Until that journey completes, developers need tools that work in the field, from a USB drive, without admin privileges. While not perfect (the help system remains broken, and COM is fragile), a self-built portable VFP 9.0 SP2 is an invaluable asset. It respects the original licensing, keeps legacy systems alive, and ensures that the fastest database engine ever written remains ready for the next critical bug fix—launched from a keychain.
Alternatively, for runtime-only deployment (not the IDE), you can legally redistribute the VFP 9.0 SP2 runtime DLLs ( vfp9r.dll , vfp9t.dll , vfp9renu.dll , etc.) alongside your compiled EXE. That is a supported Microsoft model – but the itself is not redistributable and requires full installation. Visual FoxPro 9.0 SP2 Portable
The answer lies in the concept.
@echo off SET VFP_ROOT=%~dp0 SET PATH=%VFP_ROOT%;%VFP_ROOT%FFC;%PATH% SET FOXPROSTARTUP=%VFP_ROOT%CONFIG.FPW CD /D %VFP_ROOT% START /B vfp9.exe Until that journey completes, developers need tools that
To function without a full installer, VFP requires specific runtime files to be present in its root folder: : The main executable file. : The runtime library needed to execute FoxPro code. VFP9RENU.DLL @echo off SET VFP_ROOT=%~dp0 SET PATH=%VFP_ROOT%
Forces VFP to save environment preferences into the portable directory instead of the host C: drive.