I've been using portable apps on a USB drive for years. Only recently did I find out about portableapps as a wrapper.
I really liked the simplicity it offers, and I don't have to navigate through folders, etc. etc.
Only problem I'm having, is that a LOT of the apps I downloaded thru portableapps refuse to run in a 64bit win7 environment.
I have tried running the portableapps exe as well as the individual program exe's run in xp compatibility to no avail.
Just wondering if anyone can tell me if this is just 'how it is' or if I am simply missing something. I would expect a couple programs not to run properly for whatever reason, but I have found somewhere on the order of 50% simply won't run in 64 bit windows.
Any info or suggestions greatly appreciated...thanks in advance.
Visit the Community page
Join our forums
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Subscribe with RSS
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Mastodon
Follow us on BlueSky
I run them all and they all work fine under Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit with the exception of winwget which doesn't work on win7 at all and on screen keyboard which isn't yet 64bit aware.
Which specific apps are you having problems with, where are they run from (standard ntfs format on an external drive will break permissions as you move PCs for example), have you tried a different win7 64 machine to ensure this issue isn't machine specific?
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Well now Im just a little embarassed....I checked, and the same apps wont even run in 32bit windows 7. I'm going to do some more tinkering and report back I guess....but yeah a LOT of them not working....audacity, gimp, notepad++, openoffice,...I could keep going and going.
Is there any reason it could have something to do with my flash drive? I use one of the extremely thin (3mm thick) flash drives on a keychain for work. Fat32, 4gb drive with plenty of free space.
Thanks for the reply...like I said will get back after more testing.
Sure it's not just starting really slow? See an activity light on your drive blinking or see the apps show up in Task Manager? Tried the same apps temporarily installed to C:\PortableApps to ensure they work and then copied them to/from the drive?
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Yeah, they were all crashing with check for solutions popup.
Perhaps soemthing was corrupted when I installed in the first place? I did set the downloader to get and install like 40 right off the bat -- also get an error trying to install utorrent.
Aaaaanyway, just for fun I uninstalled and reinstalled a few, and now they seem to work fine (tested on x86 and x64 win7).
Anybody know what might the issue be in the first place? I did get an error message during install of ~40 apps --
The downloaded copy of utorrent portable (http://download.utorrent.com/3.0/utorrent.exe) is not valid and can not be installed. blah blah blah
Other than that though, was doing nothing else on the comp, no apparent write errors, and everything seemed to install cleanly, yet I have a bunch of corrupted apps -- just curious why.
Anyway thanks again for the suggestions -- obv should have thought to uninstall/reinstall -- but it was just SOOOOO many apps I assumed it had to be a compatibility issue. Is there known problems associated with trying to dl and install too many @ once?
It could have been a misbehaving antivirus program, but then you wouldn't see any splash screens or the launcher would complain that the appp was missing. Shortly, we'll have an easier reinstall option that will help.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
as we do not know what usb media you really use, it is kind of difficult to say. But those 'very small' and 'very thin' sticks are often of rather slow and not very high quality items. The controller chip inside is often embedded in some plastic and has little chance the heat to be dissipated.
Also bare in mind, that lot of faked sticks are floating around, they may tell you 4GB and it is just 1GB in fact, with proper pirate software, anything can be written into the controller.
What you describe sounds very much like defective flash stick rather then anything else. Might not remain reliable even after new installation of all apps.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
Had a similar issue on a cousins machine (Vista 32bit Home) - seems it was malware on the machine causing a huge amount of app crashes. Wasn't just from the stick thou, installed programs on the laptop did the same thing intermittently - like on every other restart the Java Updater crashed. I removed a bunch of programs like Bandoo, Conduit and SweetIM related programs, ran a SFC and this seems to have done the trick. If it starts doing it again I'll simply reformat the unit thou - no telling what crap those program has left in the system.
I haven't had any crashes or other problems with neither 32- nor 64 bit systems otherwise, my portable apps are often the only thing running smoothly.
Funny you mention that -- I was just coming back here to report the very same thing.
Can't even honestly say who made it at this point anyway -- definitely purchased through newegg or someone rather reliable though. It has been a monster of a workhorse for 3+ years carried on my keychain without issue.
Sadly, it looks like it's day has come; was having some problems still, so I decided to just format the stick and start from scratch -- format failed, and failed again on a subsequent attmempt on another machine.
Guess I'll just have to use the ol' Cruzer for now -- will be in the market for a new mega-mini-micro usb stick soon -- anybody know if any of them exist with U3? Would be nice to be able to autorun PortableApps.
Thanks again for the info guys
current sticks are not with u3, as this system not existing for sometime. There is no current software for it anyway.
Obtain some stick with reasonable speed, and reliable firmware and proper quality connector. Ask for speed numbers, they will be always too optimistic, but it will give you some idea. The speed between cheap and more expensive stick can differ by factor 10 or more.
If you need something reliable, then obscure internet shops or supper offer in supermarkets are not right choice.
You might also look for a stick with some kind of hardware encryption
Those micro or nano sticks are mostly not very suitable for portable apps operation as they are too slow for it
and remember: anything with autorun is not best idea, it is not just for fun that microsoft disabled all such functions not so long time ago in their operating systems. autorun of what ever nature remains big security issue and should not be employed for any portable devices.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
Yeah, I use Cruzer's or better. Have several patriot xt drives, but I really enjoy the convenience of having a supermicro usb drive that I can carry on my keychain at all times, without being bulky.
I have had a very good experience with the one that is just now dying, beating the hell out of it, and it took years for it to crap out, even under heavy r/w conditions. I will definitely be getting another such one in the near future, until I have a bad experience.
Anybody have a link or something about getting portableapps to show up on the AutoPlay menu at leat?
Sorry, can't be done.
Microsoft plugged a great big security hole and this was the outcome. They may come up with a new strategy in Windows 8, I suppose, but frankly, I doubt it.
I swear by Imation Nano's for my keychain USB memory sticks. They just work, no fuss, no hassle. 'No-name' brands are very hit and miss.
By the way, look out for 'USB Message Sticks' that aren't. I have seen several USB devices that look like flash memory sticks, but are in reality keyboards. That is not a typo, they masquerade as a keyboard to the OpSys. They cannot be converted to a memory as they are not memory.
When the OpSys sees the 'keyboard' get plugged in and does its plug and play thing, these things proceed to start sending keystrokes to open up the start menu and run programs. The ones I have seen so far are advertising gimmicks from drug companies that fire up a browser to their advert page, but they could do anything they bloody well want to once they are in, couldn't they?
Keith
Imation nano still a bit big for my taste.
I think I'm going to take a shot at one of the new Kingston DataTraveler 108 series. Certainly not on the fast end of the spectrum, but for the most part holds its own in the middle:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/usb-thumb-drive-charts/I-O-Performanc...
The one they used was only an 8gb, I would probably go for the 16gb and expect some amount of boost in performance (nearly 40% between 4gb and 8gb).
Actually performs a lot better than many of the "full sized" flash drives they compared.
I also like the folding design, and metal keychain attachment point.
On top of that, they're quite cheap...16gb version available for $22 on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-DataTraveler-Flash-DT108-16GBZ/dp/B005755...), and I imagine one might be able to find a better price with a coupon code or some hunting. The 8gb is only $11.
Might get a small fleet of them for OS install sticks, and live/PE distros.
Just thought I would pass along the fruits of my scouring for a decent micro flash drive that's keychain friendly.
edit: here's link to all benchmarks http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/usb-thumb-drive-charts/benchmarks,109...
I had tried one of those open types, and it was just too .. flimsy for me. Maybe I was too rough with mine. I do like how it's capless, but I decided to stick with my sandisk titaniums. I like the retractable and bigger casing for where you actually plug in.
Mine is on the keychain with my wallet, so it's small, about the size of a regular office key as well.
I just wish they kept with that series and made 16 gb versions. I have 2 8gb spares just in case, but my main one has been going great for ... 2 or 3 years so far.
I was also looking at those Ativa's but other than the pretty stamped images, I passed on those as well.
I may get for others personalized ones as gifts though, I forget if I can link it, but search for the "Classic Personalized Flash Drive". They are 2gb bamboo and you can have text printed on them. I may get some Jane Austen related ones for my fiance so she can give back my other spare 8gb. She thinks she needs it for her stuff, but all she has are documents, and it never ever gets over 1gb.
Then again, when I see those under 1gb given out at conferences, et al, I just leave them.
Don't be an uberPr∅. They are stinky.
still the rule of thumb is the smaller the thing is the slower and then if you see some of this 'nano' for let say 20$ and on some other webshop apparently same thing for only 8$, you are likely to get a fake of it, having probably only half the speed and 1/10 of the life time.
So get all from reputable sources and don't save money here, the price difference is not worth the troubles comming up soon.
As far as autorun, this has been switched off due to the large number of malware worldwide being written explicit for transport via usb devices. Therefore you should also avoid any of such experiments as you may ruin also any host system you connect the device to.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
I can't recall the last time I encountered someone so skeptical, lol
First, I don't know what lead you to believe that all USB drives are fake. I'm not talking about ebay or anything...i'm talking about newegg.com/buy.com/amazon.com. These ARE reputable companies.
You are right....smaller is slower. This is simply a sacrifice I am willing to make for convenience sake, and having just used a cheap nano drive daily for over 3 years before encountering incident. Even if I had to buy a new one every 6 months, I would be happy to do so, as I am willing to give up some speed and reliability so as to not have a chunky drive on my keychain.
I know you are just trying to pass along facts and good info -- and to your credit, you're right about speed and reliability, as well as the fact that usb drives were utilized for malicious purposes for awhile now. I however, am not a joe schmoe user, and am not interested in joe schmoe solutions. I am confident in my ability to maintain a malware-free usb drive, and am simply looking for a way to expediate the process of starting PortableApps on my drive.
As an interesting sidenote, the kingston drive I mentioned comes with some "UrDrive" ware on it, which I am not familiar with, but presume is similar to u3. I am hoping to find a way to hack it so as to be able to autorun portable apps.
I can only assume you have bought a ton of nano usb drives tha came preloaded with malware that drained your bank account or something. Your advice is good for an average user, but this I am not.
Thanks for all your advice, I know your intentions are good.
Now with any luck I will buy some fake Kingston drives from amazon and infect my client-sites with horrific malware and you may cackle from your throne unabashedly.
Unlike U3, urDrive doesn't have any hooks into autorun on the drive itself, so there's no point hacking it. Plus, previous versions have violated the GPL and it won't work until you provide personal information and register it, so I'd format the drive just to be safe.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
>First, I don't know what lead you to believe that all USB drives are fake.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland