[gotbfdk]

How can I install software on External hard drive so that it works on any computer? As if I take it to one computer and plug the hard drive to the computer via USB and open the program from the external hard drive on that computer.

Thank you for your help.

[compnovo]

gotbfdk, on 27 February 2013 - 10:04 AM, said:

How can I install software on External hard drive so that it works on any computer? As if I take it to one computer and plug the hard drive to the computer via USB and open the program from the external hard drive on that computer.

Thank you for your help.

Hi and welcome to the forums.
The short answer to your question is "you can't". When software like, for instance, MS Office, is installed on a PC there are entries made in the registry on the C: drive that the executable looks for when you launch the program. You can install software on an external drive and it will work, but when you move the external drive to another PC that doesn't have those registry entries the program won't launch.

[LiveBrianD]

To add to that - some programs (Microsoft Office is one of them) won't start without those registry entries. Others, like Firefox, will work just fine, though they'll create the AppData on the C: drive of the machine they're on in that user's folder. (meaning your settings won't be transferred)

However, you can use PortableApps for this - install that to the hard drive (or a flash drive, or even just a folder on your C: drive), and you'll have a self-contained instance of the app and your settings in that folder, which can be moved to any machine easily. I use this sometimes so I can keep extra copies of Firefox, for instance, with different settings. (just for the occasional site that doesn't work with all my script, ad, and cookie blocking settings/addons)

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 27 February 2013 - 12:33 PM

[LincolnSpector]

gotbfdk, on 27 February 2013 - 10:04 AM, said:

How can I install software on External hard drive so that it works on any computer? As if I take it to one computer and plug the hard drive to the computer via USB and open the program from the external hard drive on that computer.

Thank you for your help.

As Brian pointed out, the trick is to use portable programs that don't require installation. For more on the subject, see Imust run this program on computers other than my own.


Lincoln

[LiveBrianD]

One thing I forgot to mention - some programs (like CCleaner) don't have a portableapps version, but they do have their own portable version available. I've found that if you install the PA launcher, you can put things like ccleaner or SIW in there that aren't PA, and the launcher will show them anyway. (note: the launcher isn't actually necessary - I don't use it, for instance)