hey there!
just visited and browsed portableapps and the forum a few hours, and I'm totally confused...
and i have to ask same old question again... 
:
"how do i make standalone software portable?!"
I'm totally confused, because most of the threats are 2 or more! years old. And none of the ways are easy to use or at least easy to understand.
i found the guerilla field method, the launcher, the application template (2 versions), the portable app creator, and a lot of other tips and tricks and tools, and i simply can't see the differences between them (besides: they all sound quite complicated)
so, simple question: what is THE EASIEST! up-do-date-way to do it, for END-USERS (not software engineers)- now, in the year 2011?
(simply can't believe there isn't a "all-in-one"-Software/Tool, who does most of the work itself, without the need of programming and downloading and extracting and editing and searching and copying and pasting and registry-ing and doing millions of different things)
thanks in advance!
jimmy
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Simple answer: There isn't an easy method.
More infos here (follow the few discussion entries starting with the linked one, if you haven't read that already).
-edit-
Somehow linking to single comments does not work today, so just read the last 10 entries on the last page.
[Link corrected - needed ?page=5 to go to the sixth page - mod Chris]
This site isn't really about making it a step-by-step process for any end-user who knows what a mouse and a web-browser is to make whatever they want portable, it is about providing portable apps to the End-User in a format which is open and available for others to learn. Please note that I say learn, as there is a learning curve involved and making apps portable under the PortableApps format is not for everyone.
The problem with attempting to make an all-in-one tool is that the process of making each app portable can be quite different. Some apps require registry changes, some require files to be moved or deleted, some require specific settings to be set in the app before it is made portable, others require specific files/packages to be bundled with them, while others require no changes at all. Making a one-for-all portablizing tool would be like make a one-size-fits-all car door: first you would need every car in the world to have the same size hole for the door to go in.
While you don't need to be a software engineer to make something portable under the PortableApps format, you do need a serious read of pretty much everything under the Packaging Portable Apps section of this page if you are really keen to get into it.
After that, find an app (one of the easy ones, with little to no registry/file changes, potentially even one already made portable here so you have a comparison to base your success on) and get in there and have a go.
What software do you want to make portable?
The easiest way is to use PAL(portable application launcher).
The "guerilla" field guide should not be where you start; it is not applicable to PAL.
Download PAL and read the examples in its documentation, they go step by step, on a high level, through the process. Once you grasp the general approach you'll find that your present attitude is not appropriate - it can actually be fun doing the detective work, and you will most certainly learn something new about the way all software operates.
Even with all in one tools such as "Vmware Thinapp"( which costs as much as a small car) you require this knowledge to get it right. I actually find PAL more effective because there is less cleanup work and you have greater control over what is going where and when.
Be aware however that if the application uses:
1 - Proprietary database system to store its settings
2 - If it makes use of custom DLL's(requires you to register them)
3 - If it requires copying of more then 50MB of data on each run(to/from USB drive)
Its likely that PAL will not be able to help you.