Can I have multiple instances of the same application?
For example. may I install Firefox, change the folder name, install it again and have both work in parallel and be updated by the PA.c?
New: Kanri (Oct 9, '24), Platform 29.5.3 (Jun 27, '24)
1,100+ portable packages, 1.1 billion downloads
No Ads November!, Please donate today
Visit the Community page
Join our forums
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Subscribe with RSS
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Mastodon
Follow us on BlueSky
Only the main instance (unrenamed) is updated by the platform. Additionally, there are some caveats with running two different copies of an app like Firefox at the same time. It won't be fully portable and will leave some things behind on the local PC.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
What about the case they won't be used at the same time?
But if I get your answer right, even if each ill be portable the renamed ones won't get auto update.
If you're interested in having more than one profile, use the 2nd profile feature
https://portableapps.com/support/firefox_portable#second_profile
You can also install this through the platform by turning on advanced apps in the app store within options.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Hi John,
I recently became interested in running a separate profile in Firefox and found this post. My typical profile is quite locked down, security wise, and for school I needed a version (profile) of Firefox that didn't have all the security extensions running. I started by testing the school site on a fresh install of FF Portable, installed to my desktop, and that worked fine! Then, I installed FirefoxPortable2ndProfile also to the desktop (hopefully following your instructions for installing multiple profiles from your link above), but when I tried to run the 2nd profile, it gave me the error "Another instance of FF is already running..."
To troubleshoot, I found a post by another saying the FireFoxPortable.ini needed updating to AllowMultipleInstances=true, so I gave that a shot. I did notice that the ini in both the fresh install and the 2nd profile install had that flagged to false, so I changed both. But, updating both didn't fix the problem.
Now I'm wondering if I have to install and run the 2nd profile from the platform, rather than directly running it from the FirefoxPortable2ndProfile.exe in the install folder. I usually run all my portable apps manually, only launching the platform when I'm checking for updates. Just to be clear, I ran the fresh install of FF Portable directly from the exe in that folder (Desktop/FirefoxPortable/FirefoxPortable.exe), then attempted to run the 2nd profile in a similar way (Desktop/FirefoxPortable2ndProfile/FirefoxPortable2ndProfile.exe). The platform is not running when I tried this, nor are those test apps installed in the platform folder.
Can you help point me to what might be causing my problem?
thanks for the amazing work on this whole project!!!
Amiga
To run multiple instances, you'll need a second install of Firefox Portable. The second instance just lets you run the same copy of Firefox Portable with another profile without needing a full second install to save space and upgrade time. But the same copy of Firefox itself can't be running with two different profiles at the same time. So, what you'll need to do is close down all copies. Then copy and paste the FirefoxPortable folder on your Desktop, creating a FirefoxPortable - Copy folder. Rename that folder to FirefoxPortableSchool or similar. In the second copy, delete the FirefoxPortableSchool\Data folder if you'd like to set it up from scratch or keep it. Make sure both FirefoxPortable and FirefoxPortableSchool contain a FirefoxPortable.ini and that multiple instances is on in both. This should function as you wish.
Notes: You'll need to manually change the FirefoxPortable directory to FirefoxPortableSchool when installing an update as the PA.c Installer only normally supports the main one. This setup will leave some files behind on the local PC outside the contained portable directories.
If you switch to using the PA.c Platform later, have the second copy be named FirefoxPortable_Copy_2. The PA.c Platform will then automatically update both on each release.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
That makes perfect sense now... Just not what I was hoping for. I obviously hoped I could have two instances running simultaneously, using different profiles, but what you said makes me realize why I got the error. I misunderstood what the 2nd Profile install would allow. I'll just have to run my school version separately without the other locked down version running at the same time. In the end, I still get what I need, and thanks for making it simple! (But, if you ever find a way to have both running together, I'd be forever grateful!)
Amiga
firefox.exe can't run two profiles at the same time. Hence the need to have a second copy of Firefox Portable installed. Once done, you can have two separate copies of Firefox running two separate profiles at the same time. The only caveat is an extra 405MB of disk use. If that's a critical issue for you, you can delete either the 32-bit or 64-bit copies of Firefox in each instance that you don't need. If you're unsure, click menu, help, about while Firefox Portable is running and if it says 64-bit, you're running the 64-bit one. You can open the FirefoxPortable\App\Firefox folder and delete all contents except for firefox.exe within.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Well now I feel silly for thinking all was clear, only to realize I can't read...
But that is fantastic now knowing I "CAN" run it twice at the same time!
Your comment does remind me of a question I'd wondered about. If I remove 32-bit folders from Portable Apps that have both installs (I only run 64-bit when I can), will that affect future updates to those apps when using the platform to update them? And if it doesn't affect the updates, will the newly updated apps once again contain the 32-bit folders (requiring me to delete them again to save space)?
I'd only refrained from deleting the 32-bit stuff in the past because I didn't want to impact the updates and didn't know if that would.
Thanks again John!!!
The deleted copy will be restored on each upgrade via the platform or manual upgrade via .paf.exe. Eventually, I'll have the ability to have it retained in the installer itself. Just be sure to leave firefox.exe within the Firefox folder or the launcher will think Firefox doesn't exist. You're welcome.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I used the "workaround", about use the FirefoxPortable.ini + AllowMultipleInstances=true.
But, I use two FireFox versions at the same time: the ESR version for Work, and the Latest version for "personal matters" (even my Mozilla Firefox Account in synchronized in it).
In each FF-Folder, I've put the FirefoxPortable.ini (Just in case).
I've found just one issue = Resources... On my Core I5 2nd Generation, 4Gb RAM, W7 Ent. x86, tend to get quite unresponsive - anyone of them. =:V
The 2nd option seems to be what I'm looking for.
Will also remember the history and last open tabs per profile?
By the way, one can have the ESR and Developer editions in parallel? Will they interfere?
The secondary profile works like your primary one. So you have your history, cookies, session, etc.
You can use all channels of Firefox portably and all their profiles will be independent of each other. Running multiple copies at the same time requires setting the multiple instance mode and will cause some things to be left on the PC.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
This is perfect.
Thank you John.