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Portable Launcher 1.3.1 - Problem setting UserProfileDirectory

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space cadet
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Portable Launcher 1.3.1 - Problem setting UserProfileDirectory

Does the new 1.3.1 launcher not support

UserProfileDirectory=Data\userprofile

as a Userprofile setting in the firefoxportable.ini?

In the past I have used this as an INI:

[PortableFirefox]
FirefoxDirectory=App\firefox
ProfileDirectory=Data\profile
PluginsDirectory=Data\plugins
UserProfileDirectory=Data\userprofile
AdditionalParameters=
AllowMultipleInstances=true
SkipChromeFix=false
SkipCompregFix=false
WaitForFirefox=false
FirefoxExecutable=firefox.exe
DisableSplashScreen=true
LocalHomepage=

I would like to use the UserProfileDirectory option in the new launcher as well.

Let me know I am doing something wrong or if it is not supported anymore.

Thanks.

John T. Haller
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Dropped

The UserProfile option was dropped in recent releases. It causes issues as any application launched by Firefox will also use that UserProfile (ex: IE using IE tab, Windows Media Player, Adobe Reader, etc). The current release of Firefox Portable automatically cleans up the pluginreg.dat file and the empty directories that Firefox creates on the local machine, thus negating the original need for the UserProfile redirect. Unless of course you have AllowMultiple on, in which case it won't clean them up (but that would mean Firefox is installed locally, so it doesn't need to clean them up anyway).

In addition, you must update your INI with the new settings path, otherwise your whole INI will be ignored and Firefox Portable will launch with the default options.

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

space cadet
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re: Dropped

Thank you for the quick answer.

I sort of liked that eveything was redirected to the folder as applications launched through portable firefox would leave traces/folders in Documents and Settings\%user name%\Application Data\ on the machine I run it on i.e. ICA Client folder or Macromedia folder/sub folders. Thus, the Userprofile folder had the benefit of an easier clean up and no traces on the host machine.

John T. Haller
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More problems

But it would happen for all apps, including those installed on the local PC, which meant that if you accidentally clicked on an MP3 and that PC had iTunes installed, all sorts of badness would happen. So, in short, it caused more problems than it solved... and those problems affected the local PC sometimes, which is a *serious* no no with portable apps... and most of the people using it were only using it to prevent the pluginreg.dat and empty directories from being created (which would indicate the FF had been run on the PC). Now that this isn't an issue, there's not much reason for the UserProfile redirect. The only exception would be Flash, since it will store its bits in the local PC's flash store (flash uses cookie-busting "local object stores") but that's a sure-fire reason to be using FlashBlock right there.

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

space cadet
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re: More Problems

Flash leaves the most traces. I was not aware of FlashBlock.

Thank you for your help.

John T. Haller
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Yeah

Yeah, grab FlashBlock. It replaces flash objects with a clickable play button. The 1x1 flash objects that are used to either spy on you or spawn popup windows that get around the popup blocker are all neutered. And when you encounter a flash app you want to see, you just click play.

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

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