Hi guys, hope you are doing well.
Does anyone know about a concise and straight to the point guide to make NO INSTALL plugins? I L-O-V-E using NO INSTALL plugins.
I got a guide on certain excellent russian torrent site but its like 50 pages long and it's in russian.
Thanks!

 

Very broadly speaking and for Windows:

1) Monitor registry changes made by plugin installer.

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/registry_changes_view.html
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/reg_file_from_application.html

2) Monitor files copied by plugin installer.

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/folder_changes_view.html

3) Export plugin installer registry changes into a .reg file. C:\myportableplugin\myportableplugin.reg

4) Copy installed plugin files to another location, preserve folder structure. (C:\Program Files\VstPlugins\MyPlugin.vst3 -> C:\myportableplugin\_files_\Program Files\VstPlugins\MyPlugin.vst3)

5) Go to C:\myportableplugin\ and create an empty file 'myinstaller.cmd' - Right click this file and make it run as admin.

6) Open myinstaller.cmd in a text editor and start writing batch commands.
6a) Merge file from 3) into registry using 'reg import myportableplugin.reg'
6b) Create links to all your plugin files and folders. (mklink "C:\Program Files\VstPlugins\MyPlugin.vst3" "_files_\Program Files\VstPlugins\MyPlugin.vst3")

7) Write myportableuninstaller.cmd to reverse 6)

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Notes: Some plugins don't need registry entries to run. Also, you could copy the files instead of linking them. Linking is more elegant though.

 

@xorome Thanks a ton! will try and report back!

 

@xorome 's answer is really good. I'd just recommend "Total Uninstall" as the main tool.
It can give you a backup of all the new files and registry entries in one package. Brutally useful program