FAQ

What makes an application "stealth"?
"Stealth" applications when launched, used and terminated properly, does not leave behind any entries in the registry or filesystem. Certain exceptions are permitted. For example, registry entries that are created/updated by Windows for the application (eg. MRU entries for dialog boxes, DirectX entries for DirectX-based apps), or temp files created in the official "Temp" folders are not taken into consideration.

Note: "Stealth" does not mean non-traceability! In fact, it is quite unlikely you can hide your activities on a Windows machine from a capable system administrator.



What do you have against program installers?
I am a performance geek, and know the detriment installation can cause. Almost all software leave trash behind after removal. Most uninstallers are extremely unreliable. In time, this trash that is left behind in the registry & file system can cause random errors, performance degradation, long load time, and overall poor responsiveness.

Notice how fast your computer is when you first get it? That's because there aren't tons of installed applications to bog down the OS. Notice as you install more applications, the more errors you experience, and the slower your PC becomes.

In addition, i put all of my portableapps on 'D' drive. If i ever run into trouble and have to wipe my OS, my portableapps will continue to work after i reinstall the OS which saves me a lot of time from having to reload/reinstall all of my favorite apps.



How do you test and build your portableapps?
First.. you have to familiarize yourself with the application, what it does, if any dependencies, minimal requirements, where it stores it's settings, etc.

I use VMware Workstation for all of my testing. In order to find out what an app leaves behind, or where it stores settings, you have to test on a clean system. With VMware, i can quickly revert to a clean snapshot for testing.

Another tool i use is Total Uninstall. Total Uninstall uses a before & after snapshot, then compares the difference to see what the app has left behind and where.

The most famous tool is RegShot. I find this tool to be missing a feature. It is not capable of comparing the before & after snapshots.. thus it's report is gibberish to me.


What do you use to make your portableapps?
I use PAF, which stands for 'PortableApps.comFormat'.
It's freeware, reliable, and uses NSIS for it's coding... which there are tons of documentation on the web for help/resource.

In addition, PAF runs naturally on your computer as if it was installed. Thus the apps are able to utilize the host PC's resources.

PAF does not virtualize!



ThinApp vs. PAF:
ThinApp uses virtualization. ThinApp builds apps. in a virtualized environment, kind of like a virtual machine. This has it's benefits and it's flaws. The flaws are the app runs with the specs. it was built on. So if you build an app. on XP w/ 512MB of RAM, that's what the app. will always run with regardless of the host PC's spec. In addition, there are communication problems between ThinApp software and locally installed applications & resources.

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