| 323 | | It is relatively easy to set up Pidgin to run from a USB Drive. Most of Pidgin is very good about not assuming that it is installed; a slightly customized launcher makes it all come together nicely.[[BR]] |
| 324 | | The way that this is set up, other GTK+ applications can use the same GTK+ runtime. |
| 325 | | |
| 326 | | * How to make Pidgin portable |
| 327 | | * '''Download''' the zipped binaries of [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=235&package_id=230234 Pidgin] (`pidgin-<version>-win32-bin.zip`) and [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=235&package_id=119698 GTK+] (`gtk-<version>-rev-a-installer.tar.gz`) from SourceForge |
| 328 | | * '''Extract''' the archives to a temporary location |
| 329 | | * '''Prepare''' your USB Drive: (for the purpose of explanation, this guide will assumes that your USB Drive is `U:`) |
| 330 | | * Create a dedicated directory (e.g. `U:\Programs` -- this can be whatever you want; the idea is that GTK and Pidgin are at the same level) |
| 331 | | * Create `GTK` and `Pidgin` directories within this directory |
| 332 | | * '''Copy''' a minimal part of your extracted '''Pidgin''' archive to the USB Drive from the temporary location. The directory structure stays the same, but we don't need everything that is included in the standard installation. |
| 333 | | * Copy the whole `pixmaps` and `sounds` directories. |
| 334 | | * Create a `U:\Programs\Pidgin\plugins` directory and copy the contents of the `pidgin-<version>-win32bin\plugins` directory into it excluding `perl.dll`, `tcl.dll`. |
| 335 | | * If you want to use a language other than en_US, create a `U:\Programs\Pidgin\locale` directory and copy any language directories that you want from your installed `Pidgin\locale` directory. |
| 336 | | * Copy all files from the the root `pidgin-<version>-win32bin` directory |
| 337 | | * if you don't want spell-checking support, omit `libgtkspell.dll` |
| 338 | | * Rename `pidgin.exe` to `pidgin-portable.exe`; this will cause it to run in "portable mode" to work correctly with this configuration |
| 339 | | * Similarly, create a minimal '''GTK+''' runtime installation from the GTK+ archive's `gtk_installer/gtk_install_files` directory |
| 340 | | * Copy the `bin` and `etc` directories into your `U:\Programs\GTK` directory |
| 341 | | * Create a `U:\Programs\GTK\lib` directory and copy the contents of the installed GTK+ runtime's `lib` directory, except the `locale` subdirectory |
| 342 | | * If you want to use a language other than en_US, create a `U:\Programs\GTK\lib\locale` directory and copy any language directories that you want from your installed GTK+ runtime's `lib\locale` directory. |
| 343 | | * Choose a GTK+ theme and copy the `gtkrc` file from `share\themes\<your_theme_choice>\gtk-2.0` to `U:\Programs\GTK\etc\gtk-2.0`, replacing the existing file. |
| 344 | | * If you want '''spell-checking''' support, you will also need to create a minimal '''ASpell''' runtime installation from your ASpell installation |
| 345 | | * Create a `U:\Programs\Aspell` directory with a `bin` subdirectory |
| 346 | | * Copy `aspell-15.dll` into your ASpell `bin` directory |
| 347 | | * Copy the `data` and `dict` subdirectories into `U:\Programs\Aspell` |
| 348 | | |
| 349 | | You are done! Running `U:\Programs\Pidgin\pidgin-portable.exe` will cause pidgin to run off the USB Drive, saving the settings, logs and etc. to `U:\Programs\.purple`. |
| 350 | | |
| 351 | | * '''Upgrading''' Pidgin portable |
| 352 | | * in order to upgrade Pidgin portable to a new version, download the latest [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=235&package_id=230234 zipped binaries] and extract the following contents into the Pidgin directory: |
| 353 | | * everything ''except'' the follwing files and folders: |
| 354 | | * the locale directory |
| 355 | | * `perl.dll` and `tcl.dll` from the plugins directory |
| 356 | | * `libgtkspell.dll` if applicable (see above) |
| 357 | | * if desired, extract the respective language folder from the locale directory |
| 358 | | * rename `pidgin.exe` to `pidgin-portable.exe`, replacing the old file of the same name |
| | 323 | It is relatively easy to set up Pidgin to run from a USB drive. Most of Pidgin is very good about not assuming that it is installed; a slightly customized launcher makes it all come together nicely.[[BR]] |
| | 324 | Note: With the setup described in this guide, other GTK+ applications can use the same GTK+ runtime. |
| | 325 | |
| | 326 | '''Preparation''' |
| | 327 | * create a temporary folder structure (e.g. in `C:\tmp`): |
| | 328 | * `extracted` |
| | 329 | * `extracted\GTK` |
| | 330 | * `extracted\Pidgin` |
| | 331 | * `portable` |
| | 332 | * `portable\GTK` |
| | 333 | * `portable\Pidgin` |
| | 334 | * '''download''' the zipped binaries of [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=235&package_id=230234 Pidgin] (`pidgin-<version>-win32-bin.zip`) and [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=235&package_id=119698 GTK+] (`gtk-<version>-rev-a-installer.tar.gz`) from SourceForge |
| | 335 | * '''extract''' these archives to `extracted\GTK` and `extracted\Pidgin`, respectively |
| | 336 | |
| | 337 | '''Pidgin''' |
| | 338 | * copy (or move) everything ''except'' the following folders from `extracted\Pidgin` to `portable\Pidgin`: |
| | 339 | * `ca-certs` |
| | 340 | * `perlmod` |
| | 341 | * delete (or rename) `perl.dll` and `tcl.dll` in `portable\Pidgin\plugins` |
| | 342 | * '''language''' |
| | 343 | * if you do ''not'' want to use a language other than American English (`en_US`), delete the entire `portable\Pidgin\locale` folder |
| | 344 | * otherwise, delete all ''except'' the desired languages' folders (e.g. `en_GB` or `fr`) from `portable\Pidgin\locale` |
| | 345 | * '''spell-checking''' |
| | 346 | * if you do ''not'' want to use spell-checking, delete `libgtkspell.dll` from `portable\Pidgin` |
| | 347 | * otherwise, see '''ASpell''' instructions below |
| | 348 | * rename `portable\Pidgin\pidgin.exe` to `portable\Pidgin\pidgin-portable.exe` - this will cause Pidgin to run in "portable mode" |
| | 349 | |
| | 350 | '''GTK+''' |
| | 351 | * copy (or move) everything ''except'' the following files and folders to `portable\GTK`: |
| | 352 | * `share` |
| | 353 | * `COPYING.LIB-2` |
| | 354 | * '''language''' |
| | 355 | * if you do ''not'' want to use a language other than American English (`en_US`), delete the entire `portable\GTK\lib\locale` folder |
| | 356 | * otherwise, delete all but the desired languages' folders (e.g. `en_GB` or `fr`) from `portable\GTK\lib\locale` |
| | 357 | * '''theme''' |
| | 358 | * choose any GTK+ theme from `share\themes` (usually `MS-Windows`) |
| | 359 | * copy the theme's `gtkrc` file from `extracted\GTK\share\themes\`[''theme'']`\gtk-2.0` to `portable\GTK\etc\gtk-2.0`, replacing the existing file |
| | 360 | |
| | 361 | '''ASpell''' |
| | 362 | |
| | 363 | For spell-checking support, you will also need to create a minimal ASpell runtime installation from an existing ASpell installation. |
| | 364 | * create a folder `portable\Aspell` and a sub-folder `portable\Aspell\bin` |
| | 365 | * copy `aspell-15.dll` into `portable\Aspell\bin` |
| | 366 | * copy the `data` and `dict` sub-folders into `Portable\Aspell` |
| | 367 | |
| | 368 | Now you can move the entire `portable` onto your USB drive (e.g. `U:\`). |
| | 369 | Running `U:\portable\Pidgin\pidgin-portable.exe` will cause Pidgin to run off the USB drive, saving all settings, logs etc. to `U:\portable\.purple`. |
| | 370 | |
| | 371 | '''Upgrading Pidgin portable''' |
| | 372 | |
| | 373 | In order to upgrade Pidgin portable to a new version, simply download the latest [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=235&package_id=230234 zipped binaries] and follow the steps described in the '''Pidgin''' section above. |
