Computing life in portable mode

When most people think about portable computing, they think about being able to take their laptop everywhere they go and do their work on their own machine, with their own application, and their own data. While it's true that having a laptop computer is a form of portable computing, what if you didn't have to haul your notebook computer with you? what if you could achieve the same thing on something that weighs as little as 5 pennies? what if you can have all you need on something that is small enough not only to fit in your pants pocket, but on your key-chain?

While it is still true that you need a computer, it does not have to be your computer, it can be a computer at work, a computer at a hotel, a friend's computer, etc. Basically, any computer can become your computer in seconds, how you are asking? ... keep reading.

The short answer is, all your data and programs can live and run from a USB stick, if you had a chance to read My Rig you know that my whole world is on a 16gb USB stick.

Portable USB Basics

There are few things that are needed in order to setup a portable USB. The most obvious one is ... a USB stick (I hope you were able to guess this one, if not, you have bigger problems than portability). For most people a USB with 4gb of storage space will be more than enough. Since I have many applications, plus a full code base and databases for about 5 websites, I have a 16gb USB memory stick that I got on amazon.com for less than $30.

Next you need some programs that will help you build your software/program base on your USB drive. Plus a program launcher that behaves like the windows "Start" button so you don't have to open a file explorer everytime you need to run a program.

Portable Program Launcher

A program launcher is a free application that mimic the behavior of the "Start" button on your computer. A program launcher generally lives in your sys-tray and is evoked by a mouse click or a short-cut key, in an optimal USB setup, a launcher is the only time you'd need to open a file browser to run an application. (using autorun.inf will eliminate the use of a file browser to run your program launcher)

In the last 3-4 years I tried many program launchers and found the best one to be  LaunchBar Commander. I like LaunchBar Commander for many reasons but the main ones are:

• Functionality and ease of use - in addition to launching programs from a USB stick, LaunchBar Commander can also launch any windows application, and/or open any directory r file.
• Highly customaizable - you can create program trees with directory and sub-directories.
• Help increase productivity - you can set sort-cut keys for everything, any program launch, any directory or file open.

Portable Program Creator

Many times you can find a portable version of a program or software you like, but what if not? in that case you need to be able to take a regular program installation file (normally an *.exe file) and convert it to a portable version. The best program that I found that can do this is a free program called Universal Extractor.

Universal Extractor will take any  form of compressed file (zip, rar, exe, or any installation package) and extract the content. In most cases it will create a 4-5 directories, you may need to brows trough these directory to see which one contain the actual portable version of your program. Keep in mind that this does not work in %100 of the times, but it does work in most cases and with most software. (I'll cover some other resources for portable programs at the end of the post)

Portable USB Security

On a USB drive security is optional and your set-up will work just fine without it...but that does not mean that you should ignore potential risks. On my rig I have 3 type of security concerns:

1. What happens if I lose my USB thumb drive or if it get stolen?
2. How do I keep all my passwords and sensitive information in a safe manner?
3. How do I protect my USB drive against malware?

I am generally more concern about items #1 and #2, item #3 is better controlled by user behavior and can be complimented by anti-malware software of sort.

USB Drive Goes Bye Bye

For case #1, To protect my self and my data in case my USB mini thumb drive falls into the wrong hands, I use a free encryption program called TrueCrypt. With TrueCrypt you can encrypt any part of your data including programs, the way it works is, you create an encrypted container and than mount it as a drive every time you plug in your USB, and dismount the drive when you are done (all this is managed by the TrueCrypt software). Since it is password protected, the data is inaccessible for someone that does not have it. You can see a full description of my encrypted USB setup in My Rig.

Passwords & Login Info

For #2, protecting my passwords and login info I use KeePass. This application is a superb password manager, I have everything on it, from website passwords, to bank account numbers, to my daughter social security. But KeePass is much more than just a simple password manager, it allows you to create macros (no code needed, all drag and drop style) to automate some tasks. For example: I use it to prep my session every time I start a browser, it opens my bookmarks site and logs in, it opens new tabs for my gmail account, my websites dashboard, etc. This is one if these tools that I would say: "never leave home with out it".

Portable Application Resources

• The Portable Freeware Collection - One of the best sources for free portable software on the Internet, most of the portable application that I have on my USB drive are from this site.
• Portable Apps -  A very good place to find free mainstream portable application, offers complete portable packages for your portable USB drive.

Related Posts:

• How to setup a portable applications USB drive
• To P or not to P?