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If you have a work PC or Laptop or if you’re not sure of installing software directly to the PC, you may be interested in another option, using Portable Apps.
Portable Apps is a free suite of applications which have been put together by different companies to work using a single, simple menu system. It’s also small enough to fit on a 4GB USB Memory stick or even 2GB if you use the smaller version. The software will work from any portable platform including iPods, which is very useful if you want to carry your software around without too many extra gadgets.
My recommendation is to use an 8GB Pen Drive or, better still, a portable hard drive, as it will leave space for documents, pictures, music and movies.
Why use Portable Apps?
Many of the PCs you will use for work will have restrictions on what you can install and use. Portable Apps does not install any drivers, codecs or programs to your PC, everything it needs is installed directly to the Memory Stick or media of your choice.
It’s also very fast and the menu allows you to access all your applications simply, in the same way that the START menu works on Windows.
The software is all fully featured, despite being free, and is carefully selected to avoid anything ‘dodgy’ from being downloaded.
What’s Included?
You can pick and choose which applications are installed on Portable Apps and the software comes in a basic package or several larger packages with more software. The Basic package has the advantages of being able to install exactly the applications you want on top of the menu system, leaving space for other things on your media.
The basic package is 1MB, the next is 46MB and includes pretty much all of the essential software you need. Finally, there is a larger package weighing in at 124MB which includes OpenOffice. In addition to this there are tons of other programs from the site to install including MPlayer.
Software Rundown
Firefox Browser – This is a great little web browser which many people now prefer over Internet Explorer. It is fully supported by Flash and other add-ins which the modern Internet requires and seems to be a lot faster than IE. The Download tool is particularly nice for monitoring your Internet downloads.
Audacity – This is a Wav editor, a tool for editing sound files. It can pick up MP3 and other sound files, chop them up and add effects. The software will also let you save and convert to different formats.
Clamwin – A basic AntiVirus. It won’t replace your full Antivirus suite but it’s useful to have around with you to run quick scans. There are free updates to keep your virus definitions up to date.
CoolPlayer – A nice little music player, it’s quite basic in function but does include skins to change the look of the player.
Pidgin – An instant messaging tool similar to Yahoo Messenger or MSN which will let you mix all your contacts from various messaging services into one program.
GIMP – A now established photo and picture editor which has a lot of the functions of more expensive editing software like Photoshop. Slightly daunting at first for the basic user, GIMP has a whole load of editing tools and is very flexible.
OpenOffice – This has now been established as a real alternative to Microsoft Office and contains many of the functions you can find in the MS package but all for free! Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Image editing, presentations, they’re all here.
MPlayer – This cool little Application will play most of your video formats without having to worry about installing codecs to your PC. It plays videos without breaking into a sweat and has all the functions of Windows Media Player without the hassle.
Keypass – If you’re like me you have loads of passwords for different applications. Keypass can help securely keep track of them all for you. Much better than sticking all your passwords in a document and hoping no one else reads it!
Sumatra – A small PDF reader that does away with a lot of the menu options for those who just want to read PDF files without any editing. It’s quite basic but this means it’s also pretty fast to open and scroll through pages.
ThunderBird – Part of the Mozilla family (Firefox), Thunderbird is a nice email reader that does a similar job to Outlook, organising all your emails and allowing you to view them offline as well as sending, attachments and all the other options you’d expect. As with Firefox it works fast and has pretty much everything you need without the footprint or cost of larger programs.
Sunbird – A Calendar and Task handler which keeps track of your daily, monthly and weekly events. It can’t connect with Outlook but it does have compatibility with Apple’s ICal which may mean the Ipod Touch and IPhone could possible integrate with this in the future.
These are just a selection of the most used apps for Portable Apps, there are many others being written all the time and even basic Windows games like a version of Minesweeper are available. I’ve been using Portable Apps for the last year and it’s been a wonderful experience, preventing the need for installing anything to my work PC and keeping my data safe in one place at the same time.
Alternative Options
Most of the applications here are available as stand-alone versions which will need installing. The bonus is that they tend to have a few more options or will be more powerful, but most of the software here is fully featured anyway.
There are also other pieces of software that you can use individually such as AVS Video Editor, various picture viewers and music editing software, both free and paid for. The main reason I use Portable Apps instead of these is due to the integrated menu system and being able to trust the source, as well as receiving updates for the software.
Portable Apps is a free suite of applications which have been put together by different companies to work using a single, simple menu system. It’s also small enough to fit on a 4GB USB Memory stick or even 2GB if you use the smaller version. The software will work from any portable platform including iPods, which is very useful if you want to carry your software around without too many extra gadgets.
My recommendation is to use an 8GB Pen Drive or, better still, a portable hard drive, as it will leave space for documents, pictures, music and movies.
Why use Portable Apps?
Many of the PCs you will use for work will have restrictions on what you can install and use. Portable Apps does not install any drivers, codecs or programs to your PC, everything it needs is installed directly to the Memory Stick or media of your choice.
It’s also very fast and the menu allows you to access all your applications simply, in the same way that the START menu works on Windows.
The software is all fully featured, despite being free, and is carefully selected to avoid anything ‘dodgy’ from being downloaded.
What’s Included?
You can pick and choose which applications are installed on Portable Apps and the software comes in a basic package or several larger packages with more software. The Basic package has the advantages of being able to install exactly the applications you want on top of the menu system, leaving space for other things on your media.
The basic package is 1MB, the next is 46MB and includes pretty much all of the essential software you need. Finally, there is a larger package weighing in at 124MB which includes OpenOffice. In addition to this there are tons of other programs from the site to install including MPlayer.
Software Rundown
Firefox Browser – This is a great little web browser which many people now prefer over Internet Explorer. It is fully supported by Flash and other add-ins which the modern Internet requires and seems to be a lot faster than IE. The Download tool is particularly nice for monitoring your Internet downloads.
Audacity – This is a Wav editor, a tool for editing sound files. It can pick up MP3 and other sound files, chop them up and add effects. The software will also let you save and convert to different formats.
Clamwin – A basic AntiVirus. It won’t replace your full Antivirus suite but it’s useful to have around with you to run quick scans. There are free updates to keep your virus definitions up to date.
CoolPlayer – A nice little music player, it’s quite basic in function but does include skins to change the look of the player.
Pidgin – An instant messaging tool similar to Yahoo Messenger or MSN which will let you mix all your contacts from various messaging services into one program.
GIMP – A now established photo and picture editor which has a lot of the functions of more expensive editing software like Photoshop. Slightly daunting at first for the basic user, GIMP has a whole load of editing tools and is very flexible.
OpenOffice – This has now been established as a real alternative to Microsoft Office and contains many of the functions you can find in the MS package but all for free! Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Image editing, presentations, they’re all here.
MPlayer – This cool little Application will play most of your video formats without having to worry about installing codecs to your PC. It plays videos without breaking into a sweat and has all the functions of Windows Media Player without the hassle.
Keypass – If you’re like me you have loads of passwords for different applications. Keypass can help securely keep track of them all for you. Much better than sticking all your passwords in a document and hoping no one else reads it!
Sumatra – A small PDF reader that does away with a lot of the menu options for those who just want to read PDF files without any editing. It’s quite basic but this means it’s also pretty fast to open and scroll through pages.
ThunderBird – Part of the Mozilla family (Firefox), Thunderbird is a nice email reader that does a similar job to Outlook, organising all your emails and allowing you to view them offline as well as sending, attachments and all the other options you’d expect. As with Firefox it works fast and has pretty much everything you need without the footprint or cost of larger programs.
Sunbird – A Calendar and Task handler which keeps track of your daily, monthly and weekly events. It can’t connect with Outlook but it does have compatibility with Apple’s ICal which may mean the Ipod Touch and IPhone could possible integrate with this in the future.
These are just a selection of the most used apps for Portable Apps, there are many others being written all the time and even basic Windows games like a version of Minesweeper are available. I’ve been using Portable Apps for the last year and it’s been a wonderful experience, preventing the need for installing anything to my work PC and keeping my data safe in one place at the same time.
Alternative Options
Most of the applications here are available as stand-alone versions which will need installing. The bonus is that they tend to have a few more options or will be more powerful, but most of the software here is fully featured anyway.
There are also other pieces of software that you can use individually such as AVS Video Editor, various picture viewers and music editing software, both free and paid for. The main reason I use Portable Apps instead of these is due to the integrated menu system and being able to trust the source, as well as receiving updates for the software.
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As much as this is a good idea, the fact that Flash Memory is only good for a few thousand re-writes makes running applications from your USB stick not very reliable. As you may know, applications will be frequently writing files to disc, as this is how they operate.
By doing this you are drastically reducing the life of your USB stick. I would only suggest to back up a small amount of data to Flash Memory (your documents, music, images as this is how they are intended to be used.)
Now if you had a portable HDD or something, this I couldn't see any flaws (apart from possibly slower write/access times).
Just my opinion though :)
By doing this you are drastically reducing the life of your USB stick. I would only suggest to back up a small amount of data to Flash Memory (your documents, music, images as this is how they are intended to be used.)
Now if you had a portable HDD or something, this I couldn't see any flaws (apart from possibly slower write/access times).
Just my opinion though :)
No, that's the beauty of it, your favourites, for instance, go with you, your movie playback markers are stored on the USB stick etc.
The point is that many companies don't like drivers installed on their systems because it has the potential to make Windows unstable and makes it harder to determine what is wrong when they get a Laptop or PC to repair.
Also, this means that you're saving hard drive space and have apps around when you need them, so you can use the same tools at home and in the office, which makes finishing your editing or whatever else you're doing that much easier.
The point is that many companies don't like drivers installed on their systems because it has the potential to make Windows unstable and makes it harder to determine what is wrong when they get a Laptop or PC to repair.
Also, this means that you're saving hard drive space and have apps around when you need them, so you can use the same tools at home and in the office, which makes finishing your editing or whatever else you're doing that much easier.
The idea is sound enough I guess, but if one of the main reasons for you using it is because you trust them, why not install them on the PC direct?
It would be handy if you have multiple computers you use at different times I guess.
Does it just work as if they were installed on the PC when you plug the device in? Like do the applications take configuring every time etc?
It would be handy if you have multiple computers you use at different times I guess.
Does it just work as if they were installed on the PC when you plug the device in? Like do the applications take configuring every time etc?
If you have a work PC or Laptop or if you’re not sure of installing software directly to the PC, you may be interested in another option, using Portable Apps.
Portable Apps is a free suite of applications which have been put together by different companies to work using a single, simple menu system. It’s also small enough to fit on a 4GB USB Memory stick or even 2GB if you use the smaller version. The software will work from any portable platform including iPods, which is very useful if you want to carry your software around without too many extra gadgets.
My recommendation is to use an 8GB Pen Drive or, better still, a portable hard drive, as it will leave space for documents, pictures, music and movies.
Why use Portable Apps?
Many of the PCs you will use for work will have restrictions on what you can install and use. Portable Apps does not install any drivers, codecs or programs to your PC, everything it needs is installed directly to the Memory Stick or media of your choice.
It’s also very fast and the menu allows you to access all your applications simply, in the same way that the START menu works on Windows.
The software is all fully featured, despite being free, and is carefully selected to avoid anything ‘dodgy’ from being downloaded.
What’s Included?
You can pick and choose which applications are installed on Portable Apps and the software comes in a basic package or several larger packages with more software. The Basic package has the advantages of being able to install exactly the applications you want on top of the menu system, leaving space for other things on your media.
The basic package is 1MB, the next is 46MB and includes pretty much all of the essential software you need. Finally, there is a larger package weighing in at 124MB which includes OpenOffice. In addition to this there are tons of other programs from the site to install including MPlayer.
Software Rundown
Firefox Browser – This is a great little web browser which many people now prefer over Internet Explorer. It is fully supported by Flash and other add-ins which the modern Internet requires and seems to be a lot faster than IE. The Download tool is particularly nice for monitoring your Internet downloads.
Audacity – This is a Wav editor, a tool for editing sound files. It can pick up MP3 and other sound files, chop them up and add effects. The software will also let you save and convert to different formats.
Clamwin – A basic AntiVirus. It won’t replace your full Antivirus suite but it’s useful to have around with you to run quick scans. There are free updates to keep your virus definitions up to date.
CoolPlayer – A nice little music player, it’s quite basic in function but does include skins to change the look of the player.
Pidgin – An instant messaging tool similar to Yahoo Messenger or MSN which will let you mix all your contacts from various messaging services into one program.
GIMP – A now established photo and picture editor which has a lot of the functions of more expensive editing software like Photoshop. Slightly daunting at first for the basic user, GIMP has a whole load of editing tools and is very flexible.
OpenOffice – This has now been established as a real alternative to Microsoft Office and contains many of the functions you can find in the MS package but all for free! Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Image editing, presentations, they’re all here.
MPlayer – This cool little Application will play most of your video formats without having to worry about installing codecs to your PC. It plays videos without breaking into a sweat and has all the functions of Windows Media Player without the hassle.
Keypass – If you’re like me you have loads of passwords for different applications. Keypass can help securely keep track of them all for you. Much better than sticking all your passwords in a document and hoping no one else reads it!
Sumatra – A small PDF reader that does away with a lot of the menu options for those who just want to read PDF files without any editing. It’s quite basic but this means it’s also pretty fast to open and scroll through pages.
ThunderBird – Part of the Mozilla family (Firefox), Thunderbird is a nice email reader that does a similar job to Outlook, organising all your emails and allowing you to view them offline as well as sending, attachments and all the other options you’d expect. As with Firefox it works fast and has pretty much everything you need without the footprint or cost of larger programs.
Sunbird – A Calendar and Task handler which keeps track of your daily, monthly and weekly events. It can’t connect with Outlook but it does have compatibility with Apple’s ICal which may mean the Ipod Touch and IPhone could possible integrate with this in the future.
These are just a selection of the most used apps for Portable Apps, there are many others being written all the time and even basic Windows games like a version of Minesweeper are available. I’ve been using Portable Apps for the last year and it’s been a wonderful experience, preventing the need for installing anything to my work PC and keeping my data safe in one place at the same time.
Alternative Options
Most of the applications here are available as stand-alone versions which will need installing. The bonus is that they tend to have a few more options or will be more powerful, but most of the software here is fully featured anyway.
There are also other pieces of software that you can use individually such as AVS Video Editor, various picture viewers and music editing software, both free and paid for. The main reason I use Portable Apps instead of these is due to the integrated menu system and being able to trust the source, as well as receiving updates for the software.
Portable Apps is a free suite of applications which have been put together by different companies to work using a single, simple menu system. It’s also small enough to fit on a 4GB USB Memory stick or even 2GB if you use the smaller version. The software will work from any portable platform including iPods, which is very useful if you want to carry your software around without too many extra gadgets.
My recommendation is to use an 8GB Pen Drive or, better still, a portable hard drive, as it will leave space for documents, pictures, music and movies.
Why use Portable Apps?
Many of the PCs you will use for work will have restrictions on what you can install and use. Portable Apps does not install any drivers, codecs or programs to your PC, everything it needs is installed directly to the Memory Stick or media of your choice.
It’s also very fast and the menu allows you to access all your applications simply, in the same way that the START menu works on Windows.
The software is all fully featured, despite being free, and is carefully selected to avoid anything ‘dodgy’ from being downloaded.
What’s Included?
You can pick and choose which applications are installed on Portable Apps and the software comes in a basic package or several larger packages with more software. The Basic package has the advantages of being able to install exactly the applications you want on top of the menu system, leaving space for other things on your media.
The basic package is 1MB, the next is 46MB and includes pretty much all of the essential software you need. Finally, there is a larger package weighing in at 124MB which includes OpenOffice. In addition to this there are tons of other programs from the site to install including MPlayer.
Software Rundown
Firefox Browser – This is a great little web browser which many people now prefer over Internet Explorer. It is fully supported by Flash and other add-ins which the modern Internet requires and seems to be a lot faster than IE. The Download tool is particularly nice for monitoring your Internet downloads.
Audacity – This is a Wav editor, a tool for editing sound files. It can pick up MP3 and other sound files, chop them up and add effects. The software will also let you save and convert to different formats.
Clamwin – A basic AntiVirus. It won’t replace your full Antivirus suite but it’s useful to have around with you to run quick scans. There are free updates to keep your virus definitions up to date.
CoolPlayer – A nice little music player, it’s quite basic in function but does include skins to change the look of the player.
Pidgin – An instant messaging tool similar to Yahoo Messenger or MSN which will let you mix all your contacts from various messaging services into one program.
GIMP – A now established photo and picture editor which has a lot of the functions of more expensive editing software like Photoshop. Slightly daunting at first for the basic user, GIMP has a whole load of editing tools and is very flexible.
OpenOffice – This has now been established as a real alternative to Microsoft Office and contains many of the functions you can find in the MS package but all for free! Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Image editing, presentations, they’re all here.
MPlayer – This cool little Application will play most of your video formats without having to worry about installing codecs to your PC. It plays videos without breaking into a sweat and has all the functions of Windows Media Player without the hassle.
Keypass – If you’re like me you have loads of passwords for different applications. Keypass can help securely keep track of them all for you. Much better than sticking all your passwords in a document and hoping no one else reads it!
Sumatra – A small PDF reader that does away with a lot of the menu options for those who just want to read PDF files without any editing. It’s quite basic but this means it’s also pretty fast to open and scroll through pages.
ThunderBird – Part of the Mozilla family (Firefox), Thunderbird is a nice email reader that does a similar job to Outlook, organising all your emails and allowing you to view them offline as well as sending, attachments and all the other options you’d expect. As with Firefox it works fast and has pretty much everything you need without the footprint or cost of larger programs.
Sunbird – A Calendar and Task handler which keeps track of your daily, monthly and weekly events. It can’t connect with Outlook but it does have compatibility with Apple’s ICal which may mean the Ipod Touch and IPhone could possible integrate with this in the future.
These are just a selection of the most used apps for Portable Apps, there are many others being written all the time and even basic Windows games like a version of Minesweeper are available. I’ve been using Portable Apps for the last year and it’s been a wonderful experience, preventing the need for installing anything to my work PC and keeping my data safe in one place at the same time.
Alternative Options
Most of the applications here are available as stand-alone versions which will need installing. The bonus is that they tend to have a few more options or will be more powerful, but most of the software here is fully featured anyway.
There are also other pieces of software that you can use individually such as AVS Video Editor, various picture viewers and music editing software, both free and paid for. The main reason I use Portable Apps instead of these is due to the integrated menu system and being able to trust the source, as well as receiving updates for the software.
Page: