First I will start out with a list of reasons why you would want to use my launcher instead of the other launchers out there:
1) The installer will automatically copy your local Google Chrome over to your portable drive (with a caveat that I can hopefully remove in future versions... see below).
2) The installer will optionally copy your Google Chrome profile over, sans Cache.
3) The installer will use the original Google Chrome installation files if they exist, allowing a clean Google Chrome install on your portable drive.
4) The installer will automatically compress Google Chrome with upx.exe, skipping files that compressing causes problems.
5) You can choose to strip out extra languages you don't need, as well as the DOM Inspector if you don't use it.
6) When it's done, you have a fully-functional Google Chrome without the need to manually move files around or compress files or do any additional steps. Only way this could be improved is with a from-scratch Chromium compile (which might be better if John does this... Chromium doesn't include Google's tracking stuff dll) which could be included in an installer. Of course for now there is that aforementioned caveat (see below).
The cons, at the moment:
1) You have to have Google Chrome installed on your local computer so it can be copied to the portable device.
2) You have to have version 0.2.153.1 specifically for this release (caveat detailed below). [Edit: Fixed a bit, should work with earlier versions but will omit Google Gears... see below]
I've been waiting for a response from John about what he thinks of my launcher, and during that time two new versions of Google Chrome have come out so I figure it's about time.
http://downloads.mzzt.net/GoogleChromePortable.paf.exe
I'm fairly certain it should work fine, but if the installer does anything kooky (it shouldn't do anything destructive) let me know and I'll fix it.
Here is that caveat I mentioned:
[Edit: Now it can copy any version, however in 0.2.153.1 the file structure and install procedure for Chrome was changed slightly, so if you copy an older version with this installer, the Google Gears plugin will not be copied and so will not be usable. You can copy it by hand if you want, and upx compress it.]
You can check your Google Chrome version from the wrench menu under "About". If you don't have it, this particular version of Google Chrome is not available from the official site (it's a developer beta) but you can get it here: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Google_Chrome/1220379960/1
The download bar is a bit wonky in this version of Google Chrome but other than that it's fine. I think it's a bit more stable too.
(Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Google. Google cannot and is not obligated to offer support for Google Chrome when used in this Portable configuration. They also, obviously, cannot offer support for my installer or launcher. No Google Chrome files are included in this download. All files included are either made by me, are licensed for free redistribution, or I have permission from the original authors to distribute. See the license information inside the Google Chrome Portable installer for more disclaimer stuff.)