Hello Members:
I am new to PortableApps.com.
I want to make sure I understand the UPDATE / UPGRADE info provided at: https://portableapps.com/support/portable_app#using
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Upgrading a Portable App
PortableApps.com Platform Updater (Recommended) - To upgrade your apps using the platform's built-in updater, just select Help and then Check for Updates. The platform will inform you what apps are out of date and offer to automatically download and install the updated versions.
PortableApps.com Platform Manual - To upgrade a portable app from the PortableApps.com Platform manually, first, make sure the app isn't open. Then, click Apps and then Install a New App. In the window that comes up, click the Install button. Then, browse to the AppNamePortable_x.x.paf.exe file you downloaded and select it. Now, follow the on-screen prompts if there are any. The Platform takes care of letting the installer know where to install to. All of your current settings and data will be preserved.
Standalone - To upgrade a portable app manually without the PortableApps.com Platform, just browse to the location of the AppNamePortable_x.x.paf.exe file you downloaded. Double-click the file to start the installation. Follow the on-screen prompts and select the location you'd like to install to. For upgrades, you should select the parent directory of the AppNamePortable directory in which the app is currently installed. For example, if the app is within X:\PortableApps\AppNamePortable, you'd want to select the X:\PortableApps directory in the Browse Folder window. After clicking OK, it should show X:\PortableApps\AppNamePortable. All of your current settings and data will be preserved.
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QUESTION
- Does UPDATING require the PA Platform... or can portable apps located in other folders also be UPDATED manually or automatically?
- What are the UPDATING consequences of using the PA Platform for downloads... and then moving the downloaded FOLDER to another disk location?
- Are there any VIDEOS that clearly explain the above?
Thank you in advance for a prompt and detailed response.
~ Alan
Switzerland
MicroCenter PowerSpec 1510 notebook
Intel® Core i7-7700HQ
G.SKill RAM 16GB DDR4 2400
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
Disk-1: Samsung 960 EVO 250GB NVMe M.2 SSD
Disk-2: WD Black 7200 RPM 1TB
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No, the PortableApps.com Platform is not required to update your PortableApps.com apps. The Platform's built-in updater is just an added convenience.
Very few updates require making changes to the Data folder (most don't touch it), and in some of these cases, if you've moved the app to a different folder than it was last run from, it's possible that it may not correctly make the changes it should, but this is a very rare corner case which would only affect an app that needs to have a reference to a specific path changed and for some reason or other has to search for and replace it inside a file as part of the upgrade. Also, this potential issue should be able to be mitigated if the upgrade code is written correctly, so if you ever come across such a bug, please report it and we'll try to fix it for future releases, and depending on the severity of the consequences, may decide to release a new revision of the same release in order to prevent others from having the issue.
Not that I'm aware of. Sorry.
The proper, and supported method of updating/upgrading an officially released PortableApps.com app is to run the new installer, and at the point where is asks where to install to, select the same folder that your outdated version is installed to.
For instance: Let's say I install "Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition" to
X:\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable(The default location, if your USB drive isX:), then that folder will contain these files:FirefoxPortable.exe,help.html, and these folders:App,Data,Other. Now let's say I take my USB drive to another computer and it's drive letter isY:, and I see that a new version of Firefox is released and Firefox Portable an update. The correct thing to do is to download the newFirefoxPortable_[Version]_[Languate].paf.exe, run it, "Next" through till it asks for a location, make sure it saysY:\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable, "Next" through to the end and click "Finish". Now I have new version.If in the above instance I had also installed the PortableApps.com Platform to my USB drive ("Start.exe" is located at the root of the drive, e.g.
X:\Start.exe), then I could launch it, let it check for updates, and it's built in updater would do all of that for me in the background so I don't have to worry about the details and/or babying it along. This is particularly useful when you have ... let's say 30 apps that need updates and you don't want to individually download and run each one, because the updater will download them all, then run each one.~3D1T0R