Skype Portable since version 8

Question

Hope that there is someone who could tell us, on how to extract the files from the new Skype-Setup.exe, so that a new portable version could be created.

The old Skype version < 8 had a MSI which could be extracted with e.q. 7-Zip or with the vbs file from http://www.skaip.org/how-to-create-a-portable-skype-for-windows

Answer 1

I just did some more investigation on the Skype-Setup.exe file and do some furhter tests.

Now I want to share my findings on how to create a new portable version of Skype from version 8 on and even with an integrated update process.

Skype-Setup.exe will be downloaded automatically by the application into the data folder, during the next start of skype, it will be checked if the file is there and start the update process. This process might not be wanted if you've got a portable version.

I've created a small batch file to start my Portable Skype Version, but first we need to create the following file structure:

SkypePortable
|_App
  |__Skype
|_Data

In SkypePortable I've placed the batch file. Now we will download the Skype for Windows Desktop installation/setup file. Now we need to extract the content of it by using the InnoExtract utility from http://constexpr.org/innoextract/

innoextract.exe -s -d SkypePortable\App\Skype\ Skype-Setup.exe rename SkypePortable\App\Skype\app Phone

Content of SkypeStartCheck.bat:

@echo off
CLS
echo                 ===============================
echo                    Start Skype and check for
echo                             Update
echo                 ===============================

echo Check if update file is located in Data folder
if exist "<DRIVE:>\PortableApps\SkypePortable\Data\Skype-Setup.exe" (
    echo Skype-Setup.exe found
    echo Check if old backup folder exist
    if exist "<DRIVE:>\PortableApps\SkypePortable\App\Skype\Phone.old" (
        echo Old backup "phone.old" folder found
        echo Delete backup folder
        rmdir /s /q "<DRIVE:>\PortableApps\SkypePortable\App\Skype\Phone.old"
    )
    echo Take backup of old installation
    rename "<DRIVE:>\PortableApps\SkypePortable\App\Skype\Phone" "Phone.old"
    pushd "<DRIVE:>\PortableApps\SkypePortable\Data"
    echo Extract Skupe-Setup.exe
    "<DRIVE:>\PortableApps\InnoExtract\innoextract.exe" -s -d ..\App\Skype\ Skype-Setup.exe
    rename "<DRIVE:>\PortableApps\SkypePortable\App\Skype\app" "Phone"
    del /s /f /q Skype-Setup.exe
)

echo Starting Skype
start <DRIVE:>\PortableApps\SkypePortable\App\skype\Phone\Skype.exe --datapath="<DRIVE:>\PortableApps\SkypePortable\Data"
exit

I hope this help all of you who were searching for such an information.

Created SkypePortable in PortableApps.com format. https://github.com/DoeWayne/SkypePortable

Answer 2

A Portable version of Skype that seems to be kept relatively up to date is available at portapps.github.io.