Multiple new addons/services of Firefox 57+.

[mozillian123]

Hello, Mozzilians!

I have just moved from old Firefox 52 to the newest 59.0.2 64-bit.
Some new addons/features/services of Firefox showed up in the CCleaner Startup options on Firefox tab.
These addons are hidden - I mean they are not displayed normally in Menu > Addons.



I have found on the internet that these new items were added by Firefox Quantum (Firefox 57).
I have also found this topic on the internet.

I want to have Firefox as lightweight as it goes so all non-necessary things should be off for me.
Already disabled three of new addons. Found out that with "Activity Stream" disabled, the start of Firefox is a bit faster.
(Yes, might be a placebo effect, well ... haven't tested it with the stopwatch yet and I surely won't as well.)

My questions:
- which of those addons are vital for Firefox to run properly? can I safely disable them all?
- why there are still present options in Menu > Options > Privacy & Security > Forms & Passwords
regarding saving form data if I have already disabled the "Form Autofill" option?
(when "Shield Recipe Client" is disabled, there is no entry about "Allow Firefox to install and run studies"
in the data collection options so I was thinking that with "Form Autofill" would work similarly but no)
- if I understand it correctly then "Photon onboarding" addon is all about new design which I personally really
don't like (compared with UI design of Firefox 52), if I disable this addon, will I get back the older design?
- is addon "Follow-on Search Telemetry" related to the options regarding data collection?
(similarly as with my 2nd question, if I disable this addon the telemetry settings in Options tab remain present)

That's all the questioning from my side, folks!
Would be very thankful if you could answer them all.

Cheers, Mozillians!

[Brummelchen]

please stop fooling with firefox with ccleaner, dont do this again. reverse all settings and let firefox handle it - it is capable off all!
further more - ccleaner is showing fake data, in special cookies and cache because it dont know about its structure.

use about:config to disable some of theses "service extensions"

[Benjamin Markson]

Here is a broader discussion: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... &t=3032373

Unfortunately, my original link seems to lead to a: "Nothing here". The best I can find now is this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/commen ... outconfig/

Specifically, this post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/commen ... g/du0v4m5/

It is reprehensible that Mozilla don't maintain proper documentation for (and a proper mechanism to disable) these System Add-ons - the obvious place to present this would be within the normal add-ons manager. I think it is Silicon Valley's mission to infantilize all of us.

Ben.

[Grumpus]

You can disable all or selectively any of those extensions.
One way is to search where Firefox keeps search engines, and extensions on your system for the install files, they should be listed under their names.
Do not use CCleaner for anything on your system it causes more damage than it's worth, better to use a little more effort than automatically allow something to bugger your system.
You should leave the AUS - Application Update service helper alone and active along with the Web Compat.
The others can be removed without issue as most are used for testing.
You can also go into about:config and find the controls and items for these and disable them fully there.
Lastly a search for the apps on the Mozilla Support using the search entry.
Some will be found easier than others but they are all referenced and listed.
Should that fail do a Google search and use the Mozilla sites which show up.

[mozillian123]

@Brummelchen: I've been using CCleaner for years and never had one problem.
Yes, I know that the cleaning reports regarding Firefox are inaccurate/strange/fake.
I don't use CCleaner as a Firefox garbage cleaner, I use it as a handy tool in which
some useful functions are kept together. I am using old version - 4.19.4867 (64-bit).
I will never use newer versions - one of the reasons is that awful stupid flat design.

@Benjamin Markson: Yep, I definitely agree. Mozilla should let users know about new
addons and why they are hidden. A display option like basic/advanced would be nice,
so for basic users only standard addons are shown and for advanced users all addons ...
Some official documentation would be really appreacitated (at least for me).
Because in new version release notes "Added new features" sucks as a description.

@Grumpus: Please, tell me about how CCleaner causes damage. I don't know.
I don't use registry problems fixer in CCleaner (I clean registry manually myself).
I would be glad if you let me know about the details ... what's the problem and so on.
As I have said above, I am using older version and only some of the integrated functions.

[DanRaisch]

See this search result for information on problems associated with using Ccleaner and Firefox -- https://www.google.de/search?q=ccleaner ... lazine.org

[Brummelchen]

I am using old version - 4.19.4867 (64-bit). I will never use newer versions - one of the reasons is that awful stupid flat design.

you are possible using a vulnerable version wich can take over control about your system.
even you like it or not - its a high risk using older version, either ccleaner or firefox.
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ccleaner-wa ... o-do-next/
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3225407 ... lware.html

get the current portable build
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds

[Grumpus]

@mozillian123 - IMO, Reading the posts both for and against CCleaner for more than a decade it's caused a great many problems for general users of Firefox.
Cleaning the Registry manually is better than having CCleaner do it if you know what you are doing but for the majority of users it's dangerous.
There are also other programs out there, not necessarily free but they explain, reveal and fix things CCleaner does not.
The main point of the post was to show you don't need CCleaner to do some simple removals and about:config editing.

[frg]

4.19 works perfectly well for clearing cookies, killing extensions and for Windows housekeeping. At least up to Windows 8.1. Other tools are usually worse. I wouldn't try to use it for other things like the history or compacting the databases.

Only 5.33.6162 was affected by the hack. 4.19 is fine and the last version with a sane interface.