Number 308 - January 2009

Carry Your Software with You: Portable Apps on a USB Drive
by David Brommer, NYPC December 2008
Portable Applications    Have you ever been frustrated while trying to do serious work on an unfamiliar computer, perhaps at the library or a relative's house? The hardware id fine, but the interface is different, slowing you as you look for the right tool or menu item.    Now you can carry your software with you...on a USB (aka flash or thumb) drive. No, you cannot carry the rather bulky Microsoft Office or Adobe Premiere on a USB drive, but there are portable applications available to meet most of your needs. Many Applications    Many programs are specifically designed to run from a USB drive, and almost all of them are free for the downloading. These include Open Office (of course), and the browser Firefox, Opera, and Safari, but there's more    System utilities such as WinAudit and StartupList help you smooth your computing experience by optimizing your PC. Antivirus programs running from the USB drive will protect not only the little drive but also the whole computer! A variety of password managers ensure that you can get into any online program from any computer...just be sure to protect the manager itself with a really good password. (Mine has 5 numbers and 10 letters.) Download your e-mails to Thunderbird on your drive, and never again castigate yourself for failing to send that important e-mail before you left the house. All of this in addition to carrying your documents with you.    These applications are not loaded onto the computer's hard drive, do not make permanent changes to the registry, and do not leave traces behind. Portable applications exist for Windows	XP and above, and for Linux. (You can even run Linux from a USB drive on your Windows machine.) There are fewer options for the Mac, but you can get the GIMP (open source photo editor) and more for the Mac.    As the size of these drives has increased, and the prices decreased, the option of "Your Office in Your Pocket" has become more and more attractive. Portable applications come in two "flavors"; those that require specialized U3 drives and those that run from any thumb drive. Learn at Dec. General Meeting    This General Meeting will clarify the options among drives and demonstrate several portable applications. You'll learn how to choose and use the drives, and to select and download useful applications.    We'll discuss advantages and disadvantages of this approach to mobile computing. One disadvantage, of course, is the small size of the drives, leading to ease of losing them. (Several have been left in ports in NYPC machines, biut all have been restored to their owners.) A word to the wise: protect your data by password protecting, or even encrypting, your drive. (You might want to decorate your drive and wear it ass a necklace.) We'll also talk about some of the pitfalls, such as change of drive letter as you move to another computer, and tell how to cope with them. Buy Some for Gifts    A USB drive loaded with useful applications would make a great "stocking stuffer" this holiday season. NYPC will have USB drives loaded with applications for you to purchase at a very reasonable cost. (Watch the NYPC e-mailed Updates and website for a complete list of apps.)
Number 308 - January 2009