Registry.

[Yorick]

I have a question/theory that I want to run by you guys.

I just bought my first laptop this past weekend. A lovely little HP. Dual core, 4 gigs of ram, etc. Anyway, I was thinking about how bogging down your registry can really slow down the computer, and I want to keep this thing light and happy. So here's where my idea comes in.

In the past I've been using a computer at work, and using a USB drive to keep any programs or files that I want, so that they aren't on the work computer itself. What I was thinking is, what if I get all portable applications for the laptop? Since they won't touch the registry, it should remain unhindered, right?

So far the only things I've installed that touch the registry would be Steam and Photoshop. I've gotten portable versions of 7zip, irfanview, openoffice, WinSCP, Notepad++, and one or two other things.

Has anyone tried this before? Is there any reason to think it wouldn't work?

 

[Quixoticism]

Some programs don't behave well without their registry settings. Most of them though make their own when you run them(at least the necessary ones).
You would need to install the programs onto the flash drive from another computer to get what you want.

I think it's not worth the effort and trouble. Your registry shouldn't get so bloated that it will actually slow things down. If it does you're doing something wrong and there are programs that will clean out the junk for you quickly and easily.

 

[Yorick]

Some programs don't behave well without their registry settings. Most of them though make their own when you run them(at least the necessary ones).
You would need to install the programs onto the flash drive from another computer to get what you want.

I think it's not worth the effort and trouble. Your registry shouldn't get so bloated that it will actually slow things down. If it does you're doing something wrong and there are programs that will clean out the junk for you quickly and easily.

I'm not sure I did a super good job of explaining it. I'm not installing the programs onto a flash drive, I'm installing them onto my laptop as if it were a flash drive, thus keeping the registry intact.

As far as the programs not all behaving properly, you're absolutely right, and there are some programs that cannot be distributed that way because it's against their EULA. Like I said, Steam and Photoshop are the only ones I've installed the normal versions of so far. Basically every other program I use, though, has a stable, portable copy out.

You might be right about it being not worth the trouble, and I know there are a lot of things that can fix the registry, but I'm just trying something different and keeping it, ah, "chaste", right from the get-go.

Taking proper care to defragment the drive and keep things "sorted" is something I'm usually really awful about.

 

[Ennui]

Honestly there's an element of entropy to operating systems that is somewhat beyond your control as a user. I would say it'd be more sensible just to reformat once a year or every 6 months instead of trying to preserve the one install.

Also, like Quixoticism said, some programs just don't work as well in their portable versions. I would go with normal installs of things, and just make sure you are monitoring your registery and using utilities like CCleaner to keep everything tidy.