| Problem | Fix |
|---------|-----|
| No JVM found | Check jbr\bin\java.exe exists. Run set JAVA_HOME in the launcher. |
| Config resets each launch | Remove %APPDATA%\JetBrains on the host – PyCharm might be ignoring our override. Add -Didea.config.path= to pycharm64.exe directly. |
| Slow indexing over network | Move only the project to local temp, but keep IDE on USB. Use File → Invalidate Caches… after large moves. |
| Anti-virus blocks startup | Whitelist the USB drive’s letter in Windows Defender (real-time scanning kills portable app performance). |
By default, PyCharm writes configs to C:\Users\.... We’ll override that.
Inside the PyCharm folder, create two empty folders: config and system. pycharm community edition portable
On your USB drive, create:
D:\PortableApps\
├── PyCharmCE\
│ ├── pycharm-community-2024.3\
│ ├── jbr\ (your portable Java runtime)
│ ├── config\ (IDE settings)
│ ├── system\ (caches, logs)
│ └── projects\
├── Scripts\
Accept that the target machine must have Python installed globally (e.g., C:\Python311\python.exe). Your portable PyCharm will detect it if the machine has Python in its PATH. This is the least portable but most reliable. | Problem | Fix | |---------|-----| | No