Chrome v. 44...

[kroe761]

So, my Chrome auto-updated (thanks Google...) and TestComplete doesn't seem to be able to handle it.  Is there a patch oncoming, or has anyone found a workaround (doubtful, but you never know).  Thanks!

[Colin_McCrae]

Do you have a copy of the offline installer for the last working version of Chrome?

I always keep a copy of it for exactly this scenario. Uninstall Chrome, re-install and immediately do all the stuff thats supposed to stop auto-updates - but never does in the longer term. That usually buys me a day or three by which time a patch has hopefully appeared. Chrome always seems to find a way to auto-update eventually.

It's incredibly annoying. Testing is all about control. Chrome does not allow you that.

[AlexKaras]

>  Chrome always seems to find a way to auto-update eventually.

I already mentioned this several times... What I used to do is to delete the 'Update' (or something with the name like that) folder in the Chrome root folder. So far this works for me: Chrome cries but stays on v.42 🙂

[Colin_McCrae]

Ah!

I knew I had another solution I'd seen on here but hadn't tried.

I found a registry mod but the keys mentioned in it didn't exist for me. Going to check my Chrome folders now!

[Colin_McCrae]

OK .... Alex ....

In C: Program Files (x86)  > Google

I have four folders.

Chrome

CrashReports

Google Toolbar

Update

So is it the "Update" folder in here you mean?

In the "Chrome" folder, there is no "Update" folder ....

[AlexKaras]

Hi Colin.

Yes, it is. (Actually, you may even not to delete it, but to rename to something else. ('Update_1' in my case))

Also, on my system Chrome installed itself not into Program Files, but into Users\\AppData\Local\Google, but I am sure this is irrelevant.

P.S. BTW...

I seem to remember, that the Chrome\Application folder (mentioned by Colin) contained several subfolders with the names corresponding to the all Chrome versions installed previously. Each folder contains the Installer subfolder with Setup.exe.

I never tried this, but maybe it is possible to copy the entire <version> folder to some other place, uninstall Chrome and try to install from the saved folder?

Will appreciate if someone tris this and let us know the result...

[TanyaYatskovska]

Hi Guys,

Please make sure that the SmartBear TestComplete extension is enabled in Chrome 44.

For some reason, it was disabled after the browser update in my case. Enabling it allowed TestComplete to see all objects inside web pages.

[Colin_McCrae]

Awesome!

Just renamed the folder, started Chrome, and it's sat on v43.0.blah .... and is not updating itself. (Going into "About" previously always triggered an instant update if it hadn't happened already.)

Starting and using Chrome doesn't generate any unwanted "I'm broken" type messages.

In the "About" page, I now get "Update failed (error: 3)An error occurred while checking for updates: Update check failed to start (error code 3: 0x80040154 -- system level)."

Which is fine. Other than that, it doesn't seem to be affected.

This should be a sticky somewhere! It's a very useful piece of information.

[AlexKaras]

> In the "About" page, I now get "Update failed (error: 3)

I think that this should be considered as expected because the updater process/service cannot be found/contacted.

Colin's description corresponds to what I have on my system in all details and I haven't any problem with Chrome.

[rgratis]

Thanks for the alternate method for disabling updates in Chrome, Alex. I had gone through and done the Group Policy setup to prevent updates, but it appears that after I manually updated to the very last release of 43, that version started ignoring the "no update" policy and updated itself to 44...

As Tanya mentioned, Chrome 44 works with TestComplete 11 when the TC11 extension has been enabled (and chrome://flags/#enable-npapi is enabled).

Tried copying the Chrome/Application/<version> folder to the desktop, uninstalled Chrome, and then ran <version>/Installer/setup.exe, but it did not appear to do anything.