This version in fact is not portable. It writes itself to the Windows registry making it not truly portable. Any restrictions or limitations within the Windows Chrome Policies located in the registry such as managing the browser by administrator will be carried over to this version. Using Windows 11 x64 and Windows 10 x64.
Full disclosure is needed now with these apps that they are not fully portable, rather it gives users the illusion of being portable.
Consider this post a formal bug report
https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/google-chrome-portable-64
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That isn't a bug, just a misunderstanding of what portable means, so I've removed your [bug] tag.
Please see What is a portable app? for more info on what we consider portable.
Our apps are fully portable in respect that they do not leave anything behind on the computer on which they are run. Otherwise we do not change the base app's functionality - an app that normally reads from and writes to the registry will still do so, we just ensure that before it starts the expected registry keys are written to the registry (including backing up any keys already in place from a local install), and when the app finishes running the expected registry keys that "belong" to the portabilised version are kept with the portable package to be deployed next time it gets run (including putting those backups from an existing install back where they belong).
If you are looking for apps where the base functionality is changed and they no longer write to the registry, you'd need to look elsewhere.
Oh my. In every forum there’s always one person, usually a bootlicker who shows up almost immediately to defend the status quo regardless of how absurd it may be. In this case, it's clearly bullying given your response.
Your reply dismisses my concern as a “misunderstanding” and then with a jab, that I should “look elsewhere” if I want apps that don’t touch the registry at all. That's absolute arrogance and clearly dodges the main point.
This Portable app reaches into the registry every time it runs, so it can drag admin policies like Chrome restrictions from one PC to another. That is not portable in the usual sense. It is a workaround that still depends on the host system, not a clean, self‑contained app.
If this is the intended behavior, it would be more honest and transparent to state that clearly and immediately. Maybe something like “this version may inherit host policies during use, so check your environment.” That way it is a known tradeoff, not something waved away with a smug “go look elsewhere” while treating the person who filed the report like they are the problem ie. victim blaming.
Google Chrome and some other browsers allow system administrators to lock them down via Group Policy settings or direct registry settings in the HKLM registry, both of which require admin rights to adjust. The only way you could run Chrome on such a PC without it respecting the registry settings would be to run it in a virtual machine or a sandbox. Unless you have admin rights, of course.
The goal with apps here at PortableApps.com is to make them as portable as possible without requiring admin rights unless the app itself requires them (think a system level utility). Google Chrome Portable doesn't require admin rights, but will be affected by any system level settings for it, as most apps would.
If you run Google Chrome Portable's launcher GoogleChromePortable.exe as admin, it will backup and then restore those HKLM registry keys to get around the system wide settings because running it as admin allows it to be able to do that.
Chrome also has a bunch of other limitations due to it being coded in a way that's hostile to portablization. These are laid out on the app homepage and in the license agreement as you install it.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
If you run it as admin, it will remove and then replace those policies after it is run. Those policies can't be worked around by design of the app itself.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Thank you, that's great to know. If only the other forum member would've provided such a constructive response. But, then again, we live in a very unhinged time.