Google Chrome 16 - sync, multi-users, sign-in and avatars

Chrome 16 (stable) which was released a month back has some cool features (new and not so new) which when used in tandem eases usage and saves some heartburn.  A word of caution though - none of these increase the PC or internet security or secure your privacy, au contraire might prove otherwise. 

One main grouse is that I regularly keep losing browser settings, bookmarks (favourites), etc., during a PC crash, like the one in October.  Another is that bookmarks on one PC are unavailable to me elsewhere or when I switch to Linux (or vice-versa) in a multi-boot machine.  Which means googling or binging through the net for that particular information once again - a waste of time.

Sync
For such times, the Google Chrome Sync is a real blessing.  If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a go.  In Google Chrome,

Click on Wrench >> Options >> Personal Stuff >>  in ‘Sign in’ Click Sign in to Chrome.

A log-on box ‘Sign in and Sync’ appears.  Log on and you’ve options (check boxes) to select what you want to be synced - bookmarks, extensions, settings, apps., etc.

Multiple Users
This is a new feature introduced in Google Chrome 16 (stable). An irritation which every PC user can do without is others - mother, wife, hubby, nephews, nieces and neighbours kids - adding to ‘your’ bookmarks.

Chrome 16 offers a simple way out of this.  Create users - actually browsing profiles - so others have a chance to leave ‘your’ profile alone.

Just under the ‘Sign in’ mentioned above, (Wrench >> Options >> Personal Stuff >>) you will find ‘Users’, in which you Click 'Add new user’ - Chrome automatically adds a random user and an avatar (picture), which you can see at the top left corner - the same place where the ‘White Spy’ appears in incognito mode.

You can switch between ‘users’ by clicking on the image and switching to the required profile.


Sign in
Whether you have created multiple profiles or are a single user, you can Sign in and Sync as explained above.  Actually this ‘Sign in’ should not have a para of its own.  But due to the quirky way Chrome functions with multiple users, I have decided to put this one in.  BTW, I don’t think you’ll get these tips anywhere else.
0:-)

The quirks are

• Chrome assumes that the first profile created is the default profile,
• Chrome starts with the last profile active, when it was shut down last time,
• Chrome does not respect profiles while in incognito mode (or) if you sign into Chrome, your incognito mode becomes in absentia* (bad pun indeed),
• *To add to the confusion, Chrome can and will open in incognito mode and be ‘signed-in’ at the same time - go figure it out, and
• while you can edit only the ‘current’ user profile, you can delete any existing profile (and add a new one too).

Keeping above in mind,

• when you begin to set up multi users and  sync, I suggest you start with a clean browser,
• when Chrome starts, make it start with a non-synced profile or incognito mode without being signed-in
• when you close Chrome, do so with a non-synced profile.

To start with a clean browser,

• first sign in with the Google ID in which you want the settings, bookmarks etc., to be synced with and sync it.
• second, create a new user (user 1) which will be a random user
• third, delete the original, synced user profile (default profile)
• fourth, create another new user (user 2), which will be a random user
• fifth, log on/sign in as this newest user (user 2), sync and get your settings, bookmark, etc., back
• finger around to find out if anything else can be done, blog or tweet about it and let me know (if you don’t mind), and
• have fun

Change avatars (Update:  This hack does *not* work in Chrome 18 and above.  Don't waste your time)
By this time, long time readers should know me.  I am like a kid with a new toy.  Given a new toy I like playing around with it.  But soon I want to open it up and put my fingers in.  Thus I got tired of all the cute little faces, flowers and burgers which you can select for display on the top left corner of Chrome.  I wanted my ugly mug to stare back at me, when my profile is logged in.



Caution:  Imprudent use of the following software and/or my instructions can screw up your PC’s browser, OS or other software - if you don’t understand any step, don’t attempt this.

With Paint.Net resized a mad.madrasi image into a PNG file of 32 x 32 pixels (update: 24 x 24 image seems better - experiment with it) named ‘madmadrasi_4_chrome.png’

Downloaded the freeware Resource Hacker 3.6.0, fired it up and located the file at:
C:\Documents and Settings\%user%\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\16.0.912.63\chrome.dll

On the left pane, collapsed the first cluster ‘BINDATA’ and scrolled down to the resource 6171
Replaced the resource with the file ‘madmadrasi_4_chrome.png’, making sure to give it the proper name ‘BINDATA, 6171, 0’ - as you can see in the image.

Then told Resource Hacker to replace it and save the file.  (If Chrome is active, Resource Hacker will throw up an error - just close all windows of Chrome with Task Manager and try again)



Viola! My ugly mug is there.  BTW the resources under BINDATA from 6162 to 6187 are all the AVATAR images used for multi-user profiles.



So, go ahead, quietly replace the cute inbuilt faces with more cuter family members tonight and wallow in their joy and attention over the weekend!

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