Which soft for PortableApps?

Submit portable freeware that you find here. It helps if you include information like description, extraction instruction, Unicode support, whether it writes to the registry, and so on.
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Trakzor
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Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:30 am

Which soft for PortableApps?

#1 Post by Trakzor »

Hello,

New member on this forum, I would like to ask you all a question :

Using PortableApps (PA) on my USB key, I'd tried to use Universal Extractor (UE) to transform an aplication into portable one. But the exit format given by UE seems not to match with this one accepted by PA (that accept only *.paf.exe!)

Thanks for help

Keen to read your answer (sorry for my english, but you know French speaker!!!) :wink:

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m^(2)
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#2 Post by m^(2) »

First, UE doesn't make programs portable. Not at all.
You can find some information about how to make portable software here and on PA.com too. Bad news: It's not nearly as easy to do as unpacking with UE.
The first topic I found:
http://portablefreeware.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2559
This one isn't great, maybe there's something better, search yourself.

Now about .paf:
It's required by very few tools, PA.com backup is the only one I know (And I recommend not to use it at anyway).

PA.com menu that you probably use doesn't need it. It can work with any program that has executable in the root. It also has a bug (meant to be a feature) that causes it to show all executables in the root of program's folder, which is often undesirable. My recommendation: If that's a problem, use another entry point, you can find a lot of menus in PFC database.

If you decided that you really want PAF, you have to follow the specification found on PortableApps.com. Getting it "almost" compatible is quite easy with most ways of creating portable software. For 100% compatibility you need to use their installer, which is licensed under GPL, which requires you to release sources of everything that you include and you often just don't have them.
I don't know if you want to release it, so it might not be a problem.

Have a nice reading.

Trakzor
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:30 am

#3 Post by Trakzor »

What do you advse as USB Key application, better than PortableApps : Liberkey, Framakey...in order I will be able to transform some softs in portable ones?

Thank you

Trakzor :?:

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m^(2)
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#4 Post by m^(2) »

I don't understand.
Do you want to:
-find a nice portable software suite
-portabilize a program in a way that works well with some fine suite
-find a way to portabilize some program
-something else
?

Trakzor
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:30 am

#5 Post by Trakzor »

Sorry,

I dont care to use PortableApps or another suite.

Just what I want is to get a convenient suite that allows me, in addition of the distributed package (liberkey, framakey and so on) is to find an extra program (like Universal Extractor) that permit me to make portable extra soft not directly available.

In brief :
1) What suite do you advise?
2) Running with this suite, what soft to make portable application running with this advised suite?

Clear enough for you, I have some progresses to do in english!!!

Thanks for your patience

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m^(2)
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#6 Post by m^(2) »

Trakzor wrote:Sorry,

I dont care to use PortableApps or another suite.

Just what I want is to get a convenient suite that allows me, in addition of the distributed package (liberkey, framakey and so on) is to find an extra program (like Universal Extractor) that permit me to make portable extra soft not directly available.

In brief :
1) What suite do you advise?
2) Running with this suite, what soft to make portable application running with this advised suite?

Clear enough for you, I have some progresses to do in english!!!

Thanks for your patience
Clear.
I don't advise any suite, check several of them and find the one that you like the most. They are usually easily extendable, you can mix them and add programs not found in any of them (i.e. the ones listed in PFC).
The only exceptions that I know are U3, Ceedo, Mojopac, they are mostly closed, you won't add anything.

Creation of portable software is another matter. You can find many bad guides in the net (like "Extract with UE and then it's fine"). I suggest reading only big sites that focus on portable software (like this one) and entirely skip other ones, especially youtube.
There are many tools that help portabilize software. Some are very easy to use (Thinstall is one, IIRC Portable App Creator is another), they show you a wizard that in several steps creates a portable program.
But there's a catch. They sometimes don't work or work incorrectly. What's worse, they may create a program that works on your computer and doesn't work on another, you don't know if what you got is correct and have no way to check it.
What do I recommend to a newbie then?
-Laptop
-Virtual machine. QEMU is the most portable, there are several GUIs. Other VMs might be finer, but they all require admin rights.
-Ask the author to create a portable version
-Ask somebody experienced to create it for you
-Learn it the hard way. Learn what are the common causes of non-portability, how to find them, how to deal with them.

donald
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On Portable apps 1.5 and up

#7 Post by donald »

Taking a hint either from some menu mods (maybe) or just some requests, Mr. Haller has added a lot of new features most importantly a slight nod to the use of non paf applications.
New In PortableApps.com Platform 1.5
... App Icon Hiding - You can easily hide icons right from the menu. This is especially useful when you add apps that aren't in PortableApps.com Format (Did you know the PortableApps.com Platform works with all portable apps?)
Check out the full list of changes and features.
http://portableapps.com/news/2009-03-06_-_platform_1.5

The Portable Apps menu has begun to change again and will update shortly once more.
Another Release Coming Soon!!
Best of all, another release of the PortableApps.com Platform is coming within the next couple weeks. ... The 2.0 release will have all the features of 1.5 plus new theming options and other advanced features. Look for the first beta test to hit the forums within a few days.
Not to apologize for Mr. Haller but he is trying and may produce something even experienced users of PStart and other menus may want.

Additionally there is always a need for a menu for non experienced or as you might call them Newbs and Mr. Haller's Suites of programs fills this need as well as any Suite and better than some since it does allow both the use of non formatted apps, and each app within the suite is self contained (not menu dependent) and can be used with almost any other Launcher. (some launchers are environments for some applications, containing needed elements in common in the launcher menu)

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m^(2)
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#8 Post by m^(2) »

donald wrote:Taking a hint either from some menu mods (maybe) or just some requests, Mr. Haller has added a lot of new features most importantly a slight nod to the use of non paf applications.
New In PortableApps.com Platform 1.5
... App Icon Hiding - You can easily hide icons right from the menu. This is especially useful when you add apps that aren't in PortableApps.com Format (Did you know the PortableApps.com Platform works with all portable apps?)
Check out the full list of changes and features.
http://portableapps.com/news/2009-03-06_-_platform_1.5
Oh, so they fixed it at last? Took a few years.
It's good to know, but I don't really care about it's features, I use Total Commander as my entry point and see no point in getting any menu.
donald wrote:(...) better than some since it does allow both the use of non formatted apps, and each app within the suite is self contained (not menu dependent) and can be used with almost any other Launcher. (some launchers are environments for some applications, containing needed elements in common in the launcher menu)
Actually that's a standard. From the things I know only U3, Ceedo, Mojopac behave differently.

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