Portable apps suites - is there a good one?

[techidave]

The last couple of days I have been looking at Liberkey and PortableApps suites as a way to get some good tools on a usb stick.  I have tried both of them before but it seems to be over my head as how to install them on my flash drive.

So this  brings up the question of is there one out there that is easy to install to the flash drive and also easy to add other apps to it?

I would like something that autoruns when I plug the flash drive into a computer which is what I am having problems with.  It needs to autostart no matter what the drive letter would be on any machine. 

I tend to install USBDLM on most of my machines and maybe that is the problem??

So what does my friends at DC use?

Dave

[wraith808]

Portable Apps should have a pretty straightforward installer...

http://downloads.sourceforge.net/portableapps/PortableApps.com_Suite_Setup_1.6.1_English.exe

Run this installer and point it at your USB drive and you should be ready to go.  They have a couple of other installer packages, but this one includes a whole host of applications (it's 400MB installed).

[techidave]

thanks Wraith.  I am downloading now to give it another whirl.

[Deozaan]

I've noticed that PortableApps on a thumb drive doesn't do the autorun in Windows 7. Just FYI.

[techidave]

most of mine are XP but I am seeing more Win 7 machines.  perhaps in time.

[4wd]

I have Codyssey CodySafe Free installed on one of my flash drives and I have to say it has one of the easiest interfaces to add apps too that I have ever used.

NOTE: There is two websites - Codyssey has the free version, while CodySafe deals with the paid versions.

Main interface




BTW mouser I really think you've missed an opportunity there - CodySafe


PS: Something seems to be wrong with either me or the forum as I cannot add more than one image without the connection taking forever, ie. >10 minutes, after which I just give up.

[aignes]

So this  brings up the question of is there one out there that is easy to install to the flash drive and also easy to add other apps to it?

I would like something that autoruns when I plug the flash drive into a computer which is what I am having problems with.  It needs to autostart no matter what the drive letter would be on any machine. 

Autorun a program from an USB stick is no longer possible with Win7, see also http://www.aignes.info/blog/?p=352

If you only need a simply start menu for your flash drive, you can try http://www.aignes.com/psmenu.htm

[daddydave]

I vote for LiberKey

[sajman99]

+1 for CodySafe/Codyssey. Nice looking and easy to use.

[superboyac]

I actually use mouser's Launchbar Commander as my perfect portable USB launcher, and it's great.  On my flash drive root directory, I have a link to LBC's exe that uses a relative path so it will launch under any drive letter (wasn't easy to do).  Then it's launched, and I have all my portable apps organized into nice categories.  I access using the icon in the tray or by using a hotkey which will pop up the menu under my mouse.  It's a really great solution.

As for programs, I use mostly small utilities that are already available as portable installs (like XYPlorer).  I use some programs from PortableApps also.  I don't use any pre-made portable suites, and I don't use any specific portable launchers.  For launching, LBC is the best, so why would I try to use anything else just because it's a portable thing now?  Thanks to mouser for building that into LBC.

Screenshots of my setup are below:
The tray icons

Note: I use USB Safely Remove on computers I use a lot to automatically run LBC as soon as the USB is inserted.

The menu


I hope that is useful.

[superboyac]

I wonder if people here would find it useful if I made a rar or iso file that contained my entire LBC setup in one download?  I think that would be nice and useful.  Of course, I'd have to remove the non-freeware stuff.  Would that even be legal?  Probably not.  Even for freeware, I doubt I'm allowed to distribute their stuff that way.  Still, I can't help feeling it's something people would find useful.

[Target]

FWIW, some of the apps included in the Liberkey distro have .NET dependencies...

I wonder if people here would find it useful if I made a rar or iso file that contained my entire LBC setup in one download?

perhaps just a list of the included apps - these things (like anything) tend to be pretty personal so what's a must have for you may be of no interest/value to others (I've tried several different USB distro's and I invariably end up with a ton of apps that I'll never use but just can't bring myself to delete just in case...).

Actually there could be some value in collating a (definitive?) list of must have apps for a USB key - what say you?

[superboyac]

Target, I hear you.  But there are dozens of lists all over the place.  It's a lot of work and time to set up a USB stick.  If I did it the way described above, it would all be done using freeware apps and best of all, it uses the LBC as a launcher, and not some very specific portable launcher.  For example, the launcher that comes with portableapps is nowhere near as nice as LBC.  I don't know, it was just an idea.  I may do it just for the fun of it.  Maybe I won't....haha.

[mouser]

what i'd really like to do is come up with something so that LBC and FARR can parse the portable-app-collection formats, so that you can use LBC and FARR as a drop-in replacement for those portable app menu launchers without doing any special configuration.

that may mean including a set of pre-defined launchbars with different category icons and looks that users can choose, that could be provided by people on the dc forum.

[Target]

Target, I hear you.  But there are dozens of lists all over the place.  It's a lot of work and time to set up a USB stick.  If I did it the way described above, it would all be done using freeware apps and best of all, it uses the LBC as a launcher, and not some very specific portable launcher.  For example, the launcher that comes with portableapps is nowhere near as nice as LBC.  I don't know, it was just an idea.  I may do it just for the fun of it.  Maybe I won't....haha.

don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to discourage you, just get around the potential issue of redistributing someone else's app's.

and you're right, there are lists all over the place - but they are lists of what suits the respective publishers.  What I was suggesting was collecting details of everyones must haves/favourites which could then be distilled down to a core set of apps, or that would at the very least provide a pick list of proven tools...

[techidave]

what i'd really like to do is come up with something so that LBC and FARR can parse the portable-app-collection formats, so that you can use LBC and FARR as a drop-in replacement for those portable app menu launchers without doing any special configuration.

that may mean including a set of pre-defined launchbars with different category icons and looks that users can choose, that could be provided by people on the dc forum.

using FARR instead of a launcher would be awesome.  I have FARR installed on most of my computers that I use on a regular basis.  I looked at LBC sometime back so I will have to revisit it again.

[mouser]

Remember that as others have pointed out -- FARR and LBC are both happy to run in portable mode out of the box.  Both installers can be unpacked with any un-zipping program, and are more than happy to run portably.

That doesn't mean that we can't make them easier and pre-configured to run as a portable application launcher, just want to make sure it's clear that they can already be used for this.

[superboyac]

what i'd really like to do is come up with something so that LBC and FARR can parse the portable-app-collection formats, so that you can use LBC and FARR as a drop-in replacement for those portable app menu launchers without doing any special configuration.

that may mean including a set of pre-defined launchbars with different category icons and looks that users can choose, that could be provided by people on the dc forum.

That's a great idea.  I'd help out in any way possible.

What I was suggesting was collecting details of everyones must haves/favourites which could then be distilled down to a core set of apps, or that would at the very least provide a pick list of proven tools...

Also a terrific idea.  I say we start collecting everyone's opinions and work on putting together a master list.  We can make it a NANY for non-programmers.

[techidave]

I am with Superboy on this one!  An excellent idea to make a list of must haves.  Off the top of my head I would vote for any or all of Nirsoft's programs.  Also System Explorer and CCleaner are must haves for me.

I would use portable apps more but having to constantly update them can be a real pain in the butt.    Of course, I guess updating them isn't mandatory. 

[superboyac]

I am with Superboy on this one!  An excellent idea to make a list of must haves.  Off the top of my head I would vote for any or all of Nirsoft's programs.  Also System Explorer and CCleaner are must haves for me.

I would use portable apps more but having to constantly update them can be a real pain in the butt.    Of course, I guess updating them isn't mandatory. 

Hmm...how about a portable app updating utility?  How would one go about doing that?

[Target]

I would use portable apps more but having to constantly update them can be a real pain in the butt

there are apps around that supposedly do this, though whether or not they would work in a portable environment I have no idea

but do you really need to constantly update?

Unless there's a requirement (ie AV tools), or there's a significant bug or functionality gap you shouldn't really need to, and if it's buggy or function poor then you'll probably be looking for a replacement instead of an update

FWIW I never use launcher.  YMMV, but most of the time the first thing I do is fire up the file manager of choice which gives me access to all the apps anyway - if I was really pushed I'd probably knock something up in AHK...

[superboyac]

Target, I also used to just open my file manager.  but after configuring LBC, I'll never go back.  I'd give LBC a shot before trying to AHK it on my own.

[Deozaan]

Hmm...how about a portable app updating utility?  How would one go about doing that?

I think PortableApps.com is working on the next version of their launcher thingy that will update their apps. Not sure how far out it is though.

EDIT: It's in beta which you can try out here:

http://portableapps.com/news/2010-07-17_-_portableapps.com_platform_2.0_beta_5_released

[techidave]

Hmm...how about a portable app updating utility?  How would one go about doing that?

[techidave]

I did start looking at LBC last nite but didn't get very far with it other than installing it.