Thursday, November 12, 2015

How to Download Previous Versions of Chrome Browser

Why I need older version of Chrome browser?  The latest is the best, right ?

Starting from version 45 the NPAPI is permanently disabled, and as a result I cannot use Chrome to launch the Oracle Form anymore.

Here I show you how to download previous version of Chrome browser, from the OFFICIAL source, not from randomly file download sites which probably contain virus and showing pictures not good in the office.

The key word is -- CHROMIUM, not CHROME

(1) Goto Wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Chrome_release_history to find out which version or platform you want to download.  Find out the BUILD number, e.g. for version 41 it should be 41.0.2272.  Look for the latest build for this version from here.  Build 41.0.2272.76 is the last stable build for version 41.  If you don't know, just add "dot zero", i.e. 41.0.2272.0

(2) Goto Google Chromium Version Tracking page https://omahaproxy.appspot.com to find out the branch base position of the version you need.  Put your build version into the "Position Lookup" box, and it will give you the "Base Position" number.  For build 41.0.2272.76, the number is 310958.

(3) Goto Chromium Continuous Build Storage page http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/chromium-browser-continuous/index.html
Select Platform, and search (or use Filter at the top) the Position Number you obtained from (2).

(4) Download the mini_installer.exe.  This is the one you need.

To launch Oracle Form for Oracle EBS 11i or R12, you need a free extension called "User-Agent Switcher", offered by www.esolutions.se.  When you need to launch a Form, simply switch the User Agent to "Safari on Mac", and it should able to solve the infamous "Registry.dat file not found" issue.

Finally, why use Chromium? Because it does not force you to update to latest version.  Even you are able to download previous version of Chrome Browser, after installation has done it will automatically upgrade itself to the latest version.  And it is so hard to disable the update, just like a very persistent virus that no simple way to get rid of.