Portability as I understood it so far, and making PortableApps defaults

Hello all,

@Cord: Thanks for reading it anyway

I've tested a bit more.

I ensured the paths in the HKLM\Software\Clients\ registry branch are all pointing to ...\FirefoxPortable.exe and not ...\firefox.exe. I think running ...\FirefoxPortable.exe /SetAsDefaultAppGlobal does the same job (passing the parameter to helper.exe). Then ran Default Programs again and made Firefox the default for all its capabilities, i.e., .htm[l] and Co. and the http[s] protocols, as defined in HKLM\Software\Clients\.

Now when I closed all Firefox instances and click a link in a mail in Thunderbird, the portable Firefox runs, but bypassing FirefoxPortable.exe. When I started FirefoxPortable.exe before, Windows opens the link requested by TB in my already opened session (as I would expect), and since FirefoxPortable.exe does its job of virtualizing registry for firefox.exe, cleaning up the registry and sync'ing with prefs.js after shutting down, and what it does to portabilize FF, this does not break portability, right?

PS lnk:\> Get-Process *firefox* # FirefoxPortable started before

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K) VM(M)   CPU(s)     Id ProcessName
-------  ------    -----      ----- -----   ------     -- -----------
    703     137   624972     577372  1121    22,00    536 firefox
    146      14    37408       9196   121     0,08   7064 FirefoxPortable


PS lnk:\> Get-Process *firefox* # FirefoxPortable not started before

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K) VM(M)   CPU(s)     Id ProcessName
-------  ------    -----      ----- -----   ------     -- -----------
    701      92   284492     220896   655     3,01   4424 firefox

So I change my questions / theses:

• It seems to me that opening links by Windows Default Program feature can break PortableApps portability, if I understood the function of the AppPortable.exe wrappers right. If a program has its own default user choice management, like Firefox, no problem. True?
• If that's true, the only way to open links in a portable Firefox is to not just click links in programs that use Windows Default Programs feature, but either
  • »Copy Link Location« in context menu, start / focus FF portable, open a new tab {Ctrl+T}, paste the link in the then focussed address bar {Ctrl+V}, and go {Enter}, or
  • ensure \App\firefox.exe or FirefoxPortable.exe is defined in every path in HKLM\Software\Clients\, by manual registry edit, helper.exe /SetAsDefaultAppGlobal or any third party tool, set Firefox in Default Programs the default everything it's capable of, and run FirefoxPortable.exe before clicking any link in a program, that uses Windows Default Program management, and not its own.

  True?

• If that's true, it's true for FF, but not necessarily for other PortableApps. Irfan view is now an example for a non-critical app. It has changed in that regard or I did not understand it right when I tested it years before: I tested it now and changed the Windows default for .jpg to the Irfan view Portable launcher. Press enter on a selected .jpg now opened it successfully in Irfan, and both IrfanViewPortable.exe and i_view32.exe are started.
  

  PS lnk:\> (Get-Process *irfan*).Path
  G:\util\PortableApps\IrfanViewPortable\IrfanViewPortable.exe
  PS lnk:\> (Get-Process *i_view*).Path
  G:\util\PortableApps\IrfanViewPortable\App\IrfanView\i_view32.exe
  

  So I think in the case of Irfan using the convenient Windows Default Programs is OK. What do you think?

• I think breaking portability is too easy. I had the job to clean up systems where the self-update of firefox (not of the PortableApps platform) had messed the clean portable usage, and making the portable app the Windows default is a risky undertaking as well. What do you think?