Free portable software programs for USB drives
This article will introduce to you the wonderful world of free portable software, which is readily available for download from portableapps.com. Once downloaded, the menu and individual programs can be run from your hard disk, a USB stick, a portable hard drive, and other platforms. No installation is required. Delete the directories, and the programs vanish from your computer without leaving any trace.
What is portable software?
What makes software portable is that it does not require installation onto the host computer. No files are written to the registry. Therefore, any program can be removed simply by deleting the directory in question. If a program is kept on a USB stick, all traces of its use will be wiped off the host computer once the USB stick is disconnected. Software that does not meet these basic requirements is not genuine portable software, and I wouldn’t recommend that.
Portable software from portableapps.com is always free. The people behind the project prefer open source applications, which was the only permitted license until recently. But alternative portable platforms were emerging, and so portableapps.com opened its website to freeware applications as well. This means that even more software has become available, such as the popular Google Chrome browser, which is based on the open source Chromium platform but also has some restrictions, which makes it freeware.
How to use portable software
To start using a portable program after download, all you have to do is extract it to a source folder of your choice – either on your PC or on a portable device such as a USB flash drive.
If you choose the latter option, you can bring your favorite applications with you where ever you go. Once you have found out that you enjoy a certain program and have gotten it configured to your liking, you can copy it to another computer or device simply by copying the application’s directory. It works immediately, since no actual installation is required.
What free programs are available?
First of all, you will probably want to download the Portableapps menu (see screenshot), which works as a simple file manager and toolbar. It sits in your system tray and can be brought into view with one click. As soon as you click outside its screen area, it vanishes from sight.
Portableapps.com covers a wide range of software options within several categories:
Internet applications, including the Firefox, Chrome, and Opera browsers, the popular FileZilla FTP manager, several chat clients, and the Thunderbird email program;
Word processing programs, including the full Open Office suite (word processor, spreadsheets, drawings, and database) and the lightweight, yet feature-rich AbiWord program;
Graphics programs, including Lightscreen (used to create screenshots for this article), and software for image editing.
Audio-visual programs, including Audacity (a wildly popular audio editing and recording program), various media players, and video capturing/editing software.
Utilities, communications, and security software, including multi-panel file managers, anti-virus, Skype, chat clients, and so much more.
Recommendations
I personally use all of the programs shown in this article. Some are new, others well-tested, but I can say with full confidence that I have never encountered any problems with portable software from portableapps.com. These goodies are a welcome supplement to conventional Windows-based programs; sitting there in the background when needed. I run some of them directly off USB drives, others from the hard drive – again, there are no problems whether they run all the time or only when needed.
The easy removal option is my main reason for recommending portable software to others. Let’s say you are in doubt whether you would like to use Firefox or Google Chrome. Why not download both in their portable version, then check them out? If you do not like one of them, simply delete its directory and it is gone without leaving a trace. No system restore nightmare scenarios, no inexplicable changes to familiar settings and preferences.
Once you have found out what you enjoy, configure your programs and then copy them onto other portable devices or computers. This way, you can expand into new territory and become more productive at the same time.
Get it all free from portableapps.com
Comments
Gee, Thank You so much for this Interesting and very informative article. I must give this a try. You have been most helpful to me and I learn from your Hubs. Again, Thanks!
Joe
I am learning all the time. Thank you so much for this great information.
Nice use able information Thank you
The audio visual programs, can you make a movie from still pictres? not a slide show..actual animation? I had on my old 1998 computer, a jpeg movie maker, and my kids are driving me nuts for something to replace it on this computer and I have no idea where to begin looking. All I can find is slideshow stuff. and I dont want to download any more wierd non working stuff.
Thanks everyone for your insightful and supportive comments.
M. A. Hook, it is interesting to hear from an expert user. I understand how much business people appreciate these applications, whether in the office, at home or while on the road.
CYBERSUPE, it is always a pleasure to be of assistance, one reason being that you have an open mind and are willing to try new things.
Acaetnna, it is good to see you being so active on the site. I shouldn't be surprised if you could find one or two of these programs useful.
Barbara tenBroek, I know you to be a very organized person professionally. The people at portableapps.com are super organized as well, I think you will find both their website and the programs to your liking. Well-documented, well-tested.
DoorMattnomore, I am not trying to sell anything here, even though it may sound that way. I am not much into video, so I really don't know. I suggest you check out their website, www.portableapps.com, and look under audio-visual programs and utilities. There are some DVD making utilities that may be able to do the job.
Thanks again for these comments. W.E.
cool. thanks.
I looked into it, and it looks promising. Thanks for the info!! You have no idea how helpful it is.
Glad to hear it. You are most welcome!
Never really thought about using portable apps but considering doing so now. Thanks for the information
Thanks for your interest. I continue finding new useful portable applications. They are worthwhile looking into.
M. A. Hook 19 months ago
I've gone over to a lot of portable apps simply because I'm tired of having to rebuild my machine from internet jokers getting thru the firewall, the antivirus and all the other defensive stuff and trashing my OS. When I put my apps on a second HD and link them to the Start menu, no problem, just reload the OS image, set the links, and I'm back in business is less that an hour. Plus, I have two different drives, one for business and one for personal, and I can have the same app with different data for each drive, which you can't do on an install.
For my money, the portable apps that will run under any OS are the wave of the future.