Running Firefox From Removable Media

[tg1911]

I found this article on how to do this. With what little bit of information it gave me, and a LOT of trial and error, I finally figured it out.

I know I burned, and erased, that CD a dozen times. So I decided to write this little tutorial, in plain English, in case anybody else wanted to try it. Hopefully this will alleviate some of the problems I had.

I thought this would be handy to have, in case you had to work on somebody's computer, where the browser has crashed (IE, maybe?). They don't even have to have Firefox installed, for it to work.

With this disk, it's just like you have the same Firefox that you use at home, including all your preferences, and bookmarks. (As a matter of fact, I'm using the CD to make this post.)

This works with Windows XP. I don't know about any other OS. If anybody tries this out on another OS, please post back and let us know if it worked, or not, and on what OS.

Hopefully, this will be helpful to somebody, cause it sure was a headache. Good luck!

Before starting you have to enable the viewing of hidden files and folders. You can fin out how to do that HERE.

Optional:

Temporarily disable the disk cache, to reduce the amounts of file writes to the removable storage.

This can be done by entering "about:config" (without quotes) in the address field of Firefox, and hit "Enter".

Scroll down to, "browser.cache.disk.enable".

Right click it.

Choose "Modify".

Set value to "false".

When finished, change it back to "true"

File size: 71.4MB

Running Firefox from removable media:

STEP 1

First make 2 new folders. It doesn't matter where, so long as you remember, where. Name them:

Firefox

FFProfile

STEP 2

Double click My Computer / C: / Program Files / Mozilla Firefox /

COPY everything in this folder, to the "Firefox" folder you just created.

STEP 3

Double click My Computer / C: / Documents and Settings / your user name / Application Data / Phoenix / Profiles / your user name /

Here you will have a file named, using a series of numbers and letters. Double click that, and COPY everything in there to the "FFProfile" folder you just created.

OR

Some people don't have the Phoenix folder. I think it's a holdover from the days of Firebird, since your profile folder isn't deleted when you un-install the program. I compared the Mozilla folder to the Firefox folder, and they were basically the same. So, I burned the Mozilla files, and it also worked.

From Application Data / Mozilla / Firefox / Profiles / (mine's called) default.7dp /

COPY everything in there to the "FFProfile" folder you just created.

STEP 4

Create a simple batch file with the following line in it:

start \Firefox\firefox.exe -profile \FFProfile

NOTE: To create the batch file:

Open Notepad

Type in the line above

Click File / Save As... / under "File name:", name it Firefox.bat / browse to where you made your 2 new folders / Save

STEP 5

Burn the 2 folders, and .bat file, to a CD.

NOTE:I tried using DeepBurner to burn the files, didn't work. (One of the headaches, I encountered.)

What I ended up doing was highliting the files, then on the left, I choose "Copy this folder", and sent it to my burner.

That's the only way I could get it to work.

To use it:

Insert CD / open "Firefox" folder / double click Firefox.exe

On my computer, it takes a little while for Firefox to open up (approx 1 min.), but eventually it will. I guess it takes a while, to read all those files.

[cowsgonemadd3]

neato! Might could use it....not at the moment

[marko_tomas13]

thats a great tutorial

will save people a lot of time

a friend of mine also has done it off an ipod ill get back to you on that though

[robroy]

nice trick, if I have time this weekend I'll try it on win2000 and post the results

JD

[tg1911]

marko_tomas13,

You're supposed to be able to use this on any type of removable media.

robroy,

Once I figured out how to do it, it only took about 20 min.

[tg1911]

After re-reading my post, and getting a couple of questions, I have, edited, and added more information.

Sorry, for any inconvenience, that this may have caused.

[lamuskrat]

I'm running XP pro and used deep burner. Followed directions carefully. Burned cd. Nothing happens......

[tg1911]

lamuskrat,

I tried DeepBurner to, didn't work either. (One of the headaches, I encountered.)

What I ended up doing was highliting the files, then on the left, I choose "Copy this folder", and sent it to my burner, and let Windows deal with it.

That's the only way I could get it to work.

[lamuskrat]

Thanks I'll try that.

[Besttechie]

Hi tg,

That is very cool. I will have to check that out.

B

[tg1911]

I've re-updated the tutorial, trying to answer some of the questions, that I have been asked. I want to try and figure this out, so it will work for everybody, so the more input I can get from everybody, the more comprehensive it'll be. All suggestions welcomed.

[Dan]

can you put it onto a floppy?

[tg1911]

To big.

Modified original with file size: 71.4 MB

[mikex]

Found the following at Firefox Help...Tips & Tricks

Run Firefox from removable media

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:

1. 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:.

2. Create a simple batch file called R:\Firefox.bat with the following line:

start \Firefox\firefox.exe -profile \FFProfile

3. 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.

[robroy]

Works with win 2000 too

Had to burn it a second time (don't know why) wouldn't work the first time and I didn't change anything but works fine on second cd Takes about 80 seconds to load of my system

JD

[tg1911]

That's what I started with, but I had a few problems:

The article was to general.

It doesn't tell you to enable hidden folders.

If I tried copying the Firefox, and FFProfile folders directly to a disk, with the .bat file, it wouldn't work for some reason. I kept playing around with it, and figured out, if I copied the contents of these folders to 2 empty folders, then I could get it to work.

It also doesn't tell you where your profile folder is located.

Last, but not least, it evidently makes a difference which burning software you use.

This is what I had to do, to get it to work, and I thought I would pass on the info.

[olmec36]

Thanks, I'm going to try this. I just picked up a "Kingston Data Traveler 256mb" for $20. It sure does come in handy with all the anti-everthing programs installed on it.

[Nerelda]

ummm....just a thought.....why don't you make it easier on yourselves and just download it from here: Portable Firefox? It's what I use on my flash drive and it works perfectly. All the work is done here for you already. All you have to do is download the file, and unzip it to the media you would like to have it on.

Nerelda