Portable Application Launcher - The Portable Freeware Collection

Portable Application Launcher v3.1.12.1

lwc on 7 Jul 2023

30MB (uncompressed)
Released on 4 May 2012
Suggested by wirrerork

Portable Application Launcher (archived) organizes shortcuts into groups and categories. It's accessed via the system tray or user-defined hotkeys. Several styles and some languages are included. It can also be used as a portable desktop. PAL is capable of automatically installing PortableApps.com Format (PAF) applications, as well as many entries here on PortableFreeware. An included browser for downloading apps can be used with Universal Extractor and a simplistic updater module.

The program includes several extras not included in other launcher programs including favorites bar, "most-used apps" menu, file manager & search, simple RSS & iCal readers, timer, and more.

A 64-bit version is available (within the folder).

Note: Main site currently offline. Linking to Softpedia (thanks Baas).

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Category:	Productivity - Program Launchers (60)
Runs on:	WinXP / Vista / Win7
Writes settings to:	Application folder
Stealth: ?	Yes
Unicode support:	Yes
Path portability:	Automatic relative path (eg. ..\..\personal\work.doc)
License:	Free for personal use
How to extract:	Download the ZIP package and extract[/url to a folder of your choice. Launch Launch.exe (for 32-bit OS) or Launchx64.exe (for 64-bit OS).
What's new?	64bit-Version included. Plugin: Heatmap (Java). Spanish translation updated. Improved Truecrypt support.

28 comments on Portable Application Launcher

portaddict 2013-04-05 10:01

This is THE BEST portable launcher I have found so far with tons of features and customizations. Sadly, it looks like development has been discontinued. The website is down and there hasn't been an update since long :(

v3.1.12

I am Baas 2013-01-21 04:30

http://web.archive.org/web/20120509004406/http://www.download.irohde.de/launchv3

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Launchers-Shutdown-Tools/Portable-Application-Launcher.shtml

v3.1.12

abc 2013-01-20 19:45

Unfortunately the website and download links are not accessible: "403 Forbidden" and "404 Not found" errors.

v3.1.12

abc 2012-07-25 17:15

I was getting ready to go back to Asuite but the "load icons at startup" option makes it run so much snappier on my machine. Thanks for the tip.

V3.1.12

qyron 2011-12-26 21:03

Hi wirrerork! I couldn't find your e-mail address on your website so I'm asking my question here (and I hope you'll eventually read it). First of all I really like your program, it has some distinct features not found in other launchers that make it my launcher of choice. The only problem (for me) is it's license which says "free for personal, non-commercial use". Does this means that I can't install it on my work laptop in order to launch programs needed for my work? Is there a way to solve this issue?

V3.1.6

wirrerork 2011-07-11 18:15

Yes, the LaunchV3Dev comes with all styles extracted. Settings are still stored in zip files. But since they are stored in separate files, there seems to be no noticeable difference in loading/storing time. For slow mediums zip files might even win over uncompressed files. There is also an option "load icons at startup". You can trade startup time against runtime performance with that option. Displaying an icon for the first time might be slower if the icon cache is enabled (default). Version 3.1.1 comes with less root folders.

V3.1.2

hutchinsfairy 2011-07-11 08:19

@Evren I think if you unzip the files it will use the unzipped folders instead. I might be getting confused with the dev version though were they are unzipped by default.

V3.1.1

Evren C 2011-06-02 23:43

Smart bu not useful.
Comes with very nice features, Some of them are quite smart and goes quite further from pstart that I use but...

Slow. Extremly slow. A few suggestions.

1. Reading and writing settings on zip files is the worst part of the program. Why it is needed even it makes the program slower on netbooks etc.?

2. Nobody likes bloat. Still use Pstart for my (over 500) programs cos it is only exist of 1 executable and 1 XML. But it will be ok if the all files, settings and pictures etc. will be under one (just one) folder. Sure that nobody likes tons of files under root of his/her USB drive. Expecially nowadays with hundreds of flash drive infecting vir-uses.

3. And... If all files (sure except Launch.exe) will be under a folder, that folder must be named same with the executable like in pstart. For example my pstart is named as "menu.exe" and it reads it's XML under folder "menu" ;) Try it...

4. Ok ok, zipping files like lang and styles may sound nice in aspect of less files but, sure everybody can delete the ones not in use. Zip trick is not neccessary.

And I'm waiting (hope soon) for further developments. I'm really excited about smart ideas. Software is quite promising, but spped is everything. Sure a clean disk root also ;)

Thanks to wirrerork for this software. Willing to switch soon.

V3.0.10

wirrerork 2011-05-23 11:45

Thanks. Such option will be available in 3.0.9. You can delete/rename the splash.png file, but it disable ALL splash screens.

V3.0.8

Robin C 2011-05-21 18:53

A very nice application. Suggestion: An option to disable the splash screen that shows while the program loads.

V3.0.8

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hutchinsfairy 2011-04-04 07:24

Great launcher, have tried PortableApps launcher, ASuite and PStart and this one wins out for. Worth noting that almost all of the problems mentioned here have been fixed by the Author. The program window flashing can be fixed by ticking "Load icons at startup" on the first page of the settings.

V3.0.7

wirrerork 2011-02-04 18:07

Hi Singularity. You can find my email on my website.

Singularity 2011-02-04 08:20

I'm trying the Beta and it works better.

@wirrerork I have update with minor fixes the IT language file. How can i send it to you?

Singularity 2011-02-02 15:37

I used it for few days but unfortunately I had to revert back to pstart. The program window continues flashing, If you have many items and try the search function, it gets stuck and becomes unresponsive. If you try to add many items with the exec. scanning feature, it freezes. I have a gigaton of portable utils and I can't even imagine to add them manually. It's a good program and hope will be more stable and responsive. Also the plugin for portablefreeware.com doesn't connect to the web page. I suggest to discard explorer and use a more lightweight and portable embedded browser.

wirrerork 2010-11-08 14:32

Thanks for your suggestions. You may want to try out the new beta version from the homepage which includes
-Impoved support for readonly media
-An option, on the right-click menu, to reorder the group items
-Version number disabled for new new items
Also, if your apps are properly sorted on the drive can try to use the "scan for executables" menu item.
Thanks for your feedback.

Gilgamesh 2010-11-04 12:56

This launcher is very promising! There are only a few details i miss, to completely replace my ASuite with it:
1) An option, on the right-click menu, to reorder the group items.
2) Importing my ASuite.xml, as i have about 400 apps there, too much work adding everything again.
3) An option to disable the version number on the app name when adding a new one.

Thanks for the hard work, wirrerork!

infestedtassadar-x17 2010-11-04 12:29

This seems like a pretty nice little app and might replace Pstart for me in the near future.

Runs from a read-only state (throwing up up an error message/still runs) and when you create/open a group it opens the folder where the app is located. But those are my only two gripes here.

Error message i am getting is "the disk cannot be written to because it is write protected. Please remove the write protection from the volume in drive Y:"

wirrerork 2010-09-08 09:39

Thanks for the suggestion. For now use drag&drop to reorder items. You can also download the beta version from the homepage, which contains copy/paste commands.

Officer 2010-09-08 09:29

Atleast Cut, Copy and Paste applications are still to be put in the launcher before this launcher can be used.

wirrerork 2010-09-06 15:57

Small icons bug is now fixed, thanks for telling me about it.

Officer 2010-09-06 14:57

There are no applications of "Cut", "Copy" and "Paste" as in the "P Start" and other Launchers. While choosing small icons, the applications do not show icons against their names. wirreror needs to check up all launchers and then modify this launcher. If he wants that this application should be most popular, then he should find a way that all kinds of applications, whether zip, rar or installer/msi are installed in this Launcher. Still he is behind PStart, which has more specifications.

Homer 2010-07-22 23:53

Thank you wirrerork. The bata version works well. It loads quickly and runs its shortcuts very fast.

This application has all the features one wants in a launcher and more. The "Launch Pad" especially is a unique and innovative idea. It became my favorite launcher immediately.

May I suggest only a couple tweaks. In the "Multiple Page" mode, provide a Name bar to identify each page individually. Secondly, a way to jump between differnt pages... maybe a tab on the menu toolbar listing the various pages. Also different icons for different groups would be the icing on the cake.

Congrutulations on an outstanding product.

wirrerork 2010-07-22 16:01

Single click on the label/caption in tree view mode to rename items. You can also download the beta version from the homepage, which contains a rename command.

Homer 2010-07-22 15:16

Excellent concept.

But, how does one rename the "New Group" titles to something more descriptive? There is no "Rename" option when you right click on the icon.

wirrerork 2010-07-20 17:42

Thanks for the suggestion. For now use drag&drop to reorder items.

Officer 2010-07-20 16:41

This does not sort out option. How can we sort out the applications/folders etc.

zardoz 2010-07-01 16:40

I prefer Pstart
http://pegtop.net/start/

Muzza 2010-03-07 21:46

Nice idea but very slow and the window flashes during update while scrolling on XP - would be nice if other skins were available and the ability to turn off the application path. I'll wait for the next version.

Portable Application Launcher v3.1.12.1

28 comments on Portable Application Launcher

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