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How to disable automatic update checks in ENVI and IDL
Beginning with ENVI 5.4 and IDL 8.6, automatic update checks are now included by default to alert you when a new version of the software is available.
In IDL, you will be alerted in the Console at launch:
IDL> IDL 8.7.3 (Win32 x86_64 m64).
(c) 2020, Harris Geospatial Solutions, Inc.
A new version is available: IDL 8.8
https://harrisgeospatial.flexnetoperations.com
In ENVI, you will be alerted via a small red icon in the Toolbar.
While this is a handy feature, you may desire to disable this functionality. Fortunately, automatic update checks are controlled by a Preference in ENVI and IDL and thus can be disabled by adjusting the preference as follows.
- ENVI: Go to File > Preferences > Application and set “Automatically Check for Updates” to Never.
- IDL Workbench: Go to Window > Preferences > IDL and uncheck “Automatically check for updates”.
- IDL Command Line: Run the following command.
IDL> PREF_SET,"IDL_UPDATE_CHECK",0,/COMMIT
Setting the preference through the steps mentioned above will change this behavior only for the active user.
If you wish to disable automatic update checks for all users on the current computer, consider using system environment variable defined as follows:
- ENVI: ENVI_UPDATE_CHECK=0
- IDL: IDL_UPDATE_CHECK=0
NOTE: Environment variables will always overwrite the per-user GUI preference settings.
For more information on managing preferences in ENVI and IDL, see the links below:
Created by BCNA on 8/21/20, Review by MM on 08/21/20