How to stop skype from searching or at least downloading update without consent? I want that annoying "Update skype now" dialog box that keeps popping up before I log in to Skype and after I log in to Skype from appearing at all. Few months ago this used to work:

1) C:\Users\”YourName”\AppData\Local\Temp folder.
2) Find the file called SkypeSetup.exe, and delete it.
3) Create a text file in the folder, rename it to SkypeSetup.exe
4) Right click on the new file you just created and ask for properties.
5) Next left click the security tab then left click the advanced button.
6) Now left click “Change Permissions” and then “Add”. Enter “Everyone” (without the quotes) where it sez’, “Enter the object name to select (examples):” and click “OK”. 7) Now check the “Deny” box for “Full control” and click “OK”.

obtained from HERE, but now it seems this has stopped working. The worst part is Skype seems to download ~30MB of executable setup file without my knowledge before bugging me with the dialog box to update it, and there seems to be no direct way to disable this download. And disabling the skype updater service does not seem to work either.

Is there any kind of patch or registry hack I can use to stop skype from auto updating? Or should I start looking for an alternative to Skype altogether?