Chrome Portable and ARC Welder

Some schools may not be able to install ARC Welder from the Chrome Web Store as described in the instructional videos because of computer or network security restrictions. While we will assist schools to investigate and attempt to resolve these issues, we are also making an alternative installation method available.

This involves copying a version of Chrome Portable with ARC Welder already installed and configured onto each student PC. Since this only requires copying files onto the PC, it can be done without administrator rights. 

1. Download the zipped archive here, and extract the contents. It may be convenient to copy the unzipped folder to a USB drive in order to install it on multiple PCs.
2. Copy the entire folder called 'GoogleChromePortable' to the root of the C: drive on the target PC. It is important not to rename the folder or copy it to any other location, as the configuration of ARC Welder depends on this location.
3. Create a shortcut on the desktop to this copy of Chrome Portable: in the C:\GoogleChromePortable folder, right-click on the shortcut 'Chrome for Smart Skills' and choose 'Send to Desktop (create shortcut)', or drag it to the desktop.
4. On the desktop, double-click the newly created shortcut to open Chrome Portable. Click on the Apps bookmark to find ARC Welder. For convenience, the bookmarks bar also contains links to App Inventor and the Smart Skills Student Resource Centre.

Note that this installation of Chrome Portable can co-exist with a normal installation of Google Chrome, so it is important to distinguish between the two when students are opening a browser to begin a lesson.