Portable apps can be taken anywhere on a USB flash drive.
Making an application portable means that you're configuring a program to run without the need to formally install it on the computer. You can take the portable apps you create, load them up on flash drives or other removable media and operate them on any computer you choose. To make portable apps, you need the help of a file archiver freeware utility.
Instructions
1. Download the setup or installation "exe" file for a program that you'd like to make portable. Save the file to the desktop directory on your computer.
2. Double-click the setup "exe" file on your desktop to install the program on your computer. Select the desktop directory as the place to save the program's files. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.
3. Double-click the program's folder name on your desktop to open it and view the contents. Look for and write down the name of the application "exe" file that runs the program. You can often identify the "exe" file because it may have a "unique" or custom icon. Right-click the file and select "Properties." Look for "Application" in the "Type of file" section to verify that this is the file that runs the program. Alternatively, double-click the file to open it to confirm that the program opens as it should.
4. Open a file archiver program, such as WinRAR, WinZip, 7-Zip or another file archiver utility. In the file archiver window, navigate to and open the desktop folder in which you stored the program's file that you want to make portable. Click each file in this folder, holding the "Shift" key to select multiple files, and click the "Add" or "New archive" option.
5. Type a name for the portable application in the "Archive name" section. Select the option to create an "SFX archive" or "self-extracting archive" to change the file extension to "exe."
6. Go into the "SFX options" section of the file archiver utility. In the "Run after extraction" section, type the name of the "exe" file that runs the program that you're making portable (e.g., program.exe). In the "Modes" section, select the "Unpack to temporary folder" and "Hide all" options. Click "Overwrite all files" in the "Overwrite mode" section. Click the "OK" or "Close" button to close the "SFX options" section.
7. Click the "OK" or "Create" option to create the archive application file.
8. Insert a USB flash drive into an available USB port on your computer. Open "My Computer" or "Computer." Click the archive application file created by the file archiver utility and drag it over the top of the drive letter of your flash drive in the "Devices with Removable Storage" section. This copies the file to your flash drive. Click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon and click "eject" or "Safely remove" next to the name of your flash drive. Remove the flash drive from your computer.
9. Insert the USB flash drive that contains the archive application file into any computer on which you wish to run the program. Open the "My Computer" or "Computer" section. Double-click the drive letter of your USB flash drive to open it. Double-click the name of the file you created to open and run the portable application.
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