I installed firefox 29 and I NOTICED that if you just have a blank window open it is still tranfering information if you close firefox then it stops and I have update turned off any reason why this is?

JohnI'd run wireshark and look at the traffic to see what is downloading or uploading. With this info you can then tackle the PROBLEM, whether its an updater or malware related spyware etc.

You will want to do this with no other computers connected to network otherwise you will see a MESS of traffic. You want to only see traffic to and from your computer in question. If it doesnt state the origin or destination clearly, you can perform IP look ups through google and see who owns the IP that is COMMUNICATING. You then have a direction to go with this.

I have had to use this method before to track down a network leak. I had Pando Media Booster slipped in with a free game and my system was acting as a Seed to allow others on the web to get updates through my system. I killed the seed service since I dont LIKE network leaks. The game still works with the seed service disabled.

By the way, Firefox 30.0 is out now so it may be the update to 30 that is downloading in the background. Even with update turned off I have had instances where firefox still downloads the update but just doesnt auto apply it.

Never knew that good to know.