Hello,
I use windows in administrator mode but access the internet in a user mode by launching my browser and email client in user mode. I achieve this by launching these apps via DropMyRights.
This works fine on my multiple computers on windows 7 for both firefox and thunderbird as well as firefoxportable and thunderbirdportable. However, using the same file structure on a computer using windows 8.1, fails to launch the portable versions. The installed versions work fine. For firefox, the error is that firefox is already running even after deleting the parent.lock file. I can get thunderbird to launch if I delete the parent.lock file, with the folders showing, but I get an error about the mails (that are not showing).
Why are these platforms behaving so differently and how can I fix this?
Thanks
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How to launch FireoxPortable with DropMyRights in win 8.1
December 24, 2015 - 7:21pm
#1
How to launch FireoxPortable with DropMyRights in win 8.1
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First, for clarification, we do not support the use of DropMyRights, which was designed for Windows XP in 2004 and is no longer available from Microsoft.
Second, the current releases of Firefox Portable do not in any way depend on parent.lock to exist or not. If your copy does, it is out of date and should be updated.
Third, many of the security concerns that were raised in DropMyRights were addressed with UAC in Windows Vista and then again with the improved UAC in Windows 7. In Windows XP, an admin account has full access to do everything everywhere with no user interaction including infecting other programs and even wiping out Windows itself. In modern Windows, that is not the case. A program running in a user context can not alter files within Windows or within Program Files without asking the user to confirm the action via UAC.
As to why this is occurring, you may be encountering issues with one process, FirefoxPortable.exe, launching another, firefox.exe, and not passing whatever user/security construct properly from one to the other. As DropMyRights is discontinued and unsupported, I'm unsure if you'll be likely to find an explanation as to why it worked on Windows 7 but does not on Windows 8/8.1. It likely will fail on Windows 10 as well as future Windows releases.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Thank you for your reply John,
I take your point about Dropmyrights no longer being supported. Also the UAC in win7.
Unfortunately, the UAC popups in win7, and more so in win 8.1, were so frustrating in our normal use of the machines that I had to turn the bar down to minimum.
I have Priv-Bar installed on both Firefox and Thunderbird and without Dropmyrights they both show Administrative rights. This worried me even with the UAC not at minimum.
I took the opportunity to upgrade one of my win 7 computers to win 10 for free. I was so dissapointed with the user interface (not being able to configure it to anything similar to Classic) that I restored win 7. I don't intend to follow Microsoft to win 10 and, if in the end, I am unable to make win 8.1 do what I want I will continue to use the installed programs rather than the portables since dropmyrights does work there. Other than that I could downgrade it to win 7 (luckily HP has drivers for win 7 for that machine).
Thank you for your clarification.
want to search out classic shell I use it since Windows 8 even in 10 I get the familiar Win 7 start as well as the 10 start.
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” Dr. Seuss
The only time UAC pops up is if an app wants to have unrestricted write access to the Program Files and Windows directories or certain protected areas of the registry. Normal apps should never be doing this. You're safer with UAC on. It's a bit ineffective to try to protect yourself with DropMyRights while leaving yourself open to attack via a lack of UAC. The only time a legitimate app should trigger UAC is if you're using a system utility that needs full access (Registry Editor, Disk Tools, etc) and you want to know when those are triggered. Other than that, only horribly out of date software that is expecting to be able to write to its own directory in Program Files would likely trigger it. One possible workaround is to install such software within APPDATA.
In response to your other post, as I mentioned above, parent.lock is no longer used. The only time you'll see a note that Firefox is running is if firefox.exe is running while FirefoxPortable is not or when the launcher is unable to properly set a mutex, which may happen if Windows permissions are messed up as could probably happen with something like DropMyRights. Again, DropMyRights is only designed for Windows XP which is why Microsoft removed it from its site.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I tried the classic shell. Yes, it brings back the win xp start menu, but the screen, the thing I look at all day, looks more like 2D wire graphics than my familiar classic theme from xp and win 7.
You can't get the classic theme for win 8.1 either, and my wife didn't like that but got used to it now.
I've had a few friends that were clinging to the Windows Classic look switch to Windows 10 and adjust within a few days. The old 3d style look of buttons and windows made sense back when users were unfamiliar with computers. Due to the prevalence of the web, we now know that color and context help provide cues as to what is clickable and interactive, so having things try to show shadow and depth isn't really necessary. I set my UI to a solid basic gray so it gets out of the way of what I'm working on. It works well.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I thought I had a solution to running Firefox and Thunderbird in win 8.1 as just a user.
A very original idea - create a new user with just user credentials. This would solve the problem of running FF TB as a user and not use DropMyRights.
Great except it doesn't work. Firefox Portable does not launch properly. I get an error saying that Firefox is already running. But it is not. Checked the Parent.lock file and it's there but I cannot delete it because I do not have permission.
How do I launch Firefox and Thunderbird Portable as just a user in win 8.1?
Thanks
I found the cause of the errors.
It turns out that of course I had permissions for writing in the profile folder for my admin account, there were no write permissions for a user account. Therefore, as the portable Firefox tried to write in the profile (or anywhere else) as user it fails.
It now appears to work both for the created user account as well as launching it via DropMyRights.