Skype for Desktop – Disable Auto Updates

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After installing an older version of Skype for Desktop (in W10), I noticed that Skype was automatically updating to the latest. Well, I don’t want that, Microsoft. End-users won’t have the appropriate permissions to install the update. So, they are getting prompted to do an installation that they cannot complete; Microsoft, just no.

I looked around for a way to disable it, some kind of reg setting, group policy, or config file. I had no luck (note, there are methods for disabling auto updates using Skype for Business—the licensed version).

So, I resorted to using ProcMon and WireShark. I found the answer I was looking for.

 

ProcMon

Using PromMon, I was able to return the setup file name, the Skype installation path, and see where the EXE was being downloaded from (the source).

Skype-Setup.exe

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Skype for Desktop

72.21.81.200


Wireshark

Using Wireshark and the IP address from above, I was able to find the URL in a packet.

endpoint920510.azureedge.net

 

Solution

The fix was just to add that URL with a redirected IP address into the host file. BAM…no more auto updates and no more update chat notifications.

Add this into the host file:

127.0.0.1           endpoint920510.azureedge.net

PowerShell, if you need to automate it

Add-Content -Path "C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts" -Value "`n127.0.0.1 endpoint920510.azureedge.net"

 

Or, add this to a batch file

powershell.exe -noprofile -command “Add-Content -Path C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts -Value “”`n127.0.0.1                endpoint920510.azureedge.net””” -force

 

I’ll probably still throw this into a VM, so I can reverse engineer it. I’d like to see if I can add a jump instruction or completely remove the download function using assembly.

 

Notes

https://skypeapps.azureedge.net

 

Experimental 

Modify the app.asar file to disable updates. Asar is a simple extensive archive format. It works like tar that concatenates all files together without compression, while having random access support.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Skype for Desktop\resources

Search for this._appConfig.enableUpdates under updatesEnabled()

Overwrite (insert) false…and use spaces to overwrite the rest. You’re typing the spaces to not affect the offset of the asar file. If you change the offset, you’ll receive crash errors.

If you want to unpack the asar (and not worry about offsets), and really go exploring, use 7-Zip with plugins from here (or my mirror). To install the plugin into the 7-Zip installation folder, you need to create a Formats subfolder in the main 7-Zip folder.


Other MS IPs

13.92.27.116
13.93.149.41
13.107.2.128
40.114.211.99
52.163.217.227
52.114.32.8
52.162.166.27
52.163.217.227
52.184.153.176
65.55.252.169
93.184.215.201

 

JSON File

{“app.registerSkypeUri”:true,”main-window.zoom-level”:0,”main-window.isMaximised”:false,”main-window.position”:{“x”:393,”y”:0,”width”:814,”height”:860},”migrations.461655100d0a15b8c1890f74c86b31d211b3d6d0b7c78e46a5e97d41777d99a0.autoAnswerCalls”:true,”migrations.461655100d0a15b8c1890f74c86b31d211b3d6d0b7c78e46a5e97d41777d99a0.autoAnswerCallsWithVideo”:true,”migrations.461655100d0a15b8c1890f74c86b31d211b3d6d0b7c78e46a5e97d41777d99a0.enableChatNotifications”:true,”migrations.461655100d0a15b8c1890f74c86b31d211b3d6d0b7c78e46a5e97d41777d99a0.agcEnabled”:true,”migrations.461655100d0a15b8c1890f74c86b31d211b3d6d0b7c78e46a5e97d41777d99a0.cameraId”:true,”migrations.461655100d0a15b8c1890f74c86b31d211b3d6d0b7c78e46a5e97d41777d99a0.microphoneName”:true,”migrations.461655100d0a15b8c1890f74c86b31d211b3d6d0b7c78e46a5e97d41777d99a0.speakerName”:true,”updates.windows.awaiting-installer-version”:”Skype-8.28.0.41.exe”}

App Shortcuts

“C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Skype for Desktop\Skype.exe” –type=renderer –ms-disable-indexeddb-transaction-timeout –no-sandbox –service-pipe-token=E569827CBC05E614083B3C706A9E0D50 –lang=en-US –app-user-model-id=Microsoft.Skype.SkypeDesktop –app-path=”C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Skype for Desktop\resources\app.asar” –node-integration=false –webview-tag=true –no-sandbox –preload=”C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Skype for Desktop\resources\app.asar\WebViewPreload.js” –guest-instance-id=1 –enable-blink-features –disable-blink-features –context-id=2 –enable-pinch –device-scale-factor=1 –num-raster-threads=2 –enable-main-frame-before-activation –content-image-texture-target=0,0,3553;0,1,3553;0,2,3553;0,3,3553;0,4,3553;0,5,3553;0,6,3553;0,7,3553;0,8,3553;0,9,3553;0,10,3553;0,11,3553;0,12,3553;0,13,3553;0,14,3553;0,15,3553;0,16,3553;0,17,3553;1,0,3553;1,1,3553;1,2,3553;1,3,3553;1,4,3553;1,5,3553;1,6,3553;1,7,3553;1,8,3553;1,9,3553;1,10,3553;1,11,3553;1,12,3553;1,13,3553;1,14,3553;1,15,3553;1,16,3553;1,17,3553;2,0,3553;2,1,3553;2,2,3553;2,3,3553;2,4,3553;2,5,3553;2,6,3553;2,7,3553;2,8,3553;2,9,3553;2,10,3553;2,11,3553;2,12,3553;2,13,3553;2,14,3553;2,15,3553;2,16,3553;2,17,3553;3,0,3553;3,1,3553;3,2,3553;3,3,3553;3,4,3553;3,5,3553;3,6,3553;3,7,3553;3,8,3553;3,9,3553;3,10,3553;3,11,3553;3,12,3553;3,13,3553;3,14,3553;3,15,3553;3,16,3553;3,17,3553;4,0,3553;4,1,3553;4,2,3553;4,3,3553;4,4,3553;4,5,3553;4,6,3553;4,7,3553;4,8,3553;4,9,3553;4,10,3553;4,11,3553;4,12,3553;4,13,3553;4,14,3553;4,15,3553;4,16,3553;4,17,3553 –enable-gpu-async-worker-context –service-request-channel-token=E569827CBC05E614083B3C706A9E0D50 –renderer-client-id=9 –mojo-platform-channel-handle=2984 /prefetch:1

=renderer –ms-disable-indexeddb-transaction-timeout –no-sandbox –service-pipe-token=B303D2EA9221E03BA023FA86AED6494B –lang=en-US –app-user-model-id=Microsoft.Skype.SkypeDesktop –app-path=”C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Skype for Desktop\resources\app.asar” –node-integration=false –webview-tag=true –no-sandbox –preload=”C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Skype for Desktop\resources\app.asar\Preload.js” –context-id=2 –enable-pinch –device-scale-factor=1 –num-raster-threads=2 –enable-main-frame-before-activation –content-image-texture-target=0,0,3553;0,1,3553;0,2,3553;0,3,3553;0,4,3553;0,5,3553;0,6,3553;0,7,3553;0,8,3553;0,9,3553;0,10,3553;0,11,3553;0,12,3553;0,13,3553;0,14,3553;0,15,3553;0,16,3553;0,17,3553;1,0,3553;1,1,3553;1,2,3553;1,3,3553;1,4,3553;1,5,3553;1,6,3553;1,7,3553;1,8,3553;1,9,3553;1,10,3553;1,11,3553;1,12,3553;1,13,3553;1,14,3553;1,15,3553;1,16,3553;1,17,3553;2,0,3553;2,1,3553;2,2,3553;2,3,3553;2,4,3553;2,5,3553;2,6,3553;2,7,3553;2,8,3553;2,9,3553;2,10,3553;2,11,3553;2,12,3553;2,13,3553;2,14,3553;2,15,3553;2,16,3553;2,17,3553;3,0,3553;3,1,3553;3,2,3553;3,3,3553;3,4,3553;3,5,3553;3,6,3553;3,7,3553;3,8,3553;3,9,3553;3,10,3553;3,11,3553;3,12,3553;3,13,3553;3,14,3553;3,15,3553;3,16,3553;3,17,3553;4,0,3553;4,1,3553;4,2,3553;4,3,3553;4,4,3553;4,5,3553;4,6,3553;4,7,3553;4,8,3553;4,9,3553;4,10,3553;4,11,3553;4,12,3553;4,13,3553;4,14,3553;4,15,3553;4,16,3553;4,17,3553 –enable-gpu-async-worker-context –service-request-channel-token=B303D2EA9221E03BA023FA86AED6494B –renderer-client-id=4 –mojo-platform-channel-handle=2396 /prefetch:1

 

Mac

Download Skype for Mac

Disable Updates in Mac asar (found in the .app > Contents > Resources > app.asar)

Change from enableUpdates: true (with that space) to enableUpdates:false (no space with false)

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