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Firefox portable and regular installed version together - possible?

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February 5, 2018 - 2:41am
#1
XVWWVX
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Firefox portable and regular installed version together - possible?

Hi

Is it possible -without issues- to have a regular installed Firefox instance and a portable Firefox too, on the same Windows instance? tl;dr I want to use Firefox as normal, and that's no issue, but now -that Quantum is so different- I also want to have a pre-Quantum Firefox (56.0.2) available for one specific site with one specific add-on that is no longer supported and is a must for me. (Please don't suggest alternatives, it has to be the final Firefox before Quantum!)

I can only foresee two potential issues;

1.) Default Firefox Windows registry entries that may get overwritten,

2.) Firefox user settings location; "\Users\xx\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xx.default".

PS: I assume you still have/allow downloads of older apps. IIRC the final official (non beta) Firefox before the December 2018 Quantum release was version 56.0.2. Where can I download the portable app version of that? If there was an even newer (non beta) version please link to that.

If it turns out there are serious conflict sharing issues, my solution, such as it is, will be to use a regular Firefox 56.0.2 (64-bit) and not upgrade it - ever, and switch my regular browsing to another browser. I'll do it if I have to!

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February 6, 2018 - 12:13pm
rizole
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Old versions

Can't answer most of your questions but you can download old versions of portable firefox from:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox%2C...

I'm on the whiskey diet. I've lost 3 days already.

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February 8, 2018 - 1:37pm
(Reply to #2)
XVWWVX
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thanks,

thanks,

looked here; https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox%2C...

but which is it 64bit? 32? dual? there is no desctiption as to which. assuming 64bit but would like confirmation before i even download.

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February 6, 2018 - 12:16pm
John T. Haller
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Yes and No

You can run them alongside each other by setting the FirefoxPortable.ini directive to allow additional instances. Note that this will break external link handling as the started instance of firefox.exe can't figure out which running instance to pass to. This is a limitation of Firefox itself. I have sometimes seen where this does not break passing but can't see a pattern. Otherwise, if you're running both locally and thus don't care about leaving non-personal data behind, go for it.

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

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February 7, 2018 - 1:53am
mod_wastrel
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Worked for me OK

Before Windows 10 (Win7) and Firefox Quantum (XUL-based) I would do this with no problem. Making no changes whatsoever to the locally installed Firefox, all I had to do was simply start it prior to starting any portable instances (which I would start and stop as needed) using AllowMultipleInstances set to true. Eventually I began using only a portable (standalone more specifically) edition (many at once) instead of the locally installed one (which I kept up-to-date, just didn't use it except to test it). Now I use neither Firefox nor Windows, so I can't really say, but I don't expect it would work any differently now.

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February 8, 2018 - 1:43pm
XVWWVX
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i think there may be some

i think there may be some confusion here. i don't mean that i want to RUN two instances together at the same time. no! i simply want to use latest firefox (quantum for now) as normal for everyday browsing and 99.9% of it. i'll update it from time to time and all that. apart from this, i also want to have an older (final pre-quantum so, 56.x) firefox on the same windows install, that i can run ad hoc, for a few specific sites. (quantum would install/run from default firefox directory structure, and protable from c:\utils\firefox5602) i would NOT run both together at once. i would close quantum if open, IF/WHEN i want to use the older firefox. they would never run simultaneously. i just don't want either to overwrite the other's settings, when i do run them - separately. is that an issue?

after seeing this, please re-reply.

also someone confirm which was the final pre quantum firefox, that supportted the old add-ons. was it as i remember, 56.0.2?

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February 11, 2018 - 7:22am
(Reply to #6)
XVWWVX
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hello? echo chamber test123.

so i went ahead and started testing things..
..
a) the portable firefox contains both 32/64 bit executables. good. i'll use 64bit, but goot to have a final 32bit too, for sure.
b) the user settings and installed add-ons are saved under your install directory. \dir\dir\Data\profile and not the typical \users\..\appdata\etc.. excellent!

so far, this is exactly what i want. an old legacy fox with specific add-ons "stuck in time" that i only use on a few secure (corporate) sites and rarely- whilst using normal/updated firefox as usual.

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February 12, 2018 - 1:33pm
(Reply to #7)
XVWWVX
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something ain't right. i ran

something ain't right. i ran (opened) portable foxy from another boot (i multiboot) and whilst it opened the browser some things are broken - badly. the fastdial add-on which is my homepage doesn't start at all with; https://i.imgur.com/1yH2oXF.png

if i go to the add-ons section, i see them, but the pictures don't load for almost all, and if i click on any of the options, the browser "stops". it's as if the options screen pop up opens but is invisible and if i try to click anywhere it makes a sound like when trying to click on a non focused window. either way there is nothing i can do but force shut down the firefoxportable.exe https://i.imgur.com/nmzPIhq.png

fyi, the addons, as far as i tested work. it's just the options screen that has an issue.

from this little test alone i can tell something isn't right. all i did was open the same thing from another boot on the same system and from the same data drive where foxy is.

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February 13, 2018 - 9:28pm
(Reply to #8)
XVWWVX
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c'mon now. what's going on

c'mon now. what's going on here? i know people are watching...

where does portable firefox store details? i'd like all locations listed for default firefox with nothig else.

obviously like i noted previosuly; \dir\dir\Data\profile
anywhere else? anything in the windows registry at all? or under \user\appdata\roaming?

what about add-ons? would they place data anywhere else?

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February 21, 2018 - 8:15pm
(Reply to #9)
XVWWVX
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ah, another lackluster

ah, another lackluster helpless crap site that is probably CIA/NSA backdoor...

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February 22, 2018 - 12:18pm
(Reply to #10)
Gord Caswell
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Data, Registry

As you've noted, settings are saved in the Data directory.
There are also be settings backed up from $APPDATA\Mozilla, $LOCALAPPDATA\Mozilla and HKCU\Software\Mozilla.

We have nothing to do with add-ons, they may place settings elsewhere, and as such we're not able to handle backing them up.

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March 29, 2018 - 6:11am
Mr_Red
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FF59 portable sitting beside FF34 portable (no PortableApps app)

FWIW I have FF59 portable on a second hard drive, and an earlier (portable) version on the C: drive. And something akin to FF34 on the second Hard drive in its own folder. And carry 59 & 34 (block copied) together on various memory sticks so that I can use them on other machines for website/JavaScript testing.

There does not appear to be a problem with the instances affecting each other, unless I try to run both. Then the look and feel is the same and I think the most recent version (or maybe the first loaded - I don't like doing it). Though stored passwords don't appear to copy across though I am not rigorous in that analysis.

FWIW later version of Portable FF refuse to debug properly in the presence of my JavaScript timer. Hence the reliance on FF34, or Chrome 40 or 53 or even Sad IE11

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July 16, 2018 - 5:46am
Sheldon Cooper
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Firefox portable reads registry

I've encountered problems running a regular installed (company) version of Firefox and Firefox portable.
I'm using the portable version, because company policy does not allow to save passwords. This has worked fine until recently. Now the option is greyed out also in Firefox portable and there's no way to change it. Also not via about:config.

I've investigated a litte and it seems this is controlled with the following registry entry (which I'm not allowed to change):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Mozilla\Firefox\OfferToSaveLogins

So looks like also the portable version is controlled with this entry. Any ideas how to bypass it?

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February 18, 2019 - 3:10pm
uvo
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Firefox Quantum Portable v65.0.1

Does anybody know what is happening with this version. This version is not usable at all anymore.
Firefox is not reacting properly and opening any web site take ages.

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February 18, 2019 - 3:18pm
(Reply to #14)
John T. Haller
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Local Antivirus?

If you have a local antivirus that tries to mess with SSL and isn't properly updated, most sites won't work. Please create a separate post as this has nothing to do with this issue if you continue experiencing problems.

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

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