Software Bundles for Flash Drives -Take Your PC With You

[Nightwatch]

I don't know how many people know this, but it's quite possible to install quite a good number of your favorite software that you daily use onto a Flash Drive, and take it with you... so in effects, carry your PC in your pocket.

Software is FREE (Open Platform) ranges from Firefox Browser and email clients to the fully developed Office Programs. Whenever you've found a PC, just insert your Flash Drive and start using your programs.

Portable Applications (on PortableApps.com) expains this better, so I quote from their site:

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What is a portable app?

portable - carried or moved with ease
app - a computer program like a web browser or word processor

A portable app is a computer program that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any Windows computer. When your USB flash drive, portable hard drive, iPod or other portable device is plugged in, you have access to your software and personal data just as you would on your own PC. And when you unplug the device, none of your personal data is left behind.

No Special Hardware - Use any USB flash drive, portable hard drive, iPod/MP3 player, etc
No Additional Software - Just download, run the portable installer and go


Consider the Possibilities...

Carry your web browser with all your favorite bookmarks
Carry your calendar with all your appointments
Carry your email client with all your contacts and settings
Carry your instant messenger and your buddy list

Carry your whole office suite along with your documents and presentations
Carry your antivirus program and other computer utilities

Carry all your important passwords and account information securely

Consider the Convenience...

Have your favorite websites handy to recommend to a friend or colleague
Have your presentation AND the required software ready to go for that big meeting
Have your password with you if you want to bank online while traveling

Have utilities handy when visiting family or friends that are having PC problems
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This is the site:
http://portableapps.com/about/what_is_a_portable_app

Available applications: (again, quoting from the site)


Applications

Accessibility

Firefox Accessibility Extension - Make Firefox more accessible
On-Screen Keyboard Portable - Easily access an on-screen keyboard
Virtual Magnifying Glass Portable - A full-featured screen magnifier

Development

Notepad++ Portable - A full-featured text editor with syntax highlighting
Nvu Portable & KompoZer Portable - The easy-to-use Nvu web editor
XAMPP - Apache, mySQL, PHP, phpMyAdmin, etc in one package

Education

BPBible Portable - bible study tool
Celestia Portable - portable space simulator
Stellarium Portable - portable planetarium

Games

DOSBox Portable - classic DOS games to go
Frets on Fire Portable - rock out anywhere with this Guitar Hero™-style game
Jooleem Portable - simple and addictive puzzle game with great music and visuals
LBreakout2 Portable - breakout-style arcade game similar to Arkanoid
Mines-Perfect Portable - a classic hunt-for-mines game with advanced features
PokerTH Portable - classic Texas Hold Em style poker at its best
Sudoku Portable - the wildly popular and addictive puzzle game

Graphics & Pictures

Cornice Portable - image viewer with slideshow
GIMP Portable - Photo and Image Editor

Internet

aMSN Portable - chat and video chat on MSN/Windows Live
DownThemAll! Extension (for Firefox) - download the files and images you want faster
FileZilla Portable - the full-featured FTP client
FireFTP Extension (for Firefox) - a lightweight extension
Miranda IM Portable - chat with AOL, MSN and Yahoo users in a customizable interface
Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition - the award-winning web browser that's safe and secure
Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition - the handy email client
Nvu Portable & KompoZer Portable - the easy-to-use webpage editor
Pidgin Portable - chat with AOL, MSN and Yahoo users in an easy-to-use interface
PuTTY Portable - lightweight telnet and SSH client
Sage Extension (for Firefox) - A full-featured RSS extension
WinSCP Portable - SFTP, FTP and SCP client
WinWGet Portable - take and manage your downloads on the go

Music & Video

Audacity Portable - A simple audio editor and recorder
BonkEnc Portable - extract, convert, and encode audio
CoolPlayer+ Portable - Lightweight, fast, easy-to-use audio player
DVDStyler Portable - DVD menu authoring tool
MPlayer Portable - Full-featured movie player with support for most video formats
VirtualDub Portable - video processing and capture utility
VLC Media Player Portable - An easy to use media player that plays most audio and video formats

Office

AbiWord Portable - a lightweight word processor compatible with Microsoft Word files
GnuCash Portable - accounting, expenses and financial management
Lightning Extension (for Thunderbird) - A lightweight extension for your calendar and tasks
Mozilla Sunbird, Portable Edition - Calendar and task management with a familiar interface
Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition (Address Book) - Email client's built-in address book with import/export functions
OpenOffice.org Portable - word processor, spreadsheet, presentations with Microsoft compatibility
PDFTK Builder Portable - split, collate, watermark and password protect PDF documents
PNotes Portable - stick notes to go
SpeedCrunch Portable - an intuitive algebraic calculator
Sumatra PDF Portable - a lightweight PDF viewer
Task Coach Portable - to do list and task manager

Operating Systems

Mac-on-Stick - Run Mac OS Classic 7 portably
also, run Linux from your Flash Drive (even if the PC that the Flash Drive is inserted is a Windows based one)
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

Utilities

7-Zip Portable - File archiver and compressor
ClamWin Portable - Antivirus on the go
Command Prompt Portable - Simple link to a customizable command prompt
ConvertAll Portable - convert units of measurement
Eraser Portable - securely delete files and data
InfraRecorder Portable - full-featured CD and DVD burner
JkDefrag Portable - Disk defragmentation and optimization
KeePass Password Safe Portable - Secure, easy-to-use password manager
Lightscreen Portable - easy to use screenshot tool
PeaZip Portable - Easy to use file archiver and compressor
PortableApps.com AppCompactor - shrink apps without affecting functionality
PortableApps.com Backup - integrated backup utility bundled with the platform
PortableApps.com Menu - integrated start menu bundled with the platform
Toucan - backup, sync and encrypt for advanced users
WinDirStat Portable - disk usage analyzer and cleanup tool
winMd5Sum Portable - check md5 sums to verify files on the go
WinMerge Portable - file comparison and merging
Xenon File Manager Portable - portable file browser

http://portableapps.com/apps
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http://portableapps.com/suite
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I have an OCZ 16 Mb Flash Drive which takes a lot of stuff from my HD when compressed and carries a good number of programs from the list above ranging from the portable office to email, PDF makers and browsers, etc. You can carry all your settings and data on your pocket.

[rockingmtranch]

Very nice. The OS section can be added to a bit with www.pendrivelinux.com

[Nightwatch]

very good input, thanks Added to the above list as well. We need to start using our Flash Drives to their maximum potential that they offer to us.

[jamie1992]

Hmm i wonder what magical stuff i can put on my 4GB memstick?

[Grump642]

I have Ubuntu, Ultimate Boot CD, set up as a duel boot mem stick. Sounds funny, but it works great. I also have file recovery software, security software( not all will run from a USB), and other stuff imbeded in the UBCD. I carry with me all the time.

[jamie1992]

How much space does that all take?

[VINTAR]

Sounds fantastic, but dont loose it with all your internet banking details on it

[Nightwatch]

Hmm i wonder what magical stuff i can put on my 4GB memstick? How much space does that all take?

Just some:
(there are others like portable GIMP as well)

Software |.............................Mb

Toucan backup-Sync-Encrypt.......... 1.1
PDFTK_Builder_Portable_3.2 .......... 2.6
Eraser_Portable_5.82_Rev_3 .......... 1.1
WinMerge_Portable_2.10.2.......... 3.4
VLC_Portable_0.9.6_Release_2.......... 15
Audacity_Portable_1.2.6_Rev_3 .......... 2.3
7-Zip_Portable_4.57 .......... 1.1
Notepadpp_Portable_4.8.2 .......... 1.3

PortableApps.com_Suite 116
Included Applications

(it says on its official documantation) : All versions of the PortableApps.com Suite include the integrated PortableApps.com Menu (pictured at right) and the PortableApps.com Backup utility along with a set of custom icons, an autoplay configuration, folders and a quick start shortcut. In addition, the packages include:)

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition (web browser)
Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition (email)
Mozilla Sunbird, Portable Edition (calendar/tasks)
ClamWin Portable (antivirus)
Pidgin Portable (instant messaging)
Sumatra PDF Portable (PDF reader
KeePass Password Safe Portable (password manager)
Sudoku Portable (game)
Mines-Perfect Portable (game)
CoolPlayer+ Portable (audio player)
OpenOffice.org Portable* (office suite)
- Writer (word processor)
- Calc (spreadsheet)
- Impress (presentations)
- Base (database utility)
- Draw (drawing)

Those software may tale a bit larger space when fully installed, but slightly more.

Sounds fantastic, but dont loose it with all your internet banking details on it

I agree. It also goes to the PCs as well. I personally do not keep any financial or other personal info on any computers, as no PC is safe (ps: I have two firewalls, one is software: Zone AlarmPro, the other is hardware box outside the PC, and I still do not keep bank info.) best way is to use your bank/credit card on fresh reboot PC and then shut down browser and clean cookies and cache, and never enable "auto form fill" options that many (even those who promote themselves as being very safe) browsers offer. Otherwise, all such info remains stored in your PC and is a sitting duck for a hacker.

So, after this, keeping the info on your Flash Drive, (as Vintar also warns against) is of course not a safe move at all.

[Grump642]

I have it all on a 4Gb stick. With room left over. For security, you can use True Crypt to encrypt part of your stick that is as safe as it gets for bank info and stuff. Even a Cray would take years to break it. So if you lose it, not that big of a deal.

[Nightwatch]

I have it all on a 4Gb stick. With room left over. For security, you can use True Crypt to encrypt part of your stick that is as safe as it gets for bank info and stuff. Even a Cray would take years to break it. So if you lose it, not that big of a deal.

yup, that's a very good one. Thanks for mentioning this. And best of all, it's FREE unlike many others which are not as good as this one. This is the link to download:
http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads.php