这些天来，我们大多数人都随身携带多台计算机，但是如果您想将任何计算机变成您的(your )计算机怎么办？这就是“便携式”应用程序的想法出现的地方。
通过使用这些应用程序加载闪存驱动器或外部硬盘驱动器，您只需将设备插入兼容的计算机，您的所有软件和数据就在那里。
什么是便携式应用程序？(What’s a Portable App?)
当您在计算机上安装大多数应用程序时，它会对系统进行更改并自行集成。例如， Windows(Windows)应用程序会在您的本地硬盘驱动器上选择一个文件夹，在您的注册表中创建条目，并且通常希望Windows提供某些便利，以便它可以完成它的工作。
如果您只是将应用程序文件夹复制到外部驱动器并尝试在另一台计算机上运行它，您会收到一堆错误消息或无法正常运行的程序。
要制作可移植的应用程序(make portable app)，你必须欺骗它，让它认为它的所有依赖项都已得到满足。虽然可以手动执行此操作，但使用扫描应用程序依赖项然后以虚拟化方式复制它们的几个专业应用程序之一要容易得多。然后，该软件创建自定义依赖项，使应用程序认为它在原始计算机上运行。有点(Sort)像 The Matrix，但适用于应用程序。
重要的是要知道还有一些应用程序是设计可移植的。开发人员专门创建了它们以在不依赖任何东西的情况下运行。
首先，检查是否尚未完成(First, Check If It Hasn’t Already Been Done)
在您自己制作可移植的非便携式应用程序之前，最好检查一下其他人是否还没有为您完成这项工作。当然，您不太可能以这种方式找到任何付费软件！但是，许多流行的免费应用程序已转换为便携式版本，可供下载。
我们推荐PortableApps.com，它带有自己的启动器和应用程序管理界面。只需(Simply)下载安装程序，将其安装到外部驱动器，然后从您想要的列表中选择所有应用程序。
虚拟机作为便携式应用程序的替代品(Virtual Machines As a Portable App Alternative)
使用像PortableApps这样的平台很棒，但可能有一种更简单的方法可以使任何Windows应用程序可移植——使Windows本身可移植！如何？只需(Simply)从vbox.me获取(vbox.me)VirtualBox的便携式版本并在其上安装许可的Windows副本。然后，您可以在该虚拟机(virtual machine)中安装您喜欢的所有Windows应用程序，而无需任何进一步的工作。
这里的主要问题是您需要为虚拟机中的Windows副本提供单独的许可证。(Windows)如果您有旧许可证或额外的许可证密钥，这可能是一个不错的选择。甚至可能值得购买另一个Windows副本，具体取决于您的用例。特别是如果一个关键的Windows应用程序在转换为便携式后无法运行。
云连接的订阅应用程序也是如此。使用便携式虚拟机可能是让这些以这种方式工作的唯一方法。虚拟机将使用主机提供的任何互联网连接，但从应用程序的角度来看，它仍然在安装它的同一台“计算机”上。
流行的便携式应用程序制造商(Popular Portable App Makers)
曾经有不少便携式应用程序制造商可以将您的Windows应用程序快速转换为便携式版本。不幸的是，您会发现大部分内容在近十年内都没有更新。
其他的，例如Cameyo，现在只能作为付费服务使用。VMware ThinApp也是如此，它只提供免费试用。如果您愿意支付这些商业解决方案所需的巨额费用，那么没有人会阻止您。那个额外的Windows许可证现在可能看起来不那么贵了，是吗？
我们试用了几款较旧的免费便携式应用程序制造商，发现其中一款似乎仍然可以使用。
使用 Enigma Virtual Box 创建便携式应用程序(Creating a Portable App With Enigma Virtual Box)
有问题的应用程序是Enigma Virtual Box。它是少数仍然受到开发人员关注的免费软件便携式应用程序制造商之一。它本质上是Enigma Protector商业应用程序的免费版本，但对于普通用户来说它很棒。
是的，该应用程序看起来并不那么直观，但实际上非常易于使用。所以不要被吓倒。
- Enigma的工作方式是，您需要先在系统上安装该软件，然后才能将其转换为便携式应用程序。因此，如果您还没有安装，请安装您想要便携的应用程序，然后返回Enigma。
- 现在，您将看到输入(Input )和输出(Output)文件名的驱动器路径框。
- 单击Enter Input File Name右侧的Browse按钮。
- 在我们的示例中，我们将制作免费的Audacity音频工作站软件的便携式版本。使用弹出的文件浏览器，导航到安装相关应用程序的“.exe”文件的位置。
- Enigma还需要知道依赖文件在哪里。所以接下来，点击Add然后Add Folder Recursive，因为我们希望所有的子文件夹也包括在内。
- 现在我们使用弹出的文件浏览器找到包含我们的“.exe”文件的安装文件夹。选择文件夹并单击“确定”，然后再次单击“确定”。
- 如果您愿意，您还可以更改最终便携式应用程序的输出目标。默认情况下，它将与原始“.exe”文件一起保存，但您可能希望将其保存在其他地方。该过程与选择输入文件相同。您还可以将文件重命名为您喜欢的任何名称。
- 现在我们准备创建便携式应用程序本身。单击“处理(Process)”并观看奇迹发生。
运行应用程序(Running The App)
您现在应该拥有一个可以从任何地方运行的“.exe”文件。在您保存文件的位置找到该文件，然后将其移动到您的便携式存储设备中。请务必在另一台计算机上对其进行测试，以确保其正常工作。您不希望您的第一次尝试是在您真正最需要该应用程序的时候。
没有理由您不能将使用Enigma制作的自定义便携式应用程序与Portable Apps等管理器一起使用。构建您自己的自定义应用程序文件夹并随意启动它们。配备便携式电源，天空是极限。此外，请查看我们关于始终随身携带的最佳便携式应用程序的帖子。
Create a Portable Version of Any Application in Windows
These days, most of us have multiple computers that we take with us, but what if you wanted to turn any compυter into your computer? That’s where the idea of “portable” apps come into the picture.
By loading up a flash drive or external hard drive with these apps, you simply have to plug the device into a compatible computer and all your software and data is right there.
What’s a Portable App?
When you install most applications on a computer, it makes changes to the system and integrates itself. Windows applications, for example, pick a folder on your local hard drive, make entries in your registry and generally expects Windows to provide certain amenities so that it can do its job.
If you simply copied the application folder to an external drive and tried to run it on another computer, you’d either get a bunch of error messages or a program that doesn’t work right.
To make portable app, you have to fool it into thinking all of its dependencies have been satisfied. While it’s possible to do this manually, it’s far easier to use one of several specialized apps that scan the dependencies of an application and then replicate them in a virtualized way. That software then creates custom dependencies that makes the app think it’s running on the original computer. Sort of like The Matrix, but for apps.
It’s important to know that there are also apps that are portable by design. The developers have created them specifically to run without being dependent on anything.
First, Check If It Hasn’t Already Been Done
Before you go down the route of making a non-portable app portable yourself, it’s a good idea to check if someone else hasn’t already done the work for you. Of course, you are unlikely to find any paid software this way! However, plenty of popular free applications have been converted into portable versions, ready to download.
We recommend PortableApps.com which comes with its own launcher and app management interface. Simply download the installer, install it to an external drive and pick all the app from the list you want.
Virtual Machines As a Portable App Alternative
Using a platform like PortableApps is great, but there may be a much simpler way to make any Windows application portable – make Windows itself portable! How? Simply get the portable version of VirtualBox from vbox.me and install a licensed copy of Windows on it. Then you can install all the Windows apps you like within that virtual machine, without any further work.
The main catch here is that you need a separate license for the copy of Windows in your virtual machine. If you have an old license or extra license key laying around, this might be a great alternative. It might even be worth buying another copy of Windows, depending on your use case. Especially if it turns out that a critical Windows app doesn’t work after being converted to portable.
The same thing goes for cloud-connected subscription apps. Using a portable virtual machine may be the only way to get these to work this way. The virtual machine will use whatever internet connection the host offers, but from the app’s point of view it’s still on the same “computer” it was installed on.
Popular Portable App Makers
There used to be quite a few portable app makers that would quickly convert your Windows apps into portable versions. Unfortunately you’ll find that most have not been updated in almost a decade.
Others, such as Cameyo, are now only available as a paid service. The same goes for VMware ThinApp, which only offers a free trial. If you’re up for paying the hefty amounts those commercial solutions require, no one is stopping you. That extra Windows license probably doesn’t seem quite so expensive now, does it?
We tried out several of the older free portable app makers and found one that still seems quite serviceable.
Creating a Portable App With Enigma Virtual Box
The app in question is Enigma Virtual Box. It’s one of the few freeware portable app makers that still gets developer attention. It’s essentially the free version of the Enigma Protector commercial applications, but for regular users it’s great.
Yes, the application doesn’t look all that intuitive, but it’s actually very easy to use. So don’t be intimidated.
- The way Enigma works, you need to have the software already installed on your system before turning it into a portable application. So if you haven’t already, install the app you want to make portable and then come back to Enigma.
- Now, you’ll see drive path boxes for both Input and Output file names.
- Click the Browse button to the right of Enter Input File Name.
- In our example, we’re going to make a portable version of the free Audacity audio workstation software. With the file browser that pops up, navigate to where the “.exe” file of the app in question is installed.
- Select it and click Open.
- Enigma also needs to know where the dependent files are. So next, click on Add then Add Folder Recursive, since we want all the subfolders includes as well.
- Now we use the file browser that pops up to locate the installation folder containing our “.exe” file. Select the folder and click “OK” and the “OK” again.
- If you’d like to, you can also change the output destination for the final portable application. By default it will save it alongside the original “.exe” file, but you probably want to save it elsewhere. The process is the same as selecting the input file. You can also rename the file to whatever you like.
- Now we are ready to create the portable app itself. Click Process and watch the magic happen.
- Wait until the processing is done and then you can close this window.
Running The App
What you should now have is a single “.exe” file that you can run from anywhere. Locate the file at the location you saved it to and then move it to your portable storage. Be sure to test it on another computer to make sure that it works properly. You wouldn’t want your first try to be when you actually need the app the most.
There’s no reason you can’t use your own custom portable apps made with Enigma right alongside a manager such as Portable Apps. Build your own folder of custom apps and launch them as you please. Armed with portable power, the sky’s the limit. Also, check out our post on the best portable apps to have with you all the time.
