Software restriction policy, FlashGot, and Firefox 10 ESR

[QuietCanuck]

I started having a problem with FlashGot on all the computers in the house once I updated Firefox to the 10.xESR stream. The problem is tied to the fact that I have Windows "software restriction policy" turned on, but FlashFGot worked fine before I updated Firefox and FlashGot, so am hoping there is some Firefox or FlashGot configuration change I can make to get them working harmoniously together again.

The details:
-I am currently running Flashgot 1.4.8.4, Firefox 10.0.9, WinXP SP3 with Software Restriction Policy turned on.
-Before Firefox 10.xESR I was running Firefox 3.6.x and all was fine with Flashgot.
-I install Firefox extensions globally. In case it makes a difference on how I do this, this is how I install extensions globally:
-Before in Firefox 3.6.x I simply copied the XPI files to the "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\" directory directly and they installed without problem, inc FlashGot (Firefox would rename the XPI file to it's cryptic xxxx name of course but everything ran fine).
-After I upgraded to Firefox 10.0.x I could no longer simply copy the XPI file to the "...Firefox\extensions\" directory, but instead had to first rename the XPI files to their respective "<em:id>" names before copying them (for FlashGot I use "{19503e42-ca3c-4c27-b1e2-9cdb2170ee34}.xpi").
-in April 2012 I updated Firefox to 10.0.3 from 3.6.x, and I think FlashGot from ~1.4.1 to ~1.4.5.

The errors I get:
-I get an error message now whenever Firefox first starts that says "C:\Documents and Settings\xxxx\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\fdgqbvaf.default\flashGot.exe Windows cannot open this program because it has been prevented by a software restriction policy. For more information, open Event Viewer or contact your system administrator."
-Another computer in the house (same software setup) often gets the same error message when she right clicks on things in Firefox (although the user name and "xxxx.default" directory names are different obviously).

Since I have always had Windows Software Restriction Policy active on the computers in the house, as well as had FlashGot on them (for years), I am assuming the problem is not a new Software Restriction Policy problem, but more likely that Firefox or FlashGot changed where they store exe or temp files in Firefox 10.xESR compared to 3.6.x. Does this sound right, and if so is there a configuration change I can make to Firefox or Flashgot to correct this?

By the way, I love NoScript and Flashgot as they are great extensions.

Thanks.

[Giorgio Maone]

FlashGot didn't change anything.
You need to allow FlashGot.exe to run in your software restriction policy, though, and since its location may have changed during the upgrade you now need to do it again.

[QuietCanuck]

Thank you for the reply Giorgio.
I only allow programs to execute under "c:\windows", and "c:\program files", and do not want to allow programs to execute from anywhere under "C:\Documents and Settings\..." which is where FlashGot.exe now seems to reside with Firefox 10.0.xESR (although it did not reside there with Firefox 3.6.x).

It is good to hear that Flashgot has not changed, so it must be that Firefox 10.0.x is executing globally installed extensions in a different manner than Firefox 3.6.x did. I just checked and I have not installed any other extensions that have executables in them so that is likely why FlashGot is is the only extension I have that is having trouble. Since for security reasons I do not want to allow anything to run from "C:\Documents and Settings\...", do you know how I can configure Firefox 10.0.x to execute extensions from the same place it used to in 3.6.x, or do I have to post this question in a Firefox forum?

Thanks again.

[Giorgio Maone]

FlashGot.exe has always been created in the profile folder: the only one, together with the temp folder which is even more problematic for an executable, where extensions are certainly allowed to write files.

This means that

1. No matter how you install your extensions, FlashGot.exe will be always in your profile folder
2. You probably had an exception set up for FlashGot.exe in your previous configuration, or your entire profile was outside C:\Documents and settings\

[QuietCanuck]

Hi Georgio.

I did some testing to confirm, and indeed, Flashgot.exe has not always been created in the "profile" directory when installed globally.
I found an unused computer in the house running WinXP SP3 and installed an old version of Firefox (3.5.3) and an old version of FlashGot (1.3.0.6) globally (simply copied "flashgot-1.3.0.6-fx+tb+sm.xpi" to "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\"), ran Firefox and then checked the hard drive for instances of "flashgot.exe", and only one existed and it was at:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\{19503e42-ca3c-4c27-b1e2-9cdb2170ee34}\chrome\FlashGot.exe"

While it is a moot point now, I did check my software restriction policy just to be sure, and it has only ever allowed programs to execute under "c:\windows", and "c:\program files" only, with no other exceptions, therefore nothing has ever been able to execute from anywhere under "C:\Documents and Settings\..." on any of my computers, which simply reinforces the fact that "flashgot.exe" did not get installed to the "profile" directory when installed globally under the 3.x versions of Firefox.

Anyway, since you say Flashgot has never changed how it is intended to run, it must be that Firefox 10.0.x is executing globally installed extensions in a different manner than Firefox 3.6.x did. I just checked and I have not installed any other extensions that have executables in them so that is likely why FlashGot is is the only extension I have that is having trouble. Since for security reasons I do not want to allow anything to run from "C:\Documents and Settings\...", do you know of a way to configure Firefox 10.0.x to make it execute global extensions from the same place it used to in 3.6.x? If not then I will post this question in a Firefox forum instead.

Thanks again.

[QuietCanuck]

Problem solved by simply uninstalling FlashGot, and leaving it out.
Actually 2 problems were solved with this.
First, it solved the security problem of FlashGot that I have stated above (no Flashgot = no SRP security problem).
Second, my system is now much faster without FlashGot. I found an April 2011 article that listed FlashGot as #4 on a Mozilla list of extensions that slow down Firefox. The article said FlashGot slows Firefox loading by 50%, although in my case I was seeing Firefox sucking up 54% of my CPU cycles constantly and was making my PC very sluggish at all tasks, and getting worse the longer I had Firefox open.
Now, whether my extreme slow down was due to my installing Flashgot globally or not I don't know, but Firefox certainly is much faster now without FlashGot. As an example of the speed increase, with the exact same windows and tabs open (52 Firefox tabs), Task Manager now shows Firefox as 0% CPU usage(ie: <1%), whereas before it showed a constant 54% CPU usage).

Sorry I could not help delve into the FlashGot problem further to help solve it's interaction problem with Firefox, but being as I seldom actually used FlashGot I figured it was not worth trying to solve in my instance being as there were 2 problems I would have to solve.

Hope this info helps others.

[Giorgio Maone]

The article said FlashGot slows Firefox loading by 50%

In facts, it measured startup time, and it was a mere 100ms (1/10 second) overhead, mostly due to initialization I/O (not CPU bound).
And since then, it's been cut down to 20ms.

So your problem is definitely different and unique to your configuration.