Applications for your USB Flash Drive

Until recently, I’d never really thought there was much use for a USB stick other than carrying around some documents and music with me on the go; commuting from work, school, home, etc. Then, about two weeks ago, I found out that, well, hey, you can probably use programs that don’t need installation on it with computers that don’t have administrative rights. And I was right.

At school, I no longer worry about fooling with having to use IE6; instead, I can whip out my 2GB USB and plug that sucker in and instantly have access to Firefox 2.0 and Avant Browser. Along with these, I also have an IM program, pdf reader, various games, a personal management organizer, calendar, mail reader, swf player, ftp client, screenshot taker, word processor, paint program, and more. All for under about 400mb of space.

USB sticks are cheap these days, ranging from a 2gb at $13 to a 4gb at $23 USD, if you know where to shop. There’s no excuse not to go for a 2gb or higher for a few bucks if you’re like me and don’t have installation rights on a computer somewhere.

 

Most of these applications below come from an application website know by the name Portable Apps. Others are from various other internet sources. I’ve compiled a list of the most useful ones, in my opinion, below.

 

Web Browsers

- Firefox 2 Portable – http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable
      USB-enabled version of the popular Firefox browser. Fully supports plugins such as Flash, and almost all addons.

- Avant Browser USB Edition - http://dl.filekicker.com/send/file/184227-Z37W/avant.exe
      Portable version of Avant browser, a more obscure but well-built browser. I use this one more than Firefox. Doesn’t have many addons, however.

- Opera USB – http://opera-usb.com/download/opera952en.zip
     USB Version of the semi-popular Opera browser. Not much more to say.

 

Word Processors / Text Editors

- AbiWord Portable – http://portableapps.com/apps/office/abiword_portable
     Pretty good word processor; nice alternative to Windows’ Microsoft Word.

- OpenOffice Portable – http://portableapps.com/apps/office/openoffice_portable
     Renowned OpenOffice is available on USB. Only problem is the large filesize (240mb) Contains the ENTIRE OpenOffice suite, not just Writer. I’m sure you can find Writer alone on the site, possibly.

 

Instant Messengers

- Miranda IM – http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/miranda_portable
     Not all that sexy by default, but can be skinned and edited to your liking. Access to most IM networks, and IRC.

- Pidgin Portable – http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/pidgin_portable
    Pidgin. Another multi-IM network program. Formerly GAIM.

 

Games

- Sudoku – http://portableapps.com/apps/games/sudoku_portable
     The popular Sudoku game on your usb. No further explanation needed, I’d think.

- DOSBox Portable – http://portableapps.com/apps/games/dosbox_portable
     Used to run old DOS games smoothly on newer computers. Not a game itself, but an emulator.

 

Graphics / Picture Editors

- The GIMP, Portable – http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/gimp_portable
    It’s GIMP. Portable. The only image editor / paint program you’ll ever really need on your USB.

 

Music Players

- MPlayer – http://portableapps.com/apps/music_video/mplayer_portable
    Has support for most music formats. And video formats.

 

Personal Information Managers

- EssentialPIM Portable – http://www.snapfiles.com/get/epimportable.html
    Works amazingly. ToDo’s, notes, schedules, etc. Great interface, easy to navigate.

 

Other Stuff

Since I can’t point out everything that might be useful to you, below are several sites with lists of USB-compliant programs.

- http://portableapps.com/ Where most wellknown, existing programs are ported to portable. (lolwut)

- http://www.snapfiles.com/features/ed_usb_software.html List of programs that can be put on a USB.

- http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-software-usb/ 100 Programs.

- http://flashdrivefreak.wordpress.com/ - Reviews/Lists random portable games and applications.