Here we go again...
After running Firefox_Portable_1.5.0.7_en-us.exe inside the folder 'D:\FP' and then running FirefoxPortable.exe inside the folder 'D:\FP\FirefoxPortable' I recieve the infamous "Another instance of Firefox is already running. Please close other instances of Firefox before launching Firefox Portable." error.
Needless to say, I did a search for 'another instance' in the Forum and remain at a loss as to how to correct this.
https://portableapps.com/search/node/%22another+instance%22
Some of the forum posts are silly like "don't change the name from Portablefirefox.exe to firefox.exe". Others downright stupid "Just restart the computer, it could be a extension running?". This one is almost criminal "put the .ini file in the same folder as the PortableFirefox.exe"
How can Firefox Portable NOT run when other things are running. Half of all the reasons to use Firefox Portable are to run multiple instances. This issue has been around since December 2005 at least and still pops up today.
Visit the Community page
Join our forums
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Subscribe with RSS
Follow us on BlueSky
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Mastodon
Follow us on Twitter
are you using AllowMultipleInstances in the .ini?
Also, make sure you have the up to date .ini because older ones are incompatible.
----
R McCue
Cube Games
People who didn't need people needed people around to know that they were
the kind of people who didn't need people.
(Maskerade)
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
It's a simple fact. When the launcher starts up, it checks the running processes list for firefox.exe. If it finds it, it checks to see if it's the copy of Firefox contained within Firefox Portable that's running. If it is, it passes on it to start another one. If it isn't, it pops up that error message.
So, when would you see that message?
1. If firefox.exe is already running. It may be open. It may have partially crashed but the process is still running. (Check task manager)
2. You renamed FirefoxPortable.exe to Firefox.exe, in which case it is mistakenly detecting itself. This is why the instructions say that you can name it to anything you want except firefox.exe (useful if an admin has set it so Windows won't run FirefoxPortable.exe)
So why is it like this? Because Firefox itself is *DESIGNED* so that you can't start multiple copies with different profiles by default. Again, this is by design so problems don't arise. There is a special environment variable you can set that will allow Firefox to run alongside another copy of itself which is primarily for developers. The launcher exposes this to the end user by providing an INI option called AllowMultipleInstances. It's fully detailed in the readme.txt which is linked to right from the help.html file (you did read the help.html file before posting your rant, right?)
So why don't I use multiple instances by default? Because then the launcher wouldn't be able to keep track of whether its Firefox was still running or not and would leave behind files on the local PC (and not work in Live CD mode). Which isn't very portable is it?
The only way to run Firefox alongside another copy without using the special environment variable is to run it inside a virtual machine. Virtual machines require admin rights... so they're not truely portable.
As to why people use Firefox Portable? Most people don't care about running it alongside a local copy. The top two reasons to run Firefox Portable are (1) to be able to use Firefox on machines that don't have Firefox (like work or school) and (2) so you can take your bookmarks and extensions with you... not necessarily in that order. It should be obvious that most people don't use this option due to the fact that Firefox Portable has been downloaded 1.9 million times... and the concept of multiple instances has only been discussed a handful of times.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Hey, John, you know what I think would be cool, to keep a counter of the downloads, just like Mozilla. I mean, of Mozilla has it on their page, I'm sure people are interested in knowing the number of times an app has been downloaded.
---------------
Teen1: Oh, here comes that cannonball guy. He's cool.
Teen2: Are you being sarcastic, dude?
Teen1: I don't even know anymore.
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." -- Robert Frost
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: baby ain't mine." -- Adam Holguin
I have it in the download details of each page. (I update it once a week and am updating them today) I'm gonna be adding an overall number of apps downloaded when I do a slight refresh of the website design in conjunction with the suite and menu release.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Are we gonna see that forum style you were trialing momentarily a while ago?
----
R McCue
Cube Games
People who didn't need people needed people around to know that they were
the kind of people who didn't need people.
(Maskerade)
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
I'm actually working on it. I've got a beta instance running with a new theme I'm working on (to debut with the new suite) as well as a layout similar to the one I started a while ago. I'm trying to get it working with small-width screens... and my original one didn't... so I'm still tweaking that. Essentially, it may have the posts, join date, etc at the top rather than at the bottom... ala Digg, for instance... so that we don't lose width to it. That way, it'll be more small-width friendly.. and it won't mess up when folks post code blocks.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
it be possible to hack the files like we did to change the sig so that it's seperate to your post?
----
R McCue
Cube Games
People who didn't need people needed people around to know that they were
the kind of people who didn't need people.
(Maskerade)
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
If you rename your Firefox Portable.exe file, you will get the message
"another instance of Firefox is already running".So don't rename your Portable Firefox executable file.
Check
here
You can rename it, just don't rename it to firefox.exe
Also, this problem has been sorted. Please don't resurrect old posts.
----
Ryan McCue
Cube Games
Life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.
(Tom Lehrer)
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."