Running two versions of Portable Firefox at same time and updating.

[harryray2]

I run the portable edition Firefox 55.0.3 on Win 7 for my everyday doings but there are some sites that I have to use the latest release for.

Does anybody have any idea how to run both at the same time. I've kind of managed it by doing a bit of jiggling around but it's not perfect, and I did in fact manage to run both the versions at the same time but it happened by accident and I can't replicate it.

Also, any ideas please how to update portable 55.0.3 to the latest version? It can't be done with the Firefox update and I want to keep all my settings.

[NotNull]

Does anybody have any idea how to run both at the same time.

Yes, that is what I have running (since version 57): a XUL based version (52 ESR) alongside the most recent Quantum version.

From memory:

- Download the portable version of FF 52 ESR (longtime support edition)
- Put it in some folder
- Create a Profiles folder within it (C:\Tools\Firefox52ESR\Profiles\)
- Check %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\profiles.ini for the profile you are currently using
- Copy that one over to C:\Tools\Firefox52ESR\Profiles\ (I renamed it to Firefox56)
- Create shortcut:
Target = C:\Tools\Firefox52ESR\firefox.exe -profile Profiles\Firefox56
Start in = C:\Tools\Firefox52ESR


(Don't forget to disable updates for this version)

[adamantine]

as i understand, real portable firefoxes don't exist. they all are pseudo portable. et is the example of a real portable program

a real portable program keeps all its folders/files in 1 folder (and doesn't create anything else anywhere else, or at least asks for a confirmation)
while firefox doesn't ask. it creates the so-called profile in some completely different place (in my case it's even the different drive)

and i don't know absolutely exactly what folders/files belong to my firefox 'portable' 40.0.2
i know that there's my firefox folder in d:\programs\firefox (portable)\
i also know that there are some folders/files which were created long time ago by firefox-40: they are somewhere in c:\documents and settings\

 
 
i was thinking about a new parallel firefox (as an addition to my highly customized ff-40) (mainly just in case)
it only could be ff-52 (not newer)
because i have win-server-03, which usually equals to win-xp. while ff-53 or newer isn't compatible with xp
if i knew that a newer 'portable' ff-52 doesn't ruin/spoil anything that is related to my ff-40, then i could have tried to use them simultaneously

- there are always no automatic updates in any of my programs, or windows
- my ff-40 adds this process that's almost always running: firefox (portable).exe

 
 
what exact steps should i take to guarantee that ff-40 isn't damaged in any way? (even if it's in a running state)
i may download the ff-52-'portable' and put it here: d:\programs\firefox (portable) (52)\

if i'm not mistaken, a big exe-file will be downloaded (it will want to be 'installed' in some folder). is this pseudo installation safe?

i may rename that exe to rar, and try to open it in the win-rar program, and extract all ff-52-folders/files to d:\programs\firefox (portable) (52)\
what are the next safe steps?
i should create the Profiles folder             like this: d:\programs\firefox (portable) (52)\Profiles\              (is it correct?)
what next? (et doesn't find a single profiles.ini file) (i mean, there are no such files in my system)

[NotNull]

You can find your desired Firefox version here.
You can then unzip the exe (You only need the contents of the Core folder) to the desired location, create a Profiles\something folder and a shortcut as described above.

Start that specific Firefox version with the created shortcut.

That's all. It will give you a real portable Firefox (to my standards at least).

[adamantine]

thanks for the answer, the Firefox Setup 52.9.0esr file was downloaded
i may be wrong, but this is seemingly the very last version/build that's compatible with win-xp

in the near future i don't have plans to test this alternative ff (i'll recollect about it if the real need occurs)
my ff-40 has 70 tabs now, so it's not the best moment to try something potentially destructive

[therube]

Firefox Setup 52.9.0esr ... this is seemingly the very last version/build that's compatible with win-xp

When I do an (Everything) search for,

firefox xp final

, it returns, "Firefox Setup 52.9.0esr_x86 (XP, final).exe".
Yes, that is the last version for XP.

(Note that there is also a 64-but version of same, but that does not run in XP [even XP x64], "Firefox Setup 52.9.0esr_x64 (Win7+, final).exe".)


There are PortableApps.com versions of FF (including ESR's & Legacy Editions).

[therube]

I run the portable edition Firefox 55.0.3

Note that 56.0.2 was the last version before "Quantum".
So there really shouldn't be much difference on the UI end.
But with 56.0.2 being more "updated" (including security related updates)...
(And at that, you're probably better off with 52.9.0esr as that is more up to date, security-wise, then 56.0.2.)

I did in fact manage to run both the versions at the same time but it happened by accident and I can't replicate it.

You need to use the

-no-remote

switch for any versions/profiles open after an initial open of one without a -no-remote.
(Offhand, not exactly sure if that's necessary if using say 52 & 95 (Quantum cum Proton), but including -no-remote won't hurt.
Do note that you can't... (how to say it), have external links open in a -no-remote'd session.
And Quantum/Proton have their own abominations relating to Profiles [that I no longer remember, nor care about or deal with].)