Make any application portable with Sandboxie

[appsuser]

Thought this was pretty neat. Compiled from different sources on the internet, thought they should be in one place. Keeping programs in a portable sandbox is good if you need to use a program on a computer but don't want to install it, or you just don't want to keep uninstalling/reinstalling, or you'd like to use the same non-portable application on multiple computers (for instance if you only have one license for the software).

Here's how to do it:
Step 1. Download Sandboxie Portable, following all instructions to install on the portable device in which you'll keep your non-portable applications. This will allow you to carry around the Sandboxie application with your Sandboxed programs (otherwise you'd need Sandboxie installed on every computer with which you intend to use your Sandboxed applications).

Step 2. Start up Sandboxie Portable, then double-click on the status icon to show the Sandboxie Control window. From the menu, choose Sandbox > Set Container Folder. Choose the drive letter of your portable device on the right and leave everything else default for maximum compatibility. This will install a "sandbox" folder in the root directory of your portable device.

Step 3. To install an application in your portable sandbox, right-click on the Sandboxie icon in the status bar and select Default Box > Run Any Program and select the installation program for the application you'll be installing (such as "setup.exe"). The installation program may say it's installing to the C: drive, allow it to and accept the defaults - all writes to the C: drive are really being re-directed to your portable sandbox folder.

Step 4. Even though your application is installed, you won't see its shortcuts in the Start Menu. This is because programs outside the portable sandbox can't see programs inside, but programs inside the portable sandbox can recognize each other and what's outside. To run the application, bring up the Sandboxie Control window as before (double-clicking on the status bar icon). From the menu, choose Sandbox > DefaultBox > Run Sandboxed > Run From Start Menu. A Sandboxie version of the Start Menu will appear. Choose Programs (or Desktop, if the application installed shortcuts on the Desktop during installation) and select the proper shortcut for the application to run.

Step 5. If you'd like to remove an application installed in your portable sandbox, Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs won't be able to detect it (since it's in the portable sandbox folder). You can either run Windows Explorer sandboxed and then launch the application's uninstall program (such as "unwise.exe"), or you can run a third-party uninstaller program (such as Revo Uninstaller) sandboxed which will detect and remove the application for you automatically.

Step 6. When you're done, just exit the Sandboxie Portable program. Your application's data will remain in your portable sandbox folder, on your portable device, and not in the computer you used.

If you use the portable sandbox on a different computer, be aware some things may change, such as the drive letter of the portable device you're using, and the user login name, used by default for Sandboxie to define the path to the default sandbox it creates, so you may have to reset the directory path in the container folder to the portable sandbox on your portable device.

[m^(2)]

Doesn't it require admin rights?

[appsuser]

Doesn't it require admin rights?

Yes, it does. Thanks for clarifying that since I forgot to. Admin rights are usually required to uninstall/install programs on a computer, and Sandboxie Portable won't even run if you don't have admin rights on the computer you're using, as it actually installs/uninstalls Sandboxie, as that program isn't natively portable. This is just an info share for those people who have situations where this would be helpful.

[avi-aryan]

I today only discovered Sandboxie and like it very much. Thanks for the detailed steps to create portable software, I will have a go.