Multiple Apps
Portable Apps Suite
- Browser, email, web editor, office suite, calendar, IM, FTP, etc in a 260MB download!
- 105MB Lite version also available for 128MB drives
WinInizio PenSuite 2.1
The PenSuite offers many software categories — for instance, security, networking, multimedia — enough that you could use a it on a PC that has just the operating system installed.
Environments
MojoPac, Virtual XP (128MB-2GB) ***NEW***
Mac-on-a-Stick (32MB)
Portable, Stripped Version of Windows XP (Faster) (256MB)
Portable, FULL Version of Windows XP (Slower) (2GB)
Pocket PC Emulator (Pocket PC Emulator, 32MB)
Portable Virtual Privacy Machine (D/mn Small Linux Enviro, 125MB)
Internet
AIM (AIM 5.9 - Install to PC first, than copy 'c
rogram filesaim' folder to USB key, and run AIM from your USB Key!)
FileZilla (Portable (S)FTP client, 2.6MB)
Browzar Portable Stealth Browser (246k)
Ghostzilla (Invisible/Stealth Mozilla v1.0.1 Browser, 25.7MB)
iFTP ((S)FTP client, 858 KB)
MiniAIM(AIM client, 92 KB!!!)
Miranda IM (AIM/ICQ/MSN/Yahoo chat client, 1.4MB!!!)
nPOP (POP email client <200K?!)
OffByOne (Internet browser, 1.94MB--When you hate IE & can't fit Firefox)
Opera@USB (Internet browser/Email client, 5.2MB)
Portable Firefox (Internet browser, 7.55MB)
Portable Firefox-Mac & PC Cross-Platform (Cross-platform browser, which keeps profiles in sync)
Portable Thunderbird (Email client, 9MB)
Portable Sunbird (Calendar & scheduler, 7.43MB)
Portable NVU (Website editor, 10.2MB)
PuTTY (SSH/telnet, 412K for just PuTTY...more if you want scp, sftp, and/or key generation)
Qm (Email sender, 47Kb!)
Skype (See Pg 6 of this thread! 18MB)
Trillian Anywhere (AIM/ICQ/MSN/Yahoo chat client, 30MB)
uTorrent (Bittorrent client, 105Kb!)
WinSCP (SSH/SFTP, smaller than Filezilla???)
Launchers
See this article to set them to autorun, but YMMV. See the 'Other Tips & Tricks' section to create a batch file instead!
ASuite
Floater (Scroll down to Floater to download, Quick launch tool bar, only 40Kb!)
PStart (Start menu for all your portable apps. Very nice U3 alternative! 586Kb)
Multimedia
Audacity (Audio editor, 7.25MB)
CDex (CD ripper, 3MB)
Exact Audio Copy (BEST CD ripper, 4.67MB)
FastStone Image Viewer (Photo Editor, Viewer, and Converter, 3.42MB)
Foobar2000 (Advanced audio player, Read me to make it portable)
GIMP (Portable install instructions for image editor, 24MB)
IrfanView (Graphics viewer & editor, 1.27MB)
Media Player Classic (Portable full featured media player, 4.62mb)
mp3DirectCut (Non-destructive mp3 recorder/editor, 90Kb)
Mp3 Tag Tools (Mp3 Tag Editor, 509Kb)
VLC (Audio/Video player, 30.3MB)
XMPlay (Portable audio media player, 358Kb)
Office Utilities
Portable Abiword (Portable word processor, 14.6MB)
EveWE (Vector graphics editor/Flowchart tool, 227K)
Foxit PDF Reader (Also lets you type on any PDF! Excellent for PDF Rebate forms!, 2.8MB)
Portable Open Office (Completely free MS Office alternative, 167MB)
Spread32 (Full-featured portable spreadsheet, download sprea32en.zip, 1.26MB)
Security Apps
KeePass Password Safe (Password manager, 694Kb)
My Wallet (Password manager)
dsCrypt (Individual file encryption, only 25Kb!)
Dekart Private Disk Light (Partitioned volume encryption, See notes on page 3 of this thread, 500Kb)
TrueCrypt (Partitioned volume encryption, 2.3Mb)
GnuPG (Cross-platform file/email encryption) Use with portable Thunderbird and/or get:
Windows Privacy Tray (GUI for GnuPG)
System Utilities
A43 (Windows Explorer alternative, ~1MB)
bbLean (Blackbox for Windows)
Dead Pixel Buddy (Test LCD for dead pixels, 288Kb)
freeCommander (Windows Explorer alternative, ?MB)
PC De-Crapifier (Uninstaller, 256kb)
Restoration (Recover deleted files, 413Kb)
System Information for Windows (PC configuration analysis & diagnostics [similar to Belarc], 1,272Kb)
WinAudit (System Auditing Tool, 129Kb)
Excessive Software (Miscellaneous small utils such as fast defragger, temp cleaner, stubborn file remover, etc.)
Other Apps
7zip GUI or cmd line (un)archiver for a lot of formats (476Kb for cmd line, 2.1 Mb for GUI)
Bloodshed Dev-C++ (Full-featured IDE for C++ development, 13.5MB)
HJ-Zip (Zip/unzip app with GUI, ~1MB)
Movable Python (Python environment, 15.1 MB for basic, 36.5 MB for standard (now charges $$$ ;-())
MWSnap (Print screen utility, download zip & extract to a folder, 900Kb)
Sudoku (Addicting Puzzle Game, 0.4 MB
SlipFTPd (FTP Server)
Tiddlywiki (A reusable non-linear personal notebook)
Uniform Server (Apache, MySQL, Perl, PHP)
VIM (Text editor)
WinQcad
WxBasic WxBasic BASIC interpreter/compiler (can write GUI programs for Windows & Linux with this)(<850Kb)
Articles
Macworld:Secrets:Your Apps in Your Pocket
Customize Your Drive's Autoplay Action, Drive Icon, and Disk Label
Make Your Thumb Drive Bootable
Windows In Your Pocket
The Ultimate USB Key
What is U3?
Portable App Links
Mac OS X Portable Apps
PortableApps.com
Portable Freeware
The Info Box's Portable USB Apps
The USB Drive Soft Blog
FAQ
Q: Do you need a "U3" usb drive for these software programs to work right?
A: No. U3 creates a virtual CD drive, which makes autorun programs work on systems which have it enabled.
How do I get rid of U3 from my USB drive?
WARNING: Deleting U3 is irreversible!!!
Download and run U3 Uninstaller.exe:
Mirror 1
Mirror 2
IMPORTANT: Backup your files from the drive before uninstalling U3!
Other Tips & Tricks
If you intend to attach your USB drive to your keychain like I do, I would not recommend one that has a keychain/lanyard loop on the USB cap like this model. You'll lose your USB drive, but not the cap.
Backup your USB drive often! Never keep critical files on your USB drive without having a backup copy on your PC first! I use SyncToy (freeware).
Never unplug your USB drive while running a portable app or saving/deleting a file on the drive! It will corrupt the data and will prematurely damage the drive. Close the portable app(s) first! Also use the "Safely Remove Hardware" tool when available (Windows XP/2000). It will stop any remaining background programs using the drive; and if it can't, it will let you know.
WinZip also allows you to encypt zip files. Warning, there are programs such as the PicoZip Recovery Tool that can open password-protected zip files.
How to create a batch file to start a Program Launcher (i.e., ASuite or PStart):
- Open Notepad and copy & paste the following:
@echo off
echo Starting PStart...
cd
start PCAppsPStartPStart.exe
- Change 'PCAppsPStartPStart.exe' to the actual location of the file on your USB drive
- Note that folder names must not contain spaces!
- In Notepad, click File > Save As > Save in: [Choose the root directory of your USB drive] > Save as type: All Files > File name: PStart.bat
Done!
This batch file works like a shortcut. Since the drive letter may change whenever you plug your USB drive into a different PC, creating a simple shortcut does not work. This is the workaround.
In the root directory, I put a text file named READ_IF_FOUND.txt that says:
This USB drive belongs to:
First L.
If found, please call:
111-222-3333
Or email me at:
MyEmailAddress@yahoo.com
Or mail it to:
First L.
PO Box 1234
My City, CA
Thank you!
