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Are U3 applications compatible with PortableApps?

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PollieXmas
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Are U3 applications compatible with PortableApps?

Hallo John,

I was wondering, if I have an application that's already installed on a U3 drive, why can it not be copied/used from my USB HDD?

I purchased a 1GB Memorex U3 drive, but soon realized it is too small for my email.

I like the concept and novice skill levels needed, but I need much more space. The other problem was that memorex has not yet released an upgrade for Thunderbird which made me nervous.

Now that I took the time to install some of the portable apps, I'm surprised at how easy it really is. (Thanks for all your hard work John)

Now if I could only 'migrate' my other apps like Trillian and Skype it would be perfect. I'm not yet comfortable with the involved processes available to make them portable...

Regards
Paul

John T. Haller
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Migrating to a portable hard drive

U3 apps will only work from a U3 drive within the U3 Launchpad. If you'd like to use Skype on a regular drive, check out Rob Loach's launcher here:
https://portableapps.com/node/751

As for Trillian, I'd encourage you to check out Portable Gaim. I used to use Trillian but I've been using Gaim for about a year or so now. It's open source and works on Linux/FreeBSD and Mac (Gaim will work in X11 or Gaim-based Adium directly in OSX), too... so once you learn it, you can keep using it no matter what platform you may use in the future.

That said, it is possible to run Trillian from a portable device. Trillian Anywhere is an example. It's a bit complicated, though. You could always contact Cerulean and ask for them to do a portable version.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

PollieXmas
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Thanks

Hi John

Thanks for the quick response.

I used Trillian, then switched to Marinda as it had a Skype plugin, but when I started using U3, I had to go back to Trillian and Skype as seperate applications.

I cannot fault your logic though and the way I'm trying to get myself setup is so I can switch OS's if need be.

My "my documents" folder reside on the same HDD as my portable apps. I have also switched as many of my apps/utilities to open source alternatives, but there always seem to be one or two (favourite) apps that hold you back Wink (foobar, being the latest)

Thus I guess I should give Gaim a try and reduce the weight of the OS anchor Wink

Keep up the good work!

Regards
Paul

John T. Haller
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Foobar

Yeah, I liked a few things about Foobar... but when I found out it wasn't open source, I decided not to explore it further. It 'felt' like it should be an open source app.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

fat cerberus
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...

Yeah, I agree. I don't know why, but to use it, foobar feels like it should be an open-source application, not a proprietary one. Perhaps that's just because it shares an "unpolished" look and feel with so many other open-source apps (good example: VLC). Some of the earlier versions of Winamp felt like they should have been open-source, too--probably for the same reason.

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