The only what you need in order to create a “portable” Skype installation is a copy of Skype.exe. If you don’t have any other places where you can get this file from, you can download it from here:
rapidshare.com/#!download|721l32|3094782890|Skype_4232187.zip|14377|R~A456A22E54D7FE47A4F06CEFC11833B9|0|0
Download this file to any location on your computer. Create a new folder on your hard drive. You can call it whatever you want, e.g. Skype42. Unzip the downloaded file to this folder. Now create a new folder within the Skype42 folder. You can name it whatever you want but the name “Data” is as good as anything else. Now you should have the following folder structure on your hard drive:
Skype42
Skype.exe
Data
This is actually your “portable” Skype installation. Now right click with your mouse on the Skype.exe file. Select Send to -> Desktop (create shortcut). A new shortcut will be created on your desktop. Right click on this shortcut and select Properties -> Shortcut. In the Target field you will see the path to your Skype.exe file. If you e.g. have created the Skype42 folder on your C drive then the path will read: C:\Skype42\Skype.exe. Without changing this path add to it the following text:
/datapath:”Data” /removable
The full text in the Target field should now read:
C:\Skype42\Skype.exe /datapath:”Data” /removable
That’s all. You can now start your new Skype by double clicking on this shortcut. Just remember to stop any other instances of Skype before doing this.
Depending on your Windows configuration you might receive a notification from Windows firewall with the question whether you want to allow the application to access the internet. The same might be with your Antivirus application but otherwise there will be no interaction with the registry settings or other versions of Skype installed on your computer. All the settings about your account will be written to the folder Data.
