Run your favorite applications and programs from a portable USB drive

Posted on October 16, 2007 at 9:15 am

PortableApps is one of the coolest web sites out there because it allows you to run your favorite programs and applications directly from a USB flash stick/drive. The program is open-source and supports a multitude of open-source software packages, including Firefox, OpenOffice, 7-Zip, Audacity, GIMP, and lots more. Using this app, you can take carry around all of your programs, settings, bookmarks, and even your email to ANY Windows computer.

That’s the really cool part about PortableApps, you can go to any computer and run your applications from it just as if they were actually installed on that computer. Simply plugin your USB drive and you’ll get your own personalized Start Menu with all of your apps and data.

Also, since PortableApps is open source, you can run the program off of any hardware device, not just a USB drive, such as an iPod or a portable external hard drive, etc). The software is completely free and does not include any ads!

You can either download applications separately or you can download the PortableApps Suite, which I would suggest since it’s only 90MB (this installs the basic set of apps, but there are many more you can download and install such as FileZilla for FTP, etc). And don’t worry, once you install a set of apps on your device, you can always come back and add more portable apps! To install a new app later on, just download it to the root of the drive and run the setup file. You can delete the main setup file and any other program specific setup files after the installation is finished.

Here’s a list of the apps currently supported by PortableApps.com:

7-Zip Portable
AbiWord Portable
Audacity Portable
ClamWin Portable
Command Prompt Portable
FileZilla Portable
GIMP Portable
KeePass Portable
Miranda IM Portable
Mines-Perfect Portable
Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition
Mozilla Sunbird, Portable Edition
Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition
Notepad++ Portable
Nvu Portable & KompoZer Portable
On-Screen Keyboard Portable
OpenOffice.org Portable
Pidgin Portable
PokerTH Portable
PuTTY Portable
Sudoku Portable
Sumatra PDF Portable
Virtual Magnifying Glass Portable
VLC Media Player Portable
winMd5Sum Portable

To install PortableApps, download it from the Applications or Suite page into the root of your hardware device. Run the executable file and it’ll install the apps! It could take anywhere from 2 to 20 minutes.

To use the apps on another computer, just run the executable file called StartPortableApps.exe from the root of your USB drive. You can also backup your Bookmarks, emails, and preferences by clicking on the backup icon from the main menu. You’ll get to choose what you want to backup and where you want them stored.

Overall, a very cool way to keep your favorite programs handy when you’re on the go. If you’re not happy with the open source software, you can also check out some articles on how to run Windows XP from a USB drive:

http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176

http://www.vandomburg.net/articles/2006/03/15/installing-windows-xp-from-usb

In this way, you can purchase one of the larger USB drives (8GB or 16GB) and install a full version of XP onto it. Then you can add Windows applications to it just like you install apps on your computer! Enjoy!

[tags]install windows on USB, portable apps, usb apps, usb programs, portable usb apps[/tags]

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Comments

10 Responses to “Run your favorite applications and programs from a portable USB drive”

simplr said on : October 16th, 2007 at 12:45 pm

Good post, I did some research and articles on portable apps, and found another amazing (huge) resource for portable apps that I reviewed last week. An Italian site, but featuring English support and English applications on their site: winPenPack.

Ronald

simplr said on : October 16th, 2007 at 12:48 pm

sorry, link to winPenPack should be: http://www.winpenpack.com/

Ronald

Nirmal said on : October 16th, 2007 at 10:18 pm

Portable Apps is definitely a good collection of softwares for use on the move.

indyank said on : October 16th, 2007 at 11:12 pm

Yes it is really portable and cool…

Madhur Kapoor said on : October 17th, 2007 at 11:21 am

This software is cool and very handy . Will give it a try .

Bill Ligon said on : July 14th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

I have a Asus Eee PC and want to run programs (open office etc) from my E drive – 8GB SD card. How do I install the program to run from that drive??

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