Guy Harris wrote:
>Ulf Lamping wrote:
>
>> No. For an U3 package, you'll need an U3 stick to work properly.
>>The U3 system will set some special U3 environment variables and
>>that's the problem here.
>
>So how are non-U3 portable applications produced for Windows? Are
>special builds done, or is the application otherwise induced to store
>its settings on the application medium rather than on the system disk
>or in the user's home directory?
Regular (non-U3) portable applications:
1. Do not write to Windows Registry. That is a must.
2. Do not write to system, AppData, and other folders outside of their
own program folder, unless the path is configurable by the user.
Basically portable application works fully from its own folder, and
doesn't place anything outside of that folder (unless the user
configured it to do so). All the dll's, drivers, settings files, and so
on have to be in that folder.
When the user moves the application folder to a new location, the
application should be able to find its settings files within its own
folder.
If you have several computers with same software installed,
synchronizing their settings can be a real nightmare. But if you simply
use portable applications, it's very, very easy. You just capy the
folder with portable apps to the new computer, and it just works! No
installation, no configuration, no headaches... :)
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