Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware, Lists
24 Killer Portable Apps For Your USB Flash Drive
by Lee Mathews Sep 2nd 2008 at 9:00AM
My flash drive works pretty hard, so I've spent a lot of time gathering a reliable, powerful set of portable tools that allow me to work hard and play hard, even if I can't do it on my own PC. Here are two dozen apps that I always have at the ready.
Encryption
Truecrypt - Why is TrueCrypt first on the list? Simple. A multi-gig, easy-to-lose, unencrypted drive with your data on it is a terrible security risk. Truecrypt helps me keep all my private stuff locked down. Read the "traveller mode" documentation for help setting it up.
Web and Internet
Operator - I'm not an Opera fanboy by any stretch, but if I've got to surf on a public computer, I'm using Operator. It's got Tor anonymous browsing built in to keep you safe. You can read more about it in my previous post. If I'm on a trusted computer, I'll go for Portable Firefox.
Pidgin - I don't usually need to IM from a client's site, but just in case I need to stay in touch I bring Pidgin with me. For portable multi-network chat, it's the best option out there. Add the encryption plugin to keep it secure.
Filezilla - Half the time I need Notepad++, it's because I'm editing files on my FTP server from the road. Filezilla portable keeps all my sites accesible from wherever I am.
Peer-to-Peer
μTorrent - Yet another recurring frustration is not being able to find a torrent client on a PC when I need it. I run μTorrent on all my PCs anyways, so it's got a home on my flash drive as well.
Frostwire - What's worse than getting a song stuck in your head and not being able to hear it? Take Frostwire with you and make sure that doesn't happen.
Maintenance and Support
CCleaner - A lot of the computers I work on look like they've never had a single file deleted from them. CCleaner makes short work of dumping gigs of trash files from them, and it tidies up the registry, too.
Revo Uninstaller - Phase two in the purging of filth from client machines is ridding them of unwanted apps. Revo is way better than add/remove programs, and the "hunter mode" uproots stubborn apps.
Nirsoft Apps - I have to group these, because they'd eat up half my list otherwise. Dialupass, Mailpassview, Currports, Netresview, and several other of their apps are must-haves for any technician.
Treesize Free - To find where all of someone's drive space is going in a hurry, fire up Treesize. It makes drive cleanup a snap.
Teamviewer - Zero config remote control that's portable? Yes, I'll have that. Teamviewer kicks so much ass that it was an easy sell to my boss, who makes Mr. Crabs look like a big spender.
Multimedia
CDBurner XP - Customer's don't always have good - or any - burning software installed. CD Burner XP solves that problem. I switched from InfraRecorder, but it's a good option as well.
Screamer - I tried screamer out a while ago for a post on DLS, and it's earned a spot on my drive. For quick access to tons of internet radio streams, you can't beat it.
Faststone Capture - Whether I need a screencap for a blog post or to prove something to someone, Faststone is my app of choice. The included editing features are great, and mean that I don't need a photo editor for quick jobs. The link is to the last free version (at Portable Freeware Collection), as Faststone is now trialware.
VDownloader - You never know when you're going to stumble across a YouTube video that you just have to save. VDownloader will save in a number of video formats, or the audio only as MP3.
Irfanview - For image viewing and basic edits (crop, rotate, resize, etc.) , it's Irfanview all the way. The homepage is here, but the portable version is over at Smithtech.
VLC - Videolan wins as my portable media player because it supports so many formats and doesn't require outside codecs. Can 100 million downloaders really be wrong? Ok, sure they can. But I still love VLC.
Document Handlers
Notepad++ - It never hurts to have a good text editor at your disposal, and portable Notepad++ is an excellent option. Tons of great features, like macro recording, syntax highlighting, tabbed interface, and much, much more.
Abiword - Some may opt for OpenOffice, but I choose Abiword because I've got Zoho and Google Docs accounts for out-of-office chores that require heavy lifting. Abiword is small, fast, compatible, and has all the features I need for quick document production. The portable version is here.
Foxit PDF Reader - I hate trying to open a manual on a customer's PC only to learn they don't have an Acrobat viewer installed. Foxit is my reader of choice, so I take it with me.
File Management
Total Commander - Not only is Total Commander a rockin' dual-pane, tabbed Explorer replacement, but it also handles all kinds of archive files. That eliminates the need for two more apps just to handle syncs and file extraction. Until someone resurrects Google browser sync or Mozilla Weave handles all my Firefox settings and customizations I'll just let TC do it for me. Yes, it also has an FTP client and text editor, but FileZilla and Notepad++ are better.
Portable Launcher
PStart - It's nice to have quick access to the tools on your flash drive, and PStart gives you that by adding an icon/menu in the system tray. It's searchable, and there's even a tab to store quick notes for yourself.
There's my list. Would my flash drive cut the mustard for you, or did I miss your favorite app?
I don't know if this is a labor of love or merely the brainchild of four very gifted games designers, but Level Up is a really weird mash-up of gaming elements that you have probably never seen in a Flash game before.
Let's start with the premise itself: Groundhog Day meets Memento. The game experience revolves around 'days': you explore the world and the clock slowly ticks towards the evening. You bounce around picking up gems and talking to the denizens of 'Level Upland'. Eventually you feel tired and head back to ...
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Andrew said 11:22AM on 9-03-2008
That's because it's just setting up the USB drive with program and driver files along autorun.inf for you. You have to create the truecrypt volume in addition to those files.
gerd said 2:37PM on 9-02-2008
You forgot "putty" and "winscp" on your list!
Reply
Geir said 3:05PM on 9-02-2008
PuTTY isn't portable, see my comment above.
woodland said 3:16PM on 9-02-2008
Nize list but, ;-)
Miranda IM to replace Pidgin
Firefox
Thunderbird
Gimp
OpenOffice
Dia
you can get them individually at portableapps.com
or use the suite with the startmenu
Reply
Dave Field said 5:11PM on 9-02-2008
The latest BeyondCompare will install as a portable - I use it all the time when clients' source control policies fail...
Reply
dblagbro said 6:45PM on 9-02-2008
i used to use a USB, but i kept running out of space. so now i serve realVNC with encryption from home and find that i seldom pull out my USB anymore. i just use their browser to launch the java applet and use my own pc's wherever i am.
most of this started after many of my major customers started automatically formatting and encrypting my USB drives whenever plugged into their desktops. warning - lock your drive before plugging into unknown networks; especially if they maintain a tight leash on their desktops.
Reply
koan said 6:58PM on 9-02-2008
NetSetMan
http://www.netsetman.com
It's one of the most useful piece of software I've tried on my USB key. The very first time you have to install it on a machine but then you can simply copy the folder on an USB stick and it works.
NetSetMan is a network settings manager which can easily switch between 6 different profiles, each with its IP address, DNS server, default printer, etc. etc. (and since you can move the folder you can simply copy it twice to have 12, 18, 24 or more different profiles).
There's a paid version, but the free one will surely satisfy all your needs.
Apart from NetSetMan, my most used portable apps are Pidgin (IM), Screamer (Radio), MoveMe (utility), GIMP, Skype (it's really easy to make it portable), Zoundry Raven (blogging tool), Rainlendar, JKDesfrag (tool) and the Google apps online (Gmail, Calendar and Docs).
Reply
Jerry said 10:49AM on 9-03-2008
Yes and if you mentioned Thunderbird what about eM Client -> it features integrated IM that will be released within few days...
Reply
Andrew said 11:09AM on 9-03-2008
Great list. Props for listing PStart instead of the horrible PortableApps.com start menu like everyone else. PStart rocks! I have two additions:
- a-squared free
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/stick/
Essential if you have friends/family that like to click on the "Free Smileys" ads.
- 7-zip (as others have mentioned)
http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/7-zip_portable
Its interface may not be as pretty to look at as PeaZip, but I believe it is much more reliable (PeaZip has crashed on me several times), and it has an very active development community.
Reply
baltee said 2:15PM on 9-03-2008
Nice listing, thanks! The only utility I can see missing, that I always use is WinDirStat. The other two similar utilities listed do a similar job, I just enjoy the file list and visual interface of the program.
Reply
R-Bro said 11:01AM on 9-04-2008
Is my math off, or are there only 22 programs listed here?
Reply
Lee Mathews said 10:54AM on 9-04-2008
It's off. There are actually two other apps subtly mentioned (Firefox, Infrarecorder)....
Reply
Shoban said 5:39AM on 9-06-2008
Thanks for the list.. i once wrote about 25 portable apps for USB drives . if any one is interested http://www.crankup.net/25-useful-portable-applications
Reply
EmmaDW said 7:50AM on 9-09-2008
Useful list, thanks. I've tended to stick to those apps from Portable Apps in the past; however, I do like the look of that PStart ... I can see a rebuild coming on.
I'd not thought about the problem of people automatically formatting USB sticks (does that mean that people in those organisations can only get stuff *off* a PC, or they can't use them at all? )
The other main thing I have that others haven't mentioned, is SecondLife - as that installs to a single folder; I've also included the .bat file that Penn State Uni ( http://gaming.psu.edu/SLOnAFlashDrive ) . It lets us run SL with students, without having to have it (and, in particular its frequent updates) installed on the Uni systems.
Reply
Nick said 9:11AM on 10-19-2008
"What's worse than getting a song stuck in your head and not being able to hear it?"
I bet having your testicles attacked with an electric cattle prod is worse than that.
Reply
Danny said 2:58PM on 10-28-2008
I don't know why I did this, but I read your article as if some redneck wrote it. It could be due to the amount of alcohol I've consumed. It made a good read anyway.
Reply
benjick said 12:46PM on 10-29-2008
Geir: http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/putty_portable
Reply
Josh said 2:33PM on 10-30-2008
Frostwire is okay and all. But i have been hacked thru it and now i have my hard drive to reformat because the hacker put keyloggers/web cam loggers/interent logging everything on my computer
Thanks for reading.
concerned,
Josh
Reply
DanielS said 11:02AM on 10-31-2008
I love this list! I also have a usb key doing most of this as well, but you did leave off one that I must have.
Keepass - A simple yet very powerful password manager/creator. It is hands down a nessicity, and there's even a version that works on my phone, so I'm a happy camper :)
Reply
Graham L said 8:13PM on 11-21-2008
Foxit PDF reader - which of the 3 files is the one you need for a USB flash drive?? Thanks :)
Reply