are you including the pathname for each firefox.exe and are you using -no-remote on the ones that are not using your default browser.

You are on Windows 7 so I know you can check out the actual command for each in the Windows Task Manager on the '"Processes" tab.

Using multiple profiles - Firefox - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

"Windows Task Manager

Additional columns can be added within the Processes tab of the Windows Task Manager (WTM) by right-clicking on a column header. When working with multiple versions of Firefox at the same time, you will need to know which process to terminate if there is a problem. By including the "Command Line" column you will see the actual command line that was invoked to start each process. Typical problem would be a stuck application not showing on the Windows status bar but still in the WTM Processes tab. Trying to start/restart Firefox in such cases will show a dialog box with the message, Firefox is already running but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart the system."

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_multiple_profiles_-_Firefox

At this point I'm manually launching the exe from various folders and I'm manually choosing the profile via profile manager (as I always have) when launched, firefox is also not my default browser. I use process explorer, so the task manager bit isnt relevant, but again, regardless of what exe I launch C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe is the process that shows as running after launching.

A bit more fiddling seems to show this is somehow happening after any single version is started. If I launch 8, then try to open aurora somehow 8 is the process that gets launched regardless of the exe/shortcut I use. If I open aurora the same thing happens. I get no profile manager dialogue box and regardless of the exe path, the previously opened version is what is shown as running. Additionally it looks like 7 has somehow been completely wiped from my system, the path to what had been 7 now only launches 8.

It seems some kind of forced update from 4.x versions is the cause of this, I ran a firefox.exe in an old 4.x backup folder and it immediately updates without asking, and updates to the beta channel (which 7 seems to be doing as well).

So to clarify, it would seem (aside of namakora 64bit) any 'older' version (including 7) updated to the beta and I specifically have the update box unchecked for all versions I am running. If I try to run 2 versions at the same time somehow the initial firefox process 'hijacks' the second and the proper version does not run. So I guess my question is how to disable whatever is causing the 2nd version to incorrectly launch as this was working yesterday and I changed no settings on any of my versions. I can live without 4 if its going to force update but would like at least 7, 8 and aurora working properly.

Additionally just to see if it worked I tried running portable version of 7 and get an error that firefox is already running (the version running is 8).

Sounds like a "hung" firefox.exe process - IOW, when you close Firefox, the exe process isn't terminating and is still active.
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Firefox%20hangs
See hang-at-exit

No, its not a hung process, I get the error after running 8 and trying to run the portable version of 7, a bit more reading found me the ini setting for the portable version to launch more than one instance. I'm just going to blow away all the versions I currently have installed and start over, something about this 4 forced update has completely screwed my installs, hopefully reinstalling + mozback will get this sorted.

Firefox portable might not allow or work with just -no-remote on the command, line, you will have to do it with

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=523037&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

or more likely AllowMultipleInstances=true

see http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2009/06/11/running-firefox-and-firefox-portable-at-the-same-time/

You should test it alone to begin with without your other firefox.exe running, it was intended to be used where Firefox was not installed. I expect things have changed a lot since then.

The AllowMultipleInstances=true setting is what I was referring to. Blowing away and reinstalling seemed to fix, though I still don't know what caused this behavior. Something about the forced 4.x update was causing 7 to also update as well, which seemed to be the root of the issue. I can't find any documentation regarding this forced update (after fixing I stopped looking to be honest) so I can't really troubleshoot further, but as I didn't really need/use 4.x anymore I suppose its mostly moot so long as 7/8 work properly. I'll just keep portable handy in case something like this happens again and hopefully it wont decide to update itself without my permission.