First of all, I want to thank you for Portable Apps and Firefox Portable. Too many developers think that I am ungrateful, entitled, that I expect them to rush to make changes, etc. So I want to go ahead and say, thank you.
I have been using Firefox Portable for many years. If I had to guess, I've been using it for around 3 years and 2 months now, because that is how old my Portable Apps website account is. But it's also possible that I used Firefox Portable longer than that and just didn't bother to create an account until slightly over three years ago.
I have done clean Firefox Portable installations in the past. Every time I receive help online, I'm always told to do extra steps like clean installations. I really frown on Microsoft customer support people who suggest to people to reinstall Windows. I feel like this is a problem that can be resolved without reinstalling Firefox Portable, because as you said you noticed some changes to the Firefox code, so hopefully it won't come to that. I have to be honest and say it probably wouldn't take too much effort on my part to do a clean installation, but I think if you try to get me to do that you are just being a bully.
I believe my most recent clean installation of Firefox Portable was on Jun 17, 2023, because if I go to the Firefox Portable folder and right click it and go to Properties, it tells me it was created on that date.
As Bardenseer mentioned in his thread, I am using the FirefoxPortable.ini and nothing has changed since I first edited the ini file over three years ago. It still shows that AllowMultipleInstances=true. Because I always make sure to have that setting.
Unlike Bardenseer, I am only using one installation of Firefox Portable. And I only have one profile, the default one.
[FirefoxPortable]
FirefoxDirectory=App\firefox
ProfileDirectory=Data\profile
SettingsDirectory=Data\settings
PluginsDirectory=Data\plugins
FirefoxExecutable=firefox.exe
AdditionalParameters=
LocalHomepage=
WaitForFirefox=false
DisableSplashScreen=true
AllowMultipleInstances=true
DisableIntelligentStart=false
SkipCompregFix=false
RunLocally=false
AlwaysUse32Bit=false
I have also used Register Firefox Portable 1.1 in the past and I used it again yesterday.
Firefox Portable (before 118.0) was working perfectly. I had no problems. I have a third party program called Howard Email Notifier. This program has an icon on my system tray. When I click on it, it opens up Yahoo Mail (with me signed in) in a new tab in my browser.
I used PortableApps.com Platform yesterday to update my browser to 118.0.1. Immediately afterwards, I encountered issues. Anytime I tried to click on the Howard Email Notifier icon on my system tray, I would get an error message.
This is the error message:
Close Firefox. Firefox is already running, but is not responding. The old Firefox process must be closed to open a new window.
I then noticed the same thing that Bardenseer noticed. Apparently, if I close Firefox and restart it, the first instance of me clicking on the Howard Email Notifier system tray icon to open up Yahoo Mail (with me signed in) worked, but any instance after that did not work. This is Bardenseer's words "However I upgraded to version 118 today and now only the very first instance I start opens as expected. When I try to open the second or third instance they instead just open a new window of the first instance." For me, I don't get new windows, but I get the error message that it wants me to close Firefox (which I feel is definitely related to the problem Bardenseer experienced).
I then carried out another test. I went to my Firefox Portable bookmarks, and dragged two different website bookmarks onto my desktop. I had to restart Firefox Portable. Clicking on any one of the two desktop bookmarks opened up that corresponding website page in a new tab in my browser window. But clicking on a second desktop bookmark gave me the error message as before. As Bardenseer said, and as I said in my previous post, any second instance results in this problem.
When I saw that you said that you "fixed it" and mentioned something about having to update PortableApps.com Platform first, I wrongly assumed that I had an outdated PortableApps.com Platform version and was worried because I could not update it further. But luckily I did have the right version. As stated before I had PA.c Platform 26.2.1. And my problem is with Firefox Portable 118.0.1 (not 118.0). I don't think I ever actually installed 118.0. I think that I held off on installing 118.0 for most of the day and by the time I tried to install it, it installed 118.0.1 instead.
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UPDATE
I tried unpinning Firefox Portable from my taskbar and using PA.c Platform to pin it again. It won't let me pin it.
I wonder if this has anything to do with changes Firefox made in 118.0 and I really hope I can pin it to my taskbar again as it is a frequently used problem and I want it pinned.
NEVERMIND
It wouldn't let me drag the PA.c taskbar shortcut to the taskbar. But I can open up Firefox Portable using the shortcut and then just pin the open instance of Firefox Portable, so maybe it's not broken after all (the part about pinning, I still have problems with not being able to open up desktop bookmarks and Howard Email Notifier Yahoo Mail pages in new tabs).
As mentioned, the other user is describing a different issue. Specifically, they have multiple copies of Firefox Portable they like to run at the same time: A, B, and C. With FFP 118.0 and A running, when they launch B, it just bought A back up. This was due to a change in whether a specific file was deleted within the profile which is how the launcher determined whether a given profile was in use.
The first instance being brought up when trying to launch a second instance - and we're referring to an entirely separate install of Firefox Portable here - is entirely different from you encountering an error message when trying to get a link to open in an already running instance of Firefox Portable.
As for pinning, you can't pin the running Firefox window to the taskbar by right-clicking on it and selecting to pin. That will pin it in local mode and when you run it, you'll be running it with a local profile, not your portable profile. If you then try to run FirefoxPortable.exe with that same firefox.exe already running with a local profile, Firefox will show you an error that it is already running and has to close.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
"As for pinning, you can't pin the running Firefox window to the taskbar by right-clicking on it and selecting to pin. That will pin it in local mode and when you run it, you'll be running it with a local profile, not your portable profile. If you then try to run FirefoxPortable.exe with that same firefox.exe already running with a local profile, Firefox will show you an error that it is already running and has to close."
Then explain why for 3.5 years, I had it pinned and could open links in new tabs no problem.
"As for pinning, you can't pin the running Firefox window to the taskbar by right-clicking on it and selecting to pin. That will pin it in local mode and when you run it, you'll be running it with a local profile, not your portable profile. If you then try to run FirefoxPortable.exe with that same firefox.exe already running with a local profile, Firefox will show you an error that it is already running and has to close."
Then explain why I have this problem even when Firefox Portable is NOT pinned?
I just unpinned Firefox Portable, closed out of Firefox, deleted the two Mozilla folders in Local and Roaming appdata folders, restarted Firefox, did not pin it, and still encountered the same problem.
All of my settings are and always have been in my FirefoxPortable > Data > profile folder. None of my settings, addons, etc. are being stored anywhere else. They aren't being stored in for example Mozilla folders in Local or Roaming.
I just did a clean install (took 30 minutes to copy my backup over to restore everything), and I did not pin anything. Still same problem.
Something clearly changed after 180.0 that messed everything up. And I don't think it's because I ever pinned anything, because I've been using Firefox Portable pinned for 3.5 years and just now I tested everything, even a clean install, without Firefox pinned, and even deleting Mozilla folders from Local and Roaming first to make sure nothing on the PC would interfere with my USB Drive installation of Firefox.
I even tried launching Firefox Portable in safe mode (never been pinned) and after a clean install. Still same problem.
And during all these tests I did just now, I made sure the ini file allowed multiple instances and I used Register Firefox Portable 1.1. My ini is set to AllowMultipleInstances = True and RunLocally = False.
This is ridiculous. Everything was working fine for 3.5 straight years, and now I can't even open up desktop bookmark links or Howard Email Notifier website links anymore. All after the 180.0.1 update.
Pinning has always been an issue. You won't encounter it if you run FirefoxPortable.exe (either directly or indirectly) first, though. Right-clicking on it while it is running will only pin firefox.exe. It's always been like that. I built a whole system to handle proper pinning into the PA.c Platform to work around this as all users have had issues with it and wanted to be able to pin. Dragging and dropping FirefoxPortable.exe to the taskbar will cause a pin to show that correctly launches in portable mode, but will result in two icons on the taskbar when running as Windows doesn't understand dual EXE apps by default. The system I built in the PA.c Platform creates a special one for FirefoxPortable.exe but using the Windows AppID that firefox.exe will be running as within it.
Nothing changed in our portablization code in terms of how it's portablized between 117 and 118.0.1. The only thing that changed was that the code for handling multiple instances now looks for a different file in the profile to exist to determine if that profile is in use. Something may have changed within Firefox itself in 118 and later.
Why are you using AllowMultipleInstances if you aren't using multiple instances? That is only for using two copies of Firefox at the same time. And it will cause unexpected issues sometimes.
Whenever I suggest a clean install, it's to troubleshoot and help determine if there is an issue. It's always in the framework of a temporary install to your Desktop directory to help rule out issues with profiles/extensions and location. I'm not sure why you have been making full clean installs regularly.
Please include the following details: "system details (OS version, 32 vs 64-bit), install path, new vs upgrade, etc."
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Why do you keep going on about pinning when I clearly wrote that this issue even occurs when the program is not at all pinned? I ran several different tests, none of which the program was pinned, and still experienced this problem.
Why do I get a lecture about doing a clean install? Does it matter whether I did one or not? I just wanted to push that out of the way to show that I'm having this problem even on a freshly installed version that didn't get corrupted along the way.
Does it matter if I have MultipleInstances allowed or not? I can turn it off. Still doesn't solve this problem.
Okay, you want to know my OS? Not sure how that will help. Windows 10, 64-bit. Recently updated, as always.
Not sure what the other questions mean. Install path? I"m guessing for Firefox Portable?
This is to the exe:
"G:\Portable Apps\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable\FirefoxPortable.exe"
This is to the FirefoxPortable folder:
"G:\Portable Apps\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable"
Why would the installation path make a difference? It's been the same for 3.5 years. Do you think something happened wihere previous folder names (spelling and spaces) or Drive letter will no longer work as they did before?
Not sure what you mean by New vs Upgrade. If you are going to ask something, be a little more specific and detailed so I know what the hell you are asking. You know my Firefox Portable version, you know my PA.c Platform version. What do you mean by New vs Upgrade? I did a clean install today so obviously that was New instead of Upgrade. My W10 has been updated regularly every day. I have no idea what you mean by New vs Upgrade.
Sorry for being a complete ahole. I don't know where this ahole energy comes from, but I've had a lot of it lately. And I couldn't hold back.
I saw that I had two pending Windows Updates, so I went ahead and installed them and restarted my computer. That still didn't fix the problem. Then I decided to turn AllowMultipleInstances to false, because I don't know why I had it enabled in the first place and you are right I don't need it. Strangely, that fixed the problem.
So I'm a little confused. Did I always have it set to true and suddenly Firefox Portable doesn't like the true setting? Or was it set to false and then the recent Firefox Portable update changed it to true? In any case, hopefully it is fixed now and I can enjoy my browser pinned and have program website links open without giving me that error message.
Again, sorry. I know an apology isn't going to cut it. I'm not going to check myself into a mental hospital, and I don't think I need to go to a mental hospital, but the crazy ahole urges I've been having is sorta mental hospital'ish. Hopefully I won't have any more problems for a while so I can get out of your hair.
Apology accepted. I ask the additional questions that may not seem related to see if I can recreate the issue you are experiencing as best I can. And to provide additional context in case someone else encounters the same issue at a later date so they can follow along the troubleshooting process.
For what it's worth, I've found therapy very helpful with my own mental health struggles.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!