diff --git a/run.bat b/run.bat
index 88a5acd..3946ee7 100644
--- a/run.bat
+++ b/run.bat
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 @echo off
 set PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8
 set AUTOGGUF_LANGUAGE=en-US
+set AUTOGGUF_CHECK_BACKEND=disabled
 python src/main.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/AutoGGUF.py b/src/AutoGGUF.py
index da44979..49f75f4 100644
--- a/src/AutoGGUF.py
+++ b/src/AutoGGUF.py
@@ -89,7 +89,8 @@ def __init__(self):
         right_layout.addWidget(download_group)
 
         # Initialize releases and backends
-        self.refresh_releases()
+        if os.environ.get('AUTOGGUF_CHECK_BACKEND', '').lower() == 'enabled':
+            self.refresh_releases()
         self.refresh_backends()    
         
         # Models path