Portable Desktop?

https://portableapps.com/node/9715

this:
https://portableapps.com/node/7447

that is if the file is ever uploaded again.

I don't actually do that, I have no need for a virtual desktop.

if the host restricted you on that in first place, you wouldn't be doing anything in the first place.

Oh sorry, I didnt notice that one, just the one where the link gave a 404.

Anyway I rather would see something integrated with PAM, like a desktop folder and a desktop that would act like a regular desktop (with all messy icons and stuff) that when PAM is started on an other PC shows the same desktop again.

I was hoping the virtua desktop (or some other I found) did this, but it still showed my messy desktop

I'm sure I won't sway your opinion but, I was thinking it would be a seperate program , not PAM itself doing it. As far as a crash goes, it could store information for each comp (like geek.menu does for wallpapers , or the program on load could check to see if the temporary folders exist if they exist then the program would prompt to restore the host icons then restart.

Much of the points you make are very valid, but if I understood the original poster's request and the other requests correct it was the desire for taking the desktop with them without making it a full blown OS. (A full blown OS would render portable apps obsolete by it's very nature as well...)

I understand the suggestion of Linux, but then again, I think it's just the desire to have our own messy desktop on USB that runs the (Windows) portable apps. The use of your own messy desktop is of course optional and used only if the PC is capable enough to run it proper.

Booting from CD-ROM or USB a complete OS is to me much less desirable as you need to restart the PC, which may or may not be possible and depends on boot settings as well. (My own PC is not capable to boot from USB stick at all). And for this you could use many of the Linux Live CD's available right now.

Admin rights is also always an issue when using a host computer. Lucky for us many portable apps don't need them at all. And it's to think a 'portable desktop' also should not need them. I see it as just another portable app. I'm sure there are also many locations who prohibit the use of executables altogether to protect the host computer from abuse.

The Portable Apps menu is a great thing because it makes it possible to easy navigate, backup and install portable applications. The compromise in this is the apps need to be within the requirements (ie, no use of admin rights for one).

I hope we'll find the perfect Portable Desktop for our Portable Apps that is able to work within these boundaries. And if it doesn't exist right now... who knows, someone sees it as a great project to develop.

And of course exploring possibilities is always good to do, especially when they lead us to new opportunities.

Lead the way

In XP (and maybe in 2K) the taskbar properties have a setting "Keep the taskbar on top of other windows"; if this is checked, this should solve the problem.

It's quite likely that this is not configurable on public machines, though.

The other options are a little more effort:
1. You could make a second toolbox to make up the extra space, but you'd have to actually delete it (can't just hide it) and recreate every time.
2. Open the Toolbox properties and add or subtract rows to adjust the bottom.

Most systems you will encounter should be 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768. If you subtract the taskbar, you get heights of either 565 or 733. You can tweak the tile height, cell spacing, and border spacing, and number of rows to get it close.

Here's what I got:
Leave the Windows border checkboxes (3d and line) checked.
Set your tile height to 36, and the border spacing to 4.
That will give you a toolbox sizes of 552 for 15 rows, and (still leaves 13 pixels peeking at the bottom, not too bad) and 732 for 20 rows.

Anyway, it's a quick adjustment you need to do only when starting it on a different resolution computer, and it's pretty quick.

P.S. Hey, when you are running this, you can click on the icon in the system tray, and it brings the toolbox up to the front, similar to the Windows Desktop icon in the Quick Launch toolbar.

Happy Thanksgiving!

First, SOLANUS, thank you for ToolBox suggestion. VERY nice find!

Toolbox is working quite nicely to make a portable desktop, now that I'm getting used to its ways. I made my toolbox 1280x960 for my 19" monitor, and on 17" 1024x768 let the the excess slide off the right and bottom edges.

Like Riax, I did have some problems with a full-screen toolbox covering the taskbar, even though I do NOT have "toolbox stays on top" enabled.
KLUDGY SOLUTION:
always keep just a few pixels of the "real" desktop exposed along one edge (doesn't matter which edge) and then the taskbar always seems to stay on top.
(discovered it by trial & error, and I don't know why, but it works). When I restart the app, it is back against the screen edge, and I have to drag it away a few pixels, and then click an edge of the taskbar, and I am back in business.

some minor things to watch out for while using Toolbox :
If I open any of the Toolbox configuration windows and then navigate away from that window without closing it, it seems to hold focus even though it is no longer visible --- it can be a little tricky to get hold of things again.

And do not use setting "stays on top" when you are using a full-screen toolbox, you will never be able to access any other window ( a rather treacherous setting IMO, I had to exit and then change the ini file WinState from 0 to 1)

I notice that the app starts up using 10 - 12 mb ram, and continues to suck up more and more ram during configuration, but restarting Toolbox took it back down and it seems to stay level during normal usage.

All in all, I really really like this utility, it's a keeper.
It's great to have my most frequently used portable-drive shortcuts so easily available.
I hope eddiefb3 gives this one a try, it just might be his answer.

Thanks again.

Primary problem is that it requires Administrative Rights to run, or an administrator to install the "Usher" software on the host machine so the guest user can run their copy of MojoPac. I don't foresee that happening at my local library

I could not even ACTIVATE my copy, because I don't have admin rights on any machine that has internet access (sad, I know, can you believe there are actually people like me who have no internet at home? I'll bet there are thousands of us, and we are all bitter about MojoPac, ha ha.)

I wish there was a way for me to use it, it does sound like a lovely way to compute in your own personal environment.

i dont believe it is OSS but, MOJOPACK! mojopack apparently allows you to put your desktop enviro over another comps temporarily. i am actually going to try it today, so i will let you know how well it works.

This has been mentioned before, but for MojoPac to be a feasible solution for the majority of users, every computer they use save their own will need to be logged into using administrative credentials or have the MojoPac Usher software installed. From a network and systems security standpoint, letting people use public workstations with administrative privileges is out of the question, and installing MojoPac Usher on every single public workstation is, at least on a college campus, a monumental task.

Long story short, unless college/library/internet cafe network administrators are willing to put in the effort of ensuring MojoPac Usher is installed on every public machine they're responsible for, MojoPac just isn't a workable solution. Any software solution that requires administrative rights or something to be locally-installed is not, in my eyes, portable.

ToolBox has come the closest to being my portable desktop solution of everything that has been suggested in this thread. As I used it, however, I found myself actually wanting access to the host desktop over the ToolBox I had configured. So, I don't currently have ToolBox in my autorun routine, but it is still installed for when I go to the library and come across a workstation with six dozen desktop icons. (I wish I were exaggerating.)