Just discovered this site and found myself wondering what the drawbacks are for portable applications? Google wasn't much help on this. Not being a professional programmer, I don't understand why it isn't EASIER to create a portable application as opposed to using Windows's labyrinthine User, AppData, and so on directories.
My main question, though, is after downloading several of these I had a look at the files and noticed executables other than the launcher (meaning the executable in the root directory, not the suite--which I'm not using). Given my irrational hatred for splash screens, I attempted to use the alternative EXE and found that it worked just fine (referring to Notepad++). Am I going to screw something up?
Alternatively: is there a way to ditch the splash screen? 
THANKS
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Welcome to PortableApps.com.
You'll find that a lot of general questions can be answered with the FAQs and/or the search box at the top-right of the PortableApps.com screen.
While you can get a lot of information throughout this site, let me give the quick answers to your questions.
Waaaaay back in computer days, everything was "portable" in that each program used only the stuff that was right in the program's directory. The data was there, the drivers were there, the executable was there, etc. You ran it, or you deleted it, right there.
Problem was that configuration files were spread everywhere (one for each program) and support files (such as zip or other stuff) were duplicated in several places, depending on what you had installed.
Eventually, guided by Microsoft's corporate, collective "genius", it got decided that all the config stuff would be held in a registry, and all sorts of support stuff would be collected into another directory and every program would have to look there to find the stuff it needed.
Now, because pieces of the program are spread all over the place, and config files are buried into the registry, and several programs might use the same one file in the supporting stuff, taking a program out became a complicated issue.
So.... on uninstall it became easier to just delete the obvious stuff and leave the "harmless" stuff behind, just in case something else was using it.
Now, when you want to make a portable program, there are some things you have to account for.... the program wanting to use the registry, the program wanting to put files in different places, and so on.
That's what the launcher does.
If you run the other executable you found, you're basically running the program without it being portable.
If you want to disable the splash screen, try the search box... I guarantee you'll find what you want. That is, unless you want to try reading the readme file that comes with each program?
Have fun, and you won't really break anything.
neutron1132 (at) usa (dot) com
Hi Neutron,
since your post was a great stimulus to use more apps I dare asking a question here which I could not see ansewered in the FAQ and as this post touches some very general questions about apps let me add this facette:
How will the app behave with add-ons and updates. Can I add Firefox add-ons as simple to my portable installation as to a system installed version? Very important in the light of multi machine use (see my post further down) and syncing.
How about version updates. I once had the situation that OO portable detected a newer version, asked me to click the update button and in the end the updating didn´t work. I guess I need to download a full portable version and manually copy the preferences (will those always be in one setting folder? also the Firefox add-ons, dictionary etc.?)
Thanks so much for your help
Peter
XP Pro SP3 on Thinkpad/Thinkcenter
PortableApps.com applications are configured to segregate the data from the application.
The intent is to merely download and install the new PortableApps.com version right over the old one, and it will leave the data intact. When you start it up the next time, the program will be updated and all your data/configurations will still be there.
The product as downloaded from here gets you the launcher (sort of a wrapper that handles the housekeeping) and the program itself.
Using the program to update itself may work. In certain cases it did not work at all and would either break the program or the portability of the program. Things have improved in the launchers (and the offending programs) to prevent bad things, but I'm old-fashioned and stick with what I have confidence in - doing the PortableApps.com update install over the old version.
There's a discussion about Firefox add-on portability issues that you can find with a search. Evidently most of the add-ons are portable but some use resources that are host-machine based, and those will have some portability issues. You can probably get better information about those concerns over in that discussion.
neutron1132 (at) usa (dot) com
I hope you don't mind my chiming in here
If you want a new version, you should always download the Update from here. Most applications dont "know" that they are being run portable and thus try to install themselves locally.
If a Firefox Addon is done properly, it should be portable. Some are not and I believe there are threads here in the Forums where people collect non-portable adons.
Hope that helps.
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
So now for the $64,000 question (I'm sure it's been asked before): Which is preferable on a PC the portable version or the "installed" version? I guess my take would be the portable version. This way when I get a new PC it is a bit easier to copy the portable versions over.
I totally agree with you siegfre
And not only that you can easily copy everything to your new system, but you can always copy the entire folder with the app for backup if you wanna experiment with it a bit, install some extensions or anything 
And, best of all, others don't usually start your portable programs, but those that are installed locally. Therefore, they don't see the correct "Recently used" files, and it doesn't bulk-up your registry over time (did you know that casual users have in average more than 2000 wrong/unused/outdated registry keys, and school or work computers have from 2000 to 6000 bad registry keys???)
I've read somewhere from an experienced programmer (I don't remember where) that those bulky unneeded registry entries don't even slow your system, but trust me they do over time. Especially if you use your system a lot. You notice a difference after removing those that are not needed and defragmenting the registry (IT SHOULD NEVER BE DONE IF YOU DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING!).
And then there's the thing that with Portable applications you can produce whatever you like and not depend on whether the computer you are taking it to supports that kind of files or not... Means a lot, helps a lot
All in all, and to make the long story short, Portable Apps win hands down every time
My posts are old and likely no longer relevant.
I guess my take would be the portable version. This way when I get a new PC it is a bit easier to copy the portable versions over.
Windows apps are designed to execute on a single computer efficiently, PortableApps are designed to run on multiple computers and leave nothing changed or left on the host machine.
Yes they can be installed on a pc's hd and moving them to a new pc may work, if the app is compatible with the new machine's OS. But moving a folder is no easier than rerunning a downloaded install or reinstalling a purchased app on a CD. Then there is the question of with a new pc wouldn't you want new versions of the apps rather than the old ones?
As I said, it's not that simple a decision.
Ed
AFAIK, John made a 24-hour turnaround policy, so the PortableApps.com apps should be well updated.
Moving a folder is easier than clicking Next (or at the very least, is more mentally attracting), and because it's a PA.c App, then it doesn't leave anything behind (hence, doesn't make the computer any slower).
I probably should have followed what I said here on my mom's computer...it wouldn't take 3 minutes to launch the browser then :P.
Insert original signature here with Greasemonkey Script.
Hm, Ed, you make me really hesitate now. I am using various apps for small tasks which works great, but got now fed up with syncing preferences between my desktop and my laptop. You know that once you found a cool firefox add-on or change the colour style in OO you don´t want to do that twice. So my idea was to maybe use even for the software biggies like OO portable versions to easily sync between my machines and not srewing up registry entries etc.
However, reading your post I wonder if this is now possible or still difficult due to system differences.
Another question maybe worth a separate post is how portable apps can be integrated in the system variables (?). E.g., when opening a video file I cannot make XP remember using portable VLC since it is not an option in the dialog when XP asks "want to open with this programme always?". So I wonder if one can link apps with file extensions manually since I don´t want to surf the web, click on a mailto-link and standard Outlook opens for that portable Thunderbird is not linked in the system.
Thanks
Peter
XP Pro SP3 on Thinkpad/Thinkcenter
Portable apps are easy and intuitive. There is no syncing. There are no registry entries to worry about. You are writing about nonexistent problems that could frighten new users.
By all means, do not hesitate! Unpack the portable application anywhere you want. Execute it to test it. If you don't like it, simply delete the entire folder without any worries.
Would you worry that something you bought in the store would not install on your machine due to system differences? The applications here don't even cost any money.
To temporarily set file associations to use your portable applications, try this:
eXpresso 1.2.5 Development Test 5
https://portableapps.com/node/22055
While active, eXpresso allows the user to associate files to applications on a portable device such as a USB flash drive or an iPod in disk mode, with a standard double click. No modifications will be made to the host system, all monitoring of file launches, all settings and all dependencies are contained in the eXpresso directory.
Hi crux,
sorry for the confusion - calm down! it wasn´t my intention to frighten anyone, registry was merely meant in regard to the system install (dbouki understood my post correctly) and syncing in regard to using apps on two computers.
On the contrary, I am looking into going portable on large scale since I love the concept - I am more frightened of system installs and registry cock-ups
Anyway, thanks for the expresso-link, what a pitty that it seems to need to be activated every time I boot my pc.
Cheers
Peter
XP Pro SP3 on Thinkpad/Thinkcenter
Yes, IT IS SIMPLE! Ed is talking about something a little bit different. You can easily copy your program as many times as you want, and you can also synchronize them easily. The "PortableApps.com" applications work great on all Windows platforms since "WinXP" (XP included), without a doubt! Well, there may be a few kinks in "Win 7" but they are due to different reasons (like Drag'n'Drop bug in "Win 7", it's not the bug of the application)...
Anyway, it's as easy as copy and paste. If you want to sync, it's best to just copy the "Data" folder of an application, since that is where all your settings are (extensions, themes, and whatever). So syncing even the "software biggies like OO portable" will only take a few seconds, since the "Data" folder is a lot smaller than the "App" folder.
Hope this helps
Cheers
PS: About the second question, there's a number of ways to do it. Expresso is one of them, but not the only one. Sorry for not explaining it here, but it would take me a lot of time to explain each and every one of them. In short, you could make a manual change to your registry (not recommended if you don't know what you are doing), or you could use a program to do the file association for you, like Expresso and many other. There's a third way from the Portable app itself, but that may be a little harder...
- Also (the 4th way), you can change the default for mailto links in your Firefox Portable. Go to
Tools > Options > Applications
and click on the line of "mailto". Then change the option to "Always ask", and whenever you click on a mailto link, it will ask you what to use. Then just click on Choose... and navigate easily to Thunderbird Portable (usually one folder up, then on ThunderbirdPortable folder, and than choose the ThunderbirdPortable.exe)
My posts are old and likely no longer relevant.
Cheers, dboki89, for the reply - exactly what I needed to hear
Fiddling around with OO preferences and extensions and then just syncing 1MB between two PCs, sounds great!
Regarding your italic infos, is there anywhere a place I can do some further reading? I think expresso is a bit inconvenient if I always need to do the file associations anew (I am using apps - although portable - stationary, so not on a pen drive and prefer having these file association permanently). I don´t mind registry hacking. Also, when I am looking for other helping apps as you suggested, I am not sure where to look. The top website navigation has a button "applications", but e.g. expresso isn´t even listed there - did I miss out something?
Thanks a lot
peter
XP Pro SP3 on Thinkpad/Thinkcenter
Glad to be of help
About further reading, I'm afraid I can't help you on that. Maybe you should try on Microsoft's forums, but they had not proven to be very useful before...
However, I may be able to help you on setting the associations for yourself. I will explain one of the ways to you step by step, and hopefully it will remain functional even after you reboot your machine (it works with regularly installed software, but I'm not sure whether these (Portable) programs will clean the registry of these changes or not. Portable programs usually clear the registry changes they have made, I'm hoping it will not be so in this case...).
Anyway, you should right-click on a type of file you want to associate with your Portable application. Then (depending if you already have a program predefined for opening those kind of files) either go on "Open" (in case there is no program associated with it) or "Open With" > "Choose Program..." option if there is a program already associated with it. In case you see "Windows cannot open this file", check the option "Select the program from the list" > "Ok"
Now, make sure that the box "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" is checked, and then go "Browse". Navigate to your Portable application, select it and press "Open". Now, that should be it! Unfortunately, I'm not sure whether the changes will persist or not, due to the portability...
Now, about the eXpresso and similar programs - they are in the Beta forum of PortableApps.com. They are programs that are being developed to be Portable, but are yet to be approved as such (apparently, John T Haller and the rest of the company have pretty high standards for official applications).
Beta forum is where such applications are posted, but most of them are not good enough for regular users to try, since they may have serious bugs. There's a small million of different apps there...
eXpresso, PortableFileAssociator (my favorite of such software) and CAFE Mod are all the ones I know which change the associations, but there may be another one or two. Many programs in the Beta forums are interesting, but they mostly leave data behind...
If that way of setting file associations doesn't work for you, let me know and we'll try something else.
Take care
My posts are old and likely no longer relevant.
eXpresso is an update on CAFE Mod.
Why don't you just change them in Windows?
Concerning my previous reply, I try to be concise on forums, but not curt. My apologies. I believe I've understood your posts and remained calm. My point was that posting complicated solutions to simple or nonexistent problems (such as your remark about registry hacking) has a huge FUD factor.
Hi staticfuror. What J Neutron was referring to, but not saying it clearly is you take a look into the Other\Source folder from where you installed the app. Then open the Notepad++Portable.ini (it is always named exactly as the launcher .exe file from the base installation folder which we call root). You can open it with notepad. Usually, there is an option DisableSplashScreen=false where all you have to do is change "false" with "true" (then it's like DisableSplashScreen=true ).
Save the file and exit. Afterwords, move Notepad++Portable.ini to the root of the program (where Notepad++Portable.exe resides in this case). The splash screen should now be removed.
If for some reason, after doing this your program says "Incorrect installation" or something like that, don't reinstall, but open that file again with notepad and remove all other lines except the first one and the DisableSplashScreen=true line.
It should work then.
For the second question, no, you will not screw up if using that other executable. HOWEVER, as J Neutron pointed out, by doing that you are losing all sight of what Portable App means. Using a program from that second executable will always make you 2 problems if you use them on somebody else's computer from a thumb drive. One is (for paranoid freaks like myself the more important one) it leaves YOUR personal data (that which is needed for the program to run) on that persons system. The other problem is kinda optional. It would launch a local installation of the program, instead of your Portable one. For example, if you use Firefox Portable, and start it from that other executable, it will launch a firefox from that persons computer, with his/her bookmarks, add-ons, settings and all...
That's why it's better to use the launcher executables (the ones named somethingPortable.exe).
Hope it helps and it's all clear.
Cheers
My posts are old and likely no longer relevant.
Hi dboki89,
with the launcher exe you mean the somethingPortable.exe that comes with every application and not the big launcher (=suite?) which looks like the MS Start menue (see pic on starting page of www.portableapps.com), correct?
Thanks for your clarification.
cheers
peter
XP Pro SP3 on Thinkpad/Thinkcenter
You are correct, sorry for not making it a bit more clear..
Yes, by "launcher .exe" I meant "somethingPortable.exe", and not the "PortableApps.com Suite".
The thing is, we refer to that "somethingPortable.exe" executable as the launcher, because it launches the "something.exe" application in Portable mode. I just wrote it in short (launcher.exe) because I did not want to write the full name, and I assumed everyone already knew what it's about... My bad, since the name of this thread is clearly "2 NEWB QUESTIONS...".
Hope it's clear now
Cheers
My posts are old and likely no longer relevant.
Something that nobody has touched on is the concept of USER = CONTROL
Used to be that to run a computer you had to know something more than how to click a mouse and maybe read some dialog boxes or pull-down menus. When Windoze came around, the computer started doing more stuff FOR the user. Eventually, the user ceded control over to the programs, and when things went wrong, got other programs to try to tame the mis-behaving computer.
Where is the user in all of this? The user gave up control either willingly or unwillingly. You can scoff at someone saying "I didn't do anything... the computer did it!" but maybe it really did. The user took a back seat and doesn't contol much of the process anymore.
By running portable applications, the user is back in the driver's seat, for better or for worse. Things don't run in the background without your knowledge, programs don't "call home" to tell the company who knows what, and yeah, you might have several copies of lame or 7z spread around on your drive.
There's just a bit more personal responsibility and freedom in all of this.
neutron1132 (at) usa (dot) com
It's good for the first mover (in business) if they can establish barriers to entry against new entrants (competitors) into a market. Established firms wanted to make it a hassle to remove their components so they could achieve a software monopoly. That's why they preload garbage on PCs and why it's hard to remove it.
Thanks for all the info.
My roots are in DOS, which I clung to for years, launching it even through Win95/98. I'm entirely in favor of more control, portability, etc. Where I wasn't sure--and which I only partially understand now--is the other point of view. That is, how many cycles could you really be saving by locating these sorts of things in one massive central repository?
The practical answer seems to be "not enough for me to care".
Thanks for the splash screen instructions.
Great project, guys.
Thanks