Setting up RStudio Portable Default R version

Question

I recently discovered a portable version of R and RStudio @

http://rportable.sourceforge.net/

Open source rocks!

At any-rate, I am jumping from pc to pc at my university, and I'd like to get Portable R-studio to recognize Portable R as the default R version. Most computers at the university already have several versions of r-installed, and RStudio uses one of those versions of R. When I go into the Global Options to change the default version, it does not "see" portable R on the USB drive.

I am basically hopping I can run R without constantly having to download packages, specifying the work directory, downloading Scripts, data from Google Drive, etc...

Any suggestions? I am open. Thanks for your help.

@jonathan Mostly windows 7, 64 and 32 bit machines using 32 bit R. — k6adams, Oct 08 '14 at 16:36
@k6adams - The accepted answer points to touching the registry, and it is not needed. You might want to reconsider the situation, for the benefit of readers. — sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio, Sep 25 '15 at 12:46
The last available version of RStudio Portable is 0.97, and it has no debugging AFAIK. The installable version 0.99 has it (a huge difference!). — sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio, Sep 25 '15 at 12:47

sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-26T07:22:07.640

I did not need to touch the registry.

I first installed R portable and then R Studio portable, both from Sourceforge. After launching R Studio for the first time, I was shown the option of choosing the installation of R to be used, as shown in

https://support.rstudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/200486138-Using-Different-Versions-of-R

I browsed to branch \PortableApps\R-Portable\App\R-Portable\bin, where executables are located. There I selected the 64-bit version.

If you want to change later the version used, you open R Studio and go to Tools -> Option -> General -> R Version.

This avoids modifying the registry, with the two advantages of Portable Apps:

Leaving no trace of the app in the system (or, at least, a much milder one).
Being really portable (or, at least, much more so).

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 08 '14 at 16:44

On Windows, RStudio uses the system registry to find where installed versions of R are located. You'll need to edit the registry yourself to let it know about new versions. Fortunately you can do this in HKEY_CURRENT_USER so admin rights shouldn't be required. Here are the keys and values you'll want to write:

http://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/rw-FAQ.html#Does-R-use-the-Registry_003f

More detail about how RStudio selects the R version to run here:

https://support.rstudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/200486138-Using-Different-Versions-of-R

@k6adams - Touching the registry apparently works, but it is not needed. Se the other answer. — sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio, Aug 29 '15 at 14:20

Vérace · Answer 3 · 2015-09-16T16:11:31.517

The link to R Portable above is a bit misleading. In order to run a portable version of R AND RStudio, you also need the 27MB portable RStudio here. What's even more confusing is that it has the same name as the RPortable file.

It took me a bit of time to figure that one out. Perhaps you could edit your question to point to both for those who wish for an IDE?

And, IMHO, it's not truly portable, because when you move from one machine to another you need to specify the R version on your USB drive and also the work directory. Pity.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 23 '19 at 19:51

I manage to link RStudio (not portable version) to the aforementioned version of R Portable, directly through Global Options -> R Version -> Choose a specific version of R -> Browse, and the trick was selecting the R-Portable\App\R-Portable folder. Choosing another one doesnt allow RStudio to find the instalation.

Im running RStudio 1.1.463.

Bye!

Setting up RStudio Portable Default R version

4 Answers4

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