Apps To Go - Exceptional portable applications

Introduction

The USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface has become a standard feature on every personal computer, with the great advantage that external devices can be "hot plugged". This allows the computer user to easily add or remove all sorts of devices - such as a disk drive, mouse, keyboard, or printer - while the computer is operating. Also, the variety of portable mass storage devices based on flash memory and miniature hard drives which can be plugged into USB ports has blossomed. This had led to manufacturers offering much higher storage capacities and rapidly falling prices, all to the consumers' benefit. In particular, the storage devices which use flash memory come under a great many different names: USB flash drives, pen drives, memory sticks, Secure Digital cards (SD memory cards), CompactFlash cards (CF cards), flash memory cards, and so on. No matter what one of these devices is called, if it can be recognized by the computer's operating system as a disk drive (on Windows this means it being assigned a drive letter), then it can be used to store the user's data and software.

With the advent of such inexpensive, high capacity storage, the possibilities for portable computing have grown like never before. If you are on the move, you can now take many of your favourite software applications along with you on a flash drive or miniature hard drive and simply plug it into a USB port on just about any modern host computer. You can set up your applications the way you like them without worrying whether the computers you intend to use will have applications missing or set up differently. Tired of coping with the expense and incompatibilties of different versions of Microsoft Office? Then use OpenOffice.org, a complete professional office suite, free of charge, which lets you store documents in the increasingly popular standard Open Document format. As an added bonus, OpenOffice.org can open many Microsoft Office documents directly! Need to access your emails securely while travelling, but find webmail services far less convenient than your usual email client? Sick of receiving spam and viruses through emails? Then use Thunderbird, Mozilla's world-class email client, again available free of charge, and leave the quirks and insecurities of Microsoft's offerings such as Outlook far behind! Wanting to browse the web safely and confidentially, without leaving a trail of your browsing history and private data on the host computer? Then use the speedy and lightweight Pocket K-Meleon web browser or the popular Firefox browser, both originating in the trusted Mozilla stable and free of charge yet again.

There are many more examples of high quality software, mostly without any cost, which have been adapted to work portably. Indeed, it is even possible now to run an entire operating system - Linux - from the likes of a flash drive! This Apps To Go website describes some portable software applications and utilties which Douglas McFadzean considers to be exceptional and the "best of their breed". It also describes the projects developed by Douglas to enhance the K-Meleon web browser, particularly its portability.

Many of the applications have been developed under free software or open source licensing. Whether you are computing at home or in a small business, you don't have to have a business degree or be an accountant to appreciate the economics and potential savings of replacing proprietary software with open source, gratis software. These portable applications have the added advantage of being easy to upgrade too, giving you the business opportunity to escape from costly vendor lock-in cycles of software and hardware upgrades. Adopting the Open Document format for your office documents provides further insurance against the risk of over-dependency on a particular vendor.

What's new

22 June 2009: Added Arch Linux distribution and mention of UNetbootin to Eee PC distros.
15 March 2009: Added PDF-XChange Viewer to office software and CrunchEee to Eee PC distros.
12 March 2009: Added TrueCrypt to security software.
10 December 2008: Expanded portable OpenOffice.org tip.
6 October 2008: Added Eee PC distros page.
24 September 2008: Updated FreeMind entry and added portable configuration tip.
21 September 2008: Personal Knowbase feature updated for new version 3.1 with fully portable installation option.
17 September 2008: Added FreeMind and promoted Sumatra PDF to Office software. Promoted PeaZip to Utilities. Modified tabbyFile entry.
18 May 2008: Added SQLite Manager extension for Mozilla applications to Utilities.
27 April 2008: Revised tips for running Personal Knowbase on Linux. Also noted that Foxit Reader can run on Linux via Wine.
22 February 2008: Added Personal Knowbase feature page. A free knowbase of AppsToGo applications can now be downloaded, for viewing with the Personal Knowbase Reader.
12 February 2008: Added SQLite Database Browser to Utilities.

Surveys

Exceptional apps

The portable applications listed here are regarded as exceptional and among the best in their class. The selection is, of course, a personal choice but hopefully it will encourage new users to try an application and make up their own minds about its worth. Although the applications are free, with one exception, you should not doubt the quality of the software; these apps are as good as, if not better than, their commercially-produced alternatives. Unless otherwise indicated, these applications are fully portable on Windows and can be set up wherever you please on your USB flash drive or miniature hard drive.

Internet

K-Meleon is an extremely fast, customizable, lightweight web browser for Windows, based on the same trusty Mozilla Gecko layout engine as Firefox. Pocket K-Meleon is a fully portable and compressed packaging of the browser.
Firefox is a popular web browser cousin of K-Meleon which the user can customize with a huge variety of extension programs. Easy to configure for portable use yourself or use the Firefox Portable package (some extensions may not be portable). Also available for Linux and Mac OS X.
Thunderbird is one of the most fully-featured and highly customizable email clients available, originating in the Mozilla stable. Excellent security and anti-spam features. Easy to configure for portable use yourself or use the Thunderbird Portable package (some extensions may not be portable). Also available for Linux and Mac OS X.

Office

OpenOffice.org is the leading alternative office suite (comprising Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw and Base) which may be large but it packs a correspondingly impressive array of professional features. Supports the standard Open Document format and can open many Microsoft Office documents directly. Configure for portable use yourself or use the OpenOffice.org Portable package (some Java wizards may not be portable). Also available for Linux, Mac OS X and others.
Sunbird is a calendar and scheduling application from Mozilla. Can work with multiple local and online calendars including Google Calendar, making it powerful though a little slow. Easy to configure for portable use yourself or use the Sunbird Portable package (some extensions may not be portable). Also available for Linux and Mac OS X.
UK's Kalender is a lightweight appointment and task organizer for Windows, with a surprising variety of flexible features, including holiday plugins.
Sumatra PDF is probably the lightest portable PDF viewer for Windows (download the zip version). Open source, and with a single executable file, it keeps things simple and fast. Also runs on Linux via Wine.
PDF-XChange Viewer is probably the most sophisticated portable PDF viewer for Windows. Download the free portable version. Proprietary software, which depends on GDIPLUS.DLL. Also runs on Linux via Wine.
Foxit Reader is a relatively small (compare Acrobat) but fast and effective reader for PDF documents. Uses only a single executable file, but does write settings to the Windows registry. Download the Zip package for relative portability. Can also run on Linux via Wine; native Linux version under development too.
Personal Knowbase is a unique freeform note organizer for Windows which uses flexible keywords rather than fixed data trees. Well crafted, documented and supported with endless uses. Shareware to purchase, although the Personal Knowbase Reader to view databases is available for free. Now fully portable and runs on Linux via Wine.
TreeLine is a unique cross between an outliner and a database manager. Each node in the data tree can contain several fields of different types, forming a mini-database. Supports a wide variety of import/export options. Once installed, the program is portable. Available for Linux and Windows.
FreeMind is a mind mapping application written in Java, and as such is potentially portable if a Java runtime environment is present on the host computer. Configure for portable use yourself or see other developments, including making Java portable. In recent times its capabilities have developed greatly and it offers extensive export options. Runs on Linux, Windows, Mac OS X and others.

Multimedia

1by1 is a small and fast audio player with many useful features. It simply plays music folders with no need for playlists or databases. Supports Winamp input plugins to enable playing of ogg, wav, etc files. Also runs on Linux via Wine.
mp3DirectCut is a handy editor and recorder for mp3 files. Light and fast, it can directly edit audio or modify the volume with no need to decompress the mp3 file first. Also runs on Linux via Wine.

Graphics

IrfanView is a very fast and compact graphic viewer which handles a multitude of formats and options. Deservedly hugely popular and extensible with plugins. No installation needed if you use the zip download at the bottom of the 'Other download sites' page. Also runs on Linux via Wine.

Utilities

Qsel is a small and fast but very flexible launcher for Windows programs, documents and web links. It can automatically handle movable drive letters and stores its configuration data in easily-edited text files. Simple to set up and use.
PStart is another Windows program launcher which is larger than Qsel but offers some other facilities such as searches, notes, reminders and hotkeys. Its configuration data is stored conveniently in a single XML file. Download the portable version.
FreeCommander is a highly configurable dual-pane Windows file manager with many useful features including tree views, tabs, folder comparison and synchronization, file viewing, wiping and archive handling.
File Navigator is a light but reliable dual-pane Windows file manager whose text-based interface belies a wealth of powerful features. For portability, check the compatibility option to save configuration settings to an INI file. Could do with more help in English.
SyncEXP synchronizes files and folders within a Windows PC or LAN. Reliable and very fast with a lot of versatile options to compare source and target files. Copying actions can be previewed and synchronization tasks can be saved.
PeaZip is an archiver for Windows and Linux. With a novel interface, it supports theming and a huge range of archive formats. Download the portable/standalone version.
SQLite Database Browser is an open source, cross-platform visual tool to view, search, import/export, create, design and edit the increasingly popular SQLite database files. Uses a single executable.
SQLite Manager is a surprisingly lightweight yet fully featured extension for various Mozilla applications (such as Firefox, Thunderbird and Sunbird) to manage any SQLite databases. Also features easy access to the profile databases of the host application.
UPX compresses a whole variety of executables (such as .EXE and .DLL files for Windows) to a fraction of their original size, with practically no performance or memory overhead. Also available for Linux and others.

Security

TrueCrypt is free, open-source on-the-fly disk encryption software for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mount it as a real disk, encrypt an entire partition or storage device, and much more. Fully portable so great for encrypting flash drives. Comprehensive documentation.
KeePass is a fully-featured password manager for Windows, though only version 1.x is properly portable. Linux and Mac OS X users can use KeePassX which is less featured but uses the same password database format as KeePass.
PassPack is a tiny but highly secure Windows manager of passwords and confidential information, featuring data import/export and strong resistance to brute-force password search attacks.

Up and coming

tabbyFile is a portable file explorer for Windows with support for multiple tabs and bookmarking. Designed with a minimalist philosophy and promising, but unfortunately development seems to have stalled.

Apps to avoid

Apps which have to be formally installed rather than being simply copied to wherever you desire.
Apps which write settings to the host computer's Windows registry or hard drive files.
Apps which write data, even temporarily, to the host computer - sometimes the best of apps can crash leaving your trace behind.
Apps which require particular versions of Windows or DLL files, etc.
Apps which depend on Microsoft's Internet Explorer, DirectX, or particular proprietary multimedia codecs.
Apps which require administrator rights on the host computer.
Apps which cannot cope when the portable drive identification changes between computers (on Windows, when the drive letter changes).

Hot tips

Compress program files with UPX:
To speed up application loading from a portable drive and minimize disk reads, compress program files with UPX
For example, on Windows, compress all .EXE and .DLL files in the current folder using a command like:
for /R %i in (*.exe) do \UPXpath\UPX --best --compress-icons=0 "%i"

If your flash drive is performing poorly, consider the following:
Use drives and USB ports compatible with the USB 2.0 standard rather than the much slower USB 1.1.
On Windows XP, a NTFS formatted drive will operate much faster than a FAT/32 formatted drive (the usual default). Please read this useful Cache or not discussion and these NTFS formatting instructions.

Configure a Mozilla application for portable use: Firefox, Thunderbird and Sunbird
For example, on Windows, copy the program folder and the profile folder to the folders P:\AppName and P:\AppProfile respectively on the portable drive P:
Launch with a batch file P:\AppName.bat containing the command: start \AppName\AppName.exe -profile \AppProfile
Minimize disk writes by zeroing or disabling the disk cache (set preference browser.cache.disk.enable to false) and other options which write to disk.
Optionally use UPX to compress all .EXE and .DLL files in the program folder P:\AppName

Configure OpenOffice.org for portable use:
For example, on Windows, install OpenOffice.org to folder P:\OOo on the portable drive P: deselecting non-portable options such as Windows file associations.
Edit P:\OOo\program\bootstrap.ini and set parameter: UserInstallation=/OOoProfile
(Note that the UserInstallation value can contain an environment variable of the form $VARNAME as long as the name is uppercased and contains no special characters.)
If desired, copy an existing OpenOffice.org profile folder to P:\OOoProfile
Launch an appropriate program such as P:\OOo\program\soffice.exe (or swriter.exe for the word-processor) directly or use a batch file P:\OOo.bat containing a command like: start \OOo\program\soffice.exe
Optionally use UPX to compress all .EXE and .DLL files in the program folder P:\OOo\program

Configure FreeMind for portable use:
Download the 'binaries for any operating system' archive and unzip the files to a folder on your portable drive. Then, on Windows for example, edit the file freemind.bat and add the underlined parameter to the Java command line:
java -Duser.home=\some\folder -cp ... freemind.main.FreeMindStarter
FreeMind's configuration data will then be saved to the folder \some\folder\.freemind on the portable drive (or specify -Duser.home=. to create the .freemind folder in the same folder as freemind.bat). Autosaved maps will also be directed to this folder if the preference Path To Automatic Saves is set to freemind_home. Or set Time For Automatic Save to 2000000000 to disable autosaving. See reference.