portable installations - flash drive

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werwer

Are software mnfgr addressing 'portable' installation?

I have a growing need to bring applications with me, installed
on a flash drive. A lot of 'utilities' work just fine installed
in a flash drive \bin. The system path of the machine I work on
is modified, and everything works find.

However, there are larger 'apps' that install system files in
C:\W....\system32? How do you deal with this? Is it simply
making a copy of these files in the flash? Doesn't seem to
work.

Is this something software mngfr are supporting? I've not
seen an 'install portable' mode in install scripts.

Thanks
 
werwer said:
Are software mnfgr addressing 'portable' installation?

I have a growing need to bring applications with me, installed
on a flash drive. A lot of 'utilities' work just fine installed
in a flash drive \bin. The system path of the machine I work on
is modified, and everything works find.

However, there are larger 'apps' that install system files in
C:\W....\system32? How do you deal with this? Is it simply
making a copy of these files in the flash? Doesn't seem to
work.

Is this something software mngfr are supporting? I've not
seen an 'install portable' mode in install scripts.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'd say this is entirely up to the software developers. They're the ones who
control what goes where.
 
Q. "Are software mnfgr addressing 'portable' installation?"

A. Yes, it's called a notebook or laptop computer.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| Are software mnfgr addressing 'portable' installation?
|
| I have a growing need to bring applications with me, installed
| on a flash drive. A lot of 'utilities' work just fine installed
| in a flash drive \bin. The system path of the machine I work on
| is modified, and everything works find.
|
| However, there are larger 'apps' that install system files in
| C:\W....\system32? How do you deal with this? Is it simply
| making a copy of these files in the flash? Doesn't seem to
| work.
|
| Is this something software mngfr are supporting? I've not
| seen an 'install portable' mode in install scripts.
|
| Thanks
 
Most manufacturers feel that they would be cutting their throat if they do
that. The normal business model is you buy the software for each computer
you want to use it on. It has been this way for 15 years.

Why would they want to make their program be able to run from a flash drive,
where you can run it from any computer you plug it into? They would soon go
out of business.

Then there are programs such as EasyRecovery Professional. For the price of
$1495.00, a computer professional can use it on any computer they need to -
and then remove it. You wonder why the price is so high? Because you only
have to buy it once!

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from: George Ankner
"If you knew as much as you thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!"
 
werwer said:
Are software mnfgr addressing 'portable' installation?

I have a growing need to bring applications with me, installed
on a flash drive. A lot of 'utilities' work just fine installed
in a flash drive \bin. The system path of the machine I work on
is modified, and everything works find.

However, there are larger 'apps' that install system files in
C:\W....\system32? How do you deal with this? Is it simply
making a copy of these files in the flash? Doesn't seem to
work.

Is this something software mngfr are supporting? I've not
seen an 'install portable' mode in install scripts.

Thanks
Click to expand...

A lot of software adds registry entries and files to the system drives. Ask
your software writers to consider rewriting the program and changing the way
they work. Small utilities are often self enclosed so don't need to use
those facilities.
 
That's a lot of hardware for convience. I have access to pc where ever
I work. laptop verses flash ..... hummmm. I guess I'll stick with the
flash.
 
Have been successful so far finding programs that accomodate
the drive install. I was surprised to find that the apps that I can
run from any PC, wrote registry info in the orginal installation, yet
seem to work just find without access to it.

Like I said before though, some don't, for what ever reason.
 
My license questions are answered at install. If I have one license,
that's all I can use. The licensed software running on my thumb has
a key and it was installed 'once'. In fact I have some 'freeware'
installed that
asks me to renew every 6 months. There isn't any more or less
security
installing it on a thumb. You can get a key at install time or you
can't.
PC or flash - no difference.
 
All fine and dandy. But the software don't WANT to write their programs that
way. If I wrote a program, I wouldn't do it either. You want to run my
program on four computers, buy it four times. Or I could write the program
so it is all "self contained" within the program folder and charge $1000 for
a $69 program.

It's an extra form of protection.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from: George Ankner
"If you knew as much as you thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!"
 
Say what? That's silly. Who'd do that? uS allows me to bring home
apps from
work because I can only run one copy - I'm not at work! If the only
install I have
is on a flash then I can only run it one copy at a time. Your nuts!
:-)
This is a license question, not an install question. At work we have
'count' licenses.
We can install a million copys of X, but only 100 can be open at any
one time.

And I fail to see how demanding a user to install on a box is any more
protective of
a license than installing it on a thumb or a piece of meat. I bought
the software and I
want to run it anywhere I please. Technology and license agreements
take care of.

So, anyway... do you know how to adapt software to a portable device?
 
But YOU DIDN'T WRITE THE PROGRAM! And others see fit NOT to allow those
capabilities!

Go and complain to each and every manufacturer that you should be able to
use what you bought as you see fit.

I have no problem with that.

But if you came to me, as a person who distributed a hypothetical program,
and asked - I would tell you to take a long walk on a short pier.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from: George Ankner
"If you knew as much as you thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!"
 
I could see if the mnfgr stated he didn't allow such a install (for
what ever reason) but installaitions
are modified everyday to work with this or that - something done
outside the install script.
Goodness - "long walk on a ..." Are you armed?
 
Loaded to the teeth! (-:

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from: George Ankner
"If you knew as much as you thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!"
 

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