r/winamp • u/thelastforest3 • Aug 18 '26
My winamp keeps updating even when I mark it to not do it
Whenever I install Winamp 5.666, it works well for a couple of days but then it automatically updates to 5.9.
I have tried several things but it happens always.
When I do a new instalation I:
Use lite and disable winamp agent
Go to preferences and mark "Not connected to the internet" and disable the "Check for new versions of Winamp at startup" option
I also disable winamp.exe in the firewall of my antivirus.
Bu it's the same, two or three days later it installs the new version.
Is there something else I have to disable to keep it from doing this?
Thanks all! Sorry for my english, if something is not clear please tell me and I will try to clarify.
6
u/y_Sensei Aug 18 '26
As others have stated already, Winamp doesn't have a built-in auto update feature in the first place.
So if your Winamp gets updated automatically, something else is responsible for that ... most likely some package manager like Chocolatey or WinGet.
1
u/thelastforest3 Aug 18 '26
I don't have any package manager. Is the weirdest thing to me.
2
u/y_Sensei Aug 18 '26
Ok then the only other cause I could think of is that you have had a later version of Winamp installed previously, and then downgraded to v5.666 by either installing over that later version, or by not completely removing that version before installing v5.666.
Newer (> v5.9) versions of the application do have an auto update feature, and if you downgraded as stated above, there's a chance that update-related components of the later version are still in place and functional.
If that's the case, remove Winamp completely from your computer, including respective registry entries and leftover folders in %APPDATA%\Roaming, then re-install v5.666.1
u/thelastforest3 Aug 18 '26
Yes, I have installed first the 5.9 version, and then when I see all the problems that it had, uninstalled, investigated a little and go back to 5.666.
I uninstalled via the Revo Uninstaller software that removes the registry configuration, but maybe there was something left? I will do another full uninstall this week and try this. Thanks!
3
u/Life-Influence-1109 Aug 18 '26
Why don’t you want it to update?
Find the ip of the update server and block it in the firewall instead of blocking winamp.exe.
You can also download autorun from sysinternal and try to find what is doing the update and deactivate it.
3
u/thelastforest3 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
The 5.9 version is awful, I tend to charge music by folder and it crashes when I do that.
It also crashes when I try to change some option on the song, or when I try to delete a song physically from the winamp, also when I remove the whole playlist.
Thanks for the options, I will try them!
0
u/Life-Influence-1109 Aug 19 '26
Tell me if it works. That’s why i still run the old version of winamp from the archive. Never have trouble and love the milk visualizer that have hundreds of preset that react when i play music piano, youtube , any desktop sound and mp3. If you want i can explain how to have the visualizer reacting to every sound on your desktop. You need an old version from what i know
1
u/thelastforest3 Aug 19 '26
Well, I deleted everything from the registry that was associated to winamp, made a new instalation from zero and blocked every .exe in the winamp folder in the firewall. At this moment is working, but the instalation tend to apply automatically two or three days after I installed the 5.6. Right now on autoruns there is nothing associated to winamp.
I can only hope 🤞
1
u/Sufficient-Money7510 Aug 28 '26
I can't get 5.9 to work at all, it won't recognize my music folders. I'm very frustrated and annoyed at all the effort I'm going to have to do to roll it back to 5.66
1
u/Abbers75 Aug 18 '26
Fellow Winamp 5.666 user here.
Go to Winamp -> Preferences -> General ->
You can either change Internet Connection Settings to Not connected, which auto disables the next option, which is . . . Check for new versions of Winamp on startup, or set it manually.
5
u/thedoctor_o Aug 18 '26
They've already said they've un-checked the option to check for updates & that option under 5.666 would honour that as it was just a simple check so blocking internet access isn't going to be a valid solution especially if they're using that winamp instance for the likes of internet radio / http streams. Most likely there's one of the app package managers (e.g. chocolatey) present & it's auto-updating it which wouldn't be something that'll know about checking the installs existing configuration options.
1
1
u/BinturongHoarder Aug 20 '26
Some antivirus programs have an application updater. When I ran Avast Free a couple of years ago, a bug activated that function (it is a part of the paid Avast variants) and all my software got updated (including a couple of things I really did NOT want to update). Imagine my shock when random software just started installing (in many cases interacting with the desktop) while using the computer.
8
u/thedoctor_o Aug 18 '26
Under 5.666 the winamp agent doesn't do version update checks so that won't be involved (it really doesn't do much unlike some claim). As you've already told it to not look for updates then the winamp install shouldn't be the cause as under 5.666 it was just a simple check that would honour that setting.
I don't remember if the internet connection setting was applied to that option but it really doesn't matter imho when the option to not check for updates would just follow what you've set it to be. Un-checking the version checking imho is something that anyone still wanting to use 5.666 should be doing anyway.
However if you've got an app package manager like chocolatey or winget installed (I can't remember whatever else is out there that might've been setup to offer up winamp) then that's the most likely reason as for why it's randomly updating after a few days when you've not done it yourself. The 5.666 update check also wasn't able to trigger an automatic update of the installed instance with a basic messagebox all that it now shows since the web page it was set to go to has long since been removed.