Skype Portable 4.1 Released

John T. Haller's picture
Submitted by John T. Haller on October 22, 2009 - 10:28am

logoSkype Portable 4.1 has been released. Skype lets you connect to others via instant message, audio conferencing and video phone. It can also call regular phone lines from anywhere in the world. It's packaged as a portable app so you communicate on the go and it's in PortableApps.com Format so it can easily integrate with the PortableApps.com Suite. It's released as freeware for personal and business use.

Read on for more details...

Features

ScreenshotSkype-to-Skype calls, video calls and instant messaging are free, any time of the day or night, anywhere in the world. Call phones and mobiles and send SMS messages at great value Pay As You Go rates, or call unlimited* to certain countries with a subscription.

  • Free Skype-to-Skype calls.
  • Call phones and mobiles, send SMS.
  • Free instant messaging.
  • Voicemail.
  • Free video call.
  • Forward calls to a phone when you’re offline.

Learn more about Skype

PortableApps.com Installer / PortableApps.com Format

Skype Portable is packaged in a PortableApps.com Installer so it will automatically detect an existing PortableApps.com installation when your drive is plugged in. It supports upgrades by installing right over an existing copy, preserving all settings. And it's in PortableApps.com Format, so it automatically works with the PortableApps.com Suite including the Menu and Backup Utility.

Download

Skype Portable is available for immediate download from the Skype Portable homepage. Get it today!

Portableapps.com is not affiliated with Skype. Skype is a trademark of Skype Technologies SA.

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Comments

Simeon's picture

Simeon

October 22, 2009 - 11:03am

Since when did Rootkit Analytics package this? Wink

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

John T. Haller's picture

John T. Haller

October 22, 2009 - 11:05am

Didn't save when I edited the page last time.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Billy227's picture

Billy227

October 22, 2009 - 11:29am

Awesome! I've been waiting for a portable version of Skype for a long time!

Billy Ellison, developer of Warzone 2100 Portable

ophilar

October 22, 2009 - 12:24pm

I second that! A worthy and long awaited addition.

edit: Works with Skype4Pidgin plugin as well. Cool. I now can use portably all the protocols I need, using PortableApps.

constantino

November 2, 2009 - 9:56am

Really? I couldnt get it to work - I didn't think Skype4Pidgin could see portable installations of Skype. But then I dont know how it works or if its possible to edit it to see Skype Portable.

Pyromaniac's picture

Pyromaniac

October 22, 2009 - 11:30am

I wish the installer also came with a camera and a microphone though. I'll download it for future use.

Stevoisiak's picture

Stevoisiak

October 22, 2009 - 4:13pm

Notice it downloads Skype from the internet during the installation. They didn't ask Skype, because they didn't need to. As long as they don't redistribute any Skype files in the installer, they don't need Skype's permission.

Simplifying daily life through technology

tmaibaum

October 22, 2009 - 7:41pm

I'm having trouble downloading the main program from Skype using the portable installer. It's damn slow to begin with and then just stops after about 15 minutes or three quarters of the download. It's the same when downloading with the official Skype downloader. If you have this problem, go straight to http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/windows/downloading/?source=... to download the full installer in one go. Install it, preferably in a sandbox or virtual machine to keep your main system "clean". Then simply take the file "skype.exe" from "c:\programs\skype\phone\" and place it inside the Portable Apps package (the path is "...\SkypePortable\App\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe") and you're all set.

ameisez

October 24, 2009 - 5:47pm

you should have posted that minutes earlier.. I already installed it and copy the file on my portable collection :))

I will take note of that for future release Wink

thanks

pitchforked

October 23, 2009 - 1:49am

I'm glad to see that this has finally come back around from the days when it was a independent download from your website. I'm curious to if you'll be doing an update on Google Talk Portable, though I still admit, through the years I haven't had it crash on me once (though saving passwords was never possible, but one can argue it's not practical either).

As for the not including files, I hope that's good enough to bypass any legal troubles, though I wonder if the online installer's integration may be a step too far. Skype Portable never stopped wondering the net since it's original release...but they do have a U3 application. It's tricky and I hope you don't run into problems because I love the portable apps that let me have digital freedom anywhere. I apologize for bringing it up, but I do think it's not to be ignored.

Good luck.
pitchforked

javmoya

October 23, 2009 - 7:48am

Genial. Esta es la herramienta que estaba espernado. Muchas Gracias/Thank you very much

tmaibaum

October 23, 2009 - 2:46pm

Although this Skype package is "portable" in the sense that it requires no installation and the folder can be moved around freely, it's not portable in the sense that it would do nothing outside its own folder at all. After closing it, it leaves a total of 0.54 MB outside its own folder: in [root]\WINDOWS\system32\WBEM\Logs\wbemprox.log, [user]\Local Settings\Temp, Temporary Internet Files and History, in Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\Shared Objects\, and Cookies\index.dat

I suppose nothing can be done about this, and the traces don't seem to include any private information. Still, purists who expect a "portable" app to work in a completely self-contained folder might object to this anyway. Perhaps this should be pointed out in the introduction.

John T. Haller's picture

John T. Haller

October 23, 2009 - 3:05pm

As always, please post a note in the forums about the bug with a title like "[BUG] Skype Portable leaves files behind" and then detail your install, the files you found, what features you used that may have triggered it, your install location, etc. Since this is a bug, we'll fix it in the next release.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

tmaibaum

October 27, 2009 - 1:02pm

If it's officially a bug that can be fixed, all the better! Smile I'm going to post the details as soon as I have some time.

tmaibaum

October 28, 2009 - 9:10am

I just posted all the details I could scrape together with Sandboxie and Regshot and posted them in a related thread ("Skype Portable leaves traces behind") that someone else started in the meantime:
https://portableapps.com/node/21167#comment-131505
I have no idea how to interpret them, but maybe they'll be helpful in sorting out the problem anyway. If there's any mistake on my side, I apologize in advance.

ameisez

October 24, 2009 - 5:10pm

this is great news!!

hope yahoo messenger will finally follow after this freware debut Smile

I thought PortableApps was oriented towards free and open source software? I was surprised to see Skype on this list.

Simeon's picture

Simeon

October 26, 2009 - 10:31am

We still are. But we started adding freeware to that list last week. Here is a pretty good explanation why that doesnt mean that we arent still oriented towards Open Source Software.

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

Where is the launcher source code?
I cant find it in the usual place...

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

Chris Morgan's picture

Chris Morgan

October 28, 2009 - 12:15am

Skype is free software. While there are services for which you can pay, Skype is free software. Also please don't post comments inciting hate.

I am a Christian and a developer and moderator here.

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1

Not sure if that's the right place but I was just wondering if anyone of you guys knows of an app that would extract/import/sync the chat histories of the two versions?

Thanks!

Chris Morgan's picture

Chris Morgan

November 13, 2009 - 8:04pm

Some of our launchers need to clear things up afterwards, others don't. Skype is obviously not one that does need it.

I am a Christian and a developer and moderator here.

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1

VANC56

December 22, 2009 - 7:40am

Hello,

I've just downloaded Skype Portable 4.1. Well, it works smoothly and I'm very happy with it!

Nevertheless, I'm in doubt as to whether access data (user name and password) are actually stored on USB and, if they won't leave any traces on the host computer? For instance: as swap file in Windows or generally spoken as temporary files?

So I ran the MS Process Explorer to have a closer look at the command line. Under image file it tells me:

"F:\PortableApps\SkypePortable\App\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe" /datapath:"F:\PortableApps\SkypePortable\Data\settings" /removable

From my point of view I would say that I'm on the safe side...

Anyway, your opinion would be highly appreciated. Thank you for your time!

Kind regards,
VANC56

wquatan

January 31, 2010 - 5:25pm

On the PC a c:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Skype is created whith the (at this moment empty) subfolders :
\Content
\My Skype Received Files

Worrying ?

VANC56

February 17, 2010 - 4:33pm

Hello wquatan,

Thank you for your answer! Actually I'm not worried at all since I've red this topic

Concerning your skype's path, I've got the following one for my non-portable skype (desktop!):

Administrator > AppData > Roaming > Skype, followed by these sub-folders:

> User name
> Content
> My Skype Received Files

See you,
VANC56

I love this app. I can run it and never know it's not the installed version.

I have one tiny request, though. Is there any way to include an ini file for the portable launcher that would allow for minor command line arguments - such as /min? I run Skype all the time, so watching it log in is not exactly edifying, lol.

Again, good job!

Kate

thanks

there is problem when try to change skype language ... it will not keep the settings ... if you restart skype the language settings will be lost