Create Portable applications with Windows 7 built in feature

Previously, we wrote about Cameyo in the tutorial “How to create a portable version of a program in Windows 7” ; which allows you to create any portable application or programs in Windows 7. In that case, you needed to download the third party program Cameyo to create any such portable apps.

Today, we will show you another way to create portable applications in Windows 7. But, we will not use any third party software. We will use a built in feature of Windows 7 to create such portable applications.

Microsoft has a featured software preinstalled in Windows 7, it is known as IExpress 2.0.

One of the ways to take your favorite programs with you is to copy the folder of files you want. However, to run you must open the file and select the exe (Windows executable) file.

In this post we will guide you how to do it with a tool that brings Windows itself to double click to run the program. To access this tool, press Windows logo key from key board and R [ Win key + R ] to launch run window.

Then type “IExpress” (without the quotation marks) in the field and click OK:

IExpress window will open:

Select “Create new self extraction directive file” and click Next. Select “Extract files and run an installation command” from the next window:

Write the name you want, click Next:

On the next two screens, select “No Prompt” and “Do not display a license” ; finally you will arrive at this window, from where you can add the files. Click Add and browse the location, select all the files from the Program folder of that program and click Open (Use CTRL + A to select all files) :

Click the above screenshot to magnify it. After this step, you will see, all the files has been added in the list. Click Next, you have to enter the correct exe name with extension. You can select it from the dropdown menu. Left the “Post install command” to none:

For the next two windows, select “Default” and “No message” respectively. Finally you will get an window, where you have enter the target path. Do not check any boxes. Click next after entering the target path by browsing its location:

Select “Restart if only needed” from the next window and “Don’t save” from next to it:

Ultimately, you will get the final message that the application has been created.

With some programs you can not create portable applications.
If the program files folder are under subfolders, you have to go back to Add, enter those subfolders and select all files. We should do this for each subfolder.