New: InnoUnpacker (Sep 17, 2025), Platform 30.1 (Sep 27, 2025)
1,400+ portable packages, 1.2 billion downloads
We are operating at a loss, please donate today
Is it possible to install the PortableApps platform onto a regular internal hard disk, I like the way it ring fences it's applications from the host PC and I would like to run it on my netbook without it leaving a trail on the actual netbook and I'm guessing it would run faster than from a memory stick?
Thanks
Please help support us by making a donation so we can keep bringing you awesome free software. We accept credit card, wire transfer, PayPal, cryptocurrency, and more.
If you recently donated, thank you!
Visit the Community page
Join our forums
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Subscribe with RSS
Follow us on BlueSky
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Mastodon
They run a lot faster from a HDD! I use them from my second drive (D:) and its very fast.
If you choose C: you might run into problems caused by the autorun.inf file. But it shouldnt be too difficult changing things back.
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
You don't even need the menu at all. The menu is good for flash drives, but it's completely unnecessary for a local installation. Just install your portable apps to the D:\PortableApps\AppNamePortable it suggests (you may have to change the drive letter, but leave the rest alone). Then make desktop shortcuts and/or start menu shortcuts to the launchers (not the apps in \app\appname). Then - and this is something I need to do (yep, I do this at home) - copy all the shortcuts to a folder and put it on your apps drive. This is only necessary if you find yourself reinstalling Windows every so often; it would help you get all those shortcuts back in a hurry. You can use the menu if you like, of course, it's just not as necessary.
Portable Apps run just as fast as installed apps. Oh, there might be slight differences, but if your computer is relatively fast, you won't be able to perceive them.
I've used TrueCrypt to create a virtual encrypted drive and installed Portable apps on this volume. It not only adds security, but transporting is as easy as just copying the file over.