I know there's been more than a few posts about multiple instances of FFP but I don't recall seeing one that was my specific question. Most involved different versions or an installed version and a portable version. I am wondering if it is possible to run multiple FFPs of the same version just from different folders. I have tried the AllowMultipleInstances=true parameter in the past but that just resulted in a link being clicked from outside FFP opening Firefox in a new window void of extensions and theme and all that. That isn't what I am after.
If I can illustrate below what I am after, I will label them FFP1 and FFP2 to discern them.
D:\FFP1\FirefoxPortable.exe is the main browser that's used and set as default for opening links from other apps and the like as well.
D:\FFP2\FirefoxPortable.exe is used for a different specific purpose that is separate from FFP1.
When I click links from other apps I want them to open only in FFP1 and not in FFP2.
The issue I have come across in the past using the AllowMultipleInstances=true parameter in the .ini file is that it would then open a new window instead of a new tab in FFP1. That new window would also not have any extensions and for all intents and purposes be like a fresh installed Firefox install.
The problem I run into with this scenario though is that trying to start FFP2 detects FFP1 running and says Firefox is already running and to please close the already running one to run that one.
The other issue I guess I have is that I know its possible to do this cause Waterfox Portable can already do this just fine without issues and doesn't detect the already running version as running and opens the second one anyway.
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It doesn't currently support it, but I've put together a test launcher that might work. Please test it and report back there: https://portableapps.com/node/63318
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
This comment has been moved: https://portableapps.com/comment/245723#comment-245723
Will each instance have its own cookies?
For example I can log into different accounts on each or is it just 2 instances of the same underlying sessions?
Sorry, this is a different issue than what I linked above. You need to start Firefox Portable with FirefoxPortable.exe. When you get a new window with blank everything, that means you started firefox.exe directly. This will happen if you pin it to the taskbar yourself instead of using the PA.c Platform or if you set Firefox as your default browser within the app. You need to use a third party utility to register FirefoxPortable.exe as a browser and set that as your default.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
So if Im understanding this correctly, we can now use the new launcher for 84.0.2 (wont work with earlier versions) and use AllowMultipleInstances=1 in the .ini file and then use third party app to set FirefoxPortable.exe as the default browser but NOT within Firefox itself and then we can run FFP from another folder for another purpose separate from the main one set as default and then any URLs or HTTP links from other apps like chat apps or email will open in the browser instance set as default and not the secondary instance nor will it open a new window with no extensions or anything else?
So this cant work with the current version Im using that is 67 though, I must update to 84.0.2?
You have always been able to run two instances of Firefox Portable by setting AllowMultipleInstances=true. There is no change on that front. This includes multiple different versions with the old launcher. And you've always supposed to have been setting FirefoxPortable.exe as your default browser, not firefox.exe (otherwise you see the behavior you notices of starting with a blank profile, which is a local profile). The change here is that you can now pass HTML/URL strings to the running instance with the new launcher.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
i have multiple folders and this used to work perfectly but has recently stopped working. what changed?
Firefox changed the way it handles multiple instances. You must only ever launch FirefoxPortable.exe.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!