Difference between Portable and Installer edition software

Software that needs to be installed takes time as they connect to the operating system, and part of their procedure calls depend on the resources already available on the computer. If those resources – e.g. a common DLL file – are missing from the computer, the installer might either install it separately or the program fails to run. Portable software is better in many aspects. These do not depend on system files and may run without being dependent on system resources. Check out the difference between portable and installer edition software.

Difference between Portable and Installer edition software

Installer Edition Software

For software that requires installation onto the local computer, programmers use different installer creators to create a program that will install the software. You cannot run the software directly as it needs certain steps, such as registration with the Windows registry, a registry reload, and linking to dynamic link libraries (DLL files). In most cases, such software uses the existing common DLL files. If the programmer has created a custom library or something similar, the installer will copy that file to the appropriate location while installing the software.

Problems with the software that requires installation is that they might leave fingerprints on the computer where they were installed – even after you uninstall the software. Thus, if you are working on something private, people may know that you installed and uninstalled some software.

The second problem is that you must install such software on every computer you wish to use. Installation takes time and may also require reloading the Windows Registry after the software is installed.

When you use the installer to install software, one or more of the following might happen:

1. The software creates a new folder under Program Files or Users, based on how it is configured
2. New values are written to Windows Registry and/or old entries might be modified
3. Copying of files from Installer program to the local machine
4. Creation of desktop, taskbar icon
5. Creation of folder in Start menu
6. Copying DLL files into Windows or C:\Windows\System32 etc. folders

When you uninstall the same software, one or more of the elements created above may stay back on the computer and may give away that you were using the particular software on the machine.

Portable software is much better than Installation-Based software, as this article on the difference between portable and installer edition software shows.

Portable Software

When we say portable software, you need not install it anywhere. This makes the software portable because you can carry it on USB sticks and use it on any computer without having to install it on every computer you wish to use. You simply plug the pen drive containing the portable software into the computer that you are using and start the portable software. Some good resources on the Internet allow you to convert installation-based software into portable software.

Portable software work in two ways:

1. The portable software package already contains DLLs embedded into the app
2. The portable software may create a VM and run in it – especially if it needs to use Registry; the VM is removed as soon as the portable software is closed

You need not install it. So it helps you save some time while at the same time, allowing you to use a computer without leaving software fingerprints in the registry or elsewhere.

Programs such as UltraSurf (a proxy software) can simply be carried on a removable drive, launched, and used without changing anything in the actual system. Thus, there is less chance that someone else may discover that you used the software. They help get to work straight away while protecting you from prying eyes.

While most portable software leaves no traces, you might want to check the folder (or any place) where you copied the software to see if it created any INF or XML file when you started it. Some portable software creates these files in the same folders where they were present – to save software configuration or something else. It is always better to check the folder where the portable software was present before you removed it. If you find any related INF or XML, just delete it if you wish to keep it a secret.

Portable software are always better compared to installation-based software when smaller in size. If it is a huge software and you don’t care if others know about you using it, you may go for the installation version. An example of such installation-based software is Visual Studio, which needs many DLLs that must be copied to the computer for proper functioning. Though it is possible to convert Visual Studio into portable software, the end product will be huge, considering the number of libraries and help files etc. that need to be integrated into one portable software. It may run too slow in such cases.

If you are someone—like a technician—who has to run some software on different machines, portable versions are better as you will save time. Portable software also gives you the protection you need in case of censors, blocked sites, war reporting, etc.

You might want to take a look at some of these Free Portable Windows Software.

What is the difference between the portable and installer versions?

You can easily remove portable software from your computer by exiting the application and deleting its folder. An installer is a program that contains an application and creates many files on the PC. Simply removing the EXE will not help in this case.

Random read: Interesting lesser know Microsoft Trivia and Fun Facts.