http://www.stardock.com/products/objectdock/

To me, this app looks portable like RocketDock for example. You have to install it, but after copying the files to your usb-stick, you can use it on other PC's as well.
Another way is to extract the installer with uniextract and use those extracted files.
I hope this is the right place to suggest this app.

Thanks for your comments.

Hello,

I was a little bit too fast. You can use it on other PC's, but it writes settings to
"C:\Documents and Settings\*your username*\Local Settings\Application Data\Stardock\ObjectDock".
There are default settings stored in the application folder, which are used, if the other folder is not found on the machine. But I couldn't find a way to change the settings folder from local to portable app folder.
So, it doesn't seem to be portable.

nice try Alex, I hope you can figure out a way if you like this wee program

I have found a way to make it portable. Just go to dock settings, choose theme tab, choose save theme, then navigate to the folder where it was saved, copy the file and paste it in to the saved themes dir. in your objectdock folder. Simple right? Then, plug your device(make sure you installed Objectdock to your flash drive ), into another computer, open settings, choose themes, choose load theme, choose the file you saved. Great! Now you have a portable ObjectDock, except you have to do this on every computer, and changes on one computer will not reflect those on another, plus there is still some reconfiguring to do to make each shortcut match the host computer. Maybe it is easier to just start from scratch on each host? Anyway, hope this helped

yes... mmmh... it also creates a "Stardock" folder in your "My documents" directory. And also creates the following keys in the registry:


A little bit too much to be portable this way. But I'm working now on a real portable version that would keep the same settings beetween different PCs without having to reconfigure it from scratch each time you launch it on a new system. I'll give you some news about it soon.

ObjectDock v1.9.0.536 | 12 MB

ObjectDock is a program that enables users to organize their shortcuts, programs and running tasks into an attractive and fun animated Dock. By allowing users to have more control over how they organize their desktop, users can take control of their desktop icons and shortcuts to have them be available when where and how they need them. This, all with the unique style and top-rate performance that ObjectDock is known to deliver!

In constant development, ObjectDock and ObjectDock Plus are enhanced often to provide the most unique features of any stylized shortcut organizer / launcher available.

Fully customizable, super smoothness in zooming, entertaining alternate mouseover effects, libraries full of high-quality images available for use with the program at WinCustomize.com. The first time you try ObjectDock's trademarked ReadyView weather flyout, there'll be no going back. And good news for fans - more ReadyView flyouts are planned for the future!

New in v1.9! Cool new Stardock ReadyView weather flyouts, minimize animation in Vista, smoother / quicker drawing with smoothness settings and a variety of improvements. New plus-exclusives include all new improved taskbar status area handling, special taskbar modes, and more!

System Requirements
Windows Vista/XP/2003/2000
20MB free drive space
256MB RAM

Languages supported
English, French, German, Italian, Polski, Russian, Spanish, Serbian (srpski)
Note: The interface has been localized for these languages, but the documentation and help (where available) will be in English.

More details and screenshots



Download at Rapidshare
Download at MediaFire
Download at MegaUpload
Download at Uploading


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Things you have to know about this portable version:

- The configuration is fully portable.
The settings files are "exported" from the portable version directory to the system, and "imported" to the portable version folder when the app is closed MANUALLY by user. So this program doesn't let any tracks on your system. In this archive you will also find an easy guide to import your existing OD settings.

- The Load ObjectDock at startup option works.
If the Load ObjectDock at startup feature is ticked in the ObjectDock Properties menu, it creates a shortcut with the current application path as target to load at next bootup. But the shortcut's target is the ObjectDock.exe located in the \Portable.ObjectDock.v1.9.x\App folder, not the portable launcher. So my script will just correct it when you will close the app.
This option is deactivated by default. But just right-click on the bar background and chosse Dock Settings, activate Load ObjectDock at startup, manually close the program then restart your PC to see the result. Enjoy!

- Condition to keep configuration changes beetween your uses.
It's not a problem to close your Windows session or shutdown your PC directly without quitting manually if the application is already configured according to your preferences. But always remember that you have to close the app manually for the changes in configuration to be saved (as the configuration backup starts when the application is closing). Stopping the program manually means a right-click to the bar background or the systray icon and choose Quit.

Feedbacks would be welcome. Above all in case of any problem, I will try my best to fix it if I can. Have fun.

Thanks very much Fenyx.

I've just downloaded it and will try it.

I ended up here after a Google search. I specifically was looking for a portable version of ObjectDock, which I've never tried before.

Lucky me, finding this page only a day after you posted it.
I'm guessing this will be featured in my weekly newsletter soon.

Update: Just added this page to my wiki.
http://freewarewiki.pbwiki.com/ObjectDock

Thanks again!

Clif
.

You're welcome, Clif. It's a pleasure to know this hard work is useful.
Anyway, it's maybe not a real final project because of the lack of tests. It could still contain some bugs. You're one of the first to try it so please don't hesitate to report any problems, even the most little ones that seem to be just some details. Perfection is in the details...

Edit: now browsing your freewares supporter's site. I like it. Added to my RSS feeds to know the latest free stuff news.

I've identified the problem with start at boot-up feature. It's just because I've not specified a "Working directory" to the link created in the Start Menu > Startup folder. Should work fine now. Download files re-uploaded.

Hi guys,

I have the OS windows vista ultimate 64bit
I downloaded from this forum portable objectdock.

After the first start objectdock I made the changes in the setting after that I made a quite in the objectdock with the right click on the dock.
When I started again in the objectdock it was with default settings.
My changes was lost.
Why my setting lost?
How can I fix it?

Thanks for Help

No real way to fix it because this portable version has been built and tested only on Windows XP. In fact, I did it only for XP and well... I've planned to never install Vista again. This Microsoft OS is for me a crap and uses too much resources for nothing + the so-called security tools that are more annoying final user than protecting anything. I know this answer is not the expected one and I understand your frustration but I can't improve this tool for Vista while I've not this OS on my PC. The only thing I can do for you is to share the AutoIt script where you could check and adapt the system paths and return it to me by mail. But anyway, even in this case, I can't guarantee that it will work fine because of the strange new limitations that Microsoft devs love to put in all their Operating Systems (why? who knows...). I say that because I used variables for system directories, and this AutoIt variables are intended to be used on XP as well as Vista so I guess that the problem doesn't come only from this system paths. But sorry, Vista problems are a mystery to me.

PostScriptum: Please also read carefuly the Things you have to know about this portable version in my other post above to be sure that you use it the right way.
In addition, if another user who has tried this portable version on Vista could tell us if it worked or not, it could be very helpful. If it didn't work too please gimme as much details as possible. Thanks

Thank you so much, I'd been looking for objectdock's protable version for a long time.

Me too, lol. You're very welcome.

Here's what a portablefreeware's member has sent me by PM. I post it here with my answer as I hope it could be interesting to some other members.

His question:


My answer:
I did it with AutoIt (free). Download it, install it and I will give you the full sources of my work. This way will be easy for you to lurn AutoIt that is a simplified programming language with all you need in the help file. For example open the code source file in Scite Editor integrated in AutoIt installation, select a word in the code lines and press F1 on your keyboard to know what it means/does.

Here are the mirror links to the sources you need:
MediaFire
ZShare
FilesRack
RapidShare

As you can see, I've used AutoIt variables to manage the drive letter problem you've told me about. AutoIt scripts are able to search for system variables directly in the Windows Registry. So it's 100% reliable to find the system paths by itself without complicate scripts.

Examples:



Hope it helps...

Hey,

i also downloaded your portable version and tried in on different computers. But i have the problem that the settings save in C:\... instead of the portable device. This means that objectdock loads the settings which are on the current computer and not these on the portable device. Do i have to chance something in the settings or where is the error?

greeze