Application: R Portable
Category: Education
Description: Some things you might want to know about R if you are encountering it for the first time:
- R is (according to the description at http://www.r-project.org/) "a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics"; you can think of it as a combination of a statistics package and a programming language.
- R is completely free; you do not have to pay for it, and you can make any modifications you want to it
- R runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux, and many Unix variants
- R is not supported by any commercial enterprise, but it has a very active development community, and there are companies that offer training courses etc.. The manuals are complete and there are many books on it.
- R has an enormous number of standard and cutting-edge statistical functions built in, a wide variety of (free) add-in packages that add even more functions, and you can extend it further. Every standard statistical analysis can be done in R.
- R is mostly command-line driven (although various graphical interfaces have been developed); this makes it harder to use but allows flexibility and documentation and repetition of analyses.
People use R to analyze data in the fields (alphabetical order) of:
- agriculture
- astrophysics
- climatology
- ecology and environmental science
- econometrics
- electrical engineering
- finance
- genetics and genomics
- geography
- psychology
- social sciences
and many more.
Download R Portable 4.1.2 [86.7 MB download]
(MD5: 33ba18b5642d1bc5bcd1dbb2efdd30f2)
Release Notes:
R 4.1.2 (2021-11-15):
- Updated R to Version 4.1.2
R 4.1.1 (2021-09-26):
- Updated R to Version 4.1.1
R 4.1.0 (2021-06-07):
- Updated R to Version 4.1.0
R 4.0.5 (2021-04-26):
- Updated R to Version 4.0.5
R 3.6.3 (2020-03-03):
- Updated R to Version 3.6.3
R 3.6.2 (2019-12-16):
- Updated R to Version 3.6.2
R 3.6.1 (2019-07-24):
- Updated R to Version 3.6.1
R 3.6.0 (2019-06-04):
- Updated R to Version 3.6.0
R 3.5.3 (2019-03-18):
- Updated R to Version 3.5.3
R 3.5.2 (2018-12-23):
- Updated R to Version 3.5.2
R 3.5.1 (2018-07-10):
- Updated R to Version 3.5.1
R 3.5.0 (2018-05-15):
- Updated R to Version 3.5.0
R 3.4.4 (2018-04-02):
- Updated R to Version 3.4.4
R 3.4.3 (2017-12-07):
- Updated R to Version 3.4.3
R 3.4.2 (2017-10-01):
- Updated R to Version 3.4.2
R 3.4.1 (2017-07-01):
- Updated R to Version 3.4.1
R 3.4.0 (2017-04-24):
- Updated R to Version 3.4.0
R 3.3.3 (2017-03-14):
- Updated R to Version 3.3.3
R 3.3.2 (2016-11-02):
- Updated R to Version 3.3.2
R 3.3.1 (2016-06-29):
- Updated R to Version 3.3.1
R 3.3.0 (2016-04-21):
- Updated R to Version 3.3.0
R 3.2.5 (2016-04-21):
- Updated R to Version 3.2.5
R 3.2.4 (2016-03-16):
- Updated R to Version 3.2.4
R 3.2.3 (2015-12-13):
- Updated R to Version 3.2.3
R 3.2.2 (2015-08-17):
- Updated R to Version 3.2.2
R 3.2.1 (2015-06-20):
- Updated R to Version 3.2.1
R 3.2.0 (2015-04-18):
- Updated R to Version 3.2.0
R 3.1.3 (2015-03-15):
- Updated R to Version 3.1.3
R 3.1.2 (2014-11-03):
- Updated R to Version 3.1.2
R 3.1.1 (2014-07-17):
- Updated R to Version 3.1.1
R 3.1.0 (2014-04-12):
- Updated R to Version 3.1.0
R 3.0.3 (2014-03-19):
- Updated R to Version 3.0.3
R 3.0.2 (2014-02-15):
- Updated R to Version 3.0.2
R 3.0.0 (2013-04-03):
- Updated R to Version 3.0.0
R 2.15.3 (2013-03-04):
- Updated R to Version 2.15.3
R 2.15.2 (2012-10-27):
- Updated R to Version 2.15.2
R 2.15.1 (2012-06-22):
- Updated R to Version 2.15.1
R 2.15.0 (2012-03-31):
- Updated R to Version 2.15.0
R 2.14.2 (2012-03-05):
- Updated R to Version 2.14.2
- Converted to Portables 2.0 format
R 2.11.1 (2010-06-08):
R 2.11.0 (2010-04-23):
R 2.10.1 (2010-03-18):
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Hi:
Great work! I've been looking for a portable version of R. A while back there was talk in these forums about including the Gui R Studio. I'm trying to get my colleagues to use R and the gui will help. Has there been much progress on making that portable?
thanks
Jojo
Hi:
As a follow-up to my earlier post, does anyone know of a Gui for R portable that I can use in Portable Apps?
Thanks.
Jojo
I use a portableapps version of RStudio. You can use the zipped version of the download since it does not need to be installed. If you unzip RStudio in a folder in the portableapps directory tree, it will appear under Other. Since I was already familiar with the portableapps structure, it only took a little extra work to create a portableapps version.
Not having the portableapps skills, I simply:
- installed R-Studio into directory created at D:\PortableApps\RStudioPortable\
- made shortcut of D:\PortableApps\RStudioPortable\bin\rstudio.exe
- configured R-Studio to look for Portable R installation
- placed shortcut at D:\
- start from normal Explorer window.
Hi Bill, I've installed the zip version of RStudio into the PortableApps directory under RStudio, but PortableApps doesn't find the exe as it's in the 'bin' subdirectory. How do I get this to be recognised?
Just an update. I downloaded and installed R and R studio from billhuber's web page. It works great and I am using it now. It provides a way to incorporate most of the add ins for R so that, with a GUI and add ins a lot can be done at a professional level.
Thanks to Bill Huber for all the work. I hope this can be included in PortableApps as a released application. This software is competitive with commercial statistics packages and enhances the value of PortableApps.
Thanks for all the help with this.
Jojo
Used Bill Huber's site to locate source forge version of latest R release.
Much appreciated.
Hi:
I just went to Bill Huber's site and downloaded the R portable and R studio portable from source forge. I have questions about how to proceed.
1 Should I install R first and then RStudio?
2. Should I keep them in one folder?
3. If not, how will RStudio know where R is in order to start it up?
4. Can I start R independently of RStudio from portable apps menu (I'm not sure when I would do that but I am curious).
Thanks
Jojo
If I was installing R and RStudio on to a new USB drive the steps I would follow are:
1. Download and install the PortableApps platform on the USB if it is not already installed.
2. Download R and RStudio to my Downloads folder. That is where all my downloads go.
3. Install R using the "Install A New App" under the Apps menu and the downloaded file. If everything worked right you should have a "R Portable" menu item in the PortableApps for R. A R-Portable folder should now exist under the PortableApps folder. If you click that menu item the R window should open. So yes, you can start R indepently of RStudio.
4. Install RStudioPortable using the "Install A New App" under the Apps menu and the downloaded file. If everything worked right you should have a RStudioPortable menu item in the PortableApps platform menu. A RStudioPortable folder should now exist under the PortableApps folder.
5. When you click on the RStudioPortable menu item for the first time, it will ask you for the location of the R folder. My R folder is PortableApps\R-Portable\App\R-Portable.
The procedure for updating R and RStudio is similar but you will have to install the packages for the new R version. So if you installed any packages, they are gone and your R programs will complain about missing packages. You can install them individually using the menus but since I use about 55 packages, I use a R file to quickly install the packages.
Thanks a lot Bill. Your usual complete and timely response.
I have a portable apps folder and programs already installed on a USB that contains an older version of R.
What I gather I must do is uninstall the earlier R version by deleting the sub-folder in my portable apps folder, and then install R and RStudio as per your directions.
What I think that means is that I will have to reinstall the packages I installed every time I update, but that is a small price to pay. Still, it would be nice to upgrade and leave all the installed packages in place.
Please let me know if I have interpreted what you said correctly.
Thanks again and all the best
Jojo
Hi Bill:
I just noticed your comment " I use a R file to quickly install the packages". So now I know how to update. I still have a question. What goes into the R file, the packages you download from CRAN? Will you be able to load them en masse from the folder? Thanks
Jojo
Sorry about the delay getting back to you. I got these instructions off of the Internet but I do not remember who was the original source.
Thanks Bill:
Your procedure looks easy enough that even I could do it. I have around 35 packages installed and I'd like to transfer them to my new install. Now that I can do that I'll be able to upgrade and install RStudio.
Thanks again.
Jojo
Hi Bill,
How can I retain RStudio's session, settings, preferences, etc. on an USB drive? I know for PortableApps format, these things are supposed to be stored under \PortableApps\RStudioPortable\Data\, however, it looks like by default, RStudio portable will store all these stuff in C:\Users\%name%\AppData\Local\RStudio-Desktop\ and that means I will have to redo all settings and re-open all opened scripts whenever I switch to another PC or even another OS on the same PC. Is this by design or a bug?
Thank you.
That is an interesting question. I went over to rstudio.org and did not find any instructions on changing the location of the RStudio-Desktop from its default location to a custom location like \PortableApps\RStudioPortable\Data\. I also tried starting rstudio with the --help option to see if there were any undocumented startup options and I did not see any. Until RStudio adds a startup option for changing the location, the answer to your question is by design.
I was trying to register an account at support.rstudio.com to post this question, but looks like it doesn't allow me to register.
Without the ability to store settings information locally on a USB drive, this software is still not strictly portable, although I can copy the entire RStudio-Desktop folder to the \AppData\Local\ every time when I change PC/OS, but that's quite annoying.
Bill:
Thanks for keeping R updated. It is a real service to the community. It would be great if we could seamlessly integrate with RStudio as the last commenter noted, but that doesn't diminish the shear joy of having and up to date version of R.
Jojo
I just installed the latest versions of R and RStudio to my portable apps collection. What I did was download both .paf's from the links bill gave us (I think they went to SourceForge) and then clicked on install new apps in my portable apps menu and voila, they both upgraded to the latest version, no muss, no fuss. For RStudio I was asked to point it to which version of R I wanted it to start, so I pointed it to the 64 bit portable apps version (in the bin folder) and it opened it just fine.
Thanks for the great work Bill.
Hi,
When I try to run some R script in R portable, an error occurs saying that base package can't be opened. I tried to install this package using install.packages("base") but it said package ‘base’ is not available (for R version 3.2.3)
What should I do? I
Under 3.2.4 I get the message that says "package ‘base’ is a base package, and should not be updated ". I think this is a warning.
Thanks Bill. The updated versions of R are much appreciated.
Hi Bill:
Thanks for the new update version. I want to install it. Do I need to uninstall the last version, or can I install version 3.4 just by running it and it will simply "do the right thing" with the older version.
Thanks
Jojo
Should note that R is one of those programs like Blender and K-3D where the use case is especially strong for a portable version: if you have access to a very fast machine, you can use a portable program to do a lot more.
Moderator at portablefreeware.com
I've managed to get R Portable installed but am having trouble getting RStudio to work.
1. I'm using the zipped version, but since the .exe file isn't in the main directory PortableApps doesn't recognize it and doesn't add it to its menu. How can I change this?
2. How do link RStudio to the portable version of R stored on my USB drive?
PS: I did notice that there's a portableapps version of RStudio (https://sourceforge.net/projects/rportable/files/R-Studio/0.97.551/), unfortunately it hasn't been updated in a long time.