Is it possible to get truly portable Chrome that ignores registry policies?

I work in a company that has lately deployed a GPO that disables all sync capabilities of Chrome. Thus I cannot "login" into Chrome, have no extensions, and the bookmarks don't sync.

I managed to find an "offending" keys in registry under HK_LM/Software/Policies/Google/Chrome/* like SyncDisabled=1. Unfortunately I am not an admin so I cant delete/change these keys.

I downloaded Chrome Portable but it still seems to adhere to these policies... Is there some truly portable version of Google Chrome that ignores all registry settings? I know about Chromium, but I couldn't find a link for download (only sources for building).

Thanks.

NeverStopLearning

Posted 2012-12-10T09:18:12.860

Reputation: 401

This is just a workaround, but have you considered running Chrome in a program such as Sandboxie? – cutrightjm – 2012-12-10T09:40:25.013

Did you tried the one available at Portableapps.com ? – Ankit – 2012-12-10T10:09:13.447

Answers

SRWare Iron is a web browser that is based on the "Chromium" Sourcecode.

http://www.srware.net/en/index.php

The portable version can be found here - but without some features that privacy advocates object to.

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/iron_portable

Simon

Posted 2012-12-10T09:18:12.860

Reputation: 4 193

This might also be the solution if Iron supports chrome sync (I did not try it because I found somewhat more simple solution). Either way thank you. – NeverStopLearning – 2012-12-10T17:47:30.590

I think it does support Chrome Sync if I remember correctly, as I used to use it when i was having trouble with Google Chrome on my PC. However I am glad that you have found another way – Simon – 2012-12-10T18:09:41.753

I have accepted your answer as it is also a viable and good solution. If they ever block Chromium as well I can switch to Iron:) – NeverStopLearning – 2012-12-12T09:57:53.567

Yes it is fully Chrome compatible & it was a good solution for me when the Google Chrome browser unexpectedly starting playing up on my PC. I'm glad that your situation was resolved – Simon – 2012-12-12T10:25:18.250

I managed to locate compiled sources for latest Chromium and it works! I just downloaded zip file for win32, extracted and it works like a charm (including sync).

FYI: I've read somewhere that it only works because it loads registry keys from different "path" (e.g. Policies/Chrome vs Policies/Chromium).

NeverStopLearning

Posted 2012-12-10T09:18:12.860

Reputation: 401

There is also a Chromium portable sourceforge project.

They state that

Chromium Portable is a custom-built version of the Chromium web browser ― the open-source project behind Google Chrome ― optimized for portable use and packaged in the PortableApps.com Format, so you can run it from an iPod, USB flash drive, portable hard drive, CD or any other portable media. You can take your bookmarks, extensions, themes and plugins with you, and Chromium Portable will leave no personal information behind on the machine you run it on.

This has the advantage that you can download older builds in case you need them (for example to use it in an old machine with XP, since the new versions require W7+ to run).

cdlvcdlv

Posted 2012-12-10T09:18:12.860

Reputation: 703