The MathWorks does not officially provide a "Portable" version of MATLAB. Official MATLAB requires installation to function correctly, as it relies on system registry entries, environment variables, and specific system dependencies.
The information below explains how to simulate a portable environment for legitimate use, outlines the significant risks of using unofficial "cracked" portable versions, and provides system requirements.
A: No. That is a different architecture (ARM). Octave runs well on Raspberry Pi.
This is the closest you can get to portability without violating licenses or software integrity. matlab portable windows 7 64 bit
How it works: Install a full, licensed copy of Windows 7 64-bit onto a high-speed USB 3.0 drive (128GB+). Then install MATLAB normally onto that Windows installation. Boot any compatible PC directly from your USB drive.
Steps:
Pros: Fully functional, licensed MATLAB; no conflict with host OS. Cons: Requires a full Windows license; boot times slower; not all PCs allow USB boot; 64-bit Windows 7 drivers may be missing on new hardware. The MathWorks does not officially provide a "Portable"
Many users ignore warnings and download repacked “MATLAB portable” from unknown sources. Here is what you risk:
Before diving deeper, let’s clarify what the software industry means by a "portable application." A truly portable app:
For a complex, enterprise-grade tool like MATLAB (which consists of a JIT-compiled core, Java-based GUI, 1000+ DLLs, and deep integration with Windows COM objects and .NET frameworks), achieving true portability is a monumental challenge. A: No
MATLAB hardcodes paths like C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R20XXx\bin\win64. If you run from E:\MATLAB_Portable, the dynamic linkers will fail to resolve dependencies. While you can use symbolic links (mklink), this is not a true portable solution.
If you only need to run compiled MATLAB applications (.exe or .ctf files), not the full development environment, you can use the MATLAB Compiler Runtime (MCR). MCR is a set of shared libraries that can be installed on any machine (including Windows 7 64-bit). While MCR itself requires installation, you can combine it with a portable wrapper that checks for MCR and runs the compiled app.
Limitation: You cannot edit code or run arbitrary scripts – only precompiled applications.