Opera tip [1] – Additional Opera profile in XP

— Posted inUncategorized — 3 min read

How to create additional Opera profile in your Windows (limited) user account when you have your Opera installed in XP with the Standard (msi) installer for multiple users 😎

I haven't been with Opera Community over five years without having a trick or two to share, you know? 😉

Step by step instruction follows: …

1 Alongside the regular one created a new Opera profile directory"C:Documents and SettingsUSER NAMEApplication DataOperaOpera2". Also create a desktop shortcut with
"C:Program FilesOperaopera.exe" /settings "C:Documents and SettingsUSER NAMEApplication DataOperaOpera2operaprefs.ini"

2 Create an operaprefs.ini in the new profile folder with:

Opera Preferences version 2.1
; Do not edit this file while Opera is running
; This file is stored in UTF-8 encoding

[User Prefs]
Opera Directory=C:Documents and SettingsUSER NAMEApplication DataOperaOpera2
Opera Local Directory=C:Documents and SettingsUSER NAMELocal SettingsApplication DataOperaOpera2
Cache Directory4=C:Documents and SettingsUSER NAMELocal SettingsApplication DataOperaOpera2cache
Operator Cache Directory4=C:Documents and SettingsUSER NAMELocal SettingsApplication DataOperaOpera2opcache
Temporary Download Directory=C:Documents and SettingsUSER NAMELocal SettingsApplication DataOperaOpera2temporary_downloads

3 While keeping the regular Opera profile running, click on the newly created shortcut for "Opera2".

4 Check opera:about and opera:config to make sure everything is pointing to the new profile folder

Note:
By default the operaprefs.ini would have following entries:

Operator Cache Directory4={LargePreferences}opcache
Temporary Download Directory={LargePreferences}temporary_downloads
Cache Directory4={LargePreferences}cache

And these {LargePreferences} entries would prevent the paths to settings files and folders in additional profile pointing the wrong way (to the primary profile). Step 2 above would avoid that.

Reference:
Original discussion:
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=292032
Related topics:
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=277264
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=298179

[UPDATE] 20 Dec 2010
I've just discovered if "Remember content of visited sites" is enabled, the alternative profile still insists to create the corresponding folder in the default profile. Buxxer! I don't use that setting and only realised this shortcoming from reading this forum topic, "Moving the VPS Directory to a Different Location" 🙁

[UPDATE]7 May 2011
Also the icon and thumbnail folders refuse to separate. 🙁 Have noticed it a while back testing 11 builds. They have apparently changed the location of favicon/icons and made a separate folder for them. And the new image autoresize feature required a new thumbnail folder. It seems those new folders cannot have their location specified in the preset operaprefs.ini :irked:

Join the Conversation

  1. Originally posted by darkesthour:

    Multilingual tabs on the browser, perhaps an enhancement request?

    Unfortunately language settings are OS reliant. At least Windows allows per process switch. Linux is hopeless in this regard as language is seen as a part of user environment, meaning you'd have to switch language for your entire desktops!

  2. Apart from the default that fires up when I click on a link, I've a separate one for mail (three gmail accounts, can take a while to synch), another one for Unite. Another benefit is the input language, which is per process function in Windows. Having two Opera profiles allows me to have one for typing English and another for typing Japanese. Great when I'm researching for translation.But really the true answer is 'Because I can' :p

  3. Yap. I've set up three profiles that can run from the same opera.exe . Cool, eh? 😎

  5. True, but I would think that it would be trivial to start a "language" process along with the opera process so enabling multi lingual tabs

  6. Multilingual tabs on the browser, perhaps an enhancement request? I should think that it is do-able and with the operacommunity probably would have high regard amongst multi-lingual users. The mail does need another browser though

  7. Sounds interesting, what is the benefit over using tabs on the browser for multiple windows?

  10. I would settle for an ability to start a new window with a separate process. 🙂

  11. Very interesting : I use two "Opera usb" to have the same effect, but often run different version ( http://www.opera-usb.com/ ) . So you have really different settings for all including for the email client, bookmarks,… ?? ….. To save the data, I simply "zip" all the "Opera usb" directory, but saving only the profile directory, seem much more efficient.

  12. Before my hard drive went bad and needed reformat, I had three profiles on the official release (default without Mail or Unite; with Mail but not Unite and without Mail but with Unite) , one profile on legacy 10.10, one profile on latest 10.70 test build and one profile on most recent 10.6X release candidate at each of the two limited user accounts I had on it. In addition, I had one profile each on 10.10, 10.6x official release, 10.70 build and 10.6x+1 RC at my admin privileged account. Altogether I was managing 14 16 different Opera profiles. 😆 That's a lot!

  13. And 16 lives !!For me it's :–> Normal installation 10.6x for normal browsing and My Opera–> 10.54 usb for professional contacts and mails–> 10.62 usb for marketing 3 lives and it's enough. But to have only Opera executable is a great temptation !!

  14. I was very optimistic with Opera Unite, but they seem to have slow down the number of applications. On the other side customers are not prone to use it (they are more often in huge and protected network) and concerning friends, only Opcat uses it actually… But technically, it's very good. Plus : in France new laws forbid illegal downloading and it's so easy to "share" files with Unite !!

  15. I've only used the uploader and downloader (courier?). I'm on laptop and don't keep it turned on regularly, so there's not much point trying to run other things. Also as I mentioned elsewhere, I've got monthly traffic data cap and wouldn't want too much Unite related traffic.Originally posted by arduinna:

    in France new laws forbid illegal downloading and

    I don't do illegal downloading. You? :p

  16. That was before reformat. Now I've much trimmer 2 profs on 10.63 and 2 on 11 Alpha at my work user account, plus one prof each on 10.63 & 11A at my admin. I haven't had time to set up my private/hobby user account properly and only one one prof on 10.63 there, yet.Originally posted by arduinna:

    For me it's :–> Normal installation 10.6x for normal browsing and My Opera–> 10.54 usb for professional contacts and mails–> 10.62 usb for marketing 3 lives and it's enough.

    Sounds good. You know what you need and you've got what you need.To be honest, I had those 16 profiles not because I needed them, but, mostly, because I could have them and I like trying things out. For example I'd set up to use Unite from either of my two XP limited user account, but only used them a few times each, to get dad to directly download some big files. Some may say that's a waste of time setting up all those unnecessary profiles. But after all the practice, it now doesn't take me long to set up a new profile.

  17. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    I don't do illegal downloading. You?

    I just have 20 videos from Youtube, some videos that quickly disappeared as Robert Palmer "Every kind of people", … Guitar chords which I'm not sure can be there : http://www.megachords.com/ … Sometimes technical e-books I can find by chance, so no film, no software, no mp3 … If I do that, the library, the last CD (music) will disappear even faster … Now that I've said everything, it's your turn to confess !! :p .I tested the uploader using an Internet USB key (phone network + laptop ) to my main desktop attached to the normal network, but it was really too slow. Opcat has some good music to listen. I tried to establish a sort of network behind the WiFi, but it was too messy. That's all from my Unite yet.

  18. Originally posted by arduinna:

    it's your turn to confess !!

    I've nothing to confess. :p (Except that I should probably pay for pro version of some of the free software on this laptop :p)

  21. Yep ! Same thing for the gas; once you have downloaded it in the car or the bike … It's the responsability of the pump attendant that let you at your disposal …. :rolleyes:

  22. Originally posted by arduinna:

    t's the responsability of the pump attendant

    to do what?

  23. So I don't do illegal downloading, whether my ISP polices it or not. 😉 :whistle:

  24. It was just a metaphor : It's often said that it is of the Internet provider to be responsible of the contents of the space given to users, when in my opinion it's the user's responsibility.In the case of gas station, if someone take the gas that was delivered by the tank truck driver without paying, to accuse the pump attendant, would be unfair, just as accusing the Internet provider of allowing multimedia content available."It's the responsibility of the pump attendant" was in fact ironic as I wanted to say that in my opinion the pump attendant (the Internet provider) is responsible of nothing.

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