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PortableApps.com Platform and Suite SupportMany of the most common issues that arise when using PortableApps.com Platform and PortableApps.com Suite are addressed here. Please read through the various topics to see if any of them address your question. You can also post a question to one of the forums for the apps within the suite. << Return to the PortableApps.com Platform and Suite homepage PortableApps.com Platform and Suite Issues
Installing the PortableApps.com Platform or SuiteTo install the PortableApps.com Platform or Suite, just download the installer for the version you'd like from the PortableApps.com Platform and Suite homepage and run it. It's best to install it right to the root directory of your portable drive (X:\ where X is the drive letter). It'll take anywhere from 1 to 20 minutes depending on the edition you select (Platform Only, Light or Standard) and the speed of your drive. Using the PortableApps.com PlatformTo start up the PortableApps.com Platform, just double-click StartPortableApps.exe in the root of your portable drive. In many cases, Windows will ask if you'd like to start PortableApps.com when you plug in your drive. Then, use the intuitive PortableApps.com Menu to launch your apps, browse your drive, search the web and more. When using any portable software, here are a couple tips:
Adding PortableApps.com Format Apps to the PortableApps.com MenuThe PortableApps.com Menu can automatically add apps in PortableApps.com Format. Just download the the PortableApps.com Installer (ending in .paf.exe) for the app you'd like to add (like FileZilla Portable, for instance). Then, in PortableApps.com Menu, click Options - Add a New App - Install and then select the FileZilla Portable .paf.exe file you just downloaded. The PortableApps.com Menu will automatically install it to the proper location for you. You can also run the installers directly. As long as you have your portable apps installed to the standard location, they will automatically find your PortableApps.com drive, install and tell the menu to refresh. Adding Other Apps to the PortableApps.com MenuThe PortableApps.com Menu will also work with other standalone and portable apps. You just need to place them in a directory "next to" the PortableAppsMenu directory. So, in a standard layout, you'd create a directory within the X:\PortableApps directory and place it within there. For example, if you have a portable program MyApp.exe, you could create a folder called X:\PortableApps\MyApp\ and place MyApp.exe and all its files within there. Then, just click Options - Refresh App Icons within the PortableApps.com Menu and your new app will show up. Removing Apps from the PortableApps.com MenuTo uninstall a portable app, just right-click and select Uninstall. The Platform will ask if you're sure, then it will take a few moments to delete all the files. You can also just delete the app itself in Explorer. From the PortableApps.com Menu, just click the Explore button and browse to the PortableApps directory. There you will see a list of the directories containing the installed apps. To uninstall Mines-Perfect Portable, for instance, you'd just delete the Mines-PerfectPortable directory from your device. You can then click Options - Refresh App Icons within PortableApps.com Menu and the it will detect that you uninstalled the app. Renaming Icons in the PortableApps.com MenuTo rename an app icon, just right-click on it. A rename window will appear and you can enter the name you'd like and click OK. The originally name is shown above for your reference. If you'd like to reset the icon to the original name, just clear the text from the rename box. Any changes you make are instantly shown on the PortableApps.com Menu. Hiding Icons in the PortableApps.com MenuTo hide an app icon, right-click on it and select hide. To unhide an icon you have hidden, right-click on any icon and check off show hidden icons. The menu will refresh and show all icons, including the ones you have hidden. The ones you have hidden will have a line through them. Right-click and uncheck Hide. Then right-click and uncheck Show Hidden Icons. Running an App As AdminYou can run a portable app as another user by right-clicking and selecting Run As Admin. Adding or Removing a Personal Picture on the PortableApps.com MenuStarting with the PortableApps.com Menu 1.1 release, you can add a personal picture to the menu. To do this, just move your mouse over the upper-right region of the menu. A highlight box will appear. Click it and select the picture you wish to add. 48x48 pixel images work best. To remove your personal picture, just right-click on it. You can use BMP, JPG or PNG files. Transparent PNGs are supported and when you choose a PNG, the outline is removed. Using The Built-In Wallpaper SwapperThe PortableApps.com Platform has an easy-to-use wallpaper swapper built in. It will change the wallpaper on the PC to your own while it's running and change it back when you exit. To use it, just save the wallpaper of your choice as a Windows BMP file (RGB encoding for the geeky) to your X:\Documents\Pictures directory and name the file portableapps_wallpaper.bmp. The next time you start up the PortableApps.com Platform, it will find it and use it. You can also add a portableapps_wallpaper_wide.bmp file which will be automatically be used on widescreen displays. Moving the PortableApps.com Menu and Changing Its Startup LocationTo move the PortableApps.com Menu, just move your mouse to the PortableApps.com logo at the top. You'll see the mouse pointer change to a four way directional arrow. Hold down your mouse button and move the menu wherever you'd like. When you close the PortableApps.com Platform, the menu will remember it's relative position on the screen (top, middle or bottom as well as left, center or right) and start up at that same location even if you move to another PC. Rename Your PortableApps.com-Enabled DriveTo rename your PortableApps.com-enabled drive, just click on the drive name in the lower left corner of the menu. Type in the name you'd like and click the ">" button or hit enter on your keyboard. You may need to eject and reinsert your drive for the new name to show up in Windows Explorer. Using Portable Fonts With the PlatformThe PortableApps.com Platform supports the ability to take standard font files (TTF, OTF, etc) with you and use them on any computer without the need to install them into Windows. Just copy the font files you'd like available to the X:\PortableApps\PortableApps.com\Data\Fonts directory in a standard platform setup. You may need to create the Fonts folder. Everything else is automatic and the fonts will be available to you in your apps while the platform is running. It should be noted that some apps use non-standard ways of determining what fonts are available and won't be able to see them (GIMP and Scribus, for example), though in some of these apps you may be able to manually add that path. Backing Up Your Settings (Bookmarks, Email, Preferences, etc)The PortableApps.com Platform comes with PortableApps.com Backup, an easy-to-use backup utility. Just click the backup icon on the PortableApps.com Menu and select backup. You'll get to pick what you want to back up and where you'd like to store your backups. Note: PortableApps.com Backup's app data backup feature only works with apps in PortableApps.com Format (since their data is in a standard location). For other apps, you should be sure to backup your entire drive. Disable the Windows 7 Taskbar IconTo disable the Windows 7 taskbar icon, close the PortableApps.com Platform. Browse to X:\PortableApps\PortableApps.com\Data and open the file PortableAppsMenu.ini in your favorite text editor (Notepad is fine). In the section [DisplayOptions] add the following line: Windows7TaskbarIcon=false Then save and restart the PortableApps.com Platform. Change the Language of the PortableApps.com PlatformTo have the PortableApps.com Platform appear in your own language, just click Options and then Language in the menu and select the language of your choice. The menu will instantly change to your selected language. Plus, most apps in PortableApps.com Format will automatically detect the language you are using in the menu and switch to it on launch. Uninstalling the PortableApps.com Suite or PlatformSince the PortableApps.com Suite and Platform is self-contained, uninstalling is a snap. To remove the suite, you simply delete its files. This would be the Documents and PortableApps directories as well as the StartPortableApps.exe and autorun.inf files in the root directory. If you don't have any data you wish to save on your portable device, you could also format it if you'd like. If you do have data within the Documents directory you'd like to save, simply delete the directories you don't wish to keep. To remove the custom icons on the Documents directory (or any others), just delete the hidden desktop.ini file within each directory. Advanced FeaturesThese advanced features require you to edit the PortableAppsMenu.ini file within your X:\PortableApps\PortableApps.com\Data directory. You need to edit it with the Platform closed and be sure to add the entry (or edit the existing entry if it is already there) to the [DisplayOptions] section.
Known IssuesSome applications have known issues. These are details on each application's support page. »
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