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FirefoxESR and Multiple Profiles. 2ndProfile hardcodes pathname breaking ESR

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rjt
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FirefoxESR and Multiple Profiles. 2ndProfile hardcodes pathname breaking ESR

Our NetGear network switches can only be managed by particular versions of particular web browsers. The best one right now is Firefox Extended Support Release 17.0.7. We can not upgrade to new versions of their firmware without an old webbrowser. At least it is not as bad as only working with IE6 in a largely Linux shop ( nightmares of the Linksys SRW24 ).

i am very very familiar with having Firefox use multiple profiles but i have been spending all day to try to get this to work with FirefoxESR 17.
When i try to use 2nd Profile to launch, the error indicates that "\FirefoxPortable\" is hardcoded into the binary.

I did try editing the FirefoxDirectory entry inside the following ini \PortableApps\FirefoxPortableRobertFireWall\App\DefaultData\FirefoxPortable.ini with no luck.

MessageBox Error:


Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition 2nd Profile | PortableApps.com
OK
Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition 2nd Profile cannot be started. You may wish to re-install to fix this issue. (ERROR: p:\APPS\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable\FirefoxPortable.exe could not be found)

John T. Haller
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2ndProfile = FirefoxPortable only

The 2nd Profile bits are only for use with FirefoxPortable. Firefox ESR 17 is incredibly insecure and can be remotely exploited by any site at this point, so it would be best if you only used it for your Firewall and then use FirefoxPortable (as well as any additional profiles) for your main browser. You can accomplish this just by installing FirefoxPortableESR 17 and renaming the directory to whatever you want... as you did with FirefoxPortableRobertFireWall. At that point, it won't be auto-updated by the platform and it will use its own internal profile at FirefoxPortableRobertFireWall\Data\profile separate from any other FirefoxPortable profiles.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

rjt
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Yes, very insecure unless

Yes, very insecure unless blocked from reaching the internet by setting a broken proxy server. i set all the proxy servers to 127.0.0.1 port 127 or something that does not work. Then i whitelist on that same configuration page the internal netgear devices subnet.

These profiles are siloed to a few internal websites only.

rjt
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i was wondering how i prevent

i was wondering how i prevent it from auto updating, thank you. That should be a much simpler method.

rjt
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i was attempting to change

i was attempting to change the configuration files underneath FirefoxPortable2ndProfile and then NSI source, but then one whole synapse fired in my brain and i simply renamed the ESR folder.

P:\PortableApps\FirefoxPortableESR\ 

to

P:\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable\ 

So that works around it of course.

WebBrowser Profiles are required to security silo different domains. Always use a separate profile for online banking. i end up having about ten Firefox profiles at one-time. Support for

-no-remote

is required in order to launch multiple profiles at once, but that is not working. What is the skinny on how PortableApps handles command line switches?

Opening_a_new_instance_of_Firefox_with_another_profile

Using -profile switch to point firefox.exe at a folder location containing a Firefox profile. Starting_your_Mozilla_application_with_a_specified_profile

John T. Haller
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Don't, but

Don't run Firefox with multiple profiles at the same time. It's not really intended for general use. It kills Firefox's ability to launch clicked URLs from other apps. It's basically intended for developers only for testing. You can use it by setting AllowMultipleInstances to true in your FirefoxPortable.ini file. This just sets -no-remote on the command line. Note that all bets are off at this point. Different Firefox Portables will step on each other and leave bits behind on the local machine as, again, this feature within Firefox itself isn't really fully baked and isn't supposed to be used.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

rjt
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Last seen: 9 years 8 months ago
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Thank you for

Thank you for AllowMultipleInstances.

i have been using multiple profiles simultaneously for several years, maybe longer. Has not been a problem, but yes i do know it does not handle URL clicks like i would want. Of course, i mainly do that in Linux nowadays. Do you happen to have a reference for more info?

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