[NOT VIABLE] Using 2 profiles of Firefox simultaneously

[therube]

the separate portableapp installed the French version of 75 ... This installation includes its own Firefox.exe

Note that you should not run "firefox.exe" directly - but rather firefox-portable.exe (or whatever it is called).

the separate portableapp installed the French version of 75 ... This ... Firefox.exe (not the same size as in the Program Files)

Given they are different languages, it would not be unexpected for the same version [number] of FF to have different sized files (including firefox.exe).

[BuddhaNature]

ineuw,

On reading your latest posts I was wondering if you are remembering to only launch Firefox Portable using the launcher program which would be at (somewhere like): W:\FirefoxPortable\FirefoxPortable.exe -- you can create and a use a normal shortcut to do that if you want. The launcher passes on the path that Firefox is being run from to firefox.exe so that firefox.exe knows where to look for its data (i.e. firefox.exe will look for its files inside the portable folders and not elsewhere). Also the launcher determines the bit-ness of the firefox.exe to launch, 32-bit or 64-bit. I think the launcher also reads and enacts the information in the FirefoxPortable.ini file you modified.

Going forward, you should be aware that if you want to update your FirefoxPortable installation you should only do so by downloading and 'installing' the FirefoxPortable package from here: https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable This is a recurring theme at PortableApps forum with people asking if it is possible to allow FirefoxPortable to just install updates, offered by Mozilla, from within the running Firefox program. The developers at PortableApps say that this can be done but with the caveat that in some instances it might break or adversely affect FirefoxPortable. So their bottom-line advice is only to update using an official release from PortableApps -- this should ensure that you don't run into problems. In any case, definitely turn off the auto-update feature in your FirefoxPortable.

Lastly, to do the update do the following:

1) Download the FirefoxPortable package installer.
2) Run it and point its installation path to the folder that contains your existing FirefoxPortable installation e.g. W:\FirefoxPortable Once you've done that you can Okay the installation.

[ineuw]

BuddhaNature, thanks for the info and the reminder, but the "\PortableApps\start.exe" never worked. It does display a locked and inaccessible entry for one of the four Firefox.exe I found in the subfolders. Regardless, I figured it out by using the batch file with

Code: Select all

Application - C:\Users\ineuw\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable\App\Firefox64\frenchff.exe (name and icon changed to follow on Task Manager)
Profile folder - "C:\Users\ineuw\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable\Data\french.w"

[therube]

In doing what you did, you have just entirely bypassed PortableApps.
You are not running PortableApps, your Profile is not "within" PortableApps.
You are running outside of PortableApps, likewise your Profile is outside of PortableApps.

In order for the premise of "portable apps" to be effectual, you must run FirefoxPortable.exe (not firefox.exe or your renamed frenchff.exe).


(Basing that off an old, FF 61, PortableApps that I had on hand. And that does not contain any start.exe - for that matter.)

[BuddhaNature]

I agree with therube. I can't actually follow what it is you're doing and what you think you're achieving by doing it but certainly you aren't running FirefoxPortable as a PortableApp. You must use the launcher program FirefoxPortable.exe to launch Firefox in portable mode. You can if you wish re-name the launcher but still you must use the launcher to launch Firefox in portable mode; for more detail on this see: Renaming FirefoxPortable.exe

As for renaming the firefox.exe files in the App sub-folders; you what!

Good luck. Personally I'd just do it by the book, I know it works just fine that way.

[ineuw]

I also agree with therube. I must give a chance to portable apps again. Additional details of my failed attempts are not worth telling. I was under the impression that it's possible to to run two copies of the same version independently.

[BuddhaNature]

I was under the impression that it's possible to to run two copies of the same version independently.

Well it is in the sense that you can run a fully (normally) installed version of Firefox and at the same time run your portable version -- and each will run independently of the other provided you follow the rules as outlined here and in Firefox Portable's support documentation.

Whether it is possible to run two instances of Firefox Portable at the same time I do not know. If you wanted to find out then it would best to post into the Firefox section of PortableApps forum and ask there: PortableApps Forum I just tried this on my own system and it would seem the answer is it is not possible -- the second instance of the portable refuses to launch unless the first instance of the portable is shutdown.

In any case, given the way you've been experimenting with Firefox Portable it might be best if you uninstalled it (to do that just delete the folder it was installed to) and then do a fresh 'install' of Firefox Portable. However, before you uninstall Firefox Portable I would try to find out where it is keeping its profile data as, given the way you have been messing with it, it may not have been putting its profile in the location it is meant to go in for Firefox Portable. If that was the case then it might interfere with you fully installed Firefox Profile, so you would have to sort that out somehow.

[mightyglydd]

[ineuw]

My sincere apologies. Thought that I made clear at the beginning that I needed a way to install and run an additional copy of Firefox.exe with its own profile and in the French language and not collide with the English version when it's also running. Then, PortableApps was discussed and I installed it. There were some startup problems which resolved by reinstalling the software as outlined above.

I would still prefer to run two standard desktop installations. One English and one French so I can switch between the both are running. Is this possible?

[dickvl]

Language packs are installed in the profile folder, so there shouldn't be a problem with running multiple Firefox instances each with their own profile.

I thought that you wrote at the bottom of page one that you got this working ??

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Com ... ne_Options
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pr ... x-profiles
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/de ... stallation

[ineuw]

My old solution worked only once. On subsequent attempts it failed. The rest is embarrassing.

At this moment, I am testing two desktop shortcuts using the -profile switch, pointing to one US-English and one French. So far, they coexist and the Task manager indicates what I was hoping for, separate workspaces.

[dickvl]

What do you mean with 'On subsequent attempts it failed' ?

If you still have the same setup with two separate profiles then there is no reason that it wouldn't work if you start Firefox with a specific profile using a desktop shortcut that specifies the profile (-P <profile-name>).

[ineuw]

This has been a very bad week for my assumptions about unrelated software setups and behaviour.

With Firefox, I tried PortableApps and was dismayed by the size of the installed package. Then, exploring the PortableApps subfolders, I discovered a stand-alone 64bit Firefox package and tried that with the French profile, alongside the active installed version with its English profile and that's what failed.

If the stand-alone version is activated before the installed version, then there is a chance that it work, but I don't trust it. And it won't work if the English profile was already active.

It was a terrible way to go because of my faulty assumption about language packages. Also, I tried because in Linux using several self-contained copies of FF with separate profiles are possible.

Now I am using one Firefox engine with the two profiles working side by side and open at the same time and it seems to work so far.

[ineuw]

In the end I found that Firefox cannot reliably open to two Profiles at the same time one English and one French, so the idea, is sadly abandoned.

[dickvl]

With Firefox on desktop it shouldn't be a problem to open two Firefox instances of en-US Firefox, one with a profile that has the English language selected and a second instance that uses a profile where you install and select the French language pack.
You can do the latter via "Options -> General -> Language and Appearance -> Language"
Choose the languages used to display menus, messages, and notifications from Firefox.

Current Firefox versions no longer need the -no-remote command line switch to start multiple instances, at least on Linux starting Firefox with another profile works without problems.
You can create two desktop shortcuts for starting Firefox with a specific profile (-P profile), but if you encounter profile issues then add -no-remote to the command line of the French version and first start the English version without -no-remote.
Using -no-remote prevents opening external links in this instance, so don't use it with the default profile (language).

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Com ... ne_Options