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We need differnt version of Firefox for different user accounts on Windows 7

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by TyDraniu

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With 4 different user accounts on our Windows 7 PC, we need each user to have their own chosen version of Firefox. One wants to stay with an older version, another wants the latest all the time.

There must be a way to install and make each FF version available only to the user currently on the computer. Each user has their own AppData folder after all.

And, no, not interested in the profiles nonsense. Want different versions of FF installed but each version only available to the user who installed it.

With 4 different user accounts on our Windows 7 PC, we need each user to have their own chosen version of Firefox. One wants to stay with an older version, another wants the latest all the time. There must be a way to install and make each FF version available only to the user currently on the computer. Each user has their own AppData folder after all. And, no, not interested in the profiles nonsense. Want different versions of FF installed but each version only available to the user who installed it.

All Replies (5)

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I believe that installing into the C:\Users\{username}\Program Files directory instead of the default C:\Program Files directory should have the desired effect.

However, you can also restrict access to programs using group policy and file sharing permissions.

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Wesley Branton said

I believe that installing into the C:\Users\{username}\Program Files directory instead of the default C:\Program Files directory should have the desired effect. However, you can also restrict access to programs using group policy and file sharing permissions.

I am on Windows7 and don't see a Program Files folder there. This user would need to create a Program Files folder there, but any old name would suffice for that folder - but a new folder should be made regardless of what it is named.

I just name the new folder something like Firefox52ESR to differentiate it from all the other versions of Firefox that I have installed and have it in /Program Files/OtherBrowsers/ to keep them all in the same place. But each to his own method of separating different versions of the same application ...


Also - use the Full (off-line) Installer package from here to be able to do a Custom Installation to the desired location.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

The Stub Installer package doesn't provide that option.

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the-edmeister said

Wesley Branton said
I believe that installing into the C:\Users\{username}\Program Files directory instead of the default C:\Program Files directory should have the desired effect. However, you can also restrict access to programs using group policy and file sharing permissions.

I am on Windows7 and don't see a Program Files folder there. This user would need to create a Program Files folder there, but any old name would suffice for that folder - but a new folder should be made regardless of what it is named.

I just name the new folder something like Firefox52ESR to differentiate it from all the other versions of Firefox that I have installed and have it in /Program Files/OtherBrowsers/ to keep them all in the same place. But each to his own method of separating different versions of the same application ...


Also - use the Full (off-line) Installer package from here to be able to do a Custom Installation to the desired location.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

The Stub Installer package doesn't provide that option.

Yeah, I hate stub installers for any program. Just plain dumb and annoying.

So where would this new folder be located? Under each user—or in the main Programs folder? To elaborate: So you are saying to create a folder named whatever inside the individual user folder and install the program there? Or create another folder inside c:\ programs and install each version inside a newly named folder inside your suggested other browsers folder. I am on Win7 x64 Pro. Confused. I have never tried anything like this before and I am pretty sure Restore has never worked correctly on my machine which makes me leery.

I am very very sick and tired of Mozilla’s notices popping up to update. I hate Chrome and am not really interested in a Chrome look alike. Plus, I use certain extensions and do not want to lose them. Other users in my family feel differently.

Thanks for any clarification.

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Wesley Branton said

I believe that installing into the C:\Users\{username}\Program Files directory instead of the default C:\Program Files directory should have the desired effect. However, you can also restrict access to programs using group policy and file sharing permissions.

I have never used group policy or file sharing so I am not really sure how to go about it. We just use the Public docs folder to share docs and photos.

Seems like Mozilla should allow the user to choose which versions tonahve installed instead of automatically uninstalling previous versions.

Thanks.

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Every user (without admin rights) should just run his own installer and install it in default location as Wesley says. It will be somewhere in C:\Users\{username}\ and will not affect different accounts.