Software developing has advanced dramatically. Today, almost anyone, ranging from a high tech IT expert all the way down to a high school kid, are software developers.
They need not be the creator of a software who has done a lot of coding, but instead, some software developers are just people who modify open source software and release them.
They need not be the creator of a software who has done a lot of coding, but instead, some software developers are just people who modify open source software and release them.
You too can make your own software !!This software which you make can be portable and simple.
Here’s a simple trick to make any software portable:
You Need:
- Winrar – Archive Manager
- Your software – Open Source is better
- Some free time and some interest
1. Download the Software
For this tutorial I’ll prefer using FastStone Screen Capture. You can download the 30 day free trial to try it out yourself.
Just go to the FastStone site and visit the .
You get the option of downloading either the setup or the portable version directly.
This gives you the flexibility of making your software. To begin with, just download the portable version.
This gives you the flexibility of making your software. To begin with, just download the portable version.
2. Extract the file you download (OR JUST RUN THE SETUP)
Since I’m first trying it with the Portable .zip version I downloaded, you can do the same.
3. Put all the files into an archive
After extracting the file you download, you’ll find a lot of files. But the file which you need to run is FSCapture.exe and the remaining files are required, but they just make it look more ugly.
So lets try to make 1 file which runs this portable app. For this, just select all the files in the folder, and right click, if you have Winrar installed then you should get the option Add to archive. Select that option.
4. Make your archive self-extracting .exe format
In the new pop up you find, select Create SFX ARCHIVE. This should make your compressed archive as .exe format.
You may want to keep the name of the archive as FSCapture-Portable.exe
Then head on to the advanced tab and see the SFX OPTIONS. In RUN AFTER EXTRACTION just put the exact name of the file you want to run. In this case, we need to run the file FSCapture with an extension .exe
The exact name of the file will be FSCapture.exe
In the MODES tab, just select UNPACK TO TEMPORARY FOLDER and in Silent Mode select HIDE ALL.
You can also make your own license to this. For that just see the license tab. You can fill in the details and the user will be prompted to accept the license if he/she wishes to continue.
Under the text and icon tab you can choose your icon if you want any. Else the default winrar icon will be used.
5. After putting the files in the .exe archive just run the executable file you created
Now you should notice a new file called FSCapture-Portable.exe in the folder you was working on. That is the only file you need. Copy(or cut) paste that file into the desktop and run the file. In a few moments it should run your software.
But what if you don’t find a portable version download ????
Simple, install the software and just check your program files directory in C: drive. It’ll usually be C:\Program Files
Since I’ve already installed FastStone I just need to go to C:\Program Files\FastStone Capture
I just consider that the portable files are in that folder. I do the same procedure, just select all files in the folder and compress it into a .exe file with Winrar giving the same commands.
That’s all !!
Want to try this with other software ?? Sure, almost any and every software will work.
Can Firefox also be made portable ?
Lets see:
If you have Firefox installed then go to C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
Select all the files there and add it to .exe archive in Winrar. Remember to follow the same procedure I did for Faststone. The only difference is here you need to run firefox.exe instead of FSCapture.exe
That should make Firefox into 1 portable file !!
That should make Firefox into 1 portable file !!
You can repeat this for any software, though not all software will work this way. But I’ve managed to do it to several software. I now have my own Portable Photoshop CS4, Dreamweaver CS4, Counter Strike, NFS Carbon, etc. All these as portable files.
Why should I do this anyway ??
Whats the purpose of all this when I can just install the software ?
Just try it out. Make your own portable games and portable browser. Put the portable version which you made in your pen drive. Then, take the pen drive with you to a cyber cafe and try it out there. It should work just fine. Now you dont need to worry which games or which browser is going to be there in a cyber cafe. You can use your own portable version .
If you want portable software in your pen drive ready-made for you, then you can check out PortableApps.com. They have many awesome portable software which will run only if you install their software first.
