How To Create Your Own Portable Program

Haven't you always wanted to create your own portable program? Now, you can! Here's how:

Get Total Uninstaller 2.35.
Run the installer you want in Total Uninstaller.
Save the log to your desktop.
Get Portable Application Template.
Open up the NSI file.
Open up the Total Uninstaller log.
Copy all the Total Uninstaller registry entries to the PAT, separating them with ||.
Do the same with Settings Files and Settings Directories.
For icons, get Icons From File. Extract the icon from the main program. Alternatively, do a Google Images search.
Fill in the rest of the info.
Compile with NSIS. PortableNSIS also good.
Uninstall the original program with Total Uninstall.
Run the portable program.
Check to see if the registry entries and files are there.

You're done!

The Portable Applications Template

From http://portableapps.com/node/2022:

This template should be suitable for most applications to make them portable.

Download it here:
http://www.loncarek.de/downloads/ApplicationPortableTemplate.zip

It allows saving a lot settings (one or all of them at once):
- One or more registry keys
- One or more settings directories
- One or more settings files

The source contains a lot comments, documenting what I did and why (for those who want to learn).

You could do some additional adjustments in the functions "Init" before calling the application and "Cleanup" after the application closed. I left them empty but prepared for very special customizations.

I took the main idea from the Quickport NSIS template developed by Deuce but rewrote it completely (and added some stuff)

This template has no specific license. Therefore I left the commented license section empty.
Everyone could use this template for creating portable applications out of standard applications (commercial or not). If you make a commercial application portable beware of the respective license terms. Nevertheless it would be nice to share the launcher application.

Just for fun (and testing) I created a NSIS version of a launcher for Inkscape. It works nicely.

Enjoy it and have fun with it.

I haven't included any handling of ini-files or some other directory structure as John usually does in his launchers. If you think it would be a good idea to have, please tell me and I'll add it.

Comments welcome.

NEW with version 1.1:
INI files and some default directory structures are supported now.

NEW with version 1.2:
added sleep time when deleting registry keys
adopted new directory structure as recently used by John (AppPortable instead of PortableApp)

NEW with version 1.3:
fixed a bug

NEW with version 1.4:
added handling for second launch
some bugfixes

Portable Apps Suite 1.0 - U3 Like-Menu For Free!!!

John T. Haller has announced Version 1.0 of the PortableApps Suite, a program with a Start Menu-like application launcher and a backup program. You can get the full edition (ClamWin Portable (antivirus), Firefox Portable (web browser), Gaim Portable (instant messaging), OpenOffice.org Portable (office suite), Sudoku Portable (puzzle game), Sunbird Portable (calendar/task manager) and Thunderbird Portable (email client)), Lite Edition (Uses AbiWord Portable (word processor) instead of OpenOffice.org Portable), or the Base Edition (A stripped down package with just the PortableApps Menu, PortableApps Backup utility and custom folders, icons and autorun). The full edition needs about 512 MB, and the lite 256 (the base needs only 1).

PortableApps Suite automatically adds programs. Just create a folder in the PortableApps folder, and PortableApps Suite will automatically add all the .exes in the top level. Keep in mind that for courtesy reasons, you'll want to make sure that the program doesn't leave ANY remains. Wikipedia has a nice list).

The backup utility was a nice touch. It can backup all the files, the application data, and the documents (in the Documents folder). However, selecting the Application Data button only backs up Haller's apps (so if you have Opera@USB installed, it will not backup Opera's data).

What Does It Run On?
PortableApps Suite will run on (according to Haller) anything from Windows 98 to Vista. Win95 will also run some of the apps, though not all (check the manufacturer's site). Haller also claims that it will run on WINE for Linux users. However, like most of Haller's apps, Mac users are left out (unless you have CrossOverOffice, Parallels, or Boot Camp). I tested it on a Windows XP computer, and it ran smoothly.

Download:
Sourceforge.net

Note: THE LINK ON HALLER'S SITE IS BROKEN. USE THE ABOVE LINK

Further Reading:
Press Release
Home
Installing
Using
Adding Additional Apps
Using The Backup Tool
Known Issues
Version History