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Tick the programs in the Portable App
Directory that you want to installSelect ‘Open Folder’ or press Ctrl+F to open the
whole Videos or Music folder in VLCInstall PortableApps
The PortableApps tool lets you install
and launch programs from a USB stick,
even if the tool’s developers haven’t made
a ‘portable’ version of it. Here, we’ll use it
to install VLC Media Player and IrfanView
image editor but, once you’ve set it up,
you can add more than 400 other
programs and launch them all from a
dedicated menu.
Visit http://www.snipca.com/41563 and click
the green ‘Download from PortableApps.
com’ button. Launch the installer, click
through the first two screens and, when
you reach the Install Type screen, select
New Install and click Next. Leave
‘Portable – install to a portable device’
selected on the next screen and click
Next, then select your USB stick and click
Next again. This is one instance where
you shouldn’t need to worry about the
installer wiping the stick’s contents, but
our usual advice about backing up still
applies. Finally, click Install.
To launch PortableApps, navigate to
your USB stick in File Explorer and
double-click ‘Start.exe’. The first time you
run PortableApps, it opens the Portable
App Directory, which is the built-in app
store. Tick the boxes beside any programs
you want to install – we’ve chosen VLC in
our screenshot (above right). You’ll find
VLC in the ‘Music and Video’ category,
while IrfanView will be in ‘Graphics and
Pictures’. Click ‘Next’ at the bottom and
PortableApps will download and install
your chosen programs.
When PortableApps is running,
clicking its taskbar icon opens a list of
installed programs. If you want to tidy
things up, click Settings in the menu’s
sidebar, switch to the Advanced tab, and
tick the box beside ‘Hide taskbar icon
(takes effect on next launch)’. Click OK,
then open the PortableApps menu again
and click the X on the sidebar to close it.
Launch PortableApps again (by
double-clicking ‘Start.exe’ on your stick)
and this time the icon will shift to the
right of the sidebar. Eventually, it will
disappear into the taskbar’s hidden icons,
which you can access by clicking the up
arrow to the left of the OneDrive icon.Set up your video
and music libraries
VLC Media Player is one of the best
programs for playing music and videos
stored on your computer, and for
streaming live online. To install a portableversion, open your USB stick in File
Explorer, then right-click any blank space
in the main part of the window and
hover your cursor over New in the menu.
Click ‘Folder’ on the menu that appears,
then give the folder a logical name, like
Videos. Copy the videos you’d like to
carry around into that folder, then create
a Music folder and do the same with your
favourite tracks.
When you want to play back your
content, launch VLC from the
PortableApps menu, then press Ctrl+O to
open a single video or track, or Ctrl+F to
open the whole Videos or Music folder
(see screenshot above right). Navigate to
the appropriate folder and click Open
(for a video or track), or Select (for the
folder and all of its contents).
If you’ve opened a complete folder,
each new video or track will play when
the previous one comes to an end. You
can also use the toolbar’s forward andback buttons to skip between them.View your photos
Create another folder for your photos and
(optionally) sub-folders within it to better
organise sets, like pictures from a holiday
or family photos. Now launch IrfanView
from the PortableApps menu and press O
to open a single photo, or W to start a
slideshow.
Don’t be put off by the confusing
interface for starting a slideshow. The
most important part is the file browser in
the top right (^1 in our screenshot below).
Use this to navigate to the folder
containing your photos, then either click
the images you want to include, followed
by the Add button below^2 , or just click
‘Add all’^3 for the complete folder.
Optionally adjust how long each image
remains on screen by changing the value
in the ‘Slide advancement’ panel^4 , then
click Play Slideshow^5.27 April – 10 May 2022 • Issue 630ACCESS YOUR MUSIC, VIDEOS & PHOTOS FROM A STICK
Add photos
to your
IrfanView
slideshow,
and choose
how long
you want
each image
to appear for1
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4
2
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