- If you own multiple computers keeping everything updated and synchronized can be a pain.
- The method I use to solve this problem is the following: portable apps that are stored in a folder that is in sync via the cloud.
- You can easily apply this method to always have your apps configured identically on all your devices.
I’m definitely not what you would call your typical computer user. I own two computers that I use almost daily, a desktop and a laptop, plus a Mac from work that I only use when I have to.
Using multiple computers poses a special kind of problem: you have to update all your apps somehow, configure them in the same way and back up everything in case something goes wrong. But also so you can easily take over from where you left when you are switching computers.
Fortunately, I found an easy solution you can apply yourself without too much hassle. What’s cool is that you only have to set this up once.
Using the power of cloud together with portable apps
It’s already been more than 15 years since I have used this method of only working and saving documents in the cloud. What I have more than doing something I don’t like is having to do that twice, so backup is very important to me, and I hope you agree it should be important for you too.
So, saving documents in Google Drive, OneDrive, or the cloud service of your choice is easy enough, but what about apps? Apps need to be installed and configured on each PC. You can’t just copy the app folder, since usually the app settings are saved elsewhere.
Well, you can, if you use portable apps. To save you the trouble of googling that, portable apps are versions of your typical apps that don’t need to be installed. They’re configured in such a way that the settings are saved and retrieved from the same folder.
The best source of portable apps is the PortableApps website.
It’s important to understand that not all apps can be converted to a portable format. It is also possible that you may lose some functionality if you go portable.
That being said, it works very well for me, as I can keep a few dozen apps in sync easily, such as small system utilities, hardware monitoring tools, benchmarking software, and things like FileZilla.
FileZilla is the best example, because if would be a pain to have to keep multiple lists of websites and passwords or update them when needed. Going portable and syncing via cloud is a no-brainer.
Another important limitation that you need to be aware of is that you can only sync apps for a specific operating system. It is not a limitation per se, more like a consequence of the fact each operating system has its own app/software format.
And before I end, I would advise against using portable versions of the apps where updates are critical. I’m thinking of your browser, which for security reasons is good to always use the latest version. You can update portable apps, but most likely you would have to do that manually. So, it is not the most straightforward process.
Anyway, the method works well for me, and I’ve been using it for a long time. If you’re also using multiple computers, give this solution a try and let me know if it works for you.
