Tom AZ Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 On what kind of media can portable apps be installed and used? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony A Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 On what kind of media can portable apps be installed and used? USB thumb drives, external HD, Ipod, CD/DVD. Basically anything portable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Andavari Posted November 20, 2008 Moderators Share Posted November 20, 2008 When planning on using them on read-only media like CD/DVD you need to launch them first from your hard disk as that will allow for a configuration file to be created - if the portable app uses one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom AZ Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 When planning on using them on read-only media like CD/DVD you need to launch them first from your hard disk as that will allow for a configuration file to be created - if the portable app uses one. Can you elaborate on this, Andavari? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony A Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Can you elaborate on this, Andavari? You need to run the portable app from your HD or a thumb drive and make your settings then. Than burn the portable app to a CD/DVD if you plan on using it from a CD/DVD. If you were to put the portable app on a CD/DVD without doing that first you wouldn't be able to change any settings because you can't write to the CD/DVD you are running the portable app off of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom AZ Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 You need to run the portable app from your HD or a thumb drive and make your settings then. Than burn the portable app to a CD/DVD if you plan on using it from a CD/DVD. If you were to put the portable app on a CD/DVD without doing that first you wouldn't be able to change any settings because you can't write to the CD/DVD you are running the portable app off of. So, does this mean that you can also install and use a portable app on your HD? Also, I'm a little embarrassed for not knowing this, but I've never used a portable program before. So, could someone give me a 1-2-3 on how I would go about preparing a CD version. I already have the program downloaded -- now what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talldog9 Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Portable apps run best off a hard drive. #2- Once you have the program extracted (if it needs to be) run it from your hard drive. Configure every single thing in it to suit your preferences. Close the program. It should now have your options saved to it's configuration file(s). Now you simply burn the programs folder to a CD using your preferred burning method. If you want the program to autorun when it's inserted into the drive, also burn a autorun.inf file to it. It should contain something like [autorun] open=progfolder\prog.exe The internet - Where men are men, women are men and children are FBI agents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom AZ Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 Portable apps run best off a hard drive. #2- Once you have the program extracted (if it needs to be) run it from your hard drive. Configure every single thing in it to suit your preferences. Close the program. It should now have your options saved to it's configuration file(s). Now you simply burn the programs folder to a CD using your preferred burning method. If you want the program to autorun when it's inserted into the drive, also burn a autorun.inf file to it. It should contain something like [autorun] open=progfolder\prog.exe That's pretty simple. Thanks, Talldog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony A Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 So, does this mean that you can also install and use a portable app on your HD? Yes. I have probably fifty on my machines. When ever I am looking for an app I always look for a portable version of it and use it if there is one. Makes backing up very simple and maintaining multiple machines less of a hassle. For example I will set up Portable Firefox and get it all configured the way I want and than simply copy it to another machine or two or three. Very simple. Less garbage than installed versions because everything is self contained in one folder. There is no "install" really. If you use the Portable Apps.com format you really are just extracting to a folder. If you use a zip format you are just un zipping to a folder. Some of the portable apps I use on my machines are CCleaner Firefox Opera Revo Uninstaller Notepad++ FastStone Image Viewer FastStone Capture Jarte Pidgin and many others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoKenny Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 WinPatrol portable: http://www.winpatrolflash.com I even have the Flash USB Wristband loaded with CCleaner plus HostMan installer. "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." - Albert Einstein IE7Pro user Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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