executable - python: Can I run a python script without actually installing python?

Question

I have some .py files I wrote that I want to run on a different machine. The target machine does not have python installed, and I can't 'install' it by policy. What I can do is copy files over, run my stuff, and then remove them.

What I tried was to just take my development python folder over to the target machine and cd to the python folder and run python.exe /path/to/.py/file. It gave me an error saying that python.dll was not registered. If I registered the DLL that is probably going to move me to far across the 'violating policy' line.

Is there anyway I can accomplish running python files on a machine that does not have python actually installed (trying to get py2exe to work now, but it is painful)?

Answer 1

I decided to go with cx_Freeze.

It created a distro that I was able to simply copy and move to the target machine. Also, it was much easier to use than py2exe; further it seems that it is still being maintained (as of Mar 10, 2011), while py2exe development does not look as active.