Firefox on removable disk

[Sunny G]

Hi everybody!
Well, I downloaded Firefox a while ago (version 1.0.6) and webdesign since then has been bliss. Now that school is starting I want to take it with me on every computer I use in school. I can't install it, so I found out that you can install it onto a removable disk:)
I read about it here: http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/tips

This advanced tip makes it possible to run Firefox from removable media, such as a USB memory stick. This will allow you to run Firefox with your personal settings from any computer, even those that don't have Firefox installed. It has only been tested on Windows XP/2000. The basic instructions are as follows:

Copy the Firefox application folder and your profile folder to the removable medium. In this example we will use R:\Firefox for the application folder and R:\FFProfile as the profile folder, assuming the drive letter for the removable media is R:.
Create a simple batch file called R:\Firefox.bat with the following line:

start \Firefox\firefox.exe -profile \FFProfile

Optionally, disable the disk cache to reduce the amounts of file writes to the removable storage by entering about:config in the address field of Firefox and set browser.cache.disk.enable to false.
The reason why a batch file is needed instead of a simple shortcut is that a shortcut uses absolute paths, and since the actual drive letter for the removable media may change depending on which computer it is plugged into, the relative path used in the batch file is guaranteed to work anywhere.


I did exactly as it said with no success. Just FYI, I use the colorzilla and measure it extensions. When I tried it on a different computer, FF loaded but the extensions didn't and nothing worked. Does it work for any of you or am I doing it wrong?

Thanks!

[Fang]

Portable Firefox (http://johnhaller.com/jh/mozilla/portable_firefox/), read the 'Known issues'

[Sunny G]

OK, I read this known issues. Seems like it should work--have you used it before?

[Fang]

The 'Known issues' notes the fact that not all extentions will function from a portable Firefox.

[Sunny G]

I see. Well, I'll give it a try.

[Mausau2000]

Yo i wouldn't let ur school know about portable firefox... as it get's around the proxy server (if the school has 1) and u can get in soooo much trouble :(
I use portable firefox only 4 the stupid internet cafe's that don't have firefox :) and my home pc that i am not alowed 2 intall any thing non-microsoft :( :( :(

[Sunny G]

You can't install anything not microsoft?
No adobe PDF reader? No Dreamweaver?

[Mausau2000]

Not a thing :(
Dreamweaver how much did it cost 2 get that???
I looked and it was $2000 (NZ)

[Sunny G]

I've got Frontpage2003 on my computer(Microsoft). The computers at my school all have Dreamweaver. In the US (Where I'm @) Macromedia products costs $800.
Flash, Shockwave, Dreamweaver, Fireworks ETC. all $800 each.

[theuedimaster]

I thought dreamweaver itself cost like $200.....

http://macromedia.com/cfusion/store/index.cfm?store=OLS-US&view=ols_cat&catType=SPECIALS

Edit*
Its $400.

[Mausau2000]

So around about $800 nz :( that is about 800x my life savings :)

[Sunny G]

Trojan/Virus detected - Every so often, yet another of those little free antivirus programs claims to detect a trojan within the portable launchers. There isn't one. It is a false positive. Contact your antivirus program provider to let them know about their error. Avast has already done this twice. And, remember, with "free" commercial software, you get what you pay for.
I read that on this site:
http://johnhaller.com/jh/mozilla/portable_firefox/

What does this mean?

[Mausau2000]

I think it is safe...
Don't know what he is on about.

[Sunny G]

I've heard that you can just install the regular FF on a removable disk. What is the difference between that and the portable FF? I'd rather use the regular FF.

Regular FF on removable disk
http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/tips

Portable FF
http://johnhaller.com/jh/mozilla/portable_firefox/

[Jupac]

I have Mozilla Firebird to run on portable no problems at all =)

[Mausau2000]

Firebird???
Isn't it ThunderBird?

[Sunny G]

Yeah, it's Thunderbird...

[Sunny G]

My problem is that I can't get the extensions to run. I use those ALOT! They only work if I install them on each computer that I run PFF on.
What do I do?

[Jupac]

Yeah, it's Thunderbird...

Noo Foo its FireBird -.-
It was before FireFox came out

[Sunny G]

Why do you use Firebird?

[Mausau2000]

Y would u

Is there such thing as mobile thunderbird?

[PeOfEo]

Firebird is a great browser, I used it for a long time before I upgraded to ff. I mean it is the same framework as ff but it was a bit learner.

[Mausau2000]

Ok then...

[Jupac]

At home I use FireFox..
And everywhere else i use FireBird because it runs great on USB drive

[Sunny G]

I've got regular FF on my USB drive and it won't load the extensions nor will it load any page. I'll give PFF a try... Just a sec.

[Sunny G]

Portable FF does the same thing with not loading any pages. What do I do?

[Sunny G]

OK, I'm using the portable FF at school right now... It works. I think what I did wrong was I didn't Dclick on the Portable Firefox application. This time I did and it worked. In a few minutes I'm going to take my USB drive to another computer to make sure PFF holds up to its name.

In the application dada folder there's a folder called Mozilla with a sub folder called Firefox and a file within that called "pluginreg". What is that for?

[Sunny G]

OK, I tried it on another computer and it worked great. Possibly the only reason for that is because the drive letter never changed from the first computer to the second.
I'll give it a try at home! (There it usually is J and not E)

[Sunny G]

OK, I tried PFF at home with no luck (The drive letter is J). I clicked on the Portable Firefox application and nothing happened. I clicken on FF itself and it loaded but without my extensions. What do I do? It will only work if the Drive letter is E!

[Mausau2000]

Do u have latest version cause the latest fixes that.

[Sunny G]

I downloaded it about two weeks ago (Sept. 10 or so)

[Mausau2000]

ok then r u sure u have genuie portable firefox?

[Sunny G]

It says on the zipped file "portable_firefox_1.0.6_beta". Could the beta part be the problem?

[wamboid]

Portable Firefox 1.0.7 Beta (http://johnhaller.com/jh/mozilla/portable%5Ffirefox/)
Ran across this, thought it might help.

[Mausau2000]

it will

[Sunny G]

Portable Firefox 1.0.7 Beta
Ran across this, thought it might help.
it will
Really? It will? I'll give it a try. I will try to reply within the next few minutes.

[Sunny G]

OK, I gave it a try. It didn't work.
Darn it.

[Mausau2000]

Bummer i will look into it

[Sunny G]

The whole point of PFF is for it to be... well, portable.
It really isin't doing a very good being portable so far.

[Sunny G]

Does anyone know how to install firefox themes on a computer running firefox that does not have internet?

[Mausau2000]

Some PC mags have them...

[Sunny G]

Some PC mags have them...

Yeah, but I found one on the FF website that is soooo cool. I think on the FF website they use PHP to install the themes and javascript to install extensions.

[Mausau2000]

Right click and select save target as..

[Sunny G]

Right click and select save target as..
I've tried that. I can download it just fine, but when I want to install the theme or extension on my computer that does not have an internet connection, it does not work when I say open file in FF. It works that way in PFF though.
I've saved the FF extension installer for my computer (w/o internet connection) and it worked OK. It does not work however with themes, in FF nor PFF.

[Mausau2000]

Download on PC with internet then Copy Themes folder

[Mausau2000]

Oops only works on PFF

[Sunny G]

Whoo-HOO! I figured out how to install themes on computers without an internet connection!
Just open up the themes window, and drag the downloaded theme into it. It installs automatically and is used upon the restart of Firefox.

[Mausau2000]

Cool!!!
FF is by Far the best broweser...
IE7 doesn;t look that bad though

[Mausau2000]

Cool Duck By the way have u seen the duck with the flamethrower???

[Sunny G]

Duck with a flamethrower? You have my attention.

[Mausau2000]

I look for it in Gmail inbox