Why did Firefox automatically update to 9.01 today, disabling a needed extension and my main theme?

Question

I (and many others) have complained constantly about FF's constant updates that consistently break extensions, etc.
Therefore, I turned off automatic updates in the OPTIONS folder. I have FF set not to even check for FF updates.
Today, I reboot the computer, my theme is gone, disabled for no good reason. An extension I use (FoxClocks) is gone and listed as incompatible with the new version, '''9.1'''
Hmmm. I thought that applied in mid-January. According to the Update History, Jan 12 to be exact.
Now, I turned off the automatic update feature for FF (leaving it for Add-ons and search engines). Yet, something still seems to have happened automatically in the background that disrupted my browser.
So could someone tell me
(a) has an automatic update been applied against my wishes?
(b) I thought I'd made sure that couldn't happen. How do I stop it from happening, otherwise?
(c) If this wasn't an automatic update, what was it? How do I stop it from happening?

Answer 1

Auto update preferences are OFF. I turned off the automatic update feature for FF (leaving it for Add-ons and search engines)
I don't think 9.01 is a new update either. I applied it in mid-Jan according to the software history---that was a late application because I do not like Firefox's frequent update policy and I only apply after they are well established and not likely to break my extensions.
Yet, suddenly, nonetheless one morning my browser booted with the Noia theme gone, and Fox Clocks disabled. (It is now back.) Which is extremely odd since I also use FF on my laptop (Vista) and have FC installed there---and it works fine with this version and there was no such problem on my laptop. What in the world can that be about? (Note that the laptop is Vista; the desktop XP3)