The Portable Freeware Collection Forums

billon wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 3:44 pm

webfork wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 3:01 pm I'll definitely get it added to the DB once we get a good test.

https://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?id=1463

Great question ... I'm honestly not sure. I guess because the system I came up with isn't well tested yet, I'm tempted to keep the old version just in case. But you're definitely right that FreeOffice is the successor and when this site updates software, it's with the latest version. What do you think?

webfork wrote: ↑Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:40 pm Status: Unclear. The program does appear to be portable, but I had a lot of back and forth putting together the process above, so I may have missed something. Anyone that can confirm or dispute the above process is appreciated.

I can confirm registration isn't needed for installation. I found that the install takes forever as it writes a ton of stuff into the registry.

Anyway, after testing webfork's instructions, FreeOffice 2018 works. There are still a few registry entries, but these ones are usually considered minor stuff (WoW64).

webfork wrote: ↑Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:40 pm 4. In the destination folder, delete inst folder and the files SoftMakerUpdaterTool.exe and usbstick.exe

webfork, for the 'inst' folder, I would recommend deleting the 'inst/banners' folder and nothing else. The other stuff includes things like 'inst/hunspell', various fonts, bullets, sample data and template files, which is useful. Hunspell is important for spelling, however the rest you can decide to keep or delete at your own discretion.

freakazoid wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:17 pm I can confirm registration isn't needed for installation. I found that the install takes forever as it writes a ton of stuff into the registry.

Anyway, after testing webfork's instructions, FreeOffice 2018 works. There are still a few registry entries, but these ones are usually considered minor stuff (WoW64).

Great news, very encouraging.

freakazoid wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:17 pm... for the 'inst' folder, I would recommend deleting the 'inst/banners' folder and nothing else

Thanks -- I'll re-test with that and see what I get.

Hardware Retrocompatibility = "SoftMaker FreeOffice 2018 Anniversary Edition" running flawlessly under antiX linux on a 12 years old netbook (Acer ZG5, 32 bit Atom N270) : check.



Same netbook, "Ashampoo Office 2016 Edition" running under WinXP (SP3) :



This version has a built-in utility to produce a portable version as you can see in the following pictures :







I don't know if this utility may be used to portabilize other versions of the program...

Latest version of Microsoft Office won't run on this netbook, i won't even try it.
;p

For reference, here's the old entry data for the SoftMaker Office 2006, which might be better for older computers or may just have some fans of simplicity and familiarity:

program entry wrote:SoftMaker Office 2006 includes a fast, feature-rich word processor and spreadsheet program:

• TextMaker can open and save to a wide variety of formats including MS Word (.doc and .docx), and comes with a built-in database and mail-merge function. Includes spell-checker, thesaurus, a variety of different hotkey mappings, tables, quick text (BR becomes "best regards") and much more.
• PlanMaker opens and can save to most major spreadsheet formats and comes with more than 320 calculation functions. It features Excel-compatible charts, conditional formatting, syntax highlighting, goal seeker, sheet/workbook protection, etc.

The collection also comes with accessory Smash.exe, which includes a quick look at major system folders including My Documents, Printers, Fonts, etc.

Version note: SoftMaker Office 2008 is freeware, contains more filters, includes a presentation program, and can be downloaded from the home page, but requires e-mail registration and extra steps for portability.

Requires: Win95 through Vista

Extract process

1. Download the ZIP package and extract to a folder of your choice
2. Launch TextMaker.exe for the word processor or PlanMaker.exe for the spreadsheet program

Writes to: Application folder. Not stealth, writes empty section header to WIN.INI, as well as some OLE stuff to the registry.

Homepage: http://www.softmakeroffice.com/
Download: http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/P ... 17947.html

So I've updated to the latest version of FreeOffice, with big thanks to freakazoid for this note:

freakazoid wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:17 pm... for the 'inst' folder, I would recommend deleting the inst/banners' folder and nothing else

I fixed my process with that included -- much better.

h3kt0r wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 5:18 am Hardware Retrocompatibility = "SoftMaker FreeOffice 2018 Anniversary Edition" running flawlessly under antiX linux on a 12 years old netbook (Acer ZG5, 32 bit Atom N270) : check

Nice!

Finally, someone immediately noted in comments that our system is a little over complex when there's a "copytousb" tool inside the program. I actually had some issues with it's use (including the requirement that you have an external device to install to), hence the long list of steps.

@Webfork - "Finally, someone" - that was probably me!

I really like this application and use FreeOffice 2018 as my main Office program both installed on my laptop and portable on the USB stick I carry with my car keys.

Thank you for taking the time to write up an alternative set of steps for portable use when you had concerns about the built in process - it truly is appreciated.

opsimathic wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 12:50 pm Thank you for taking the time to write up an alternative set of steps for portable use when you had concerns about the built in process - it truly is appreciated.

Sure thing, very glad to make that available. We really needed a solid presentation tool on the site, and the FreeOffice program is a very strong option for everything from basic to advanced functions.

Frustratingly the program appears to maintain their existing registerware requirement, but after a trial sequence:

webfork wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 10:04 am Frustratingly the program appears to maintain their existing registerware requirement, but after a trial sequence:

viewtopic.php?p=94323&#p94323
You can just delete the two lines mentioned. Not the values, the lines.

vevy wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 10:08 am

webfork wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 10:04 am Frustratingly the program appears to maintain their existing registerware requirement, but after a trial sequence:

viewtopic.php?p=94323&#p94323

Yea was just working on a post about that. Normally it takes me a few weeks but I got excited about FreeOffice because it solved *several* problems I was having. I should have waited to see if my machine had a similar issue.

I'll put the reset trick into the program instructions just because registerware isn't banned from the site, but suggestions on how to proceed are welcome. If it were any other site, I could just say "get on Discord and I'll send you a registration code" but that doesn't seem workable.

I edited the post above with a simpler solution.

webfork wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 10:14 am I'll put the reset trick into the program instructions just because registerware isn't banned from the site, but suggestions on how to proceed are welcome. If it were any other site, I could just say "get on Discord and I'll send you a registration code" but that doesn't seem workable.

I am usually wary of unofficial solutions that depend on the mercy of the developer (They could easily use a harder-to-circumvent check if it got too popular), but I think that most people would just enter their email.

webfork wrote: ↑I'll put the reset trick into the program instructions just because registerware isn't banned from the site, but suggestions on how to proceed are welcome. If it were any other site, I could just say "get on Discord and I'll send you a registration code" but that doesn't seem workable.

I'd advise you against putting registration circumvention steps in the database entry -- just leave them here in the forums.

The way I see it, you don't want to be responsible for an escalation of counter-measures...

Midas wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 3:44 am I'd advise you against putting registration circumvention steps in the database entry -- just leave them here in the forums.

The way I see it, you don't want to be responsible for an escalation of counter-measures...

Nicely put.

Midas wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 3:44 am The way I see it, you don't want to be responsible for an escalation of counter-measures...

Makes sense -- I've updated the entry accordingly.