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I just got me a new external HDD (160GB Western Digital Passport) with a USB 2.0 port. I wanted to take as much of my desktop as I can with me. I’ve been searching and googling for applications that don’t need any kind of installation and can be executed directly from my external disk on any PC I might need them. I was looking for several solutions for several issues. One very important issue was security for some of my data (passwords, documents, etc). I wasn’t worried about the size of the portable applications, since 160 GB is quite big and should be enough for plenty of stuff ;-).

 

The first thing I “installed” on the external Hard drive was PortableApps suite (Screen Shot). The suite is very user friendly and looks pretty slick (If you want to get your hands a bit dirty you can even theme and mod PortableApps to your liking). With the default suite came an impressive set of applications ready to use:

 

• ClamWin Portable (Anti Virus) - Screen shot

• Mozilla Firefox Portable (web browser) – Screen Shot
• Gaim Portable (instant messaging) - Screen Shot
• Open Office Portable (Office suite) – Screen Shot
• Sudoku Portable (game) - Screen Shot
• Mozilla Sunbird (calendar/task manager) - Screen Shot
• Mozilla Thunderbird (email program) – Screen Shot

The suite takes care of most users needs for an external storage disk. But that wasn’t enough for me… I wanted more and more to take with me.

 

Security: I asked a few friends and colleagues, but no one really had an idea on how to secure a part of my external HDD in a way no one could access my private data. I asked Google for help and found TrueCrypt to be a good solution. The only downside of using TrueCrypt would be that I had to install the application on each computer I would need access to my Private data. I think I have no choice but to deal with. I created a file (10GB to start with) and encrypted it. Whenever I need to access my private data I mount that encrypted file with TrueCrypt as a Drive letter and I’m ready to go - Screen Shot.

Additional Applications I use on my external HDD:

 

• Hijack This (analyzing the PC for spyware, adware and viruses) - Screen Shot

• Jruler (Simple Ruler for webdesign) - Screen Shot
• Media Player Classic (simple Media player that plays almost everything) - Screen Shot
• Mines-Perfect portable (Minesweeper game) - Screen Shot
• NagaSkaki (Chess game) - Screen Shot
• Notepad++ portable (My favorite Notepad app) - Screen Shot
• Opera@USB portable (web Browser) - Screen Shot
• ozSync (Synchronization app) - Screen Shot
• PlainEdit (notepad replacement) - Screen Shot
• PokerTH portable (Texas Holdem poker) - Screen Shot
• Process Explorer (Task manager replacement) - Screen Shot
• RockXP4 (Password and Software key recovery) - Screen Shot
• SmartSniff (Simple and Plain sniffer) - Screen Shot
• SoftPerfect Network scanner (Network scanning tool) - Screen Shot
• Sumatra PDF portable (fast PDF reader) - Screen Shot
• System Information for Windows - Screen Shot
• ToDoList (advanced to-do list management) - Screen Shot
• Toucan (External HDD backup tool) - Screen Shot
• FSViewer (Advanced Image viewer and Browser) - Screen Shot
• FileZilla portable (FTP client) - Screen Shot
• etoolz (several network applications) - Screen Shot
• Eraser portable (If you need to delete something for real) - Screen Shot
• CPU-Z (CPU identification) - Screen Shot
• Command Prompt portable (CMD) - Screen Shot
• Ccleaner (cleans windows better than anything) - Screen Shot
• aida32 (Detects all your hardware and software) - Screen Shot
• A43 file manager - Screen Shot

 

This sums it up so far – I’m always looking for more useful portable applications that I can take with me, wherever I go… Feel free to add your favorite portable applications in the comments ;-) I’ll update this post with anything new I find.

 

 

admin :: Feb.05.2008 :: Apps, Portable Apps, USB, gadget :: 4 Comments »

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