An application.exe file is the self extractor file that will start the installer for the software. For your info this .exe files extracts the contents on to your harddrive.. usually your default ProgramFiles path and then runs the Actual .exe file which resides amidst the extracted files.
So installation of a software is a three step process comprising of extracting, executing and setting up the environment for execution of the program.
In the normal executing step, the software asks you to fill in the details about the user agreement, the path or directory to install and whether to add an entry into the start menu folder and provides you with many more options.
Portable apps are the softwares which wont bother you to fill up the details and will start directly with the program execution..Such as if you want to run realplayer, creating a portable app from the existing RealPlayer will help you to run it anywhere without installing.
Let me take you through the step of creating the portable apps, so that you can carry them on your thumb drive and execute it in your friends machine without installing the software.
For creating a portable app, we would require an extractor and an archiver..
So Universal Extractor and Winrar are best suited for our process.
Download both the softwares from the above links and install them.
Now let me illustrate the steps to create the portable app for the Application CCleaner.
The ccsetup224.exe file can be downloaded from the above link.
1. Lets extract the files in a subdirectory as shown below...
2. Now in the sub-directory extracted.. you search for the .exe file like the CCleaner.exe here.
(You can test whether the file works or not by running the .exe file in the extracted folder. If it works, then you can surely create a portable app for this application).Now select all the folders and files in the path and lets add them to an archive..As shown below.
3. The archive window of the winrar is shown below.. Rename the archive name as ccsetup.exe
4. In the advanced tab, click on the sfx options.
An advanced SFX window will pop up..
In the Run after extraction textbox.. fill in the name of the exe file to be executed
In this case its CCleaner.exe ( Be careful its case sensitive )
5. In the Modes tab select the Unpack to temporary folder and also select the radio button
"Hide all" as shown below .
6. Now in the Update tab select the radio button "Overwrite all files" as shown below and then click on OK on all the windows and allow the archive to complete.
7. After the archive is complete a file named ccsetup.exe appears in the directory.
This is your portable application.. You can copy this onto your pen drive or portable harddisk and run it directly.
8. Just open the file generated and the program runs.
While the portable app gives you freedom of not filling the forms. It will take the same amount of memory it takes to run when installed. It will be few seconds slower while opening, but it will sure reduce the work of installing .
Now you may try creating the portable application of the universal extractor and winrar.. so the whole process becomes portable.
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