It is very simple to use Firefox at school.

It is very simple to use Firefox at school. Most schools have Internet explorer set as the default browser and will be configured a little bit differently than your internet explorer is at home (If you in fact use IE). Some schools connect using a proxy, some don’t, but that’ll be covered later.

To use Firefox at school, the first thing that you need is some kind of removable storage. I recommend getting a USB flash drive, they run about $20 and are definitely worth the money. Any store with an electronics department should have these, ask for a “flash drive” and they should know what you are looking for. You can also use CDs and external hard drives, but the USB stick is by far the most efficient way (yes, technically speaking the USB stick is an external hard drive, I'm just saying you don’t need to carry around a 2 TB monster).

After you have gotten your ‘storage device’, now you need a copy of Firefox. But, not just any copy. If you go to the official website (www.mozilla.com/firefox), then you will have problems. You need what is called “Firefox portable”. What this application allows you to do is to use Firefox without installing it (something you need admin privileges to do). Download it (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable). Be sure to download it to your computer and not to your storage device. When finished, launch it and NOW select your storage device. It will automatically install and you’ll be almost ready to use it.

For the next part you need to be at school. First off, you might as well try to launch Firefox without making any changes. Go to where it is installed on your device, and then open it up. Try to go to a website; if this doesn’t work then you’ll need to change the settings on Firefox. This is where the ‘proxy’ that I talked about earlier comes into play. First, open both Firefox and internet explorer. Now, in IE, go to tools -> options -> connections -> LAN settings. Examine this; you’ll need to make it the same for Firefox. Now, in Firefox go to tools -> options -> advanced ->network settings and make it the same as you saw in IE. Now try a website again. It will work.

NOTE: If you are unable to launch Firefox, you need to; A) disable your school’s program that stops this or B) change the name of ‘Firefox.exe’ to something like ‘iexplore.exe’

Thanks for reading, have fun with Firefox.