I dont hide the fact(i fact i trumpet it) that i love Portables. Stick them on a usb key and you can run them without restriction on any pc, handy when you do loads of testing to see what works and what doesnt. Its also handy when you only have 1 pc/laptop and you do test installs to a single hdd with multiple partitions. When i do that i always rename the usb drive to Z: so any settings or shortcuts always work. Try doing that when program X must be installed. What if X needs online activation too? You will quickly wave your activation count bye bye and companies will say tough luck pal.
Balls to that.
Only 2 of all the programs i use on a regular basis need to be installed, everything else runs portable whether it was designed to or not and even if there was no portable availible. Some things like HashTab and MediaTab have to be installed because they need a dll file to be registered but there is a way around that.
Everytime i get a new installer i extract it with 7zip. Some things extract correctly, some things dont. Hey ho, sh*t happens, run the installer so it installs to the default location then copy the installlation folder to your Z: drive or just install it to Z:\Program Files or Z:\Program Files (x86). Switch to another partion on your hdd or put that usb drive into another pc/laptop. See if the program runs without complaint and without any visible errors. If it does then your Installer only program runs portable. Though i wouldnt share that info on that companies forum. They may not like people knowing that especially if they have Open Candy etc as part of the installer.
The only issues would be registering dll files, file associations and windows shell entries. Easy!
If you know how to register dll files then great but if you dont you are thinking wtf do i do with this. Again Easy. Below is a registry file that adds a Register/Unregister context menu option for dll files. Double click the reg file to merge it into the registry(like where else would it go?) then right click the dll you need to register, Register and boom, one registered dll ready to work.
You may not be bothered by not having file associations, you may want to have certain files associated only or you may want everything associated with Program X(Wolverine? damn, thats Weapon X, oops). Enter RegFromApp by Nirsoft(see my Interesting things page).
Startwea Program X installer. Start RegFromApp. You need to start the 32bit RegfromApp for 32bit stuff, the 64bit for 64bit stuff, select the required executable. What RegFromApp does is track registry changes by installers and programs, it will display the changes and allow you to export it to a reg file which you can then add to any other installation. It may be file associations or windows shell entries, context menu's etc. Carefully edit out any bits you know you dont need.
You should now have a portable that works on any pc(providing they are all the same os type, eg w7 64bit) and with any required file associations and windows shell things, just remember to take the registry files too.
So the next time you get an installer, give it a try, it may not work but if it does, Hosanna!
Now if i could ditch the other banes of my life, bloody dontnets and poxy c++ stuff i would be really happy.
Balls to that.
Only 2 of all the programs i use on a regular basis need to be installed, everything else runs portable whether it was designed to or not and even if there was no portable availible. Some things like HashTab and MediaTab have to be installed because they need a dll file to be registered but there is a way around that.
Everytime i get a new installer i extract it with 7zip. Some things extract correctly, some things dont. Hey ho, sh*t happens, run the installer so it installs to the default location then copy the installlation folder to your Z: drive or just install it to Z:\Program Files or Z:\Program Files (x86). Switch to another partion on your hdd or put that usb drive into another pc/laptop. See if the program runs without complaint and without any visible errors. If it does then your Installer only program runs portable. Though i wouldnt share that info on that companies forum. They may not like people knowing that especially if they have Open Candy etc as part of the installer.
The only issues would be registering dll files, file associations and windows shell entries. Easy!
If you know how to register dll files then great but if you dont you are thinking wtf do i do with this. Again Easy. Below is a registry file that adds a Register/Unregister context menu option for dll files. Double click the reg file to merge it into the registry(like where else would it go?) then right click the dll you need to register, Register and boom, one registered dll ready to work.
You may not be bothered by not having file associations, you may want to have certain files associated only or you may want everything associated with Program X(Wolverine? damn, thats Weapon X, oops). Enter RegFromApp by Nirsoft(see my Interesting things page).
Start
You should now have a portable that works on any pc(providing they are all the same os type, eg w7 64bit) and with any required file associations and windows shell things, just remember to take the registry files too.
So the next time you get an installer, give it a try, it may not work but if it does, Hosanna!
Now if i could ditch the other banes of my life, bloody dontnets and poxy c++ stuff i would be really happy.
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