After running portable firefox 1.5 for the first time and updating some extensions then restarting portable firefox, an alert pops up saying another instance of firefox is already running and prevents firefox from opening. I have checked running processes and firefox.exe is not listed and I have ejected my external hard drive and it still gives that alert.
Edit: The same alert of another firefox instance even exists on another pc where portable firefox has never been run on before.
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Just restart the computer, it could be a extension running?
That doesn't work because some setting saved on the external hard drive is telling portable firefox that another instance is running, even on other computers and even after restarting.
Also, I dont want to just be able to run portable firefox again, I want this bug not to occur again.
Does it say "Another instance of Firefox is already running. Please close other instances of Firefox before launching Portable Firefox." If so, then there is a firefox.exe already running on that machine (it detects the process) If it's a different error, it could be a profile issue.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Yes, that is the message, but it is not occuring because of another firefox.exe already running because I have tried running portable firefox from a Windows XP machine that has had no prior installation of any Mozilla software or portable tools and the error still occurs. It is something inside the Portable Firefox directory that is causing this error.
I should also mention that I had upgraded my plugins and settings from 1.0.7 portable firefox and that I changed the filename of the firfox launcher program from portablefirefox.exe to firefox.exe. Portable firefox runs fine after being extracted from the zip, but after copying my settings and plugins folder into portable firefox, the error occurs.
http://83p.unitedti.org
It sees ITSELF running and thinks Firefox is. I can't believe I didn't make that connection before. Name it anything BESIDES Firefox.exe and it will work fine.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Yea, i just noticed that when renaming it back to PortableFirefox.exe and starting it without problems. Thank you for helping.
http://83p.unitedti.org
I also have this error msg. "Another instance of Firefox is already running" I can not follow/understand the fix you are describing above?! can you explain the solution to this vexing problem. I'm running windows XP and have aquire this promble ONLY after updating firefox to ver 1.5
thanks for any clarity...
tws
There's only two ways this issue can happen:
1. Another copy of firefox.exe is running, a local copy, for instance. The solution is to close that other instance. If you can't see a window, hit CTRL-Alt-Del and check task manager.
2. You renamed PortableFirefox.exe to Firefox.exe, in which case it detects itself as firefox running and throws the error. To fix it, rename it back.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I use Portable Firefox 1.5.
I copied over my profile folder from a local build of Firefox Community Editon, version 1.0.7 release.
I have since removed this local instance of Firefox CE
There is no firefox.exe process running, PortableFirefox.exe was NOT renamed, and when I _directly_ run PortableFirefox.exe it runs fine.
BUT: When I try to launch a .htm or .html file with PortableFirefox as the default browser, AND PortableFirefox is not running, I get the exact same message stating that another instance of Firefox it's running.
On a sidenote, DisableSplashScreen=true in the .ini doesn't seem to make any difference.
set Portable Firefox as the default browser unless you manually edit the registry.
Please re-read the readme.txt and note thet PortableFirefox.ini and .exe need to be in the SAME directory.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Right, the .ini wasn't in the same directory as the .exe, I overlooked that.
But I still have no clue why that error message comes up, and only when Firefox (portable) isn't allready running.
I am getting the same error and I concur that pff sees firefox.exe running itself in the process window. If I remove my pff.ini file the problem goes away.
I think the problem has to do with the following but I am not sure where to put the profile.ini file ... if that is the issue.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_in_use
Here is my pff.ini file ( I am using suite.)
Note: I have not updated to 1.5.1
[PortableFirefox]
FirefoxDirectory=Apps\PortableFirefox\firefox
ProfileDirectory=Data\PortableFirefox\profile
PluginsDirectory=Apps\PortableFirefox\plugins
AppDataDirectory=appdata
UserProfileDirectory=userprofile
AdditionalParameters=
AllowMultipleInstances=true
SkipChromeFix=true
SkipCompregFix=true
WaitForFirefox=false
FirefoxExecutable=firefox.exe
DisableSplashScreen=true
# The above options are explained in the included readme.txt
I'm running multiple instances right now without issue using the INI switch.
If you have multiple Portable Firefox instances, you need to set that multiple instances parameter on each copy.
That error message will only come up if there is a firefox.exe running on the computer AND you have multiple instances set to false (the default and assumed when there is no INI).
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
"If I remove my pff.ini file the problem goes away." I have indeed witnessed this correlation and it seems that pff is using the pff.ini because when I take the pff.ini away the splash screen comes back.
I realized one issue with my pff.ini and that is that I did not denote the Userprofile and Application Data directories in my pff.ini. Perhaps this is the issue? I added the directories (as denoted in my pff.ini below using the following directory structure, noted below) but it still did not fix the multiple instances issue. Perhaps there is something else I have missed or am making some other mistake.
By the way thanks for making such a useful suite of applications easy to use and portable.
pff.ini
[PortableFirefox]
FirefoxDirectory=Apps\PortableFirefox\firefox
ProfileDirectory=Data\PortableFirefox\profile
PluginsDirectory=Apps\PortableFirefox\plugins
AppDataDirectory=Data\PortableFirefox\appdata
UserProfileDirectory=Data\PortableFirefox\userprofile
AdditionalParameters=
AllowMultipleInstances=true
SkipChromeFix=true
SkipCompregFix=true
WaitForFirefox=false
FirefoxExecutable=firefox.exe
DisableSplashScreen=true
I am using the following directory structure.
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I simply cannot reproduce the issue you are encountering. There must be something odd about your machine or install. The message you are seeing can only be visible if firefox.exe IS running and allowmultiple is set to false. Are you sure you're using Portable Firefox 1.5 and not an updated copy of an older version?
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I got a similar error by copying my profile directory from my computer to my memory stick. When you then start PFF it complains about already running instead of saying cannot find default profile. I fixed it by running the profile manager.
http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/profile
Don't know if this is the same cause, but maybe worth a try.