Can Somebody refer me to the right answers...
1. What are the advantages and what are the disadvantages of portable softwares? When shouldn't I use portable softwares?
2. How do I know if a software can be made portable? Is any software can be portable?
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
This is a good place to start:
https://portableapps.com/about/what_is_a_portable_app
I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.
I didn't find the answers to my questions...
Your initial question was pretty vague, the main points, that was in bold on the link provided seems good enough, unless there were specific actions you want to prevent/promote.
Don't be an uberPr∅. They are stinky.
Interesting question. I saw such thread "the advantages of portable applications" (or something like that)on this site. Hopefully, it will be the answer to one of your questions. Read about Portable application creators in Wikipedia. Look for information about thinapp, vmware, boxedapp, cameyo and so on. Almost any software can be portable)
youtube - How to Make ANY Application Portable - there are many good videos
1. Difficult to answer without more information about you usage. But I'll try:
That's the prerequisite to take it with you and launch it from a flash drive. If it were not portable, you simply couldn't do that. That, and associated advantages are all described on the page, solanus linked to.
Biggest advantage: It is portable.
Additional advantage: It is somehow self contained. All settings and data needed to run this app is in one place. Easy to backup or to move around (to a certain extent - changes to the folder location like moving up and down the tree may break some functions in some apps). No need to reinstall after a new OS installation, simply copy the app's folder back to where it was. (also mentioned on the linked page)
Many users use portable apps this way to keep the OS slim and the apps more independent from the OS settings.
Here we come to the biggest disadvantage: System integration is not as extensive. File associations are not set up automatically, explorer integration is not possible, browsers can not be set as standard browser by the system, etc. There are workarounds for this and some features are planned for the next platform release, but it is just not as streamlined as with a locally installed app.
2. This depends on the specific app. If the developer provides a portable version or a zipped package, the odds are good. But you have to examine, what settings/files/folders are written to the registry/user folder etc and determine, if this can be fixed. Sometimes it is easy to tell, but sometimes deeper analysis have to be taken. Again, it depends on the specific app.
About what you wrote at the end...
1. I understand that not any portable program offerd are really portable?
2. Writing to the Registry slow the computer. Isn't it?
Sometimes 2 versions of downloads are available:
1. install version
2. portable version
Somebody told me that the portable ver is always better, and I wondered if it really is.
I also know about softwares like ThinApp... and I wondered if I can use these for any softwares.
If there is anything to add - I would like to know.
Thank You
Almost every app here is adapted from an existing "install version".
Are Portable versions always better in every way? No. But that doesn't mean they are worse.
I think your original post had the right idea, you need to discover the pros and cons of PortableApps, but the real way to do it is to try for yourself.
Here's where one of the benefits of PortableApps can help you out:
PortableApps are great for trying out new software that you don't know yet. If you don't like the software, you can remove it very easily and there's no lasting effect on your system.
I suggest you get a good USB drive and install the PortableApps Platform on it, then use the built-in "Get More Apps" to select and install the apps you are interested in. Use PortableApps for several months, and keep up with the discussions on this forum. Then you can come to your own conclusions.
As for ThinApp, it's VERY expensive. PortableApps are free.
I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.
I saw a video on YouTube, there used to ann create a portable version of a program. I have read the comments, it turns out, not all programs can have a portable version. But I did not check this information.
Why do you think that not all programs can be portable?
As I understand, some programs have restrictions that forbid making a portable copy.
If all you want in a portable app is something that will work on every computer you move it to, then 99.9% of apps can be made portable.
If you also expect the app to not leave any files, folders or registry entries behind and not change or break things on the host PC's setup, then that limits things a bit further.
Apps requiring admin privileges to write to protected areas of the registry or file system will break when used on PCs with locked-down privileges.
Apps requiring services to be installed on the host PC will often leave them behind.
Some apps have components that destroy the possibility of it being fully portable by hooking into other processes and potentially breaking other apps when it is stopped (see here for one known case of this).
Then there are apps that are locked to specific PCs - Microsoft's recent versions of Office are a great example of this. They simply will not run when moved to another PC (not that I have tried, but others certainly have).
Yes, I've seen the application which has such limitations that they can't be portable.
if we install so many soft-wares and games on PC
our PC will slow down because their small amount of memory always resides in memory(RAM)
portable applications only resides in hard disk or any secondary storage(when they are not in used), secondary storage is very inexpensive
portable apps saves our RAM and keep fast our pc
- Harish
1: It's true that you can install many applications on a portable memory device and run it anywhere, but portable means that it leaves no trace on any system it works on. If you run Firefox off of your thunb drive, it will still save things like history and registry files to the computer. You will only know it was ever there if the computer was recording the screen, keyboard and mouse input, or anything else like that. You won't find it in the recently run programs list, but a program that records the names of every .exe file you use will have it.
2: Sadly, not everything is portable. Non-portable applications, like the ninja game I have on my thumb drive, saves things like game progress and registry files to the computer. Be careful about the word portable; not everybody uses the same definition as us. I've encountered a "Halo Custom Edition Portable" that saved your settings in the my documents folder. This is a good example of a non-portable app.
Also, there isn't a portable version of everything. Also, there are many good portable apps that aren't made or available here. They may not be in the same ".paf.exe" format either, but they get really good. I have a nice UnrealTournament Portable on my thumb drive right now.
I hope my reply answers your question.
PS: Do not ask why I have so many games on my thumb drive.
Yes, almost any application can be made portable! I saw an interesting video on YouTube, you can search about portable applications
1
Advantage - well for me its i often reinstall windows so im tired of setting up and installing all programs from scratch after fresh reinstall
Disadvantage - removing portable app will result in lose of settings of that app while SOMETIMES not portable app saves settings in my documents or appdata folder and even if u reinstall windows u can install that app again and your settings will still be there
2
i dont know the definition of portable but i check it in (i think) most simple way
copy folder of that app and paste it on ur usb stick now plug that usb stick to any other pc which didnt had that app and if it works with ur settings than for me its portable
Portable software is a class of software that is suitable for use on portable drives such as a USB (thumb) drive or digital audio player or PDA with "drive mode", although any external hard drive can be used.[1][2] The concept of carrying one's favored applications, utilities, and files on a portable drive for use on any computer is one which has evolved considerably in recent years.
Programs in this category (also known as portable applications) are typically 'lite' versions of their parent software, but there are many exceptions.
To be considered portable, for purpose of this list, a computer program must:
Not require any kind of formal installation onto a computer's permanent storage device to be executed, and can be stored on a removable storage device such as USB flash drive, enabling it to be used on multiple computers.
Settings are stored with, and can be carried around with, the software (i.e., they are written to the USB drive). If the registry is used to store settings, the application's configuration isn't portable, and must be set up on every PC it is used on
Leaves a zero (or near-zero) "footprint" on any PC it is run on after being used. i.e., All temporary files/registry settings should be removed once the program has exited, and files created by the user can be saved directly to the same removable media as the application is stored on.
The definition can be interpreted any way you like
i have a few dis-advantages to portable applications in general
1. if they run on a dedicated usb the app can only be as fast as the usb or drive being used
now that first opinion could be said for all software but it really applies to portable applications because they run on the usb or portable drive
2. they aren't as fast or as easy to navigate(some apps only)but most apps can be customized to ones needs the only problem is that those customization options are limited(as they can't always have all the capabilities of the full apps) or they just have limited options(so as to shrink the size of the portable app)
i'm not wierd, i'm just different
In terms of functionality, a portable application will in most cases be identical to a normal install of the same application.
There are notable exceptions like the use of drivers, system integration (such as windows explorer context menus) and file associations.
They are NOT cut-down or reduced versions however simply because of being portable.
The portability is to do with how the file and registry handling should leave behind no traces behind on the host machine, and has no bearing on the size or features aside from those which are not able to be portable.
If at first you do not succeed, use more sticky tape.
My thoughts.
Advantages
Ease of backup since there is just a single location where the entire configuration and often the content created by the application can be found.
A consistent experience on computers where you are able to access your portable applications.
The ability to use selected portable applications on systems where you do not have the rights or permissions to install applications normally.
Disadvantages.
You do lose some integration options such as context menus and file associations via the normal means.
If an application is to be on a fixed drive, then file associations can be created manually, or in a later release of the platform there will be a means of producing portable associations where opening a file associated with one or more portable applications will produce a prompt asking in which it should be opened.
Drivers and certain runtimes such as .NET cannot be made portable and so an application using those would fail to work if they were not present on the host machine.
If at first you do not succeed, use more sticky tape.
"The ability to use selected portable applications on systems where you do not have the rights or permissions to install applications normally.
You do lose some integration options such as context menus and file associations via the normal means."
I agree! I absolutely agree! But it is better to have not full version of the program than have nothing.
I prefer portable applications for the reason that they can always be in my USB drive