Firefox 3.5.3 and PortableFirefox 3.5.3

Firefox 3.5.3 now available for download according to Into Windows.

For those using the portable version, Portableapps.com, says not to use the the auto-updater due to a bug.

http://portableapps.com/support/firefox_portable#upgrading
“To upgrade to a newer version of Firefox Portable, just install a new copy of Firefox Portable right over your old one. All your data will be preserved. At this time, please don’t use the auto-updater due to a bug.”

Firefox Add On - Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer 0.84

I use Firefox 2.0 on my desktop and the BPCA laptop, as well as Firefox Portable 1.5.0.8 on a USB Drive. Getting my bookmarks and RSS feeds synchronized manually was very tedious and error prone.

When I upgraded the other day to 2.0, one of the recommended add ons was the Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer, so I thought OK give it a try.

I made back ups of the various profiles, as I always do in case of a foul up and then installed the Foxmarks extension, available at https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2410/, and ran the setup on each of the computers and the USB drive. Now I have the same bookmarks on each of my devices.

Part of the setup includes getting a free account at http://foxmarks.com/, where all your bookmarks are stored. Also, you can access your bookmarks from that site, using the user name and password created during setup, from anywhere, yes even using IE provided Javascript is enabled.

More in depth information is available through the Foxmarks FAQ: http://www.foxcloud.com/wiki/Foxmarks:_Frequently_Asked_Questions#Help.21_Something_strange_happened_to_my_bookmarks._What_do_I_do.3F.

I find this to be a very useful Firefox add on, making my collection of bookmarks available no matter where I am accessing the Internet from.

What are your favorite Firefox add ons?

Freeware - Foxit Reader 2.0

I ended up with a problem while I was away. I did not take my laptop, only my 1 GB USB Drive loaded with portable versions of Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice.org.

The problem was that the computers available in the business center wher I was staying did not have Adobe Reader, in any version, installed. I was therefore unable to open any PDF files.

I went looking around and found Foxit Reader 2.0 for Windows from Foxit Software http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader_2/down_reader.htm.

I downloaded it to my USB drive, double clicked on the FoxitReader.exe file and was able to access PDF files to my hearts content and even fill in interactive forms, without having to install anything. On top of that it is much faster loading than Adobe Reader, in my experience.

Note: The paid version with enhanced capabilities does have an installer and writes to the registry, at least that is my understanding.

The free version does not have all the capabilities of Adobe Reader, but for the price and my uses, it is very adequate. I must say that I also have the full Adobe Acrobat 7 application on my main computer, with which I can generate PDFs and manipulate them, as well as just read or fill in interactive PDFs.

If I keep having no problems opening and reading PDF files in the next few weeks, Foxit Reader will become my default PDF reader.

Give this a try and you might be using it as your default PDF reader as well.

Miscellaneous - USB and Portable Application Presentations

I have been preparing two presentations to be given this evening at the BPCA general meeting.

The first "5 Things You Can Do With a Portable USB Drive" is a revised version of that presented by Jerry Naditch of the Viscaya Computer Club. Thanks to Jerry for his permission to revise and use as needed. All editing and additional material done using OpenOffice.org Portable v2.0.3 components.

The second "Portable Applications" was completely written using OpenOffice.org Portable v2.0.3.

Both will be available through the BPCA website, after publication of the November 2006, C:\BPCA News, in both OpenOffice.org Impress and Microsoft PowerPoint formats.

In the course of my research, for the "Portable Applications" presentation, I became aware of a portable version of Scribus v1.3.3.4, an open source desktop publishing application. I have installed it on one of my USB thumb drives, and intend to check it out for suitability of use in publishing further editions of C\BPCA News and other computer user group publications. If this works out, it will be a much cheaper alternative to the retail desktop publishing such groups must purchase.

If anyone has used the standard Scribus v1.3.3.4 or the portable version, for such a purpose, I would like to hear from you about your experiences or any suggestions.

Portable Apps - Firefox and Firefox Portable Settings Part 3

This is a follow up of my 31AUG06
Portable Apps - Firefox and Firefox Portable Settings Part 1 and
07SEP06
Portable Apps – Firefox and Firefox Portable Settings Part 2
postings, in which items in the General, Privacy and Content settings
were discussed. Part 4 will be concerned with the Advanced settings,
and will be the final posting regarding the Firefox settings. The
version of Firefox being used at the time of this entry is 1.5.0.7.

Tabs

The Tabs tab, appropriately is where what the tabs do or don't do,
when using the tabbed browsing feature in Firefox. The following is a
table, showing the different options and my preferences, which are
the same whether using the standard or portable version of Firefox.

Firefox and Portable Firefox Tabs Tab
Option	Secondary	Comments	My Preferences
Open links from other applications in:		Radio Buttons: a new window a new tab in the most recent window the most recent window	A new tab in the most recent window.
Force links that open new windows to open in:		Radio Buttons: the same tab/window as the link a new tab	A new tab.
Hide the tab bar when only one web site is open		Check Box: Checked: Hidden Unchecked: Showing	Checked.
Select new tabs opened from links		Check Box: Checked: Selected Unchecked: Not Selected	Unchecked.
Warn when closing multiple tabs		Check Box: Checked: Warned Unchecked: Not Warned	Checked. I am reminded that I have more than one tab open, so that I can Bookmark what I want to get back to, in case I have not already done so.

Downloads

The Downloads tab
contains controls for the handling of where the files are downloaded
and what can be done with them automatically. Downloading a file and
then finding it later is a problem for a lot of the users I know, so
I recommend that a specific folder be created and all downloads, of
whatever nature, be set to download to that folder. Personally that
is what I do and going even further, once my downloading is complete,
I set up sub-folders within that download folder to organize and make
them easier to locate months or years down the line.

Firefox and Portable Firefox Downloads Tab
Option	Secondary	Comments	My Preferences
Download Folder		Radio Buttons: Ask me where to save every file Save all files to this folder: (Offers a Browse button to select a folder in Windows Explorer	Desktop and Laptop – I set to save all downloads to a folder named Downloads on my partition, to make easier to find after download. USB Drives – Ask where to save every time, as I don't know what computer I will be using or what the USB drive letter will be, usually have saved to the USB Drive for portability.
Show Download Manager when a download begins		Check Box: Checked: Shows Unchecked: Does not Show	Checked.
	Close the Download Manager when all downloads are complete	Check Box: Checked: Closes Download Manager upon completion of download session. Unchecked: Leaves Download Manager open until Firefox is closed.	Checked.
Download Actions (Set to automatically download or open files of certain types.)		View & Edit Actions Button	Whatever the default for the extension is.
	Change Action Options When downloading files.	Radio Buttons: Open them with the default application (Shows what the default option is) Open them with this application: (Provides a Browse button) Save them on my computer. Use this Plugin	Whatever the default for the extension is.

If you have any
questions or ideas for a better way to set up the options, please
leave a comment with this post.

Portable Apps - Firefox and Firefox Portable Settings Part 2

This is a follow up of my 31AUG06 Portable Apps - Firefox and Firefox Portable Settings Part 1 posting, in which items in the General and Privacy settings were discussed. Part 2 will be concerned with the Content settings, subsequent postings will contain the information for the Tabs, Downloads and Advanced settings.

I use the same settings for both the local and portable versions, for the most part. See the tables below:

Firefox and Portable Firefox Contents Tab
Option	Secondary	Comments	My Preferences
Block Popup Windows		Checked: Popup windows blocked. Unchecked: Popup windows not blocked	Checked.
	Allowed Sites	A section to list exceptions to the above.	A very few sites, that use Popups are set up in both local and portable versions I use.
Warn me when web sites try to install extensions or themes		Checked: Warning given if website tries to install extensions or themes. Unchecked: No warning. At the time of the warning you can give permission or not.	Checked.
	Exceptions	A section to list exceptions to the above.	None, I always want to know what extensions or themes are being installed.
Load Images.		Checked: Images loaded.. Unchecked: Images not loaded.	Checked, but if using Portable Firefox somewhere with only dial up access I change this before accessing the Internet.
	Exceptions	A section to list exceptions to the above.	None.
	For the originating web site only	Checked: Images will only be loaded for the originating web site.	Unchecked, not sure what the advantages or disadvantages would be.
Enable Java		Checked: Java enabled. Unchecked: Java disabled.	Checked.
Enable JavaScript		Checked: JavaScript enabled. Unchecked: JavaScript disabled.	Checked.
	Advanced	More detailed JavaScript options.	Allow: Move or resize existing windows. Raise or lower windows.
Fonts & Colors		Control default fonts and colors.
	Default Font	Drop down of available fonts.	Times New Roman.
	Size	Drop down of available point sizes.	12 points.
	Advanced	More detailed font option controls.	Proportional: Serif: – 12 points. Serif: Times New Roman. Sans-serif: Arial. Monospace: Courier New – 13 points. Display resolution: 96 dpi. Minimum font size: None. Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above: – Checked. Default Character Encoding: Western (ISO-8859-1).
	Colors	Controls default colors.	Text: Black. Background: Light Grey. Use system colors: Unchecked. Unvisited Links: Blue. Visited Links: Violet. Underline links: Checked. Allow pages to choose their own colors, instead of my selections above: Checked.

As you can see the Content settings, are rather involved and give you quite a bit of control. Try out different settings for yourself, to see what works for you; you can always put it back the way you had it.

Let me know what works for you that is different from my preferences, maybe it will work better for me also.

Portable Apps - Firefox and Firefox Portable Settings Part 1

People who know me know that I am partial to open source software. In this posting I want to describe a few setting differences in using the Firefox browser locally, as opposed to the Firefox Portable browser, which I run from a thumb drive.

Both the local copy and the portable versions of Firefox, being used at the time of this posting, are version 1.5.0.6. I have been using Firefox locally since shortly after it became available and the portable versions for the last year or so. The different settings are configured from various Tools>Options tabs.

I use the same "General" options tab settings in both instances, except for the "Connection Settings". The local Firefox is a "Direct connection to the Internet", while the Firefox Portable is set up with the "Manual proxy configuration" settings to allow me to access the internet at work and usually using the "Auto-detect proxy settings for this network" gets me access at a library or similar non direct location.

As for the Privacy options tab settings, neither instance is set to save the browsing history, forms, download history, cookies nor cache, beyond the current session. Both instances have been set to "Remember Passwords", but have differing master passwords.

None of the saved passwords are for anything sensitive, like online banking or anything of a like nature; even so, additions or updates to the passwords on the Firefox Portable are only done when running from my own local computer and the master password is frequently changed.

Setting differences for the "Content", "Tabs", "Downloads" and "Advanced" options to be described in future posts.

Of course, these are the settings that I feel work best for me, and suit my security comfort levels, depending upon whether it is the local or the portable Firefox being used.

You may and probably do have different settings for your Firefox, however it is used. If you have a set up you think is better, or just have a question requiring a more in depth look at the settings, feel free to let me know by leaving a comment to this posting and I will get back to you as soon as possible.