#StandWithUkraine
Andrey “Rarst” Savchenko —  — Software — list, portable

12 things portable software won't do

Yesterday I stuck in yet another discussion of what portable really means. Word becomes more popular but is often used too easily. Most software called that is not really portable at all. But what portable is?

Software may need

  1. Installation. Most of software comes as packaged setup file that must be installed.
  2. Frameworks. Applications based on specific frameworks require those installed.
  3. Libraries. Software may require specific DLL files or even specific versions of those. In best case they are included with software. If not and it is assumed that libraries are common and present in the system it easily creates DLL hell scenario.
  4. Local resources. Program may need to use local resources like hard drive space to create temporary files.
  5. User rights. Software that interacts with system in potentially dangerous way may need administrator’s permission to run. Having such is usual case for home PCs but not work environment.
  6. Specific Windows version(s). Windows is known to have excellent backward compatibility. But version prior to 2000 lack Unicode support (which is common aspect of modern apps). Also Vista created degree of forward incompatibility.

Software may create

  1. Driver. Stuff that works with hardware often does that.
  2. Temporary files. Leftovers created during performing some tasks.
  3. Registry entries. Used for storing settings or just for the heck of it.
  4. Files in user’s profile folder. Storing settings or just making hunting for temporary files harder.
  5. Most recently used entries. Traces of what documents were opened with app.
  6. File associations. Registering some file types to open with itself.

And portable is?

Portable software is not requiring or doing anything of the listed above.

Realistically there are few grades of what people call portable.

  • Works without installation. Such software can be simply copied and run on the system. But it interacts with the system in pretty much any way and is often indistinguishable from usual apps.
  • Generally portable. Most common - such software can be run from external media and doesn’t require things that most of computers doesn’t have.
  • Self-destructing. It comes as self-extracting archive that unpacks to temporary folder, runs from there and deletes those unpacked files at shutdown.
  • Self-contained. This is purest of portable. Self-contained software doesn’t require anything, works on every Windows version (after 98 at least) and leaves no traces in the system. It may create temporary stuff but in that cases there is cleaning routine performed on shutdown.

Lesson to learn

If you are looking for portable don’t be fast to believe developer’s description. It is there to convince you. Read :

  • reviews from blogs that value portable highly (like mine);
  • editorial reviews from software portals;
  • sites that specialize in portable.

Portable Freeware Collection is good place to start and it includes specifics about portable grade in descriptions.

Related Posts

40 Comments

  • Talk Binary #

    Portable software is great to have stored on a USB. Simply plug in and play! =) I like the ability to avoid needing an installation. Saves a great hassle for programs you only use every now and then.

  • MK #

    Portable software is great if you are a student, and have no Internet connection at home. So you run to the Cyber Cafe, launch your portable Opera + Free Download Manager and download as much as you can leech within an hour, and run back you your home PC. I know the feeling T_T Portable software is great for technical support too. I used them a lot at the college, where most of the PCs don't have .NET framework installed. Framework is a pain.. sometimes.

  • Rarst #

    Yep, portable is good... But sometimes things called portable just suck. Especially those cracked commercial products packed with thinstall. It's plain crap but people run for it because it's called portable and is already cracked. @MK I so agree that framework can be pain. It has a lot of support from programmers but for users it's not really a good thing. And treating framework-based apps as portable is suicide. When you will most need those computer is guaranteed to not have framework. :)

  • 30 overused software naming techniques | Rarst.net #

    [...] … Portable – it is portable OR we heard people like portable and made something that barely works without installation. [...]

  • MoWeS – excellent portable WAMP web server stack | Rarst.net #

    [...] itself is basically a launcher that handles server startup/shutdown, logs and settings. It is completely portable and can be easily moved without breaking [...]

  • Easily find duplicate image files with VisiPics | Rarst.net #

    [...] freeware app that works without installation and gets task done perfectly. Development is slow (around one version a year) but steady and with [...]

  • Q10 – portable dark place for writing | Rarst.net #

    [...] and completely portable app that is quite good and what it does – setting right mood for some writing in plain text. [...]

  • Easily cut and trim MP3 files with mp3DirectCut | Rarst.net #

    [...] find (or maybe miss) many more functions in this one. For cutting tasks it is excellent, tiny and completely portable [...]

  • SpaceSniffer – new take on treemap finding space hogs | Rarst.net #

    [...] presents them in clean and easy to use interface. Freeware (with developer asking for donations), natively portable and highly [...]

  • RegScanner – search app for Windows registry | Rarst.net #

    [...] registry, but probably on small scale. For going all out dedicated editor might be a better fit. Completely portable as usual from [...]

  • Calibrize – monitor color calibration tool | Rarst.net #

    [...] Ad-supported freeware, that tries very hard to be non-portable. [...]

  • AVZ Antiviral Toolkit – advanced scanner and manager | Rarst.net #

    [...] Works without installation as any decent anti-malware tool should. And if you are down in trouble deep to this one then you won’t care about traces left. [...]

  • 1by1 – tiny and portable mp3 audio player | Rarst.net #

    [...] simple, convenient and completely portable mp3 player from developer of mp3DirectCut.  Audiophiles can boo me all they want, but for [...]

  • Dia – portable and easy to use diagram software | Rarst.net #

    [...] Easy to use software for diagrams, that is open source, cross-platform and natively portable. [...]

  • SpecialFoldersView shows all system folders | Rarst.net #

    [...] single-executable and portable app, that comes very handy when looking for stuff (though Everything might be even better) or [...]

  • Stress test your video card with FurMark and GPU-Z | Rarst.net #

    [...] is portable and straightforward utility that displays technical info about your video [...]

  • Simplify software installations with silent routines | Rarst.net #

    [...] of software use common third party installers, which mostly come with their own silent switches. Portable is on the rise as well and while it lacks installation itself it is as easy to [...]

  • SUPERAntiSpyware Online (portable) | Rarst.net #

    [...] in the year he notified me that app now has portable version and my main gripe with this malware scanner and cleaner is thus [...]

  • Abyss X1 – light and easy to manage HTTP web server | Rarst.net #

    [...] isn’t outright portable but it does keep setting contained. Configuration file can be edited to use relative paths to make [...]

  • Nero DiscSpeed – optical drives and discs test | Rarst.net #

    [...] free and portable test toolkit for everything that has to do with optical drives. May go outdated in some years, but [...]

  • FreeCommander – semi-classic file manager | Rarst.net #

    [...] is seriously feature-packed file manager, one of the strongest free and natively portable (stand alone or in PortableApps format) options at [...]

  • ServiWin – services and drivers utility | Rarst.net #

    [...] Natively portable and very thorough service/driver information and manager utility. Done in usual Nirsoft style (or lack thereof, depending on your visual preferences). [...]

  • MDownloader – download manager for file hosting sites | Rarst.net #

    [...] Works without installation, requires .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. [...]

  • PNotes – advanced desktop notes app | Rarst.net #

    [...] flexible and convenient (for core function at least) app, open source and with portable version from PortableApps. Too many buttons leave initial impression of cramped but in the end you [...]

  • DiskSmartView – easy app to see SMART attributes | Rarst.net #

    [...] and natively portable app that lacks in interface department, but makes up for that in speed and [...]

  • xpy and Vispa – tweakers for Windows | Rarst.net #

    [...] versions and offer sets of tweaks accordingly. Still both apps combined add up to whole 200KB and work without installation so it’s not much of a [...]

  • Kingston SSDNow V+ SNV225-S2 solid state disk | Rarst.net #

    [...] Autoruns, re-link Dropbox and re-configure Ketarin and HFS. Other than that most of my software is portable and survived move just [...]

  • Test and choose DNS server that performs best for you | Rarst.net #

    [...] works without installation (self-unpacks to system temporary folder and runs from there). When done (took it ~15 minutes to [...]

  • Troubleshoot blank desktop (explorer.exe didn’t start) | Rarst.net #

    [...] Internet you can prepare in the process as well. You will need at least some of these (preferably portable and ready to [...]

  • Are we going to shed most of software? | Rarst.net #

    [...] as fact of life. But it should not be that way.There are practices that produce good, efficient, portable and stable software. Software that works, doesn’t break things and doesn’t deteriorate with [...]

  • NetResView – helper utility for shared folders | Rarst.net #

    [...] There is also no way to open multiply folders except than one by one.OverallExcellent, compact and portable – as usual for Nirsoft app. On other hand as many Nirsoft apps, that don’t get much attention, [...]

  • Kaspersky GetSystemInfo utility and site | Rarst.net #

    [...] it.What it doesYou start by downloading software module. It is relatively light (~600KB) and completely portable so can be used right away. It prompts for place to save report and if you want to submit it online [...]

  • RegFromApp – simple registry monitor | Rarst.net #

    [...] – simple registry monitor While there is quite clear list of what makes software completely portable, some parts are grey area. Supposedly portable software, that creates entries in registry, is not [...]

  • Rainlendar – convenient and skinnable calendar app | Rarst.net #

    [...] it. Items can be templated, you can add own hotkeys to default ones and so on.Can be switched into portable mode by creating rainlendar2.ini file in its directory.DownsidesGraphical skin is major part of [...]

  • NetSetMan – app for quick changes of network settings | Rarst.net #

    [...] OS-supported language, which makes batch best candidate or VBS for more complex scenarios).There is native portable installation option and flexible administration options to run it under limited user [...]

  • Best and worst computing advice you know? | Rarst.net #

    [...] are some of my favorite and “favorite” advices from both sides.Makes senseUse portable software.Natively portable software is not a best choice for corporate and multi-user environments, but is totally awesome [...]

  • DOSBox – MS-DOS emulator for old games | Rarst.net #

    [...] to allow multiplayer over modern LANs.Setting are saved into user profile folder. There is portable version by PortableApps, but as of writing it wasn’t yet updated to recently released 0.74 [...]

  • Nurul #

    Recommendation please: Is Ms Office 2010 is stable for portable or Ms Office installed version is stable? Due to daily use and Ms Office as far as we know, coming on purchase either fully preload or starter pack.

  • Rarst #

    @Nurul I don't think there is official portable version of MS Office and I won't rely on mods to make it such.