I discovered this site with "thinstalled" freeware.

Take a look at:

http://www.thindownload.com/

Greetings

Thinstall is really nice, but the programs it builds are not stealth. They save all their data to the Application Data folder.

Perhaps these Thinstalled applications could then be combined with JauntePE to create truly portable solutions?

Alternatively just JPE-ize the original applications.

2acgrego
Very interesting site, thanks for sharing.
Did you try any application already?

But are Thinstalled apps really portable? or even: stealth? Where does this software save it's settings?

EDIT: After posting this, I see that in the meantime M@tty already answered my question

_________________
People laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same.

only half true.. make a folder named "thinstall" in the same dir of the exe app. Then all the data will save into this folder, emulate save settings into application folder

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JauntePE the portable maker: <<JauntePE Google Site >>

About the data writing to the Application Data Folder, crownixx is absolutely right:


"make a folder named "thinstall" in the same dir of the exe app. Then all the data will save into this folder, emulate save settings into application folder"

I already tested some of the software and they work quite well.

For example, GIMP in the version available on portablefreeware.com didn't work very well, because presented some error messages. With the thinstalled version I had no problem, although the folder size for the program is quite bigger.

Nice find, the files do seem to come out a little excessive in size though.

What is the 30 day evaluation period in the agreement about?
I may be being dense or missing something but this looks like shareware.

Did I download the wrong apps?

Increased file size IS a bit odd.

MediaCoder is almost 60 mb compared to 40 mb for the normal installed version.

I posted some time back
LINK
about Open Office download from the Thinstall official site being only 115 mb compared to PortableApps.com paf version of 185 mb.
Now here comes this zipped file from ThinDownload at 163 mb.
Unpacked from the zip file, it is *** 389 mb ***.
Outrageous! Avoid the ThinDownload version of OpenOffice, it is also slow as a snail on Valium!
Get the one from the official Thinstall site for 115 mb for the total installation.


I would assume that the folks at the ThinDownload site used the "Evaluation" version of Thinstall to create these thinstalled versions of freeware apps, and did not optimize their setup for file size.

The "evaluation" agreement appears to be with JITIT, the makers of ThinStall, and I wonder if the EULA should properly be addressed to the ThinDownload folks, not to us end-users. Maybe it is something that Thinstall required them to do in order to use the evaluation version. All the apps they provide appear to be true freeware or Open Source.

I bumped my computer date up to two months from now, and Open Office is still functioning, but using Control Panel to reset dates does not always predict how actual time passage will affect things.

Thanks crownixx!

I had no idea about this!

EDIT: And I can confirm, with using this option that no data is left behind in Application Data folder.

Regarding the size of the files - each one is a self-contained executable, that packs the original installation as well as the Thinstall virtualisation environment (virtual registry and file system), so I guess this is what causes the size.

M@tty, I am still (stubbornly) wondering about the file-size.

From the Thinstall site:


I still think the ThinDownload folks just failed to optimize their setup in some cases.
Why else would the OpenOffice from Thinstall = 115 mb
and the OpenOffice from ThinDownload = 389 mb

On the other hand, there is only about 2 mb difference for FireFox between the two sites.

I wonder why there is no contact information on the ThinDownload site. It's a question I'd like to ask.

Ah right, I had no idea the Thinstall runtime was that small.

I don't know then, can't answer that question.

However - Thindownload.com uses the evaluation copy of Thinstall. If you aren't happy with how they have done it, why not have a go yourself? Just grab the 30 day evaluation copy and give it a go.


In addition to this - once you have run the application at least once to generate the required defaults, you can copy the subfolder and Thinstall.ini out of the Thinstall folder, and put them in the same folder as the executable.

This allows you to have, in my opinion, a neater directory structure.

M@tty, you are right of course, I did not mean to sound like I was griping about something that was offered for free. I just meant that I think their setup might have not been optimized when they did the OpenOffice complilation, hence the huge file size and slow operation of the app.

(sometime, check out a really good post on doom9about "Free Pie" -- a lesson I must remind myself of now and then when I get to feeling old and crotchety and grumpy.)

I just might try out the eval, but my understanding is that you must connect to the official ThinStall site to perform the final compilation --- I wonder if that is do-able from a public computer (I have no connection at home).


crownixx, I forgot to thank you earlier for the tip about adding the "thinstall" folder to capture the app settings, and M@tty, thanks for the suggestion about rearranging the folders.
My thinstall versions of OpenOffice and Firefox will be much tidier now

GrannyGeek, you were right about the file size.

I downloaded this version from thinstall itself and it's only 115MB installed.

http://thinstall.com/sales/demo.php

Go to the bottom of the page, right click on the link and "Save as"

There is also a Firefox and an Citrix ICA Client there.



I believe you need to have a business E-mail account to be able to try out the trial.

If anyone has a copy it would be great to have a link to theirs

I really like the Thinstall concept, but $5000 for a Virtualization Suite license is a bit steep for the hobbyist community.

Not sure, if the demo version is a viable alternative in the long run. For 30 days you can build your own portable applications - but then what? However, once you click on a download link on the Thindownload website, the left hand window pane offers you to submit applications you wish to have virtualized. But I wonder how they can do this, when they continue to operate with the demo version? Nonetheless, the Thinstall website links to the Thindownload website, which suggests, their service might be kosher.

Re file size of MediaCoder: In order to make it portable, the MC website suggests to put o copy of Firefox in the MC directory - that pretty much brings it up to 60MB.

@grannyGeek: when you start up one of their programs a window briefly pops up and shows an email address: info@thindownload.com

I managed to "Aquire" a copy of VS to try out.

It really seems to work well, I managed to make a portable version of Divx encoder complete with the K-lite codec pack installed to use on any PC without codecs.

The only problem I'm having with it is trying to get the App to use the systems temp folder, my Flash drive can't take 700MB of temp files every time I use it

acgrego, thanks for providing that link -- see what a lively discussion you inspired? Sorry if we have hijacked your thread a bit, but there is lots of good education happening here!

@Local -- so, do you have to connect to Thinstall site to do the final compile?
(I read that somewhere months ago, don't know if it was true)