows Presentation Foundation\DotNetAssistantExtension

Move, rename or delete the files inside this folder. If you want to retain some sort of a backup, then zip or rar the files away. You can also delete them or rename them. But make sure once your job is done to leave this folder empty.

Start Firefox. The spyware should be gone.

[The material for the above article actually comes from Microsoft Updates Firefox?.]

Of course, you still, if desired, may reset the UserAgent in order to eliminate the Microsoft extension. The below quote is also from How to remove Microsoft .NET Assistant from Firefox.

In Firefox, in the address tab, type about:config and hit Enter. This will take you to a Firefox configuration page, where you can control different aspects of behavior of your browser. The use of this page should only be done by skilled users.

Search for the following string: general.useragent. One of the results that will come up will be general.useragent.extra.microsoftdotnet. We want to reset this string.

Remove crud

Simply right-click it and choose Reset.

Enjoy! (and YMMV)

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

[profman]

Another SillyDog Thread about this problem and a new Microsoft patch: [sdt=15761]IMPORTANT: From Sans: Windows Update Installs Firefox Add-on[/sdt]

An article, linked to below, located at Windows Secrets discusses this article and the various fixes:

MS uses patch channel to install Firefox add-on

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

[Edward]

Has the legality of this been discussed anywhere?

It would seem that if the add-on, physically changed another entity's software without their's or the user's permission, I would not think it would be legal.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.21) Gecko/20090403 SeaMonkey/1.1.16

[Fulvio]

I uninstalled net 3.5, then download the same file from the Microsoft site, and reinstalled it
Doing this the alleged Firefox which was not visible appeared in the Add-on list. Finally, I installed the microsoft-net-framework-assistant-from-firefox/. This allowed me to uninstall the extention. Microsoft.net framework remains installed. I never used microsoft.net, but who knows.
Doing things the way I did allowed me to avoid messing with the Registry.
Note: since I have the regular Firefox installed, as well as Firefox Portable, and the 3.5 nightly, the process had to be repeated for each browser. First, I had to restart Firefox to complete the installation of the extention, and to uninstall the so-called helper.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.10) Gecko/2009042316 Firefox/3.0.10

[geffr]

The plugin is found only in Windows|Microsoft.net....
There is no evidence of an add-on in the two Firefox3.0.0.10, the common variety, and the Portable. There is no microsoft.net in my FF3.5b5 nightly. I use, of course, different profiles for each FF.

Fulvio, I did get hit with this in FF Portable (installed on my hard drive).

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.11) Gecko/2009060215 Firefox/3.0.11 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

[Fulvio]

I said above that I had to run the process three times to remove the unrequested add-on from Firefox regular, Firefox portable, and the 3.5 nightly. None of them is immune, but the addition to the User Agent. I think that what I did is pretty much what profman quotes before.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/530.17

[profman]

Windows Update is now offering:

Update to .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 for the .NET Framework Assistant 1.0 x86 (KB963707)

The update to .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 for the .NET Framework Assistant 1.0 for Firefox addresses several compatibility issues with version 1.0 of the extension.

KB963707 is entitled "How to remove the .NET Framework Assistant for Firefox" and, in part, says:

In the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, the .NET Framework Assistant enables Firefox to use the ClickOnce technology that is included in the .NET Framework. The .NET Framework Assistant is added at the computer level so that its functionality can be used by all users at the computer level instead of at the user level. As a result, the Uninstall button is unavailable in the Firefox Add-ons menu because standard users are not permitted to uninstall machine-level components.

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Download the Update to .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for the .NET Framework Assistant 1.0 for Firefox
This update installs the .NET Framework Assistant on a per-user basis. As a result, the Uninstall button will be functional in the Firefox Add-ons menu.

Method 2: Remove the .NET Framework Assistant for Firefox is much more trouble and involves editing the registry.

I installed the update (Method 1 above) and, after a restart, an entry for "Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant 1.1" shows up in Firefox's Add-ons menu. There are clickable buttons labeled OPTIONS, DISABLE, and UNINSTALL.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)