Can it run from a memory stick?

(part of "The Companion to Astrolog32" ~ © the Dodger 2019)
all rights reserved


If you put a full copy of Astrolog32 in an removable drive unmodified, then finding astrolog32.exe and double clicking it will occasionally launch the program; but that's all; to make it run properly & in any host pc, an hour's prep of a crafted A32 install, preferably created on a hard-drive, is necessary - to then cut/paste into your removable drive: this is my way..

First, copy/paste the A32 auxiliary folders into a new folder on your pc's desktop, but with no \main folder - in my example I call this new desktop folder "A32_mobile": - these are the green folders in the image to right: now a standard \main folder must be copied in and the process repeated, - but each \main folder immediately given a different name, - in my example it's \main@D, \main@E, \main@F... the likeliest drive-letters allocated to my memory-stick.

You must rename the first \main folder, before bringing in the second..

Here's why it's necessary to have these duplicates: in each copy of \main you will type appropriate alterations to its respective astrolog32.dat, so that each version is crafted to match the drive letter which the host pc may assign the drive. This is because the program uses absolute, but modifiable, paths to \charts, \atlas, \ephemeris, \miscellaneous, \interpretations, and \main itself.
The install I have illustrated is 'skinny', but you should include \interpretations and \Celebs if you want them: but any unnecessary files can be stripped out of the duplicated \main folders, such as history.txt - why would you need them?

Now, how to re-direct the directory-paths that you'll find in each \main@.. folder's astrolog32.dat file, with a bit of text-editting - (for a more general survey of these paths, see 'Default Directories'', in theCompanion > Customising Defaults with Config File) - just, as an example, to alter one of the astrolog32.dats, the one within \main@F:

  Open the other \main@.. folders, and open and modify each astrolog32.dat in its respective 'DIRECTORIES' section, according to whether it's steering the program back
  Cut & Paste the whole folder, in my example "A32_Mobile", from your pc's desktop to your memory-stick, as a root folder.

When the whole prepped folder is finally installed into your memory-stick as a root-folder, I suggest to make a folder of shortcuts (called 'A32_LAUNCHER', in images) also at the root of the removable drive, to save you fossicking into each /main@.. folder to launch the .exe file: - in that LAUNCHER folder, put one shortcut to astrolog32.exe in \main@D folder, - one shortcut to astrolog32.exe in \main@E folder, and so on. This LAUNCHER folder will serve as your go-to, where you can select the appropriate version...

To make these shortcuts, open one of your renamed \main@('D', 'E', 'F', ..) folders, and right-click on astrolog32.exe; choose 'Create Shortcut..'. Rename the shortcut immediately to match the folder it's located in and only then, drag or cut/paste it into your 'LAUNCHER' folder.

To launch the program from the memory stick, plug it in, take note of its newly-assigned drive-letter, open 'A32_LAUNCHER', and double-click on the matching shortcut.
Clicking the link with the wrong drive letter will still launch that version, but the \atlas folder and the \ephemeris folder won't be accessible, and the \charts folder will be a scrabble to reach.