Question Installer or portable?

[ABadazz]

Is it best to install software or use portable if available?

 

[Ralston18]

Context please.

What kind of software? Environment?

End objective(s)? What are you really trying to do?

What factors are driving the need to decide/select between install and portable?

 

[USAFRet]

Is it best to install software or use portable if available?

Some install internally, some portable.

There is no universal 'best'.

 

[ABadazz]

Context please.

What kind of software? Environment?

End objective(s)? What are you really trying to do?

What factors are driving the need to decide/select between install and portable?

Just basic software, browsers, maybe Ccleaner or Privazer, Everything search .

 

[Ralston18]

For most of such apps or tools - neither way.

Do not use.

 

[USAFRet]

Also, consider that the "portable" things exist on a USB.
Massively slower than an internal drive.

But as intimated above, be very careful about these sort of tools.
They can promise the world, and rarely deliver. Some of them, do more harm than good.

 

[TerryLaze]

Also, consider that the "portable" things exist on a USB.
Massively slower than an internal drive.

You can have portable stuff in a folder on any drive in your system, doesn't need to be on a usb to be considered portable.

Also there are portable apps that do some amount of install or write stuff to the registry or do something, while there are portable apps that come just as an folder of files and run without changing anything on the system.

It's less dangerous to not install software than to do install software, goes for any software.

 

[USAFRet]

You can have portable stuff in a folder on any drive in your system, doesn't need to be on a usb to be considered portable.

Also there are portable apps that do some amount of install or write stuff to the registry or do something, while there are portable apps that come just as an folder of files and run without changing anything on the system.

It's less dangerous to not install software than to do install software, goes for any software.

Well, thats not what I would class as "portable". As in...move around or carry with you.

Lots of applications don't need any install routine. Just an exe, and maybe a couple of resources in a shared folder.

 

[NedSmelly]

I use portableapps on one dedicated USB stick for diagnostic software: hwinfo, windirstat, crystaldiskmark/info, puttySSH, 7-zip, and teamviewer. Handy for troubleshooting PCs in different locations without having to do full install.

Don't use it for productivity or web/email though mostly because of security concerns (e.g. what if I lost the stick at the cafe, etc), even though it’s possible.

 

[TerryLaze]

Well, thats not what I would class as "portable". As in...move around or carry with you.

That's the one and only perquisite though, you can just copy them to a usb or to your main drive at anytime, without having to worry about any additional files or changes you did. Everything gets transferred all at once.