Portable programs. Portable software: where to find and how to use the best portable software

Among all computer programs, portable programs occupy a special place. This is due to the ease of use of such programs. You can run them from any media. Such applications are also easy to transport - they can be written to a regular flash drive or disk.

Let's look at the main question of this review - what is Portable software? Understanding this issue will always be helpful. Using Portable programs can significantly save disk space and reduce the consumption of system resources. Also, such programs are quite convenient for restoring system functionality after damage caused by the activity of malware and viruses.

What does Portable mean?

First of all, you need to define the meaning of the term Portable. We will proceed from the translation of this word from English. We use the interpretation of the concept in relation to computers. Portable, in general terms, means portable, self-contained, portable. A portable program can be stored on any removable media. To launch and operate it, you do not need to install it on the hard drive of your laptop or computer. It’s probably not worth talking further about the benefits of such applications.

Distinctive features of portable programs from applications that require installation on a PC

In order to consider this issue in detail, we will create certain initial conditions. Let's assume we have a Portable version of some program. The advantages of this version from the point of view of using the application can be easily seen using a simple example. When using a standard version of a software product, an installation file with an EXE extension is usually used to install it.

Running this file starts the installation process, which involves unpacking and copying the main modules of the installed program, databases, dynamic libraries and other information necessary when working with the installed application. Additionally, you may need to install drivers for the virtual devices that the application uses as controllers. An example of such a controller is the virtual sound amplifier driver used when working with the Guitar Rig program.

So what are portable programs? Unlike standard software and applications, portable software packages do not require installation on your hard drive. They are launched by using a single executable file, which is located directly in the program folder. You only need to download the portable version of the application you need, for example, through a torrent tracker and unpack the zipped files, and then go to the desired folder and run the executable file to start working with the program.

What's included in the portable package?

Let's try to figure out how the portable version differs from the point of view of its component composition. Do such applications have everything necessary to launch and work correctly? Serious programs cannot consist of only one executable file. Additional elements such as databases and dynamic libraries are required. Versions of the same software packages can differ greatly in their component composition. Therefore, it is important to make sure that your version of the program indicates that it is the Portable version.

How do such programs differ in terms of component composition? Note that such software products are significantly smaller in volume than installation distributions. However, Portable programs are no less effective than standard programs. Very often you can find quite interesting programs that are presented in just one file. Moreover, it does not have to be a file with the EXE extension.

Today there are many different options based on the use of Java applications and self-extracting archives. Such files are launched provided that the necessary platforms and programs have already been installed on the system. For example, the loader with DepositeFiles is presented as a single file with the jar extension. This makes it possible to use it even when working with computer systems and mobile devices. All that is required is support for the Java platform.

How portable programs work

How do such portable programs work? Their operating principle is fundamentally different from stationary software, which is installed directly on a personal computer. During the software installation process, not only the main components of the program are copied to the hard drive. Certain entries are also made in the system registry, otherwise the operating system simply will not accept the application you installed. How are things going with the Portable versions?

How does the principle of their operation differ from the point of view of using the system registry? It is clear that such programs do not require installation. This means that when launched, the program will not create keys in the registry, and if it does, it will be temporary, which will be automatically deleted after finishing working with the application. The advantages of using such applications are obvious: the system will not load, and the launch of other programs and applications will be carried out quite quickly. In the same RAM, portable programs take up minimal memory. In most cases, the operation of such programs does not even affect the CPU load.

Where are portable programs used?

The areas of application of portable versions of programs can be listed endlessly. Of course, the most popular programs are programs for downloading files, as well as anti-virus scanners, boot managers and optimizers. You can also sometimes find portable versions of graphics and music packages.

Operating system emulators

Almost the most popular programs today are those that allow you to fully emulate the operation of an operating system with all its functionality. Boot managers play a primary role when failures occur in such systems. They allow you not only to install the system from scratch, but also to create a semblance of an operating system with support for all drivers and devices used.

Let's assume you have a disk with a Windows XP emulator and a boot manager. This means that you will be able to load a full-fledged operating system onto your computer and use most of its functions. Such applications typically run from a flash drive or optical disk. When booting, pay special attention to the BIOS. The download priority should be specified here. Depending on the manufacturer, the names of commands and sections may differ, but this does not change the entire essence of the process.

Diagnostic tools and antiviruses

Another popular area for using portable programs is anti-virus protection. When a PC is infected with malware and viruses, installed programs are not always able to perform a full scan. This also applies to startup items. There may be threats at the start of the operating system, but the installed antivirus program cannot remove them. In this case, the situation can be corrected using a portable version of an antivirus program, which starts before the operating system starts.

For example, the portable version of the Kaspersky Rescue Disc antivirus starts from a flash drive or disk even before the operating system starts. In addition, the program is capable of independently identifying and eliminating emerging threats that may be located in boot sectors, RAM, email or application cache. After loading the operating system, it is sometimes not possible to perform such actions. In most cases, the utility allows you to easily and quickly restore system functionality.

How to create a portable version of the program yourself

Do not delude yourself when it comes to creating a portable version of any type of program yourself. It is unlikely that you will be able to create a portable version from professional applications. But for simpler programs this technique is quite applicable.

To create portable applications, you can use specialized utilities such as Thinstall Virtualization. You can do it even simpler and use regular WinRAR. The procedure for creating a portable application will be reduced to creating a continuous SFX archive. In the archive parameters you must specify the path “In the current folder”.

After this, go to the “Modes” tab and use the “Unpack to temporary folder” command. Opposite the information output line, you must check the box next to the “Hide all” item. On the “Text and Graphics” tab, you need to select an icon or logo. Now all that remains is to confirm the selected actions. After completing all the described procedures, you will receive a portable version of the program, available for copying to removable media.

Please remember that not all programs and applications are subject to these procedures. If a software package contains a large number of links to third-party databases or library files, it is best not to try to make a portable version of it. Firstly, you will spend an incredible amount of time on this process, and secondly, the quality of the result will not justify the effort.

Portable programs or portable versions of applications are designed to simplify the user's work on a PC.

Such software allows you not to waste time on installation, use programs even in operating systems with maximum security settings, and allows you to work in the system even if you do not have administrative rights.

They usually use portable programs on computers where installing third-party software is undesirable or impossible (both for security reasons and due to lack of space on the computer).

General information about portable applications

Portable programs are programs that do not require installation on a computer and do not make any changes to the operating system registry during operation.

Basically, applications whose distribution is marked portable have the same functionality as regular versions. Sometimes developers remove several resource-intensive features.

Among the advantages of using them are:

saving space on your hard drive. You can work with a portable program without even moving it to your computer - from the same disk or USB drive (and even from a smartphone) on which it was recorded;
absence of a warning warning about the need to run the application only under an administrator account. Most common applications require a password or user rights. Portable versions eliminate this need;

the ability to launch the application from any folder. This way, you can put all such portable programs in one folder or sort them in any way you like without fear of them stopping working.

Who makes portable builds?

The production and distribution of assemblies of portable applications are usually carried out by enthusiasts who strive to make the software convenient not only for themselves, but also for other network users.

Sometimes a portable program can be found on the manufacturers' official resources.

For example, Google releases a portable Chrome browser, updating its versions with the same frequency as for the regular version.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus has an official portable version of Curelt, which can scan the system for malicious code without installing it on the computer.

Where can I find portable software?

The search for portable programs and entire collections should begin on the sites of the same enthusiasts who create them:

one of the best options is the LiberKey portal;
The Free Soft website also offers a good selection, which contains programs and ready-made sets of portable applications;
another fairly popular resource Portablik, where you can find several thousand portable versions of popular software;

There are enough applications on the Portable Soft page.

Advice: on such pages you can find collections of programs to perform almost any task. However, you should first try to search for specific applications on the manufacturer’s websites - this way you will prevent your computer from being infected with malicious code that may be built into the program.

Best apps

In order to download the best portable software, you should know which programs can be classified in this category - there are quite a few options for such applications, and you may not have time to check the functionality and usability of each.

It is worth paying attention first of all to the following programs:

VLC Media Player Portable And MPlayer Portable allow you to listen to audio and watch video without installing a special player on your computer;
Suitable for editing audio tracks Portable AIMP or Audacity Portable;

you can edit videos using VirtualDub Portable, functional enough not only for capturing and cutting video, but also for dubbing films;
Portable Recuva will allow you to quickly recover lost files even from a formatted disk;
Dr.Web CureIt!– a portable version of Kaspersky Anti-Virus. It does not have the function of automatically updating anti-virus databases, which is why it requires periodic downloading of a new distribution;
Simple Machine Protect– a good free antivirus, the capabilities of which also include managing system processes;
7-Zip Portable, a free data compression application that can replace the WinRAR archiver (paid by default);

GIMP Portable– a portable version of an image editing program. It is inferior in functionality to Adobe Photoshop (a portable version of which can also be found online), but is quite suitable for home use;

XNView Full Portable, an application for viewing and editing almost any kind of images;
Portable DeepBurner 1.9, a convenient and easy-to-use program for burning CDs and DVDs;
OpenOffice Portable, a package whose functionality when working with documents is not inferior to the regular version, including working with texts, spreadsheets and mathematical expressions;
AbiWord Portable, a good free and, moreover, does not require installation on a computer, replacement for the paid Microsoft Office package;
Mozilla Firefox Portable, Opera USB Portable And Chrome Portable– the same browsers that may already be installed on your PC, but more convenient. For example, thanks to the ability to use your favorite and familiar browser while on someone else’s computer.

Fig.7. Portable Google Chrome.

CPU-Z - one of the most popular programs among overclockers, users who overclock their computer. This application will serve as an excellent assistant in increasing the performance of your system, allowing you to monitor some important parameters after optimizing the parameters and BIOS values of your motherboard. The tool will provide information about the processor, motherboard, video adapter and RAM. The tool will provide information about the processor, motherboard, video adapter and RAM.

Chromium is a fast and convenient browser for working with web pages and applications, an open source browser project that aims to create a safer, faster and more stable Internet experience for all users. Chromium can run on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux and implements approximately the same set of capabilities as Google Chrome (their interfaces are also identical).

MediaMonkey - free version of an excellent tool for organizing music and editing tags in your music library with a powerful, intuitive, multilingual interface. The program supports automatic search, Album Art tags and other metadata. It is possible to manage more than fifty thousand files in your music collection with ease. It is also possible to manage various genres and directions of audio, and support for podcasts.

Mozilla Firefox – the most popular browser for navigation on the Internet. Among the large list of similar free programs for Windows, this web browser is, if not the best, then one of the favorites. It has a whole list of advantages that modern browsers should have. The main ones can be highlighted as follows: speed of operation, ease of operation, user interface that can be customized to your liking. It has a number of additional settings, thanks to which...

VideoCacheView - a small free utility that does not require installation on the system, designed so that after watching a video on a website, you can save the video file on your local drive for offline viewing. If the video file is stored in the browser cache, this program can help you extract the video file from the cache and save it in the folder you need. It will automatically scan the entire cache of Internet Explorer or Mozilla based web browsers (including Firefox) and find all the video files that are currently in it. If you have a movie player that can play FLV files, it also allows you to play videos directly from your browser cache.

Pale Moon - A free browser that loads pages 25% faster than Mozilla, Mozilla provides a non-optimized browser for Windows. The Pale Moon project is built and optimized for Firefox browsers on Windows operating systems. Make sure to get maximum speed from your browser! The authors of the program carefully selected the best functions and removed not very popular ones. Several carefully selected features have been disabled that are not in high demand, that interfere with the loading of web pages, and therefore have maximized the speed and efficiency of the browser.

WinSCP - is an open source FTP and SFTP client for Windows systems that also supports the old SCP protocol. It provides secure transfer of data and files between different computers and allows the use of a secure “tunnel” of sorts. The program has built-in additional tools and supports all basic operations with files.

– a new build of the program, an easy and safe free program for working with email. Thunderbird provides great potential for convenient processing of electronic messages, allows you to manage a large list of contacts and perform many other operations. At Mozilla Thunderbird There is a powerful spam filter that can be trained while working with the application. Currently, there are many add-ons that significantly expand the capabilities of the program.

Downloading portable programs in Russian for free for Windows 10 is in many cases more profitable than downloading similar programs in the regular version. Portable programs never require a key, which means they are free. Often, portable programs are complete copies of standard versions, which means you have nothing to lose by deciding to download just such a version.

Download Portable versions of programs

Portable - translated as “Portable”, these are specialized versions of programs that do not require installation. Not all programs can be made portable, but not everyone needs it. Often, portability is needed in situations where the program needs to be used on several devices at once, or even when you need to constantly change devices. If this sounds like you, then you need to download the portable versions rather than the regular versions. Absolutely all types of programs for Windows 10 are portable:

Browsers;

Graphic editor;

Office programs;

And these are just a few categories, but you can find portable programs of any type, class and level. Although there are programs that do not need portability. For example, or - they need to be installed separately on each computer.

The principle of operation of portable programs is simple - you download them, then write them to a flash drive or any other removable media. After this, you will be able to use these programs on any Windows 10 computer where you connect this removable storage device. This is convenient and saves a lot of time, because you don’t spend it on installation. The only negative is that the performance of the portable versions of the programs is sometimes inferior to the performance of the regular versions. But there are cases when such programs are simply irreplaceable, such as