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Info about Plugins in Portable Browsers

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Samuel Elstein
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Info about Plugins in Portable Browsers

I don't suppose we could have a stickied topic dedicated for those constantly asking about getting plugins to work in the various portable browsers. I've seen a number of posts regarding them, mostly about Flash and VLC.

Here is some information I can contribute in this regards:

  • Google Chrome Portable comes with its own Flash plugin (PPAPI) and since version 45, has dropped support for NPAPI plugins altogether.
  • Firefox 52 has dropped support for all plugins except Flash. This also means the 32-bit Java Plugin from JPortable as well as Java installed on OS is no longer supported, as it is a NPAPI plugin.
  • Opera dropped support for NPAPI plugins with version 37, being based of Google Chrome/Chromium. To use Flash, reference https://portableapps.com/node/58446 for more details (Thank you, Coool for the info).
  • SeaMonkey, despite being based on Firefox, as well as Quipzilla still supports all NPAPI plugins.
  • Firefox Portable comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit Firefox. 32-bit Firefox can only use 32-bit plugins and 64-bit Firefox can only use 64-bit plugins. 64-bit Firefox prior to version 52 only supports Silverlight and Flash as plugins.
  • Firefox Portable can have its 64-bit mode disabled in two different ways, with details found https://portableapps.com/support/firefox_portable#32and64 (Firefox Portable's Support page)
  • Flash can be installed into Firefox Portable and SeaMonkey Portable as an addon called PlayFlash, which comes in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. This allows those who do not have install privileges to install Flash, but only for the browser. Its recommended to disable 64-bit mode unless user is sure Firefox will always run in either 32-bit mode or 64-bit modes. As of Firefox 57 (Quantum), the addon is no longer supported.
  • Plugins is becoming a dying technology for the web, due to HTML5 and various APIs. For the stubborn, use a browser that still supports any NPAPI plugins, such as SeaMonkey, or an older version of browser that does. Keep in mind that using older versions of browsers is a security risk.
  • In regards of VLC in Firefox and Seamonkey, Firefox must be a version prior to 52 and run in 32-bit mode. VLC's plugin files is not enough, where having almost the entire VLC progam in the [Appname]Portable/Data/plugins to work. This is due to the plugin not finding the required files for playback (codecs) and the graphics used for the player controls.
  • Most browsers require to be restarted to detect plugins recently placed. So if you copied a plugin to the browser's plugin folder while browser is still opened, please restart.
  • The location of the Flash plugin may vary by Windows version and whether its 32-bit or 64-bit. On windows 7 64-bit, the location of the 32-bit Flash plugin is located "X:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\NPSWF32_25_0_0_127.dll" and the 64-bit is located at "X:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\NPSWF64_25_0_0_127.dll" (path name seems misleading). The numbers in plugin name may vary by version of flash (example used is Flash 25.0.0.127). You can copy these files in [Appname]Portable/Data/plugins. If any one knows the locations on other versions of Windows, please share

Information in regards other browsers, as well as locations of the 32-bit and 64-bit Flash plugins on various versions of Windows would be quite helpful as well.

Coool
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Opera Portable Flash Support

To enable PPAPI Flash on Opera (based on Google Chrome/Chromium) check
https://portableapps.com/node/58446

Samuel Elstein
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Last seen: 5 years 8 months ago
Joined: 2012-02-29 12:00
Thanks for the Info

Thanks for the info, I updated and added to list. Sorry for the late reply.

Proud user of Firefox

Kieran
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Last seen: 4 years 6 months ago
Joined: 2018-04-25 21:26
FWIW

FWIW
Seamonkey / Firefox 52.9 ESR are still expected to run npapi plugins such as Java and SumatraPDF browser plugin for viewing djvu oxps & pdf until projected FF 61 EOL in September 2018 see timeline @ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/

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