According to the documentation at https://portableapps.com/manuals/PortableApps.comLauncher/ref/envsub.html, %PortableApps.comXXXX% environment variables should point to %PAL:PortableAppsBaseDir%/Documents.

PortableApps.comDocuments
The PortableApps.com Documents directory, normally X:\Documents. There is no guarrantee that this directory will exist.

PAL:PortableAppsBaseDir
The base of the PortableApps.com directory hierachy, where PAL:PortableAppsDir and PortableApps.comDocuments are usually at.

However, since at least 2015 (see my comment https://portableapps.com/comment/224987#comment-224987), The %PortableApps.comDocuments% variable points elsewhere, namely, "%PAL:DriveLetter%\Documents". This fact was noted on the following thread (https://portableapps.com/node/43994). The first comment, by Gord Caswell, says:

The PortableApps.comDocuments variable, by design, is hard-coded to reside in the same directory as your PortableApps directory

I agree that's what should happen, but that is not what's happening. I cannot follow the thread much further than that, as it gets into NSIS code, with which I am unfamiliar. But it is clear from the behavior that the *expected* value does not match the actual.

I suspect few people care about this because the PortableApps - Documents directory is so rarely used, which is a shame, really.

Folks:

I am new to this forum, so please excuse me if this feature has already been requested or is already present. I would like the ability in the Portable Apps platform to re-install an existing portable app. Currently the only abilities I can see is to add new apps, uninstall existing apps, or upgrade existing apps.

The reason I need this feature is that the Firefox upgrade fails. I have set Firefox as my default browser on Windows, and when the updater tries to delete the subfolder with firefox.exe in it, the delete fails, but the install is marked as successful by the Platform. After the upgrade, when I try to run FireFox Portable, the FirefoxPortable.exe is found, and runs, but it exits with an error message that firefox.exe is not found.

My current workaround is to reboot the computer for the folder to be deleted, and then download the latest PAF from PortableApps.com and run it. Not too much trouble, really, except that my browser (Firefox) doesn't work!!

Please don't suggest that I use another browser as my default, or that setting Firefox Portable as my default browser is a dumb idea! :-)) Perhaps it is, but that's what I want to do. On the other hand, if there's another way to set Firefox Portable as my default browser that avoids this problem, I'd be delighted to hear about it.

Also, I don't want to uninstall the existing Firefox app and then get the new version by installing Firefox as a new app because I will lose my current settings for Firefox.

My suggested approach to solve this problem is to add a "Re-Install" option to the right-click menu for the Platform - in other words, I'd right-click on Mozilla Firefox, select "Re-Install", and the platform would download the PAF file and run it, just like an update.

Any alternative suggestions are welcome!!

Thanks for a great and truly useful platform!!!

Thanks
Tim

So I can take some video.. screenshots & whatever but I'm thinkin' about where to start so I'll just dive into it

So throughout restarts & what not I go to run my PortableApps launcher & when I run it.. it opens but it also says PortableApps Launcher is already running..

So I click Okay & there it will be sitting down on my taskbar running & what not.. kinda weird but okay great it runs

That's the minor inconvenience I'd like to put an end to..

The larger issue is I'll attempt to run some of my applications & will be told: Another instance of xxx is starting Please wait for it to start before launching it again.

And those applications are not running & do not start.. the only way to get them to start is to run the app as Admin.. then it starts up no errors no messages all is well.

It doesn't happen to every app either like Google Chrome fires right up no arguments..

Notepad++ on the other hand for 1 example.. does that every time.. have to run as admin to use it..

I am using a Samsung 128 GB Flash Drive.

Hello, I've been a long time user of the platform and eventually started to just install all apps so I'd have them if I needed them. I have them installed to the hard drive on each PC I own.

I don't believe this was always the case, but it seems that for at least the past year or so, updates have been a big pain. When running the updater from within the platform and I choose to update all 15, 60, or however many apps that have an update at the time, the program will go through and download them all with no user intervention, but will then launch individual installers for each app sequentially.

This requires that I click Next, I Agree, Install, **wait for install**, then click Finish....then wait for next app install dialog to come up. This can sometimes take me quite a while to complete especially if I'm trying to do other things on the PC at the same time. Those popup dialogs come up on top right when I'm trying to type something else.

Is this the intended behavior or is there a way to silence the installers? These are just updates so I would assume I don't need to go through the motions of accepting terms on each upgrade. I can maybe understand doing that on the initial install. This gets old after a while. Especially when I updated 10-20 apps last week, then I opened the platform up today and there were 15 more updates waiting.

I did try searching and found a few older threads that mentioned a silent installer option as long as as the updater was run from the platform, but can't find anything recent and can't figure out how to sort results by date. Example thread: https://portableapps.com/node/35957

Thanks in advance.

Is there any way to add a Portable App to the PortableApps.com lancher that is not distributed for PortableApps.com? I know that on some apps simply copying its folder into the PortableApps folder is enough to make the launcher pick up on it, but that does not seem to be working on some apps. Specifically I am trying to add the portable version of SmartGit to the lancher, however I do not think it registers SmartGit because its executable is in a 'bin' subfolder of the apps folder. Moving the .exe up a level out of the 'bin' folder breaks the app, I have also tried just making a shortcut file of the executable but the launcher will not pick up on that either. Is there anyway to manually direct the launcher to the application?

In the interest of making Portableapps.com (and Launcher) as small as it can be, I have run all of the images from all of the folders through FileOptimizer - which is a front-end app for all of the cmdline compression algorithms. https://sourceforge.net/projects/nikkhokkho/files/FileOptimizer/ I'll be making a thread later to add to this platform. It's a great application. I use it every day.

I have only used lossless compression. File size was reduced considerably, and I feel it would be good to include these compressed images as part of the next update, or as part of current download source (not exactly sure if that's possible).

https://spideroak.com/share/N4YFAZLQOBSXEMDP/public/d%3A/Gridcoin.Tools/...

I think I am in the right subforum, however this problem is quite complicated.

Before I realised what the PortableApps platform is I thought it was just a website where you can find free portable software.

Im going to reinstall Windows on several computers. I prepare myself to allready download all free applications I want to install on the computer. I thought "Many software is portable, which means less Windows registry adjustments, which also keep Windows fast, stable and last but definitely not least free from many hidden adjustments and hidden files.

My plan is to create two folders for all the portable software: "C:/Program Files Portable (x86)" and "C:/Program Files Portable (x64)". As you will allready guess the second folder contains software which runs on Windows 64bit only. In case I can help someone with an older Windows 32 bit I am creating a collection with 32bit software only. I mean: I myself can use for example the 64bit version of Irfanview, so I don't need the 32bit version, however I will download and collect the 32bit version for the alternative 32bit package.

http://oi65.tinypic.com/258xcao.jpg

Here is a list containing all 32bit apps I have collected so far. It is a lot! (Thankfully I am almost finished... I have only to make some adjustments yet.) However I spent the most time and effort in creating shortcuts which will appear in the Windows Startmenu. When you place the shortcuts in "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs" they will appear in the Windows Startmenu. I didn't only make shortcuts to the exe-files but also to readme- and help-files and to the homepage and online tutorials.

Because problems with icons will appear regularly I have extracted the icons with the software BeCyIcongrabber and saved that separately as an icon-file. The right icons will keep appearing when creating desktop.ini files.

http://oi66.tinypic.com/2prgpkn.jpg

To keep the Windows Startmenu organised I use the free version of http://www.tidystartmenu.com. With it you can easily set everything in categories. When done tiding it up you can export everything in a separate file and import it again when the Startmenu is a mess again thanks to updated software etc.

~~~~~~~~~~

The problem is as follows. I didn't store the software in "PortableApp". It's a piece of cake to change that with copy & paste. But then the shortcuts will not work again. Is there an easy (or easier) way to link the shortcuts to "C:/PortableApps" instead of "C:/Program Files Portable (x86)?

I guess the software "ShortcutsSearch And Replace" can do the trick, however it ain't clear to me what it actually does and how you must use it.

Maybe you suggest I don't need to change the way I did. However I understood all apps supported by PortableApps and installed in the same way automatically gets updated or it's easy to update it manually?

I hope you can help me finding a solution. Thanks!!!!!!

I load the xampp control panel and when I click on apache I get the following message:

Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly
This may be due to a blocked port, missing dependencies,
improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown by another method.
Press the Logs button to view error logs and check
the Windows Event Viewer for more clues
If you need more help, copy and post this
entire log window on the forums

I have checked the error files and they are blank. I am using the xampp portable via portableapps.com platform on a usb that I created using your portableapps plateform program.

I also have xampp installed on my laptop which works fine.

Also how can I get geany to use as the ide for python portable. How do I config it.

thanks
linc

Can anyone validate for me that the url (http://portableapps.com/updater/update.7z) called by the updater is hardcoded into the updater itself?

I am trying to build a local repository, and have all the the components I think I need except the ability to make the updater look for a custom url.

Since I do not have the programming skills in delphi to do that part myself, and the url does not appear in any file I can find to manipulate, I will have to write a customer updater to check my repo, download the files and extract them. Of course, I would like to avoid that if possible.

Any pointers?

Thanks

Joe

Hi, i'm using PA since years. I think it's the most usefull software in the Microsoft Windows world.
I'm using PA on my laptop/PC with a connection to internet (for updates etc.)

I'm working here in a school and now i'm considering, if i could install PA on my schoolPC so that the pupils could install software they need. But there are now my restrictions, i think.
all PC's here haven't i direct access to internet. Al PC are going over a proxy.
So I would set up PA to my own needs. I would have a repository with nearly most of the PA software, but in a localy repo here in my LAN on a foldershare, so the PA software is using this storage as software-repo.

Could i setup in a way like this?
Are there any informations about this?

Thanks in advance.

I almost can't download updates in the last few months.
Only sometimes it turns out anything you download and install.
Early in the morning, when in the West the night, the situation is better, but not by much.
However, I have high speed Internet.
Problems with other applications does not arise.
For example, the computer is also installed LiberKey. Its updates downloaded and installed without problems.
Ie is just not displaying with the package PortableApps.com.
I can't understand why.
Maybe there is a ban on the downloading of the programs from users in Russia?
Or, maybe there is too high load servers?
Please help me in resolving the difficulties. I have package PortableApps.com and very accustomed to it.

I have the latest version of Start.exe on a USB 3 flash drive.
I find that many apps will not download on my Win10 x64 Asus Z87 Haswell PC system. I have not seen any other issues with any other of my installed s/w on this system.
I have seen the behaviour change however from day to day.
My standard quick test (process) is to try downloading the A Note package using - Apps - Get More Apps - By Title - (click on Download column heading) - select 'A Note' - click 'Next' - It says 'connecting' and then I get an error box:
---------------------------
PortableApps.com Platform
---------------------------
Unable to download the file. This could be due to a proxy or network issue or the hosting server not permitting downloads from your location. File: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/portableapps/ANotePortable_4.2.4.paf.exe

Tests (all done using same adsl router in home):
1. The same process on the same Z87 system when booting from a Sergei Strelec WinPE 32-bit Win10 WinPE OS from the flash drive works.
2. The same process on the same Z87 system, but booting via Virtual Box to Sergei Strelec WinPE 32-bit OS from flash drive failed (although it worked yesterday!).
3. The same process on a different Win10 x64 notebook works OK (via WiFi)
4. The same process on the same Z87 system booting to Win8 x64 works OK
5. The same process on same Z87 system booting via Virtual Box to a freshly installed Win10 x64 1607 Build 14393 OS failed
6. The same process on same Z87 system booting via Virtual Box to a freshly installed Win7 failed

So it's looking like the network 'stack' on my Win10 PC is the problem.

However, the following packages DO download OK on my Z87 Win10 PC.
CCleaner
Geek uninstaller
Wise uninstaller
QDir
GPU-Z

BUT these packages do not ('fail to connect')...
Unable to download the file. This could be due to a proxy or network issue or the hosting server not permitting downloads from your location. File: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/portableapps/Pencil2DPortable_0.6.0.paf...
Unable to download the file. This could be due to a proxy or network issue or the hosting server not permitting downloads from your location. File: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/portableapps/SuperTuxPortable_0.5.1_Eng...
Unable to download the file. This could be due to a proxy or network issue or the hosting server not permitting downloads from your location. File: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/portableapps/TransmissionPortable_2.92....
Unable to download the file. This could be due to a proxy or network issue or the hosting server not permitting downloads from your location. File: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/portableapps/YUMI-UEFIPortable_0.0.0.6_...

Any ideas?

P.S. If I use 'direct connection' setting, then A Note, SuperTux, TransmissionPortable now download and install. Pencil2D and YUMI_UEFI still do not connect.

Hi John,

is it possible to trigger the refresh app icons option from outside the PortableApps Menu (f. e. from the command line)?

Kind regards,

PortableUser2009

After update to latest platform February 1, 2018, I get, when trying to check for further updates:
"Unable to retrieve to PortableApps.com to retrieve portable apps. Please try again later.
[Invalid ZipFilePossibleNoConnectionOrFirewall]"
That never happened before.

What can I do?

i had already posted similar in another, wrong section and under the wrong heading - apologies. but after 11 years of totally problem-free updating it made me nervous to see the same fault on three computers (all WIN 7, one 32, two 64bit), on two HDD installations, and by now on now 5 USB sticks (which actually should be and are more or less independent of the OS).

when going thru the normal update procedure, the mssg pops up that first the platform need update. fine, has always been like this.

when trying to install the update, it comes up with '' ERROR OPENING FILE FOR WRITING ...\...\PortableAppsPlatform.exe. ''

choice of ABORT RETRY IGNORE, even after ABORT used, on next start it comes up with '' Cannot open file \...\...\App\Graphics\Chrome\matte.png '' - and that was it.

(( the \...\... stand for the path, usually \PortableApps\ ))

no way to start PA after that. luckily, all of us (but my wife) had full backups - so no real damage - but what is going on?

greetings - heinz -

I have existing portable apps on my computer that weren't downloaded through the Portable Apps Platform. Can I simply move them into the Portable Apps Platform folder or do I have to download them through the platform in order for the platform to be able to update them?

Are there any differences between "local" and "cloud" installations of the Portable Apps Platform? I'm currently syncing the platform between two computers using Syncthing (https://syncthing.net/) but am wondering if I should switch to Dropbox if there is some difference in the way the Portable Apps Platform handles the installation.

Hello,
Some portable apps are on a usb stick. Recently checking for updates get an error notice which says (as copied from the error message): "Unabble to connect to PortableApps.com to retrieve portable apps.
Please try again later. [InvalidZipFilePossibleConnectionOrFirewall]"
I have not done any changes in the system, did not touch anything in firewall settings, and have not any antivirus installed, just windows defender.
System is win 10 pro.
Last week when update still worked - the only update was the platform.
Answers will be appreciated.
Thanks
Motim

(for example) these applications were to be downloaded: https://i.imgur.com/GXIJ831.png
but every request gives an error: https://i.imgur.com/XQkh8Kj.png
- for a long time, certainly for a few weeks.
standard download via www is possible.
So, what's going on...?

After the update to beta 2, all applications require an administrator login and password at startup.

System Windows 7 ultimate Service Pack 1