I was trying to troubleshoot a plugin problem with FF Portable the other day, and posted on a forum on what I should check (grey bar with red up arrow, menus blank etc). The main respondent just said "why bother doing anything? It's a portable app, just copy out your bookmarks.html, delete the damn thing and reinstall it!" Fair call, and it's what I ended up doing, even though I then had to go through and re-enter all my passwords etc.
He also said that's why he uses portable apps even on his local HDD install at home - that way, if he doesn't want it anymore, or wants to upgrade, or it gets corrupted, he can just delete the folder and reload it with no Add/Remove Programs issues, registry issues etc.
Sounds like a good idea, but has me wondering - what's the catch? We know the pros of portability, but what are the cons? Is there any reason why all programs aren't designed like this? Are they slower, less functional, what? Because I'm putting together my new PC now, and when I'm loading software onto it I might just do this.
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The disadvantage of portable software is in a multiuser environment. The application would allow all users to share data which is not exactly a good thing. If the apps are installed to say the userprofile folder. In addition many apps here are UPXed to lower space. This can speed up the initial launch on a USB stick, but on a HD it may slightly lower launch time. It wouldn't effect the program after it is launched.
cowsay Moo
cowthink 'Dude, why are you staring at me.'
just reinstall?
It'll keep all your data working while reinstalling. I would think that's a good advantage to Portable Apps.
As for a multiuser enviroment, truecrypt will save your day.
Insert original signature here with Greasemonkey Script.
I only use the portable versions of a few of the apps here.
The only con I have is the loss of file associations.
e.g. launch html files in FFP from TBP, right click send to for VLC, open PDF with SPDFP etc.
There are hacks, apps, to make this work but I am waiting for them to come out of testing before I risk it.
Tim
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Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
Ah, file associations and multi-user environments. I thought along those lines. I'm planning on using OOo as my office suite, and if OOo Portable won't associate all my documents, spreadsheets etc that would be a killer. So looks like OOo will be the full install then.
What about Firefox?
Pros:
dodgy/troublesome plugins/settings can be gone in an instant
no registry issues
Cons:
every user will have the same profile? Not good for privacy or usability
can FF Portable be registered as the default browser in Vista, or does that require a full install?
Same applies for Sunbird and Thunderbird (prob not TB, don't need it).
For open office you can associate files with it. Just right click on the file and set it to to open with openoffice portable.
cowsay Moo
cowthink 'Dude, why are you staring at me.'
"every user will have the same profile? Not good for privacy or usability"
Not necessarily,
Just give each user their own copy with their own profile, it's not that big.
"can FF Portable be registered as the default browser in Vista, or does that require a full install?"
What you would wind up doing is registering the FF within FFP and lose portability. If the specific advantages of FFP don't matter to you I would say do a full install.
Tim
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Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
I can say almost all the apps i use in my computer are portable and i love it that way. No installs and uninstalls, no junk in the registry and in my system drive, and no going through the hassle of installing and configuring everything again after a format/os re-install.
The only ones i have to install are the antivírus and firewall...
As for file associations i use C.A.F.É. (https://portableapps.com/node/8690) and it works like a charm.