Just to give you and idea of some of the programs I will be reviewing, here's a list. Many are under 1MB! The list is just in alphabetical order as these applications fulfill many different purposes, and ranking them would not be a useful measure.
Audio Book Cutter Portable (2.59 MB)
Deskwin Portable (410 KB)
DVD Shrink (885 KB) *
MirandaPortable (1.74 MB)
MowSaikSharp (84 KB) *
Notepad++ (2.26 MB)
PNG Optimizer (523 KB)
SpeQ Portable (581 KB)
uTorrentPortable (~890 KB)
XMPlay (300KB - 1MB) **
*Not technically portable but runs without needing reg keys
** Varies depending on plug-ins and skins
I may think of a few more and if you have any you'd like to see please let me know!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Best Utilities Under 3MB - PNG Optimizer
Some of the most useful utilities are often the smallest. Non-Open Source users may be used to a program that installs hundreds of MBs or multiple GBs at a time, but many of the best portable apps and useful programs are small enough to run off a floppy (Remember those days?). In this series we consider programs under 5MB, a size good enough for even a 64MB or 128MB flash drive.In the previous post we considered Audio Book Cutter, coming in at 2.59 MB. Today we consider PNG Optimizer which installed is only 523 KB! You can get it here.
PNG Optimizer is kind of a niche program, designed to convert more bloated image formats into the web optimized PNG format. It supports BMP, TGA, GIF, or older PNG files, as well as screen shots pasted from CTRL-Print Screen. To convert files simply drag them over the small window screen, and PNG optimizer will create new PNG files with the same name in the same directory without deleting the original file. The speed is fast, taking only a couple of seconds per image, and the program displays the status and progress of each file.
When pasting a screen shot using the CTRL-Print Screen operation, simply click on the Optimizer window and paste. The program will create a PNG file with automatic naming conventions in the PngOptimizer\Data folder.
The program is best for batch conversions especially when a lot of raw files are created, such as in animation projects. Most of the functionality in the program can be found in other graphics editors but for single operation conversions, this tool is a nice little add on. There are several other programs that may have slightly better optimization algorithms, but for portable use this is the best out there.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Interlude: Audio Book Cutter Portable or "Maybe this will get me to finally listen to my pastor's sermons"
Sorry for the long time between posts. Rather than getting into the next part of the portable browser wars I thought it would be nice to do a couple of short reviews on some really neat programs I've been using lately and get back to the longer articles when I have the time.First off is the beta test of Audio Book Cutter Portable which you can find here. With this program you can take your longer Audio Book or podcast files and split them up into shorter files, all without re-encoding the MP3's. This makes it much easier to find your place, especially on an MP3 player or when burned to a CD, and makes the splitting process very fast, under a minute for files about an hour long at 64kbps.
The installation is simple, download and run the EXE. Once installed splitting files is easy:
To Split an MP3:
- Select the file
- Choose a prefix and average length (I recommend 3 minutes)
- Choose an output location and go
Also, while track information is stored in the file, there is no option for setting the album title, which registers as unknown on most players. This means that any other files with unknown albums will also be played with the audio book files if the user wants to play by album. It is relatively simple in Windows, however, to set this album value.
The default prefix is track which works well when outputting the files to a new folder. However, the user should be careful if they want multiple books in the same folder to rename the prefixes accordingly otherwise the already created files will be overwritten.
All in all a useful application for those who want to find their place in podcasts on their MP3 player, and coming in at about 2.5 Megs, this program is a must have for portable app audiophiles.
EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention. When playing the files back on an MP3 player there is a slight (less than a second) pause whenever track transitions occur. This may be primarily because of the player and not the program. It is not enough to disrupt the listening experience.
Friday, January 4, 2008
The Portable Browser Wars - Part 2 (Firefox 3.0 Beta 2)
Today's post will cover how to install the latest Firefox beta on your portable device. As betas are coming out at a reasonably consistent basis I may post updates to the procedure if it drastically changes. A comparison of the performance of all three browsers in this series will follow these posts on the installation procedure.
Portable apping is a great way to test new betas of anything in order to avoid the conflicts in multiple version installs on the same machine. When Firefox 2.0 was released, portable apps had released a series of betas for testing it which integrated well with the final release. The transition from the version 2.0 final betas to the release was able to seamlessly work through the updates. Now it may necessary to rerun the installer over the old install. But the transfer of any customizations should still be pretty easy.
Firefox 3.0 Beta 2 (Installation)
As with version 2.0.0.11 the first step is downloading the self-extracting executable from portableapps.com. You can find this download the file at http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable/test
As always it is important to note that for Portable Firefox or any other Mozilla product, John T. Haller's version is the only legitimate one. Any other versions you may find on the net are not recommended.
To install run the EXE you just downloaded and as before browse to the location you wish to install the program. Be default this will be X:\PortableApps\FirefoxPortableTest with X being your drive letter. The program will work no matter where it is installed as long as the internal file structure is not changed.
The download for the beta is a little bigger that FF2, coming in at 7.1 MB with an expanded size of 22.9 MB. After the first run this number goes up to 25.9 MB. By default the files install to a folder called FirefoxPortableTest which I rename to FirefoxPortable3.
A note to portable apps framework users: The start menu that comes as part of the portable apps framework DOES create two separate entries if you have both FF versions installed on your portable device. The text for FF 3 Beta 2 has (test) in parenthesis.
Now you are ready to test drive the new FF 3 Beta. Before we get into customization it's important to note some of the things that are different about this version of Firefox. If you run the program for the first time you will notice your toolbar has a couple of smart bookmarks for most visited and recently added links. There are two procedures for importing your bookmarks into this new version of firefox, one that will obliterate these quick starts and another that will keep them. It might be a good idea to test the beta without importing your bookmarks at first to see if you like the new features before deciding whether or not to delete them.
It is possible to restore these smart bookmarks after they are deleted, though it is not possible to move the links using the normal cut and paste procedure. In order to restore or move these links they must be recreated.
To recreate the smart bookmarks go to the folder where you wish them to be located and right click to bring up the context menu. From there select new bookmark. For description choose the function of the list being created and for location put any information from the location field in the old bookmark. For your convenience I am including the location codes for the three smart bookmarks I had below:
Most Visited
place:sort=8&maxResults=10
Recently Bookmarked
place:folder=2&folder=5&folder=3&sort=12&excludeQueries=1&excludeItemIfParentHasAnnotation=livemark%2FfeedURI&maxResults=10&queryType=1
Recent Tags
place:folder=4&group=3&sort=12&applyOptionsToContainers=1&maxResults=10&queryType=1
Importing Bookmarks from Firefox
As with the 2.0 installation export your bookmarks to a file called bookmarks.html. Unlike the installation of version 2.0, however, it is not enough to simply write over the file in the folder. The bookmarks must be imported through 3.0's bookmarks manager. There are two different ways to do this, one which will remove the custom bookmarks in version 3.0, and one which will not.
The two methods are:
To import your bookmarks first bring up FF 3.0's bookmarks manager by selecting Bookmarks->Show all bookmarks. This opens the Places Organizer where you can import your bookmarks. Simply click the button "Import and Backup" and select "Import" from the drop down. Choose the from file option and browse to the file where you exported your bookmarks. All of the bookmarks are imported to the bookmark menu folder. In order to restore your toolbar select the folder Bookmarks Toolbar Folder from under Bookmark Menu. All of the bookmarks that are normally in the toolbar will now show on the right. Sadly as of FF 3.0 Beta 2 the organizer is not drag and drop so in order to move any bookmarks you must select them and then cut, pasting them in the folder to which you wish to move them. Personally I see this as a step back from previous versions and I hope they revert the change as soon as possible.
It is NOT possible to move the smart bookmarks from the Bookmarks Toolbar to the Bookmarks Menu by employing the method of copying and pasting. You must RECREATE them using the above procedure if you do not want them in the toolbar.
Any other changes you wish to make to clean up the organization you should do using this same method remembering that the Bookmarks Toolbar Folder has been shortened to Bookmarks Toolbar.
A little bit messier than in FF 2.0 but not too difficult if you are willing to do a little rearranging and recreating. the next method is simpler but will obliterate the active bookmarks included in FF 3.0.
Restoring from a file
New to Firefox 3.0 is the ability to restore your bookmarks cleanly from a file. Restoration erases any changes made to the current bookmark set and replaces it with the set from the file. This method will auto detect your toolbar and move the links to the correct new folder. This will obliterate any smart bookmarks however so it is important to make sure you know how to recreate them or that you don't want them.
To restore simply click the"Import and Backup" button again and select "Restore". Of the options that appear you will want to choose from file. Then browse to file you where you stored your bookmarks and select open. These bookmarks will replace the default set and will no be available to you.
Whichever method you choose its a good idea to export the final changes to a file once you are done. That way if a new release of the beta comes out and you went through the procedure to move the smart bookmarks, you can re import them in the same place without losing them.
Note: Smart Bookmarks exported from FF 3.0 WILL be restored when restoring from a file.
So now you have a new version of Firefox with all of your bookmarks. What else can you add? The answer is not much.
Incorporating Add-Ons
Of all the add-ons mentioned in the previous entry only Ad-Block Plus has a 3.0 compatible version as of this writing. It is likely that new versions will come out so its a good idea to check the developer sites for those add-ons to see if they have released a new version. Most Add-ons list the range of versions they work across. The procedure for installing them is the same, simply open the file from FF 3 and click install. As for SWF and Flash ability, the plugin installation procedure is the same as well, either follow the on-line prompts to the plug-in or copy over the two necessary files from a previous installation.
Final Thoughts
As always back up and organize your intermediate files so as to be able to go back if you have made any mistakes. For the betas especially keep up with the forums at portableapps.com and the Mozilla site for any issues that arise. And of course feel free to submit your comments and suggestions to me and check back for any updates as I will be testing this software as well.
Next week we'll have the Opera 9.25 procedure and the performance tests so stay tuned and stay warm!
Portable apping is a great way to test new betas of anything in order to avoid the conflicts in multiple version installs on the same machine. When Firefox 2.0 was released, portable apps had released a series of betas for testing it which integrated well with the final release. The transition from the version 2.0 final betas to the release was able to seamlessly work through the updates. Now it may necessary to rerun the installer over the old install. But the transfer of any customizations should still be pretty easy.
Firefox 3.0 Beta 2 (Installation)
As with version 2.0.0.11 the first step is downloading the self-extracting executable from portableapps.com. You can find this download the file at http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable/test
As always it is important to note that for Portable Firefox or any other Mozilla product, John T. Haller's version is the only legitimate one. Any other versions you may find on the net are not recommended.
To install run the EXE you just downloaded and as before browse to the location you wish to install the program. Be default this will be X:\PortableApps\FirefoxPortableTest with X being your drive letter. The program will work no matter where it is installed as long as the internal file structure is not changed.
The download for the beta is a little bigger that FF2, coming in at 7.1 MB with an expanded size of 22.9 MB. After the first run this number goes up to 25.9 MB. By default the files install to a folder called FirefoxPortableTest which I rename to FirefoxPortable3.
A note to portable apps framework users: The start menu that comes as part of the portable apps framework DOES create two separate entries if you have both FF versions installed on your portable device. The text for FF 3 Beta 2 has (test) in parenthesis.
Now you are ready to test drive the new FF 3 Beta. Before we get into customization it's important to note some of the things that are different about this version of Firefox. If you run the program for the first time you will notice your toolbar has a couple of smart bookmarks for most visited and recently added links. There are two procedures for importing your bookmarks into this new version of firefox, one that will obliterate these quick starts and another that will keep them. It might be a good idea to test the beta without importing your bookmarks at first to see if you like the new features before deciding whether or not to delete them.
It is possible to restore these smart bookmarks after they are deleted, though it is not possible to move the links using the normal cut and paste procedure. In order to restore or move these links they must be recreated.
To recreate the smart bookmarks go to the folder where you wish them to be located and right click to bring up the context menu. From there select new bookmark. For description choose the function of the list being created and for location put any information from the location field in the old bookmark. For your convenience I am including the location codes for the three smart bookmarks I had below:
Most Visited
place:sort=8&maxResults=10
Recently Bookmarked
place:folder=2&folder=5&folder=3&sort=12&excludeQueries=1&excludeItemIfParentHasAnnotation=livemark%2FfeedURI&maxResults=10&queryType=1
Recent Tags
place:folder=4&group=3&sort=12&applyOptionsToContainers=1&maxResults=10&queryType=1
Importing Bookmarks from Firefox
As with the 2.0 installation export your bookmarks to a file called bookmarks.html. Unlike the installation of version 2.0, however, it is not enough to simply write over the file in the folder. The bookmarks must be imported through 3.0's bookmarks manager. There are two different ways to do this, one which will remove the custom bookmarks in version 3.0, and one which will not.
The two methods are:
- Import Your Bookmarks from a file (keeps new bookmarks intact)
- Restore bookmarks from your exported file (replaces bookmarks with those from file)
To import your bookmarks first bring up FF 3.0's bookmarks manager by selecting Bookmarks->Show all bookmarks. This opens the Places Organizer where you can import your bookmarks. Simply click the button "Import and Backup" and select "Import" from the drop down. Choose the from file option and browse to the file where you exported your bookmarks. All of the bookmarks are imported to the bookmark menu folder. In order to restore your toolbar select the folder Bookmarks Toolbar Folder from under Bookmark Menu. All of the bookmarks that are normally in the toolbar will now show on the right. Sadly as of FF 3.0 Beta 2 the organizer is not drag and drop so in order to move any bookmarks you must select them and then cut, pasting them in the folder to which you wish to move them. Personally I see this as a step back from previous versions and I hope they revert the change as soon as possible.
It is NOT possible to move the smart bookmarks from the Bookmarks Toolbar to the Bookmarks Menu by employing the method of copying and pasting. You must RECREATE them using the above procedure if you do not want them in the toolbar.
Any other changes you wish to make to clean up the organization you should do using this same method remembering that the Bookmarks Toolbar Folder has been shortened to Bookmarks Toolbar.
A little bit messier than in FF 2.0 but not too difficult if you are willing to do a little rearranging and recreating. the next method is simpler but will obliterate the active bookmarks included in FF 3.0.
Restoring from a file
New to Firefox 3.0 is the ability to restore your bookmarks cleanly from a file. Restoration erases any changes made to the current bookmark set and replaces it with the set from the file. This method will auto detect your toolbar and move the links to the correct new folder. This will obliterate any smart bookmarks however so it is important to make sure you know how to recreate them or that you don't want them.
To restore simply click the"Import and Backup" button again and select "Restore". Of the options that appear you will want to choose from file. Then browse to file you where you stored your bookmarks and select open. These bookmarks will replace the default set and will no be available to you.
Whichever method you choose its a good idea to export the final changes to a file once you are done. That way if a new release of the beta comes out and you went through the procedure to move the smart bookmarks, you can re import them in the same place without losing them.
Note: Smart Bookmarks exported from FF 3.0 WILL be restored when restoring from a file.
So now you have a new version of Firefox with all of your bookmarks. What else can you add? The answer is not much.
Incorporating Add-Ons
Of all the add-ons mentioned in the previous entry only Ad-Block Plus has a 3.0 compatible version as of this writing. It is likely that new versions will come out so its a good idea to check the developer sites for those add-ons to see if they have released a new version. Most Add-ons list the range of versions they work across. The procedure for installing them is the same, simply open the file from FF 3 and click install. As for SWF and Flash ability, the plugin installation procedure is the same as well, either follow the on-line prompts to the plug-in or copy over the two necessary files from a previous installation.
Final Thoughts
As always back up and organize your intermediate files so as to be able to go back if you have made any mistakes. For the betas especially keep up with the forums at portableapps.com and the Mozilla site for any issues that arise. And of course feel free to submit your comments and suggestions to me and check back for any updates as I will be testing this software as well.
Next week we'll have the Opera 9.25 procedure and the performance tests so stay tuned and stay warm!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
The Portable Browser Wars - Part 1 (Firefox 2.0.0.11)
Sorry for the long delay between posts but I promise I will not let this blog go dead. It's just been a busy week with Christmas, New Years and my best friend's wedding, plus going back to school tomorrow. But I have been doing a lot of research and I've decided the portable browser discussion is big enough that I'm going to split it between two main categories: Installation + Customization and Performance.
This first post will give the procedure for installing Firefox 2.0.0.11 with subsequent posts on FF Beta 3rv2 and Opera 9.25 in the coming days (or maybe even later tonight).
Firefox 2.0.0.11 (Installation)
The very first step in installing Portable Firefox is to grab the latest version from portableapps.com: http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable
The download is around 6MB and comes as a self-extracting executable. The portable versions of Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and Sunbird are available exclusively through John T. Haller and portableapps.com. If you see other versions floating around the internet DO NOT USE them as they may be malware or illegal versions of the software. Since portableapps.com is free there's really no reason to go anywhere else.
To install Firefox Portable simply run the downloaded EXE and follow the on screen prompts. As with most programs downloaded from portableapps.com, Portable Firefox is designed to work with the portable apps suite which creates a specific organization for where applications and other data is stored. The installer will search for the first portable device it can find and will give a suggested location of X:\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable with X being the drive letter of the portable device. Firefox can be run from ANYWHERE so if you don't want to store your apps in the portable apps suite, or the installer is not on the correct device, you can browse to wherever you wish to install the software.
As with all portable software the install location does not matter as long as the relative pathways within the application are maintained. The customizations discussed later in this entry involved copying files into this structure but it is suggested that you not delete or move files within the FirefoxPortable directory. The directory CAN be moved or copied to anywhere after installation and will run with all settings as long as the internal structure is maintained.
The installed file size is listed as 19.5 MB but after a first run that number jumps to 24.1 even without any add ons making Firefox a mid-size portable application. For smaller flash drives Opera may be a better alternative with an install size of 9.1 MB but this discussion will be covered more in the performance section.
Now you have a working copy of Firefox 2.0.0.11 with John's default bookmarks. But you still have a ways to go before making Firefox truly your own.
Importing Bookmarks From Firefox
The easiest way to configure a portable version of Firefox is to use a local install on your home machine as a template.
To bring up the Bookmarks Manager simply select
Bookmarks->Organize Bookmarks...
This will bring up the bookmarks manager where you can delete/add and file all of your bookmarks. Assuming you already have your bookmarks arranged how you would like them, Simply select File->Export... from the toolbar. This will bring up a file dialog asking where you would like to save the file. I tend to try to organize all of my portable apps pieces together so that an install can be easily restored and reconfigured.
Suggestions for Organizing Portable Apps files:
An alternative procedure would be to open up FirefoxPortable and go to the manage bookmarks dialog. From there choose "File->Import" and all of the bookmarks will be added to the existing bookmarks file. This will leave all of the bookmarks previously in the program and add on your bookmarks though there will be some duplications between the Bookmarks Toolbar Folder. You will have to rearrange the bookmarks to incorporate the new entries. The first method described above should arrange your bookmarks in the way you have them on your personal machine and is the suggested method.
Incorporating Add-Ons
Bookmarks are nice but a full fledged install of Firefox will also want to take advantage of the many plug-ins available to expand its functionality. Thankfully most plug-ins are fully compliant with being used portably without any special procedure.
A few of my personal favorites:
When installing the add-on its a good idea to make a note of the add-ons settings in your local install and make sure to change all settings til it matches what you use at home. Portable Apps can also be a good way of testing these add ons on the go. As always BACK IT UP, keeping a copy of your customization of Firefox on your local hard disk.
Other Plugins
Something important to note about Portable Firefox is that it does not come with native Shockwave Flash or Regular Flash support. The files necessary to give it that ability can be simply copied from your local firefox install or you can follow the plug-in link when you try to browse to a flash site such as homestarrunner.com. The file necessary for Flash is NPSWF32.dll and for ShockwaveFlash np32dsw.dll. Simply copy this file into your plugins directory and you should be able to watch flash animations.
Final Thoughts
Now you should be ready to use Firefox wherever you go. You can copy the final customization to any device and it should work without any need to reconfigure it. The installation is a little more complicated then continually clicking next, as many portable installations are, but with a little perseverance you should have a working copy in no time.
A NOTE ON UPGRADES: FirefoxPortable used to support the automatic updates from Mozilla. However since some of the more recent versions, updating the portable version on a machine with a local install will overwrite the registry settings for the local install. It is suggested to cancel any requests for upgrade in the portable version and wait until the newest version comes out on portableapps.com. Running the installer for the new version with the same directory as the previous install will upgrade the old installation without changing your customizations.
If you absolutely must upgrade portable Firefox before John puts out an update, make sure you are on a computer with no local install or that can have its local install restored. As always its a good idea to back up before making any changes.
That's all for now. The beta 3 procedure is very similar so if you can understand this you should be good to go. As always comments are appreciated.
This first post will give the procedure for installing Firefox 2.0.0.11 with subsequent posts on FF Beta 3rv2 and Opera 9.25 in the coming days (or maybe even later tonight).
Firefox 2.0.0.11 (Installation)
The very first step in installing Portable Firefox is to grab the latest version from portableapps.com: http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable
The download is around 6MB and comes as a self-extracting executable. The portable versions of Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and Sunbird are available exclusively through John T. Haller and portableapps.com. If you see other versions floating around the internet DO NOT USE them as they may be malware or illegal versions of the software. Since portableapps.com is free there's really no reason to go anywhere else.
To install Firefox Portable simply run the downloaded EXE and follow the on screen prompts. As with most programs downloaded from portableapps.com, Portable Firefox is designed to work with the portable apps suite which creates a specific organization for where applications and other data is stored. The installer will search for the first portable device it can find and will give a suggested location of X:\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable with X being the drive letter of the portable device. Firefox can be run from ANYWHERE so if you don't want to store your apps in the portable apps suite, or the installer is not on the correct device, you can browse to wherever you wish to install the software.
As with all portable software the install location does not matter as long as the relative pathways within the application are maintained. The customizations discussed later in this entry involved copying files into this structure but it is suggested that you not delete or move files within the FirefoxPortable directory. The directory CAN be moved or copied to anywhere after installation and will run with all settings as long as the internal structure is maintained.
The installed file size is listed as 19.5 MB but after a first run that number jumps to 24.1 even without any add ons making Firefox a mid-size portable application. For smaller flash drives Opera may be a better alternative with an install size of 9.1 MB but this discussion will be covered more in the performance section.
Now you have a working copy of Firefox 2.0.0.11 with John's default bookmarks. But you still have a ways to go before making Firefox truly your own.
Importing Bookmarks From Firefox
The easiest way to configure a portable version of Firefox is to use a local install on your home machine as a template.
To bring up the Bookmarks Manager simply select
Bookmarks->Organize Bookmarks...
This will bring up the bookmarks manager where you can delete/add and file all of your bookmarks. Assuming you already have your bookmarks arranged how you would like them, Simply select File->Export... from the toolbar. This will bring up a file dialog asking where you would like to save the file. I tend to try to organize all of my portable apps pieces together so that an install can be easily restored and reconfigured.
Suggestions for Organizing Portable Apps files:
- Create a folder named "[PortableAppName] Files"
- Put in that folder a copy of the unaltered installer and your customized version
- Include any intermediate files.
An alternative procedure would be to open up FirefoxPortable and go to the manage bookmarks dialog. From there choose "File->Import" and all of the bookmarks will be added to the existing bookmarks file. This will leave all of the bookmarks previously in the program and add on your bookmarks though there will be some duplications between the Bookmarks Toolbar Folder. You will have to rearrange the bookmarks to incorporate the new entries. The first method described above should arrange your bookmarks in the way you have them on your personal machine and is the suggested method.
Incorporating Add-Ons
Bookmarks are nice but a full fledged install of Firefox will also want to take advantage of the many plug-ins available to expand its functionality. Thankfully most plug-ins are fully compliant with being used portably without any special procedure.
A few of my personal favorites:
- Sage - A handy RSS organizer. Displays the feeds as HTML and gets out of the way when you don't want to see it
- Download Statusbar - Relegates downloads to the bottom of the browser rather than a separate window. Mouse over displays information about the download
- RikaiChan - An english to japanese dictionary. When mousing over foreign characters RikaiChan supplies a definition and common uses
- FireFTP - A handy FTP client
- Mouse Gestures - Allows simple commands such as reload, forward, previous, view source, and others to be done with a simple flick of the mouse
- Ad-Block Plus - Blocks banner adds to allow pages to load faster
When installing the add-on its a good idea to make a note of the add-ons settings in your local install and make sure to change all settings til it matches what you use at home. Portable Apps can also be a good way of testing these add ons on the go. As always BACK IT UP, keeping a copy of your customization of Firefox on your local hard disk.
Other Plugins
Something important to note about Portable Firefox is that it does not come with native Shockwave Flash or Regular Flash support. The files necessary to give it that ability can be simply copied from your local firefox install or you can follow the plug-in link when you try to browse to a flash site such as homestarrunner.com. The file necessary for Flash is NPSWF32.dll and for ShockwaveFlash np32dsw.dll. Simply copy this file into your plugins directory and you should be able to watch flash animations.
Final Thoughts
Now you should be ready to use Firefox wherever you go. You can copy the final customization to any device and it should work without any need to reconfigure it. The installation is a little more complicated then continually clicking next, as many portable installations are, but with a little perseverance you should have a working copy in no time.
A NOTE ON UPGRADES: FirefoxPortable used to support the automatic updates from Mozilla. However since some of the more recent versions, updating the portable version on a machine with a local install will overwrite the registry settings for the local install. It is suggested to cancel any requests for upgrade in the portable version and wait until the newest version comes out on portableapps.com. Running the installer for the new version with the same directory as the previous install will upgrade the old installation without changing your customizations.
If you absolutely must upgrade portable Firefox before John puts out an update, make sure you are on a computer with no local install or that can have its local install restored. As always its a good idea to back up before making any changes.
That's all for now. The beta 3 procedure is very similar so if you can understand this you should be good to go. As always comments are appreciated.
Monday, December 17, 2007
The Cheat Is Not Dead, Long Live the Cheat!
Welcome to the Portable Lifestyle or why I never leave home without my Firefox. For those who are new to PortableApps, the basic concept are programs that can run from flash or portable hard drive media without leaving behind registry keys or other personal information. This allows you to bring your favorite applications with all of their configurations and not have to worry that any of your personal information is being left behind. PortableApps.com puts out a number of these programs and organizes them in the PAF or Portable Apps Format, though this blog will not exclusively consider programs in this format.
I've been meaning to write about these programs for some time, as they have really become a part of my every day life. I use these programs for work, for school, and for play, and am constantly looking for the newest program to take for a test drive. I run my programs from a 60GB portable hard drive (named The Cheat Is Not Dead) on a variety of different computers ranging from the very latest to my personal machine, a Pentium 4, 2.53GHz processor with 512MB of RAM running on Windows XP. Part of the reason for testing these programs on "older" machines is to allow people of all experiences (including those of us who turn to open source because we're poor college students), to make their computer experiences better and to be able to take more of their stuff on the go without needing an expensive laptop.
A little about me. I am a computer science engineering major at The Ohio State University due to graduate in June of 2008. I have been using portable apps for over three years, and use them in my job as a software developer for a major company almost every day. I have more than 50 portable programs and am always looking for more. I started with a 128MB flash drive and now have a 1GB, two 128MBs and my 60GB Hard Drive which is my primary portable drive. Actually if you want to get technical about it I started with a box full of about 70 floppies but I'll talk more about that in another post.
This blog has three purposes:
My next post will cover portable web-browsing (how it all started for me). In it I will review Portable Firefox 2.0.0.11 (assuming there isn't another bug fix between now and then), the latest Portable Firefox 3 beta, and Opera 9.24 Portable, both on flash and hard drives.
Keep warm out there!
I've been meaning to write about these programs for some time, as they have really become a part of my every day life. I use these programs for work, for school, and for play, and am constantly looking for the newest program to take for a test drive. I run my programs from a 60GB portable hard drive (named The Cheat Is Not Dead) on a variety of different computers ranging from the very latest to my personal machine, a Pentium 4, 2.53GHz processor with 512MB of RAM running on Windows XP. Part of the reason for testing these programs on "older" machines is to allow people of all experiences (including those of us who turn to open source because we're poor college students), to make their computer experiences better and to be able to take more of their stuff on the go without needing an expensive laptop.
A little about me. I am a computer science engineering major at The Ohio State University due to graduate in June of 2008. I have been using portable apps for over three years, and use them in my job as a software developer for a major company almost every day. I have more than 50 portable programs and am always looking for more. I started with a 128MB flash drive and now have a 1GB, two 128MBs and my 60GB Hard Drive which is my primary portable drive. Actually if you want to get technical about it I started with a box full of about 70 floppies but I'll talk more about that in another post.
This blog has three purposes:
- Review Portable Apps both official (from portableapps.com) and unofficial
- Provide configuration and customization tips to make the apps serve you better
- Offer commentary of what working this way will mean for the industry and for our lives generally
- I am not associated with portableapps.com or John T. Haller in any way. I am a member of the portableapps.com forums and beta test new software.
- While this site provides some technical help, I have not nor cannot test these programs on every machine or configuration. Just use the same common sense you use when installing any new Open Source Software.
- To my knowledge, the programs I write about are open source and/or freeware. I will not post methods for using commercial applications portably and I will remove any responses which contain such methods.
- I appreciate any software recommendations from people (I'm always looking for something new), but even if I test it, it may not appear in the blog for some time.
My next post will cover portable web-browsing (how it all started for me). In it I will review Portable Firefox 2.0.0.11 (assuming there isn't another bug fix between now and then), the latest Portable Firefox 3 beta, and Opera 9.24 Portable, both on flash and hard drives.
Keep warm out there!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
