Portabilise (?) my own copy of PDN

[SAND33P]

Im not sure whether this is actually allowed or not, but i want to have a portable version of PDN4 running off of my USB, just in case i need to edit on the fly. Now i used to use liberkey, but having that as a middleman was a little bit of a nuisance, and id rather make my own version. What would you recommend as to the process on how i would do this? I currently know of only one option, which is to install PDN on a virtual windows machine, then use another program to scan for all the files PDN created and pop them in one directory, which can then be put on my USB. Also i wouldn't want it compiled all on one .exe, as i would want the effects and filetypes folders for installing new stuff, much like liberkey allows.

[SAND33P]

*Bump* Anyone have any ideas? My main goal is to have paint.net fully installed on my USB, ready to be plugged into and used on any compatible windows computer, without the hassle of Liberkey

[sl23]

Have you checked WinPenPacks version - X-Paint.net?

 

It needs updating to v4 but may help you create your own version. I tried myself, but I'm no expert and was unsure how to get the registry settings saved and restored on app start and close.

Edited July 13, 2014 by sl23

[Rick Brewster]

You should be able to do this as a 2 step process. A portable version of Paint.NET will need to be tailored for either 32-bit x86 or 64-bit x64.

 

Step 1. Install paint.net and then make a copy of the installation directory (e.g. c:\program files\paint.net). I'll call this folder with the copy the "target folder."

 

Step 2. Start the installer, but don't click Next. Instead, navigate to "%TEMP%\PdnSetup" and go to either the folder called Native.x64 (if you want to make a 64-bit version) or Native.x86 (for 32-bit). Copy the DLLs out of there into the target folder.

 

Step 3. Enjoy?

 

Startup performance won't be very good, mind you, because you won't get the benefit of NGEN.

 

Note: I haven't tested this but it should work in theory ...

[sl23]

Thanks for the tip.

 

What about settings though? Aren't they stored in the registry?

[Rick Brewster]

Yup. If it isn't there then you'll get the defaults.

[sl23]

Ok, would it be too much for you to change this so that PDN saves to INI files or something in the apps directory? Is there a reason or advantage of using the registry instead of files in app dir?

[Rick Brewster]

Not gonna happen.

[Ishi]

Well, there is this program called Cameyo. I haven't tested it but what it does is that it sort of records the stuff going on when you are installing an application and after that, it gives you the option to try and build a single .exe copy of the recently installed application which you can then put in a flashdrive to be taken on other computers. But since Paint.NET has the Effects and Filetypes folders, I'm not really sure if a portabilization technique like this would work.

 

Would it be possible to have an official portable PDN build in the future?