Instructions for running Jabp4 from a USB flash drive
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Jabp4 is a small Java program, currently <400K in size.  This means that it is highly portable and doesn't require a multi-megabyte install process.  It is completely self-contained and doesn't rely on any other software except a Java runtime.  

You can run Jabp4 directly from a USB flash drive on any Java-enabled desktop, notebook or netbook.  You can store the Jabp4 program and your Jabp4 data files directly on the USB drive.  This is convenient if you use multiple machines and don't want to leave your files scattered around.

*Warning*: if you run Jabp4 only from a USB drive then:

a) Make sure you take regular back-ups in case you lose the USB drive
b) Consider password-protecting your data

Here are the steps.  Firstly, copy the file Jabp4.jar to your USB flash drive.  Assuming you have a valid Java runtime on your computer, then you can launch the program by double-clicking on the Jabp4.jar file in a file manager.

Moving existing Jabp4 data files to a USB drive
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Locate your existing Jabp4 data files on your computer's hard drive.  By default, they will be in the Jabp4 folder in your user home directory.  For example, on Windows this is C:\Users\(yourname)\Jabp4\. Copy this directory to your USB drive.  Run the Jabp program by launching Jabp4.jar on the USB drive.  The program will open the last-used data files from your hard disk.  Use the File > Open option to open the files from your USB drive.  Continue using Jabp4 as normal.

3. Using Jabp from the USB drive
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You can now run Jabp4 from your USB drive by inserting into your computer and launching Jabp4 as described above.  This will always work correctly unless you move to a different computer where the USB drive is mounted with a different identifier.  In that case, the program will look for the data files in the same location on your USB drive as Jabp4.jar file.


Malcolm Bryant
November 2008
Last updated 28 December 2017
