U3 Smart Drive Compatbility

Bowditch · Post by **Bowditch** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 12:11 am

You should release a TextPad that can reside on the U3 Smart Drive. I love TextPad, and would love to be able to take it with me on my flash drive. U3 has a developers' kit available on thier web site (www.u3.com).

Thank you

PS. I don't work for U3 or have any motive other than wanting to be able to buy a portable version of TextPad.

joconnell · Post by **joconnell** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:04 am

You should release a TextPad that can reside on the U3 Smart Drive

How would Textpad differ for that purpose?

Surely it's just a matter of installing TextPad on a USB drive, then running it off that drive as needed?
I do that with my MP3 player which has a copy of the TextPad program files directory and it seems to work fine.

Johno

TessaC · Post by **TessaC** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:43 pm

When you plug in a U3 drive, (by default) an icon is added to the system tray that allows you to right-click and start a program. This is one reason why apps repackaged/rewritten for U3 drives are preferable.

Also, I have a hard time believing that you can install TextPad to a U3 drive (or any USB key, for that matter), since it writes stuff to the registry. I would try it, but that would mean uninstalling it from my computer first and I don't want to do that. When I get to a machine that doesn't have textpad, I'll try it out and post later on.

But, I too would REALLY appreciate a U3 textpad. It's the one app I miss the most when using other machines.

--Tessa

mlorente · Post by **mlorente** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 11:09 pm

This would be a very helpful. Work is clamping down on what can be on the computers and I DREAD the thought of having to go back to Notepad. I hunt down an obsolete version of PFE before I do that *hehe*

A site that explains what U3 is and its' benefits.

boskovuk · Post by **boskovuk** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:53 pm

U3 is a way to go !!!

I hope TextPad guys are listening and get the U3 support functioning as soon as possible.

kmank · Post by **kmank** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:55 pm

You actually can run TextPad from a USB stick. The only gotcha is (for now, until there is an honest-to-goodness portable version) that you have to use it in eval mode, and then live with those limitations. This is because registration info is written to the registry.

Simply copy the contents of Program Files/TextPad X to your drive. I use PortableApps for an interface and I copied it to reside as \PortableApps\TextPad 4. Works great for me.

The right thing to do, of course, is to make sure you have a purchased copy.

GUYJ01 · Post by **GUYJ01** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 2:21 pm

kmank wrote:You actually can run TextPad from a USB stick. The only gotcha is (for now, until there is an honest-to-goodness portable version) that you have to use it in eval mode, and then live with those limitations. This is because registration info is written to the registry.

Simply copy the contents of Program Files/TextPad X to your drive. I use PortableApps for an interface and I copied it to reside as \PortableApps\TextPad 4. Works great for me.

The right thing to do, of course, is to make sure you have a purchased copy.

The problem with this approach is not only do you have to use the evaluation version (no different except for splash screen) but you lose all the syntax highlighting settings and have to set them up again on each PC you visit.

joelmw · Post by **joelmw** » Mon May 07, 2007 1:40 pm

Yep, TextPad is the one tool I want wherever I go. What good is U3 without it?

Paul in NJ · Post by **Paul in NJ** » Tue May 08, 2007 6:47 pm

I came across this forum post which explains how one user installed Textpad to a USB drive. However, his method involves editing the Windows registry, which is not something a lot of users would want to try.

I cast my vote for a portable Textpad.

lgpiper · Post by **lgpiper** » Mon May 21, 2007 1:30 am

Paul in NJ wrote:I came across this forum post which explains how one user installed Textpad to a USB drive. However, his method involves editing the Windows registry, which is not something a lot of users would want to try.

I cast my vote for a portable Textpad.

One really shouldn't even think of changing the registry settings on someone else's computer. So, yes, convincing the TextPad folks to come up with a portable version is a great idea. I'm seriously considering giving up TextPad after 5 years of use (properly licensed) merely because I can get something semi comparable that will run off my USB drive. At the moment, I'm still with TextPad because I don't want to go through the pain of getting familiar with a new interface.

mattrix · Post by **mattrix** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 8:48 pm

I join in the chorus of those who want a portable textpad.

I am not using U3, though, right now, so unless there's a way to use U3 executables on a non-u3 device, then it'd do me no good.

I am using portableapps.com's packaged apps.

Perhaps the thing for the portable apps-lovin' world to do is to write a shell that "real" apps can run in. Something that intercepts registry reads/writes for child processes and then gets them from XML files or whatnot.

The closest thing I've seen to this in function is a SOCKS proxy that would intercept Winsock requests from child processes and run them through itself.

But that's a tangent and I don't know how to code it myself!

Paul in NJ · Post by **Paul in NJ** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:28 pm

lgpiper wrote:I'm seriously considering giving up TextPad after 5 years of use (properly licensed) merely because I can get something semi comparable that will run off my USB drive.

Would you care to drop a hint what semi-comparable program you have in mind? (That's a not-subtle hint, TextPad programmers!)

GUYJ01 · Post by **GUYJ01** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:14 pm

I to use portableapps.com packaged apps and have found Notepad++ Portable covers most of my requirements the only thing it really lacks is a clip library and for this I use Ditto. Ditto is a clipboard utility that allows information to be save and pasted at a later date. Portableapps.com has a beta version of Ditto in it's beta forum.

Both of these products are open source and do not require the purchase of a licence but I would happily give them up for a portable version of textpad (properly licensed).

makinney · Post by **makinney** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:39 pm

Please consider my post an additional vote for a U3 or PortableApps package for Textpad (or both??). I have used Textpad for 8 or 9 years now, it's a MUST HAVE tool for me. I work in a lab environment on multiple computers, and it's simply not possible to install applications (even temporarily) on these customer owned systems. PortableApps / U3 keys are an ideal solution for us for moving tools and information as we go.

srichter1 · Post by **srichter1** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:16 pm

Just to chime in: I only recently discovered PortableApps, and one of the tools I most need as I move around in different environments is TextPad. Please, make a version of TextPad that can run from a flash drive!

- Susan

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