Several days ago, a user sent me an email saying that his JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper won't load or display watch list. He mentioned that he was using Firefox 3.0.11 (portable), which I knew nothing about. After a quick googling, it turns out to be a customized Firefox that can be ran on a USB drive.
I immediately thought the problem could be related to this portable version. I downloaded the portable version and installed it on a 2GB Kingston DataTraveler. To my disappointment, JoyBidder worked perfectly fine. Well, I should be happy since I don't need to fix anything to get JoyBidder to work on Firefox portable, but on the other hand, I still don't know how to fix user's problem. Without much information at hand, I replied and asking for more specific information and also told him to read the FAQ about "3rd party cookie", (which has, by far, contributed to most of supporting emails). I also instructed him on how to use Firefox Error Console to send me error logs if he sees any. I hope he is doing fine, although I haven't got his reply yet. Sometimes I really wish all users just live nearby, so that I can just drop by and fix the problem on site.
Aside from the frustration of not being helpful, the finding of Firefox portable is really useful. Now I can load all auctions in a USB Flash drive, carry it to my office and, well, you know.:)
For fellow snipers seriously thinking of doing this, I recommend using fast USB Flash drive or better yet external hard disk. My Kingston DataTraveler works but performance is slow, surfing web is fine, sniping is not.
You can read this USB Flash Drive Speed Comparison before deciding which one to use.
