Is there such a thing as a small app Relative launcher?
I use the portable app menu at home, but when i am out on other work computers i just want a Small app launcher that will allow me to launch 5 or 6 apps that i use all the time everywhere and are easy to get to?
However on one computer I am on drive D: and on another i am on drive E:, is there a way to get this to change automatically for the app paths?
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Just use the platform.
The launcher for each app handles changing drives (and often changing directories, too), so you don't have to worry about that, and the platform is lightweight and runs well from USB drives (considering that is what it was designed for). Plus, with only a small number of apps, the platform will start and show your list of apps almost instantly.
The platform launcher is too slow as i have a lot of apps.
Is there a way to have 2 launchers set up one with all and then one with just a few of the apps i want to use?
Graham Yates
there isnt. The Platoform/Meun is meant to be one instance per drive and display all apps you have installed (minus the ones you have hidden).
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
While the main argument that goes around is that the platform must be at the root level of the drive, it's not actually required.
I've had multiple platforms on the same drive for years with NO problems.
You need to put them into separate subdirectories.
Example would be:
X:\PA1\ which has Start.exe, \Documents\, and \PortableApps\etc for the first set of apps.
and
X:\PA2\ which has Start.exe, \Documents\, and \PortableApps\etc for the second set of apps.
They will both work independently, will not try to detect apps in the other, and will even only do updates and installs independently.
I've seen dire warnings that this would break certain apps in some way, but I've never seen it nor read of an actual instance of that happening.
P.S. over the years with PA.c, I've had even multiple installs of different versions of the platform (to test during it's short beta period) and they all worked fine.
P.P.S Caveat - if you have the app installed on one platform, and you want to have it show up in the 2nd platform without actually installing it to the 2nd, that won't happen automatically. It CAN be done, but it's a PITA, so you are better off with Toolbox, Appetizer, or maybe RocketDock for that.
I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.
Why not use the PA.c menu only with 5 apps? It starts really fast with only that small app count. For the drive letter changing, what apps do you use? If they are in portable apps format, drive letter changing is already implemented.
If you are only concerned about the path to the apps location, the pa.c menu handles that. You just have to put the apps in a path inside the PortableApps folder for the menu to find them.
Alternatives are numerous with a wide range of feature sets. I found Appetizer the most convenient as it has the feature to scan the PortableApps folder if needed. I stopped using it when the first 2.0 Betas of the PA.c menu came out, though.
I personally use another setup as my flash drive usage varies. I use CDStarter to choose wether to mount a truecrypt container with sensitive data, start the PA.c menu, or just open the documents folder. It's highly configurable and supports relative paths but needs some fiddling with the settings file . If you only have to start few apps this may allow you to build a very reduced menu. It does not reside in the notification area, though, but is a window that stays open (if that option is selected) or is closed completely after the launch of an app. You can define this behaviour for every single button.
-edit-
parallel posting again.
My personal favorite is Cylog Toolbox. Even though it's been in beta for a year or more, it's actually quite stable. It's natively portable, it can be resized to fit the number of icons you want to display, and you can have as many or as few toolboxes as you want. It also supports relative paths - you can actually switch absolute to relative paths with a single click. For your purposes, you could put it in the root of the flash drive for easy access, and add icons to your 5 or 6 Favorite Apps. That way, you don't even need to start the PortableApps Platform at work to get to your favorite apps.
I'm sure if you search for launchers on this site, you'll turn up some other suggestions as well.
I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.
What you could try is Appetizer. I am not sure offhand that it supports hiding unwanted apps but its definitively worth a try.
And besides that, you dont need to worry about the changing drive letters. Handling that is a key requirement of every app available here.
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
Thanks this looks the best option so far I will give this one a try.
Graham Yates