The Portable Freeware Collection Forums

> Windows is the only platform I know of that has the concept of a registry, so applications on other platforms like Linux and Mac, are inherently portable, just because they are never tied a "registry".

That's mostly true.

Traditionally in *nix systems including Linux and Mac, everything is a file and there's something similar to a registry inside a lot of files in a lot of directories. Examples:

1. Adobe Photoshop CS 2 - The uninstall process for the Mac that shows just how much garbage is thrown all around the computer. This effectively works like a registry to prevent users from fully removing software (important in some cases to prevent piracy).

2. Zimbra (whose authors don't charge for it so the piracy issue is null) - This program throws files all over the place and the script designed to clean up all the garbage failed for me because I didn't install to the default folder.

While Mac may not have a registry, there's more than enough similarly bad file organization. The main consequence of this is generally making your drive fill up with useless junk over time. Windows gets gradually more and more buggy and slow with increasing registry cruft. So, yes, there's nothing comparably bad for Mac or Linux as with the Windows registry.

---

More on why the Windows Registry is terrible.

Old thread update:

Recently tested out the installed version of Paint.NET again recently and I'm VERY impressed. The way that it handles thumbnails at the top of the screen for various images, save options for PNG files that can reduce color settings (similar to but not with the same level of control as RIOT), and just speed and ease of use. I still prefer GIMP for most things, but as most of my work is basic, quick, and simple edits, this is a tool I'll be using a lot.

I personally wouldn't go this route, but as previously mentioned Liberkey was distributing an unsupported (by Paint.NET) version [source].

Edit: there's also this trick, but it may not work anymore.

Old thread update:

Connected to my work on Pinta today, I did a little digging on this topic. So far a lot of old versions of the program, nothing resembling a solid portable option.

---

New update Paint.net v4.0.17 has portable mode.
https://blog.getpaint.net/2017/07/20/pa ... available/
https://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/ ... available/

Also, I’ve implemented a “portable mode” that I’ll be describing in a follow-up post. It redirects the app’s settings into a local JSON file instead of having them in the registry. I know there are at least a handful of people who’ve been hoping for something like this for a long time – now your USB key can carry your personal settings with you from computer to computer.

Still waiting for that follow-up post for instructions on how to enable portable mode.

> New update Paint.net v4.0.17 has portable mode

Ah, great news.


> Still waiting for that follow-up post for instructions on how to enable portable mode.

Steps so far:

• 1. Download, unzip installer and launch
  2. Wait for the dotNET install to go through (I thought I had the latest version but whatever)
  3. Select custom install
  4. When prompted, uncheck all options to set it as default editor, add shortcut, check for updates, etc.
  5. Point install to a temp folder
  6. Copy to folder of your choice

I looked through the various exe.config files in the main folder but couldn't see anything that might work. I guess I'll wait for additional details.


EDIT:

billon wrote:Portable Mode in paint.net 4.0.17+

Yeah that was not obvious.

Well I have little doubt it's actually portable. I hope to get this program added to the database soon. Looking back at my thread, you can see what kind of interest I had in a portable Paint.NET.

Update on this ...

---

Status: Portable. Writes settings to PaintDotNet.AppSettings.json

Stealth: No, writes to C:\Users\~\AppData\Local\paint.net

Draft steps:

1. Download and install to the default location
2. Open the file PaintDotNet.exe.config in a text editor and find this line:
   
   • <add key="EnableWindowsFormsHighDpiAutoResizing" value="true" />
3. Underneath this line, paste the following text:
   
   • <add key="PaintDotNet.EnablePortableMode" value="true" />
4. Save this change and copy the paint.net folder to a destination of your choice
5. Uninstall the program
6. Launch PaintDotNet.exe

Unfortunately updating requires going through this same process, but Paint.net hasn't historically released on more than once every 3 months (on average).

Moving to the Submission thread...

I have submitted Paint.net to the database. Please vote if you think it belongs.

---

Related thread: Configuring ShareX with Paint.NET and PngOptimizer

Some notable portable mode stuff in Paint.NET 4.3. It no longer needs .NET to be installed and native portable zips can be downloaded from https://github.com/paintdotnet/release/releases

Changes since 4.2.16:
New: The app has been migrated to .NET 5, and performance has been greatly improved as a result.
New: ARM64 is now natively supported, which improves performance on devices such as the Surface Pro X.
New: .NET no longer needs to be installed on the system because the app now uses self-contained deployment.
New: Portable ZIPs are now available. Please note that portable installations do not currently update automatically.

Tested in a fresh Win7 virtual machine and it does work without .NET of any kind.

Nice. I have removed .NET as a requirement from the database entry.

For the curious, this new self-contained deployment approach will work on out of the box on a fully updated copy of Windows 8.1, 10, and 11. It will work on Windows 7 SP1 but will require the user to manually download and install Platform Update for Windows 7 from the microsoft.com site. It requires admin rights and a restart to work. This update is not automatically installed via Windows Update. The app will not work on Windows 8.0, Vista, or XP.

FTR, Paint.NET latest release is v4.3 (changelog at forums.getpaint.net/topic/118660-paintnet-43-is-now-available/).

A pre-packaged portable is available at github.com/paintdotnet/release/releases (under "Assets").

Thanks. I have updated the entry to point the download to Github.

As the releases notes states clearly the nuances of platform prerequisites, I think I will leave them out of the entry.

Midas wrote: ↑A pre-packaged portable is available at github.com/paintdotnet/release/releases...

Andrew Lee wrote: ↑I have updated the entry to point the download to Github.

After checking it, I realized the portable 64-bit package for v4.3 at Github doesn't contain any 'paintdotnet.exe.config' file; as the file is how you achieve portability, I'm unsure if this was a mistake or if the dev expects people to do it manually...

Midas wrote: ↑Fri Sep 24, 2021 6:16 amAfter checking it, I realized the portable 64-bit package for v4.3 at Github doesn't contain any 'paintdotnet.exe.config' file; as the file is how you achieve portability, I'm unsure if this was a mistake or if the dev expects people to do it manually...

It has 'PaintDotNet.Configuration.json' instead which contains "EnablePortableMode": true. Settings are then saved in 'PaintDotNet.AppSettings.json'