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50 Killer Apps for your USB

By Daniel Taylor on August 25, 2011 11:46

These free apps don't require any installation. With portable applications, all you have to do is plug in your USB and run the program without the hassle of installing the program or leaving traces behind. If you like these portable apps, many of them also have an installer allowing you to install the program on your computer for more speed and accessibility.

These free apps don't require any installation. With portable applications, all you have to do is plug in your USB and run the program without the hassle of installing the program or leaving traces behind. If you like these portable apps, many of them also have an installer allowing you to install the program on your computer for more speed and accessibility.

OpenOffice.org is a complete office suite capable of completely replacing Microsoft Word as well as Powerpoint and Excel. Through its easy-to-use interface, OpenOffice.org provides easy access to nearly every function imaginable including an irreplacable equation program. To complete its painless replacement of the Microsoft Suite, it offers full compatibility with files previously created in the Microsoft Suite so you don't lose any of your work and can still open files from other people who haven't migrated to OpenOffice.org.
Freeware 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
AbiWord is an open source, award-winning, cross-platform word processor very closely resembling Microsoft Word. AbiWord is also very lightweight and a great alternative to Microsoft Word if you want a fast, reliable application with a very small learning curve. For the portable version, download npp.x.x.x.bin.zip where x.x.x is the current version.
Open Source 2000/XP/Vista/7/Linux
Notepad++ is an upgrade to the simplistic Windows Notepad which can be made without sacrificing speed while increasing functionality to a whole new level. Notepad++ can also be run on nearly all computers running some version of Windows. Although Notepad++ was originally designed as a word processor, it has evolved into a programmer's best friend. Because Notepad++ is open source, there is a wide array of programming languages supported by its built-in syntax highlighter.
Open Source 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista/7
Sumatra PDF Viewer is a lightweight, open source PDF Viewer for Windows with a minimalistic design. Because Sumatra PDF was developed with simplicity, usability, and speed as top priorities, it starts up lightning fast compared to other PDF viewers and is a great alternative to Adobe Reader for nearly everyone.
Open Source 2000/XP/Vista/7
For the user who wants a little more control over their PDF documents than Sumatra PDF Viewer gives, Foxit Reader is the way to go. Foxit Reader is an excellent alternative to the infamous Adobe Reader. And at less than 5MB, Foxit Reader is less than a quarter of the size of Adobe Reader without losing functionality. Combine that with frequent updates, a list of additional plugins, and plenty of speed and you have a complete PDF reader.
Freeware 2000/XP/Vista/7
Mozilla Thunderbird is a popular, feature-rich, cross-platform email client created by the developers of Mozilla Firefox. Mozilla Thunderbird has put emphasis on speed as well as compatibility creating a safe email client with many customizable features including support for IMAP, POP, RSS support and more. Because Mozilla Thunderbird has the ability to send information encrypted, all of your personal information is sfae. Also check out Thunderbird's host of add-ons such as Contact Sidebar or Lightning. Now you can take your address book and email wherever you go.
Open Source 2000/XP/Vista/7
For those of you who don't want your calendar integrated into your email via Lightning, Mozilla Sunbird is the best alternative. Sunbird is a cross-platform calendar bundled with a simple to-do list. Sunbird Portable has a top of the line interface while still allowing access to an endless number of features. Although it is very early ing the development process, Sunbird is on of the best calendars available.
Open Source XP/2003/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
Even with the massive improvements in the new Windows 7 calculator, this calculator is still unmatched. SpeedCrunch is an intuitive calculator which adds advanced algebraic capabilities. This feature extensive app allows for an unlimited number of variables, syntax highlighting, 50 decimal precision, input history, and more. Now you can add up some quick sums as well as perform very advanced calculations from anywhere.
Open Source NT/2000/XP/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
Although a media player is extremely important, VLC Media Player is the only media player here for a reason. With nearly 200 million downloads, VLC Media Player is by far the best alternative to Windows Media Player. And with over 75 supported media formats, VLC Media Player is compatible with nearly all video and audio files so you can take all of your music and videos with you without having to worry about not being able to play them on another computer. For most people this is enough, but it can also convert video formats as well as stream unicast and multicast on a high-bandwidth network.
Open Source NT/2000/XP/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
Audacity is a simple audio editor available for all major operating systems. With its simple, clean interface, Audacity is a decent audio editor which comes complete with a live audio recorder, the ability to cut, copy, and splice audio together, and change the speed or pitch of a section of an audio file.
Open Source 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
Songbird is an extensive digital music library enabling seamless synchronization of music with your Ipod or computer. Songbird also includes user-defined groups allowing you to organize your music exactly the way you like it. Songbird is the most complete portable music library available.
Open Source XP/Vista/7/OS X
Blender is a fully functional 3D modeling, animation, and rendering program. Speed is of the essence in the minds of the creators during the development of Blender, but sadly, interface design was dead last. Aside from the interface issues, Blender includes interactive creation of objects as well as real time playback of animations. Blender can be useful to both the novice as well as professional graphics artists who want to take their work with them.
Open Source 2000/XP/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
Dia
Dia has many characteristics of its ancestor, Visio, although it is geared toward informational diagrams for personal use. If you aren't satisfied with the huge selection of shapes provided, there is also support for creating your own shapes. In my experience, Dia has given me superior results.
Open Source 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
IrfanView is a very popular graphics editor due to its speed and basic image editing features. IrfanView has a wide range of support for many different file formats and also supports png compression, transparency, and batch utilities. It's not going to replace a major graphics design program, but it does its job well and that job can be extended with the use of several plug-ins provided.
Freeware 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
Although GIMP is not quite a replacement for Adobe Photoshop, GIMP is hands down the most powerful pixel based image editor available. From a simple paint program to the expert's toolbox, GIMP does it all including batch rendering, image touch-ups, image format conversion, as well as the ability to perform some complex image manipulations. Because GIMP was designed with expandability in mind, there are several plug-ins available which improve the interface as well as your productivity. You can even make your own plug-ins.
Open Source XP/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
Just as GIMP resembles Photoshop, Inkscape resembles Adobe Illustrator, the professional standard for vector based image editing. Inkscape is an open source vector graphics editor. Many image editors like GIMP or Photoshop are bitmap processors which manipulate individual pixels. Inkscape generates vectors (lines and curves) which it then converts into a bitmap when rendered. Because it is based on vectors, vector based processing provides an unrivaled ability to scale images. Inkscape supports many advanced vector tools found in "Photoshop's other half," Adobe Illustrator.
Open Source 2000,2003/XP/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
IcoFX is an award winning icon editor offering icon creation, extraction, and editing. It is designed to work with icons created for Windows 98, ME, 200, XP, Vista, 7 and even OS X. One feature that IcoFX displays pride in is its ability to create icon libraries in a single file. There is no longer a need to package several icons into an executable for different systems or situations; It can all be done here. I actually use IcoFX as my default icon editor even though it is portable.
Open Source 2000/XP/Vista/7
PicPick is an invaluable app containing an array of simple tools that make you wonder how you lived without them. With features such as a built-in image editor, a color picker, color palette, pixel ruler, protractor, cross hair, whiteboard, and screen magnifier, this all-in-one program is light on resources, does not bloat with time, and does the simple things right. Especially useful to programmers and web developers, you never know when you need it, but when you do, it is right there in your tray.
Freeware 2000/XP/Vista/7
These two apps are very simple but are an essential addition to the graphics artist's toolbox. Color Pixie is a bare bones app able to display the HEX, HTML, RGB, CMYK, and HSV values of any pixel on the screen. CatchColor serves the same purpose but includes a tray icon with a few more settings.
Freeware 2000/XP/Vista/7
If you don't want to install Firefox on your computer, at least do the world a favor and get Firefox Portable. Firefox Portable has all the features of the ultimate web browser, Firefox, but also includes portability. Firefox is a fast, full-featured, web browser that's incredibly easy to use. Don't worry about configuring your proxy and patching up security holes in IE; Firefox is a step up as far as security. And with over 12,000 add-ons freely distributed, customizations of your browsing has never been easier. Forget about memorizing all of the websites you visit; Now you can take your bookmarks with you by exporting them or using one of the many portable bookmark utilities. Firefox is the most evolved browser around.
Open Source 2000/XP/Vista/7
Opera USB has all the characteristics of the Opera Web Browser including its elegant design. Opera USB does not have the customization power of Firefox, but has put time and money into compatibility with Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile phones, and other mobile devices.
Freeware 2000/XP/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
Google Chrome used to be the new guy in town, but has been gaining speed since its initiation. Chrome was designed from the ground up with lightning fast browsing in mind. It keeps all the toolbars and icons out of the way to provide for a large viewing area. Chrome also uses a considerable amount more memory than Firefox or Opera does, but in the era where computers have 4GB of RAM installed by default, this is not always an issue. Although there is some speculation about its security, Google Chrome is quickly building a strong fan base.
Freeware XP/Vista/7
The Sage Extension for Firefox is an incredibly lightweight RSS reader which uses much of the funtionality already built-in to Firefox, and for this reason, it is a very small download. Sage supports both RSS and Atom feeds, feed discovery, and has a customizable feed layout.
Freeware 2000/XP/Vista/7
Great News is an RSS feed reader optimized for speed and efficiency. Great News offers an unsurpassed amount of customization with features such as changing view style, ability to find articles of interest, and alternative page layouts. It also offers automatic cleanup of old feeds, importing and exporting of feeds, and popup blocking.
Freeware 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
FireFTP is another Firefox extension providing access to a clean, lightweight FTP client using functionality built in to Firefox. It includes support for SSL and TLS as well as file differences, image thumbnails, the ability to stop and resume downloads and uploads, proxy support, and more.
Freeware 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
Filezilla is by far the most popular FTP client available. The speed and versatility provided by Filezilla is unprecedented. It is also a very reliable and compatible program due to its support for timout detection, firewall detection, SOCKS4/5 and HTTP 1.1 support, different verification methods such as SSL, TLS, and anonymous login, as well as an intuitive drag and drop interface. Although the Filezilla Server is only available on Windows, the client can be used on Windows, OS X, and Linux.
Open Source XP/2003/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
uTorrent is the ultimate in P2P file sharing. The world's most popular BitTorrent client has the same features as other BitTorrent clients such as bandwidth priorities, scheduling, and RSS downloading, but has one major difference; It is only 1MB installed and uses up 6MB of RAM!
Warning: Downloading files directly to your USB will greatly slow down the performance of other portable apps as well as decrease the life of your flash drive. Please change the download directory to somewhere on the local computer.
Freeware 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
DownThemAll! is a very powerful download extension for Firefox. It adds the ability to download some or all of the links on the web page. But the real selling point is its ability to download a file in up to 10 segments, increasing the download speed by up to 400% which saves hours on large downloads. Of course it also allows you to pause, stop, and resume downloads at any time, as well as being completely integrated into Firefox allowing you to replace the default Firefox downloader.
Freeware 2000/XP/Vista/7
Today, in an era where identity theft and hacking are at a historical peak, password security is of the utmost importance. If you use the same password for all your accounts and someone finds out the password, your whole life will be in shambles. That's where Portable KeePass comes in. Portable KeePass compiles all of your passwords into a single database protected by a master password or a key file. The databases are encrypted using the strongest encryption methods currently known (AES and TwoFish). Now you can use very long and secure passwords because you don't have to remember them. Too bad for the hacker next door. Your random 20 character password with 4.4 x 1039 possible combinations will take him 1.4 x 1023 years to crack on your average supercomputer!
Freeware 98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
TrueCrypt is well known all around encryption software. It has the ability to encrypt a simple file, a directory, or even an entire drive. It works by creating a virtual encrypted disk within a file, directory or drive and then mounting it as a real disk so it can be accessed as a secure storage medium. And you can be sure your data is safe; TrueCrypt uses several layers of encryption including TwoFish, AES-256, and Serpent to create an impenetrable shield to protect your files.
Freeware 98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
OmZiff Portable is a portable encryption program that utilizes several encryption methods such as Blowfish, Cast128, Gost, IDEA, Misty1, AES/Rijndael, and TwoFish. Besides being an excellent file encryption utility, OmZiff can also split files, perform secure file deletions, and generate random passwords (great to use with KeePass).
Freeware 98/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
SmartSniff is a TCP/IP packet capture and analysis program which allows you to inspect the network traffic passing through your network adapter. SmartSniff also has the ability to export the traffic for viewing at a later date as well as traffic filters and color coding of traffic packets.
Freeware 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
ClamWin Portable is a portable antivirus capable of scanning your computer on the fly. Complete with regular database updates and high detection rates, ClamWin Portable is a simple solution to the need for a portable antivirus.
Open Source 98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
HijackThis is a free utility that scans your computer for possible spyware, malware, adware, and any other kind of unwanted program. Because HijackThis does not determine what is good or bad, it is not afraid to throw false positives, therefore, almost all errors can be detected. The resulting log file can be analyzed for free here. This program has saved me a couple of times.
Freeware 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7
NSIS is a professional, open source system to create standard windows installers. It is designed to be as small and flexible as possible and is therefore well suited for internet distribution. You want to leave your user with a good first impression and that starts with the installer.
Open Source 95/98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
Server2Go is an advanced web server that is ready to go without any configuration. Amazingly, support for Perl, PHP, SQLite, MySQL, and Apache has been crammed into a space of about 90MB. That's a whole server. It also supports PHP extensions which can increase the usability of your webserver to new heights.
Freeware 98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
Kompozer is an easy-to-use, cross-platform WYSIWYG web editor compatible with a wide variety of operating systems including Windows, OS X, and Linux. It is based on the same Gecko engine that powers Firefox and Thunderbird. It has features such as an FTP site manager, color picker, tabbed interface, and more. It may not be a complete replacement for Dreamweaver or FrontPage, but it will do great while you are on the go.
Open Source XP/Vista/7
XAMPP is for the user who wants a bit more control than Server2Go provides but aren't ready for a fully configurable server. XAMPP and XAMPP Lite is an integrated server which groups Apache, PHP, MYSQL, and Perl together into a simple package. The full server also includes useful add-ons such as FileZilla FTP Server and OpenSSL.
Open Source XP/Vista/7/Linux/OS X
CCleaner is the best tool for cleaning the common junk out of your computer. It clears out temporary internet files, cookies, history, and other unneeded files out of your computer allowing it to run faster while also freeing up valuable disk space. It also doubles as a simple registry cleaner. This registry cleaner is a shallow one so you don't have to worry about any harmful registry changes. But the bes part is it's FAST! Other cleaners can take 15 minutes to run; CCleaner can run in the background but that isn't needed because it finishes in about 11 seconds on my computer. If you don't have this program, you have to get it.
Freeware 98/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
Do you ever get tired of seeing the words: "Cannot delete file: it is being used by another program" or "Cannot delete file: Access is denied"? Well Unlocker Portable is the solution. Because it integrates into the explorer menu, you are just a right click away from deleting that impossible file.
Freeware 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
Toucan is a utility for syncing and backing up files and folders. It has both a simple interface for new users and hidden gems for advanced users who want complete control. This lightweight program also supports both differential and incremental backups, compression, AES-256 encryption, and a simple restore feature. This little app does it all and will be the only backup utility you will ever need.
Open Source 2000/XP/Vista/7
You never know what types of files you will come across when you migrate to another computer. That is why I don't go anywhere without 7-Zip Portable. It has the ability to open nearly every archive or compressed file I have ever come across. It comes with the option of explorer integration and also has a super high compression ratio in a new 7z format. Compound that with a simple file manager and you have a truly great program.
Open Source 2000/XP/Vista/7
Created using my first programming language, AutoIt, Converber can convert an unimaginable amount of units. I challenge you to find a useful unit that this unit converter has missed. Features include an inline calculator, "convert-as-you-go" technology, and an equation editor to add custom units (not that it's needed).
Freeware 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7
Xenon File Manager is a great portable alternative to the bloated Windows Explorer while still maintaining much of the same functionality. It offers portable file associations, the ability to bookmark frequently used folders or files, and a skinnable interface. But best of all, it allows for tabbed browsing. No longer do I have to sift through 7 or 8 open folders before I get to the right one, it's all compacted into a single window.
Open Source XP/Vista/7
TeamViewer Portable is a remote PC support and screen sharing tool. You have the ability to help a friend having computer trouble by walking them through the problem while also controlling their computer. You can show your screen to a potential customer without the worry of firewall complications. It is also the ideal solution for an online meeting or presentation. Other features include file sharing, inline chat program, voice over chat, and a very high security standard with all outgoing data encrypted with AES-256.
Freeware 2000/XP/Vista/7
SIW is a very advanced system information tool for windows that gathers useful information about your system properties, system settings, and programs installed and displays it in an organized manner. If someone from Customer Support asks you your motherboard model and serial number, you don't need to rip out the insides of your computer to get at it. You can also simply send the information to the person in a HTML file after exporting the information.
Freeware XP/Vista/7
TreePad Lite is an intuitive and powerful personal database application. It allows you to store personal files and data such as email, notes, hyperlinks, and text in a single, well organized file. With the look and feel of the familiar Windows Explorer, storing and browsing your data couldn't be easier. An integrated search tool also makes it possible to have large databases while still maintaining usability.
Freeware 95/98/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/Linux
A simple program allowing you to painlessly retrieve your Windows XP product key as well as product keys to other products installed by Microsoft. This can be very useful when you have to reinstall Windows XP or lost the serial sticker.
Freeware XP