Ceedo Personal v1.1 Build 4.0.4174.1 was touted at CES 2006 as a major blow to the U3 platform as well as open-source apps. The software acts as a buffer between the application and the OS, saving everything to its own registry. At Lexar's CES booth, they had Picasa running straight from the flash drive. It is available for download at www.ceedo.com.
Does anyone have any experience with using Ceedo ? What are the Pros vs. Cons of the Ceedo platform ? How does it compare to U3 and/or PortableApps ?
It seems to me a great deal of USB-connected disk space would be required to run ones favorite Windows programs. Also at what speed do the apps. run at etc. ?
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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try it out, and he said it was a bit problematic. He tried Firefox and Thunderbird out on it and both had issues. You can snag the version from Ceedo.com now and try it out. I haven't gotten a chance to.
Problem is, most Windows apps will perform abysmaly unaltered in portable form.
Also, PortableApps.com is more than just Windows. Take a look at the apps in the Portable Apps Suite. Notice that, in their standard form, they're all available for Linux and Mac as well. Take a guess at what the plans are for the future.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I have downloaded the trial version and have mixed feelings about it. The program does have potential but I have had some issues with Firefox when using the Ceedo installed version. I have managed to put some "no install" or "standalone" apps into Ceedo but getting the shortcuts onto the start menu is not a straightforward matter. It can be done though.
I am waiting with baited breath for the promised launcher on this site as it sounds like it will be more flexible and not require specific applications packaged for it.
P.S. Thanks for the great work and site John!!!
The first problem I see with Ceedo is that it doesnt support older versions of windows.
That's not cool. Might as well stick with what works with everything (PortableApps.com!!)
-Justin
We have to say that the competition (U3) doesn’t support older version as well.
Ceedo support more OS the U3, for example U3 crashed my 2000 Server OS where ceedo worked fine.
I tried it as well, and it was very problematic for me also. So much so, I wouldn't try it again for a long while and will continue to use and support portable apps such as those hosted on this site.
I had posted a quick review on the 12th about Ceedo. When it did not get any response I deleted it to keep the board from being cluttered. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep a copy.
I suspect that Ceedo is an outcome of the USB Alliance that Microsoft is part of (they did not participate in the U3 Alliance/partnership with M-Systems and SanDisk). Lexar has announced that they will be including Ceedo on products that were featured at the recent “techno-gizmo show
I would argue that the USB alliance is seperate from Ceedo and uninvolved. I believe the work done was done on their own without Microsoft's involvement. Ceedo was developed independently. Then Lexar struck a deal to include Ceedo on some of their drives with different branding. And Lexar just happens to be in the USB Alliance as does Microsoft. I don't think that a partnership between Ceedo and Microsoft makes. But, we shall wait and see how this bears out. It is true that U3 is more hardware oriented (being only available on licensed hardware) and Ceedo is a more software solution (being available seperately for $40), but, ultimately, they are slightly different approaches to the same thing. And despite what Ceedo may be thinking, realistically, most Windows apps, unmodified, will work very badly portably.
As to the Safe Portable App-ing guidelines, I will be updating them and placing them on this site and mentioning them on every product page. They apply equally to standard portable apps, U3 apps and Ceedo apps. All three can get viruses and transfer them to other machines if you are not careful. And all three lose data and can corrupt your entire drive (especially on Win2K) if you yank the drive out while it's in use.
Regards,
John
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
if it is a "partnership" or an "encouraged start-up". That is always the mystery of the strategic alliance.
Your point is really well taken about "Safe Portable App-ing" and I am glad you will put it up again, knowing how busy you are.
My point simply being that those who need to tinker and fiddle to make something work or create mods, seem to have a greater awareness of potential risks. The press releases and buzz are creating a false sense of security for those who should be more aware of the risks and take measures to minimise them.
For those of us who depend on PortableApps, I just believe we need to take a bit more leadership in educating folks who are starting to use active USB media and stay ahead of the "black hats" that will potentially abuse it.
Isn't this part of our pro-active role as part of the Open Source Community?"
Ridgewood Foundation Open Source Project
http://zedfiles.com
What are the system requirements for U3? Will it work on older versions of windows?
I put ceedo along with firefox on a spare 256mb drive I have and just those 2 programs are taking up 182MB! The firefox gives errors and doesn't even work right.
The thumbdrive I always carry with me is also a 256mb and I keep PFF,PTB, ,trillian and about 10 other programs on it and It's only using 149mb.
Ceedo is really buggy. It's bloated too. Bears the fingerprint of Microsoft involvement.
-Justin
For U3, the requirements are a U3-branded thumbdrive and Windows 2000/XP/2003 (you can't install it to a non-U3 device, network share or locally). It doesn't support Windows 95/98/Me. The standard install takes up about 5MB of the drive and resides on 2 partitions, one which is writeable by you, one which isn't (looks like a CDROM to the OS which is how it auto-plays when you plug it in). The CDROM partition contains 3 files. The other contains 2 directories (Documents and System) and 1 file. It works with U3 apps as available on U3 software central.
Ceedo requires a removable drive (as indicated by the OS... you can't install it locally or to a network share... this detection is buggy as I wasn't able to install it to ANY removable devices on my primary WinXP box) and Windows 2000/XP/2003. It doesn't support Windows 95/98/Me. A standard install takes up about 10MB. The Ceedo apps appear to be standard Windows apps but may include additional instructions to the Ceedo launcher. As such, they are a bit hit-or-miss performance-wise. Firefox, for example, installs with its cache enabled, which kills performance on a USB thumbdrive. It feels a bit slow, too. Also, unlike the impression given in the press release, you CAN NOT just install standard Windows apps. You can only install the ones within the Ceedo directory.
Both Ceedo and U3 place files on the local hard drive while in use. U3 places them within %USERPROFILE\Application Data\U3. Ceedo places them within %TEMP%\ceedo. U3 generally cleans up all its files with the exception of leaving cleanup.exe. Ceedo seems to leave behind naprun.exe.
Registry-wise, the U3 Launchpad doesn't leave any keys. Ceedo leaves behind a set of Ceedo registry keys within the HKCU hive.
If you shutdown the PC without "ejecting" the U3 or Ceedo device or if the PC crashes while either launcher is in use, both will leave files behind on the local PC in the above-mentioned directories. Some U3 apps will also leave additional files behind and may leave their local counterparts in a broken state (my U3 apps do not do this).
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I'll just stick with your apps, they take up less space and run better, and you have most of the same apps that they do.
-Justin
I second that..
I'll stick with Johns programs and use Pstart to manage them. Atleast I will be able to use my drive on older versions of windows. Of the 5 or so computers I bouce between only 2 of them are XP machines. That the real deal killer for U3 and ceedo for me.
Knowing that I can use it anywhere when I need to is a definite plus for me.
-Justin
Ceedo places them within %TEMP%\ceedo. U3 generally cleans up all its files with the exception of leaving cleanup.exe. Ceedo seems to remove its files.
Ceedo seems to leave behind naprun.exe in the temp directory. What is really interesting is that launching it triggers a series of alarms in Zone Alarm that indicate that it is trying to register naprun.exe in the start up registry, then blocks the app from trying to conect to the net. Then to make it more interesting, it blocks it from monitering keystokes etc.
It would be nice if it were Open Source and someone could see the code. In my test there were hundreds of registry entries in the hive, many that did not have anything to do with the app itself.
Ridgewood Foundation Open Source Project
http://zedfiles.com
Dear forum,
My name is Ofir Shahar, Product Marketing Manager for Ceedo Technologies. I have been looking over this correspondence with great interest, and would like to let the official Ceedo voice be heard.
First I would like to say that your comments are interesting, stimulating and to-the-point. We take them very seriously and, I must add, in some cases have already been taking them into consideration during internal discussions. I strongly urge you to keep on posting your comments and letting us know how you find our product, and how you see it both as a technical solution and as a consumer-based offering.
Second, this could be the right place to bring our Evaluators Community into your attention. Even though not posted or advertised on our website yet, we are currently building a select group of evaluators who act as technology adaptors and testers. I believe that many of the people in this forum could easily contribute their thoughts and ideas. If anyone is interested in joining our community, please drop a note to evaluate@ceedo.com; Make sure you specify that you have reached us through this forum.
Third – regarding installing standard applications; this topic pops-up many times with good reason. It is true that Ceedo, being an open system, is working towards supporting as many standard installations of software applications, as opposed to installing them directly from the Ceedo Programs Directory. Currently we do not block this option, but we do not provide an accessible and easy way to do that either. We are still working on strengthening our platform and infrastructure to allow as many applications to be installed regularly. Meanwhile, more and more applications are being certified, so keep looking at our Programs Directory.
I will do my best to keep checking this forum regularly and read your comments. Please feel free to contact us directly as well. Your comments, both supportive and critical, are very important and valuable to us. Thank you!
Ofir Shahar
Product Marketing Manager
Ceedo Technologies, Ltd.
www.ceedo.com
I am using the trial version of Ceedo and find it to be a very useful application. One suggestion I would like to make to the developers is the requirement for some basic security login. Many people are concerned about the consequences of losing a portable storage device and the possible use of sensitive data i.e. login passwords or banking information. I am using KeePass( open source ) installed in Ceedo as a password manager and this works well for me. But it would be nice if all the data was locked down with a password. Maybe this is a lot to ask but I think it is a real concern for many users.
Regards NMC
Can I just extend my gratitude to you for the fact that you went to the trouble of contacting this community. All to often I find that the devolpers of some applications just don't bother interacting with the community, which quite often has useful ideas for them.
Thanks once again
Steve Lamerton
Crawling the web, I havent seen too many reviews on this Ceedo software, and I figured this was as good a place as any to create one, hope I'm not overstepping my bounds for this forum. This is just a listing of what I am observing while using the software, and some educated guesses thereafter. i know nothing about the software, so I may be completely off here. If someone finds something new, please correct me, so that I may learn.
Having used portable apps for some time now, and though I have grown to love my flash drive, there are some pieces of functionality that i have found to be slightly lacking with the inability to install programs, and that unfortunately many programmers disagree with the whole idea of making apps portable.
Ceedo would appear to be an answer to that, or at least a start to one.
Seeing the program first posted in this forum, then in a few others (including some nice looking screenshots) I decided to download it and check it out, to see if this would be the answer to my prayers.
Install:
Install worked just fine for me, identifying my 6GB quickidrive immediately, and installing to the drive quite quickly. The program starts up pretty much empty, with a look almost exactly like the windows xp start bar. the IE and OE listed initialy are the versions kept on the host pc, but the settings and emails are kept on the USB drive. The OE can be replaced with whatever email program the customer wishes, however, the IE seems static for the time being (something I would like to see changed in future versions). The interface is nice and very intuitive, though rather bland for my tastes. Per the website, it seems that skinning will be possible for this program, and I would hope that that functionality will come to play soon, because I like my things to look pretty. The Ceedo bar sits docked at the bottom of the screen, where it has a quick launch bar, and a minimize button as well as an eject button (It would have been nice to have a system tray section specifically for ceedo apps there as well, maybe this is an idea for future versions)
How it works:
From what I have gathered from monitoring the files interactions with the drive on my two host pc's (a windows xp notebook, and a win2000 desktop), the device plugs in normally, identifies, and will autorun to ceedo if your device is capable of doing so. The first thing I noticed was the loading speed. even with a fully loaded device, ceedo seems to start up almost as fast as my current pstart loader (much faster than any U3 Drive Ive ever used), and uses up only a bit more memory (pstart uses 10-15MB of memory, Ceedo runs three separate processes, totalling around 20-25MB) Upon install, my spybot identified naprun as trying to add itself into the startup, and register itself. What I believe this task is doing (educated guess here) is redirecting calls to certain files, such as OE's emails, to the remote drive rather than the locally cached one. In addition I saw a lot of activity in the registry, and after looking at the files that are changed, what i have found is that ceedo actually record the registry changes to a file on the USB drive, then seems to write them to the registry every time Ceedo is loaded.
Using Ceedo and Installing Programs:
That leaves two more processes, one of them obviously being the menu itself, but the third seems to be the most useful. one of the running tasks will actually track what is running from the USB drive and what is running from the host machine, putting the ceedo icon in the top right corner of the window if it is. The advantage to this is, if you open the "my documents" folder on the ceedo menu, it opens a My Documents folder on your flash key, but everything you run from there will run as if it were running from the flash key, and that includes installers (gasp)
Playing with installing programs:
Okay, now I do like the list of programs Ceedo has started with on their site, however this was still not enough to encourage me to change loaders, so I decided to play with this installing idea (NOTE: I did this at my own risk, and almost blew up my OS doing it, dont try this at home). First I tried something simple and installed CCleaner on the drive (the dll's in the directory required to be registered to run, so it wasnt portable), this installed normally, went right into the start menu, and ran fine. The only issue was that while cleaning out user temp folders, the program would redirect (as it was designed to do) back to the temp folders on the USB key. Strengthened by this partial victory, I moved on to bigger fish. Seeing that Thunderbird 1.0.7 was part of their collection, I tried downloading 1.5 onto the drive, ran the installer from the my documents folder again, and wouldnt you know it, it worked like a dream.
The Big guns, and their problems:
Okay, so it would work with a few basic programs, so what happens if I throw it a curve ball and try something really crazy? So the first thing I try is to get an anti virus program on the drive (U3 has one, why not Ceedo?) Going to ClamWin, I retrieved the latest installer and had a go. This ran perfectly, even connecting to get the latest definitions during the installer. I ran the program post install, scanned without difficulty, and didnt see a single problem (or a single virus, thank you very much). I figured this was too good to be true, so I went with a few attempts at anti-spyware programs. Spysweeper 4.5 (retail, not free) was my first downfall, as when I went to install the program, it seemed to hang on me, and when I loaded the program, it said the installation of spysweeper was damaged and was unable to continue. Uninstalling the program was no biggie, fortunately, and the program was gone just as quickly as it was there. In retrospect, I installed the older (version 3.5) copy of Spysweeper I had hanging around, and that installed, updated and ran without a hitch as well. Afterwards, I installed Microsoft's Anti-Spyware Beta to Ceedo, and that installed, ran, and scanned as well as any desktop install I've seen. So then, why did the older version of spysweeper install when the newer version didnt? It was time to bring out the big guns and really give this program a run for its money: Outlook 2003. Thats right, I powered up my version of Outlook 2K3 and attempted to install it to my drive. The install quickly flopped, of course, giving me a "directory length too long" error, so I created the directory manually myself, and retried the install, that fixed the first issue, however a new error popped up, saying certain dll files couldnt "obtain security properties" or something similar. Thinking back to the spysweeper install, my guess that the issue lies in the fact that it is a program (Ceedo) trying to access system files or using critical system functions, so they obviously will not work correctly.
Final Thoughts:
It only took me a week to see that this program is well on its way to becoming what may very well be one of the programs that will change the face of mobile computing as we know it. Ceedo's collection of applications, in addition to the ability to install many other applications with little or no brain work needed from the user gives this program a distinct advantage over the U3 interface, and will allow many other open-source and freeware apps to gain the freedom of working wherever the user works. I will be keeping a close eye on this program as it matures, and hopefully we can expect many new great things from this program.
So thats it. tell me what you think!
6GB QuickiDrive
PStart / CEEDO
1.5 GB of portable application Goodness!
6GB QuickiDrive
Ceedo / PStart / Xoblite
1.5 GB of portable application Goodness!
However, to me this whole prog sounds a bit bloated. Besides, I wonder whether it (or the prgrams installed with it) will work on a computer without administrative rights, have you tested this?
I'm a happy user of many portable apps which I launch through Pstart. One thing that really makes me unhappy is the current impossibility of portable programs to interact with each other. For example, a mailto:-link in PFF would (usually) open Outlook, or at least try to, instead of the neat little program residing on my stick which I like to use when on the road (InScribe). Similarly, URLs contained in an email will open in IE unless I copy them by hand into PFF.
In my opinion, there are already quite a many good portable programs out there, small and often opensource. I would plead for a standard definition of program interaction, where one can define which programs are launched for a given extension. This should ideally be launched upon docking in the stick (or - if there were a standard - with the first portable program launched that uses such a standard) and be valid for the time the stick is in use.
Has there been any research / development in this direction?
Greetings
Chris
Always on the move - love all portable apps!
yes, it totally works on a computer without administrative rights, i use it at school all the time. It works great! I have alot of programs installed and even ones they don't have in their program list.
Until Ceedo incorporates an active AV/AT application in its platform, it might be a good idea to be cautious with how and where it is used. Forensics suggest that on launching, between 1,500-1,600 registry entries are generated along with 16-20 files written to the host machine ( this is without launching an application). Even with a “clean
Thinking about that, I used Regmon to track what registry files are added or changed at attachment and detachment. From what I can see, and from what little I know as a programmer, a majority of the registry entries are tied either directly to the programs you install (the program writes all the registry entries your programs install to the registry on each connect, and removes them afterwards) and other keys to tie the profiles for OE and IE to the ones on the key rather than the local ones. Also, it seems Ceedo changes all the context menus and such when you are running a tracked windows explorer, so some of those are probably tied to that as well. All in all, with my programs i had some 1600 registry keys entered, but none of them seemed suspicious, at least in my book. I also ran full scans with all the AV/AS/System monitors I have, and havent seen anything malicious coming through the pipeline yet. Ill keep looking, let me know if you see anything else.
6GB QuickiDrive
Ceedo / PStart
1.5 GB of portable application Goodness!
6GB QuickiDrive
Ceedo / PStart / Xoblite
1.5 GB of portable application Goodness!
It is more about "potential", opening up the door for something else.
BTW did you get a lot of [7503 5:19:02 PM naprun.exe:2960 OpenKey HKCU\Software\Ceedo\SmartPlay\SmartPlayer\Apps\000002\ceedo\HKCU NOT FOUND] cycling ever second after it was installed and ejected?
Ridgewood Foundation Open Source Project
http://zedfiles.com
I did notice that naprun does stay running (and taking up about 10-12MB memory) until you shut down the computer. What I have also noticed is that if your flash key doesnt normally boot, it will auto-load Ceedo when plugged in as long as naprun is running in the background. Maybe this is one of the things naprun is designed to do?
And yes, as far as potential, I could easily see someone injecting a virus into a Ceedo install that could use Ceedo's ability to load registry hives and intercept calls to system files directly to spread viruses or other pieces of malware. Ceedo will have to keep its eyes open for possible exploits. Maybe a custom scanner, even if it was designed to just protect the Ceedo drive, might be an answer (or you could set your drive to scan at auto-load, like the option the U3 has)
6GB QuickiDrive
Ceedo / PStart
1.5 GB of portable application Goodness!
6GB QuickiDrive
Ceedo / PStart / Xoblite
1.5 GB of portable application Goodness!
I have been trying it for a while and, although have had problems I think that it has great potential. I do think that the virus idea could be a problem but I really think that the main problem is bloat. This can however be cleaned up in the code (hopefully). I am definately a supporter but I am not at its currant stage willing to pay out $30. I have however applied to the community so we'll see
I tried both ceedo and u3, but it's back to the drawing board for me.
I'm having serious technical difficulty with u3, and I'm not the only wone (link on anandtech).
The I decided to try Ceedo a while ago. Here's what I wrote on digg a while ago. It's a lot like u3 but it DOES leave traces on your host computer!
1. You can't just run any app like they say: only through their website (just like u3) and there's not really a lot there.
2. Actually, it LOOKS way cooler than U3 because it has a nifty toolbar.
3. Leaves traces or doesn't work autonomously. I installed firefox on the Ceedo drive on my laptop and then plugged it into my desktop. Started Firefox and lo and behold what do I see: my own bookmarks. So I bookmark another site in the Ceedo/Firefox and close it. Take out the thumbdrive. Start regular Firefox: and there is my new bookmark! Is it using the regular installed app when it's there? I don't know. Could be a big foul up, or a smart move when you think about mtbf.
4. Ceedo is totally IE en OutlookExpress focussed: those apps can't be removed from the toolbar. The help-icon also opens a site in IE. Suxx.
5. Ceedo: looks better, can be updated, costs 39,95. One month free trial. U3 (when it works) leaves no traces. Cost: not available separately but will surely be more expensive than regular thumbdrives. My 1gb Geek Squad was $99.
*Some of these thoughts appear to have been obsoleted by other comments in this thread*
grtz
Hans
http://www.hansdekker.com
Will the owner of the unclosed italicizing tag please close it? Thank you!
Does anybody know of an opensource or free alternative to the both of these? I already paid for my drive, and I don't want to pay for anything else -- and paid software usually is more difficult to manage. I regularly backup and restore my drive, and I don't want to have to worry about all this.
I think that a project should be made here on portableapps.com that would get rid of the shortcomings of both platforms, and that would be completely free OSS software.
~nm35 {blog} {standalone apps}
I agree with you nm35. So are you a programmer? Perhaps you could get started right away.
Cant wait
I'm already working on a few things, now that my computer has been restored. I'm working on making a homepage for projects on my blog; all my projects (and anybody who wants to help) will be listed there, with information.
Anybody wanna help?
~nm35 {blog} {standalone apps}
I've made the projects section, so we're ready to roll -- just as soon as I finish making everything, of course...
The offending italics tag (actually a "cite" tag) is in this comment: https://portableapps.com/node/561#comment-1656 -- can its owner please clean up the mess?
~nm35 {blog} {projects} {standalone apps}
Didn't know there was an issue. Didn't show up in FF.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
lol, I thought it was just me.
I'm currently trying out Pstart. Pretty ok, actually. Of course, there's none of the looks and autostart goodness of Ceedo or U3 - but it's certainly a lot better than nothing.
What are you building in?
Hans
http://www.hansdekker.com
Nothing as of yet -- my programming skills are almost nonexistent...
I've come up with a few things, and I was thinking of running the whole thing with a command-line minimizer and BAT files. Unless NSIS supports FTP, of course...
I don't know much, but I really want this sort of thing -- so I'm doing my best to learn some stuff. While I'm away, I plan to study up on NSIS -- so when I come back I may have something of value for you.
~nm35 {blog} {projects} {standalone apps}
NSISdl?
----
R McCue
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Couldn't find it. Did you mean this? »http://nsis.sourceforge.net/NSISdl_Smooth
~nm35 {blog} {projects} {standalone apps}
It's included with NSIS
----
R McCue
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Hm.
Could you direct me to some instructions for all this? I'd like to make something, but I know very little, unfortunately.
~nm35 {blog} {projects} {standalone apps}
your NSIS directory then your examples folder
I dont know if you can use it for FTP
I`ll check at the forums
----
R McCue
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
try http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=174093
It supports ftp
----
R McCue
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Hi,
I am new to the world of portable applications on USBs.So I need a little guidance.I am exploring of developing a portable application on a thumbdrive, which can be connected to a computer and can transfer data to a server database. It would be a standalone application probably developed in java.
Now, I have been going through a lot of articles on the internet. They talk about thumb drive, U3, Ceedo. What would be the best option?can you tell em teh pros and cons of all these options available and what would be teh bets for my kind of application.
Thanks
Annie
Okay, well number one, Java is not portable. If you develop your "portable application" in Java, you're essentially creating a non-portable application, since Java currently has to be installed locally in order to work.
As for the main question, it really doesn't matter. All Ceedo and U3 do is give you a nice menu to launch apps from. Pretty much any application, assuming it's already portable, can easily be adapted to run on U3/Ceedo.
-
< ExplosivePrincess 1.5 Atomic Bomb Edition >
warning: keep explosiveprincess away from children
So how do I develop a portable application? I was thinking of using Java and then bundle the Java files with the application. Do not know if taht would work. What would work?
So do we really need a U3 or Ceedo? What about the traditional thumbdrive? Can I run my application from there?
In order for an application to be truly portable, it must meet the following requirements:
1) Application should not depend on the registry. You can read system settings from the registry (and possibly modify them, depending on the nature of your app), but don't store your own settings in it or you'll tie yourself to the local machine.
2) Likewise, no files should be be stored anywhere in C:\Documents and Settings\<username> as part of your program's normal operation (that is, don't store any files there unless the user explicitly asks to save a file there) unless you want the contents of those files to be tied to the local machine.
3) Dependencies such as DLLs should not need to be registered (i.e. no ActiveX controls or COM classes, and no dependency on a non-portable runtime like the JVM). Not only does this require writing to the registry, but it usually involves writing to the superkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, a privilege not granted to "limited" and "guest" accounts under Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
You can avoid #1 and #2 easily no matter what programming language you're using, but the use of Java precludes #3. So far, nobody's been able to figure out how to make the JVM work portably. It needs to be installed on a user's machine before they can run any Java applications. (The same goes for .NET, by the way.)
As for your last question, your application will run just fine from a standard USB key (assuming it meets the requirements above) as long as you don't use any U3- or Ceedo-specific APIs--and you'd know if you were using them, since you'd have to download a special SDK for it.
-
< ExplosivePrincess 1.5 Atomic Bomb Edition >
warning: keep explosiveprincess away from children
Thank you so much Bruce.
What kind of a programming language would you suggest?
Pretty much anything that can be compiled to a .exe and doesn't use an installation-required runtime. With VB6, for instance, you can just copy msvbvm60.dll into your app's directory and it usually works just fine (except on the very first release of Windows 95--later versions of 95 are okay). C and C++ programs have no implicit dependencies: you only depend on libraries you explicitly make use of. However, there's a steep learning curve there.
-
< ExplosivePrincess 1.5 Atomic Bomb Edition >
warning: keep explosiveprincess away from children
so there will be no problems using a regular USB in terms of memory or security?
Well, Ceedo is meant to be installed on a regular USB key. Nothing special about it. Just another launcher, similar PStart. U3, which is implemented in the drive's hardware, has a security feature, but it's false security--I don't believe it actually encrypts the data. So no real difference in security.
And why didn't you add this question to the end of your last post, instead of having me reply to two posts?
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< ExplosivePrincess 1.5 Atomic Bomb Edition >
warning: keep explosiveprincess away from children
ok, so what you meant is that Ceedo and Pstart are launchers , one of which can be installed on the regular USB key for your application. If I do not want a launcher and just want my data from teh USB to transfer to the server, I may not install one of them. Have I understood it correctly?
Ceedo and PStart can both be used on a regular USB key. U3 is implemented in hardware; you have to buy a special drive to get it, and you need a special SDK to develop for it.
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< ExplosivePrincess 1.5 Atomic Bomb Edition >
warning: keep explosiveprincess away from children
got it!! You have been a GREAT Help. Thank you so much!
If you use the beta version of ceedo you can make portableapps.com apps work.
To do this, use the argo application installer and select "Add a shortcut to an existing program..." and browse to the PortableApps app. When you get to the confirmation screen, click "Advanced" and set the option to "NH Mode". This tells ceedo not to run the app in the Ceedo Portable Working Enviroment.
The working enviroment will make some programs work, and some not work. NH Mode turns off the enviroment for the application.
-Lucas
Why in the world did you revive a year old topic? Please don't do it again!
He is a new PA.com member. Plus, we are always telling people to search before they post. Yes, the topic was outdated, but it was also helpful info.
8)
Life is about the journey not the destination!
Live today like it is your last!
Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in. - Robert Frost
\(^.^)/
Life is about the journey not the destination!
The Kazoo Spartan
I used U3 for awhile on a Verbatim 4 gig. I liked it, but it did not work on Vista.
So, I am testing Ceedo. It was easy to install and interesting to run Microsoft office from it keeping my files on Ceedo.
My frustration with Ceedo is the lag time to open and run programs. I will try it on other usb drives to see if it is the drive.
Well, that' my experience.