Just about everyone has a usb flash drive by now. Apart from all that data you're packing (which you no doubt have encrypted in case your drive gets lost -- but that's a post for another day), why not pack up your favorite web browser and take it along for the ride.

There are a lot more options than you think - here are 13 different options for users of Windows PCs. Don't see your choice on the list? Share it with us in the comments!

Mozilla

Portable Firefox (current) [download] and Portable Minefield [download]
John T. Haller's Portable Apps project is always right on top of the latest Firefox updates, so it's the place to go if you need the Fox in your pocket. The most recent unstable branch is provided as well, in case you want to test it without installing.

PocketFlock v2 [download]
The kicked-up Firefox remix for social networking types is also available in a portable version, thanks to enthusiast Dave Ferrite.

Portable application suites are extremely popular downloads. The granddaddy of them all - John T. Haller's Portable Apps - just cleaned up at OSCON and passed the 100 million download mark. It's not the only suite around, though. I covered it and three others in a previous post, but hadn't yet heard of Kitchen Sink Collection.

It's packed with more than 1.2Gb of software and includes all the core applications you would expect, like Firefox, FileZilla, Thunderbird, Sumatra, and OpenOffice. That's just the tip of the iceberg, however. There are loads more applications covering every kind of chore from listening to/grabbing internet radio (Screamer) to rootkit detection to accessing EXT2/3 partitions.

The contents scanned clean with both Microsoft Security Essentials, except for a false positive on Angry IP Scanner. KSC's 440Mb 7-zip auto-extractor is available for direct download from the developer or as a torrent from Mininova.

Update: as pointed out in the comments, the maintainer has pulled the download. From his site:

So just got a letter from the owner of portableapps.com saying that I'm violating trademark law, the GPL, and several software licenses.

Unfortunately Kitchen Sink will need to be offline until I can get that ironed out. Here's why:

• I'm doing this for the love as I'm not getting paid. I've got some revenue sources (adwords and donations), but I have yet to make a dime off either one.
  
• I'm unemployed and don't make near enough money to hire a lawyer to help me make sure I'm totally in compliance with 200 different licenses.
  
• I'm a big fan of the GPL and violating the license even implicitly is not something I'm comfortable with.
  

If I can't get this cleared up, I'll shutter the project for good.

Portable applications suites are a great way to get your hands on a ton of useful software with minimal fuss. Got a new flash drive, or maybe an old one you don't know what to do with?

Throw one of these suites on it and you've got an instant software Swiss Army Knife.

PortableApps.com - John T. Haller's project is the most well-known suite on the 'net. It includes Firefox, OpenOffice (or AbiWord in the light version), Pidgin, Thunderbird, Sunbird, Sumatra PDF, KeePass, and more. Haller is very good for keeping the core up-to-date - you'll usually see new versions of the Mozilla apps the same day they're released.

LiberKey - The Ultimate version will take up half a gig on your drive, and it's packed with useful programs, including technician favorites like CPU-Z, RegShot, Revo Uninstaller, Unlocker. There are also loads of multimedia, networking, and internet apps. The 180Mb basic version is a lot like PortableApps with the addition of Piriform's tools (CCleaner, Defraggler, Recuva). They've got a handy comparison chart posted as well. One omission worth noting: OpenOffice.

CodySafe is a program launcher for WIndows that can be installed to a USB flash drive to give you quick access to any portable applications stored on your drive. In other words, it's a lot like the PortableApps Start Menu. But there are a few things that make CodySafe worth checking out, even though it's still in beta.

First, in addition to letting you organize your applications, you can organize documents on your flash drive much the same way you do on a Windows PC, by sorting items into pictures, music, video, and documents, with shortcuts to each on your start menu. Second, CodySafe has a ton of customization options, including:

• Customize your start menu by arranging items into groups
• Add programs to an Autorun menu so they will launch whenever you run the CodySafe menu
• CodySafe Control panel lets you adjust the language, system settings, or scan the disk for errors
• Set custom command line parameters for each application

You can either install a handful of portable apps from CodySafe's web site, or you can use the application manager in the CodySafe options menu to add any app stored on your flash disk, including programs from PortableApps.com, Pendriveapps, and The Portable Freeware Collection.

CodySafe is a free utility. Future versions will include file, folder, and disk encryption, and a disk backup tool.

The PortableApps.com application suite is a package of Windows programs that you can run from a USB flash drive. The platform comes with a program menu that pops up when you insert your USB stick, or when you launch the program, and a suite of apps including a web browser, instant messenger, and office suite.

The latest version of the PortableApps.com suite comes with a new theme that adds a few visual effects. It also allows you to rename application icons and hide icons for programs you don't want to show up in the menu. Platform 1.5 also allows you to run application as an administrator and includes support for 37 languages.

The PortableApps.com suite comes in comes in three flavors. You can download the platform which basically gives you the app launcher and a few other utilities, allowing you to install just the applications you want from the PortableApps web site. Or you can choose the full sutie which includes the full version of OpenOffice.org Portable and weighs in at 355MB once installed. The Light suite takes up just 150MB of disk space, and comes with the AbiWord Portable word processor instead of OpenOffice.org Portable.

If you already have an earlier build of the application platform on your removable storage, the installer should recognize your existing data and perform an upgrade instead of a fresh install.

There have been portable versions of web browsers including Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera that you can run from a USB flash drive for a while. Basically these apps let you store your data to the flash drive allowing you to run these apps on Windows without installing anything or writing any data to the Windows registry.

Xenocode takes a different approach. And it works with other applications including Safari, Internet Explorer, and other desktop and web-based apps like Google Talk, Gimp, and Adobe Reader. That's because Xenocode employs virtualization techniques that detache an app from the operating system it normally runs on. Xenocode apps can be run from a web browser if they're deployed online. Or you can download a single executable file for some apps and run them from your hard drive or a USB flash drive.

Some of the web browsers are a bit on the old side. The version of Google Chrome available for download is out of date, and Xencode offers an executable version of Safari 3.2.1, not the newer and much cooler Safari 4 beta. But if you're looking for a way to try out a browser or another app without installing it first, Xenocode is worth checking out.

[via Digital Inspiration]

Skype lets you make cheap or free voice or video calls on computers running Windows, OS X, or Linux. There are even mobile clients available that let you make calls using your smartphone from a WiFi hotspot. But there's no official portable version of Skype that you can run from a USB stick.

It turns out though, that it's pretty trivial to convince Skype for Windows to run properly from a USB stick, which means you can save the program to a flash drive and carry it with you in your pocket. All of your settings and preferences will be saved to the USB stick, so your username, password, and other data won't be stored on your work computer, friend's computer, or other unsecure computer where you use the program.

Here's all you have to do:

1. Install Skype on your PC and then find the installation folder. It's probably something like "C:\Program Files\Skype." Copy the Skype.exe file to a folder on your USB flash drive.
   
2. In that same folder on your flash drive, create a subfolder called "data."
3. Create a new text file called "Skype.bat" or Skype Portable.bat" or whatever you like.
4. Open your new file using Notepad or another text editor and write "skype.exe /datapath:"data" /removable" (without the quotes).
5. Save and close your file

When you click Skype.bat, Skype should launch and all of your settings will be saved in the data folder. Although these instructions were designed for older versions of Skype and Windows, I just tested them with Wndows 7 an Skype 4.0 and everything works perfectly.

via The Portable Freeware Collection and ReadWriteWeb

I can't always get to my main laptop when I feel like putting together a blog post. If you've read some of my other lists, you probably noticed that I'm a big fan of portable applications for just this reason. As long as I've got my trusty USB flash drive, I'm always equipped with the programs I need to get things done.

Here are ten of my favorites (plus two alternatives). With these programs in my pocket, I'm always able to write when inspiration strikes - regardless of what computer I'm using.

1. Windows Live Writer is the best offline tool for composing blog posts, hands down. While Microsoft doesn't offer a portable version, it's a simple DIY project (Brad first covered it in September 2007). You can download the portable launcher from Scott Kingery's blog: it's over a year old, but it works just fine with the latest beta of Live Writer. With a rich feature set and support for Wordpress, TypePad, LiveJournal, Blogger, and more, it's a necessity.

2. Portable Firefox and SRWare Iron are both great browsers. I keep Firefox handy in case I need access to my favorite extensions, and use Iron when I just need to do some quick surfing. Why Iron instead of Chrome? For the added privacy.

3. GreatNews is a decent, portable RSS reader that's actually portable (no Java runtime needed, like RSSOwl). The download is under 1mb, and it formats feeds into a tidy newspaper-like layout. If I'm using a machine where I'd rather not log in to my Google account, I'll fire up GreatNews to read my feeds instead.

Just about a week after open source image editor GIMP 2.6.1 was released, a portable version is available. What makes GIMP 2.6.1 Portable different from the original application is that you don't have to install the portable edition on a computer to run it. You just download the application, run it once to unzip it to a directory of your choice, and then you can run it from that folder. In other words, you can unzip it to a USB flash drive and plug that drive into any computer you want to use GIMP on.

GIMP Portable is part of the Portable Apps suite which also includes portable versions of Firefox and OpenOffice.org. The portable applications are Windows only, although most of the applications are open source and capable of running on Windows, Linux, and in some cases, OS X. You just need to install them the old fashioned way on Linux and Mac systems.

There are plenty of applications that let you write blog posts without using the default web interface for Blogger, Wordpress, LiveJournal, or other blog platforms. But most have one limitation - you have to download and install the application on each and every computer you plan to work on. While Zoundry Raven might not have as many features as Windows Live Writer or be as easy to use as ScribeFire, the free Windows tool has one major advantage: You can install it to a portable flash drive and use it on any Windows computer.

Zoundry Raven supports about two dozen platforms including Wordpress, Blogger, Moveable Type, TypePad, and LiveJournal. The program has a WYSIWYG editor and supports the ability to upload images and add tables to blog posts. Zoundry Raven also let you select from a small list of remote storage options in case you want to upload all of your blog images to Picasa Web Albums, Flickr, or another online storage site.

[via Smashing Magazine]

Like the idea of carrying a portable office suite on your USB flash drive, but think that OpenOffice.org and even smaller applications like AbiWord take up too much space? Tiny USB Office provides a ton of useful applications, hold the bloat.

Tiny USB Office started its life as "Floppy Office," an application suite with a footprint so small that it could fit on a 1.44MB floppy disk. You know, if you happen to have one lying around. But the developers have packed so many features into the latest release that there was no way to keep the suite that small. No, Tiny USB Office now takes up a whopping 2.4MB.

Here are a few of the applications included int he suite:

• CSVed - Database application
• NPopUK - Email Cleint
• FTP Wanderer - FTP client
• Spread32 - Spreadsheet application
• Kpad - Word processor
• 100 Zipper - File compression utility
• PDF Producer - PDF creator
• DScrypt - Data Encryption

And the list goes on. As you'd probably expect, these applications are missing some of the bells and whistles you'll find from Microsoft Office or OpenOffice.org. But the price is right. Tiny USB Office is free, and we're betting you've got at least 2.5MB to spare on your flash drive.

[via Shell Extension City]

Microsoft is reportedly working on a system that will allow users to run software and store system settings on USB flash drives. Microsoft is working with SanDisk to develop something called StartKey, which will be a replacement for the U3 software that allows users to install and run applications from a flash drive.

StartKey will allow for further integration with Windows than you get from U3 or other portable application technologies. For example, you'll be able to store things like your desktop wallpaper, icons, and contact lists which means you can plug a StartKey drive into any computer and experience your familiar desktop environment.

For the most part, it feels to us like Microsoft is reinventing the wheel here. You can already install Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin, and OpenOffice.org on a flash drive. Do you really care that much about carrying your wallpaper around? On the other hand, we're sure there would be some folks who would prefer to install Outlook, Office, and maybe even Internet Explorer on a flash drive, so if that's what Microsoft has in mind, StartKey could be something to keep an eye on.