If you use multiple computers, don’t have internet at home, or don’t even have a computer at home, but have e-mail somewhere… then this is definitely for you!

When I decided to launch Independent Lady Magazine, I had to create numerous new e-mail addresses.  I also had to deal with multiple computers (not all of which are on the internet), and my Outlook was already a giant mess!  What to do?

WHAT IS A PORTABLE APPLICATION:

Basically, a program (often free), that you can run off an external harddrive without requiring installation. You can carry it with you on a key chain! You can have your web browser (and bookmarks!), your e-mail program (which for those who didn’t know can download all your hotmail/gmail/yahoo mail/etc… so you can browse it at your leisure even when you’re not on the internet.), your music player, your graphics editor, your Instant Messenger, FTP programs, PDF reader, and much more with you at all times!

The advantages are numerous!  First of all, there’s the obvious: Mobility!

If you are using a portable web browser, then you always have all your bookmarks with you!  You also have all your cookies with you, and all your cached passwords with you!  For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s when you log onto a website, and it remembers your password.  Ever try to log on to your blog from a friend’s computer, and forget your password?  Well… carrying your own browser with you solves that because that password goes with you!

If you bring your (portable) chat program with you, then you always have all your buddy lists with you, and you don’t need to go through the trouble of installing chat programs at friends houses… or you can chat where you can’t install programs at all (library, work, school, etc..)- just because you are now running the program off your keychain. I like to use Trillian (www.trillian.cc) - which is available in Portable format - because it lets me use AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN messenger, IRC, ICQ, and has plugins to use newer chats like Jabber.  It has many plugins that let you add functionality (gmail notification, yahoo mail notification, stock alerts, birthday alerts, and much more) - and it’s all free.  One thing I find handy is that it logs all my chats, so when someone says “I never said that!” you can paste it right back to them with a time/date stamp.  I’ve gone through and found e-mails and phone numbers many times as well by going through old chat-logs.

You can check your e-mails and read them at home.  You can write e-mails without internet, and then just mail it when you get on the internet.

Then of course, there is privacy! If you are reading a PDF file titled “20 lotions you can use to spice up your love life.pdf”, there’s a possibility that you do not want your co-workers, friends, or even fellow residents at your home to see that title in the “Documents” section of windows (or whatever they call it on a Mac).  Using a portable PDF reader takes care of that.  Your portable OpenOffice will open any MS Office document, and will not leave any traces in your office’s recent documents.  Oh yeah, it too is free!  Why pay $300 for MS Office when OpenOffice will do it all for free?

I’ve often had to log onto a server to grab a file that I stored earlier, but could not remember the login or filename.  Having my FTP software with me would certainly have helped.  Having the passwords and server names for all my FTP locations would have helped more.  With a portable FTP application, you can have it all with you at all times!

I started this article by describing a (very real) problem that I was having with the Independent Lady Magazine e-mails.  The solution was to use Portable Thunderbird.  Thunderbird  is Mozilla’s free e-mail program.  It is great for dealing with multiple e-mail accounts, and this version (portable) means that I can carry it with me on a USB key chain!  That’s right, no installation necessary.  That’s what a portable application is.  It’s the future!

An additional benefit of portable applications is that your computer will run faster if you use them!  How can that be? Every program (since Windows 95 introduced the registry) upon installation leaves a giant mess of dependencies in your computer.  There’s the program files, then there are links to the windows components that the program uses, then there’s all the registry entries.  Your computer has to process all of this stuff whenever you turn it on, and run it.  Even if you get rid of a program using the uninstall feature, it still leaves behind some junk in the registry.  This is why your computer runs faster when you 1st get it, or upon a clean format / reinstall of the operating system.  By using Portable Applications, you can have a clean registry, and faster computer!

Don’t have a USB Drive?  They’re pretty darn cheap now! On a Google search this morning for 8gb USB, I found this one http://www.directron.com/usb208gm.html for $29 (I think it’s a sale, most other places seem to have it at $40 cheapest)!  8 gigs of glorious storage for only $29 (plus shipping).  That’s twice what my Ipod Nano holds (an Ipod with Drive-Mode enabled can be used as an external harddrive as well).  You can carry your documents, your music, your pictures, and now of course, your applications.

Here are a few examples of programs you already use, and their portable equivalents

There are many portable programs that I can’t list, and the list is always growing.  One really nice maker of these programs is PortableApps.com (they’re the one who made Portable Thunderbird).  They are legit, and have a list of many programs. That’s a good place to get started.  There’s always doing a Google search for “portable applications”. I found another list (though, this seems mostly for Windows programs) here: http://www.quate.net/newsnet/read.php?30.

A few last tips!

1. Having all those documents (your e-mail, spreadsheets, contracts, instant messages, chats, photos, bookmarks, ftp logins, etc) can be convenient.  There is the risk though of having “a friend” try to get access to your keychain while you’re not looking… or you may be concerned about losing it, and the information falling into the wrong hands.  For that, I recommend encrypting your USB drive.  There are many solutions. Here’s a free one that works well, TrueCrypt.   Feel free to research other solutions as well if you like, my word is certainly not the final say on how to do everything.
2. Having the information with you is valuable, but who hasn’t lost their keys before?  Harddrives can crash, computers can be stolen, and shit happens! You should make a ritual of backing up your USB drive (applications and all) onto your personal computer.  There are many ways to encrypt the backup so no one can get into that.
3. You don’t have to encrypt your drive or backup files.  If you do, however, make sure to use a pssword that won’t be easy to guess (don’t use your birthday or pet’s name), but make sure it’s not one you will forget!  Leave yourself a written reminder somewhere.

I hope you find this information useful, and start using portable applications today!

If there are any portable applications you like, feel free to share them with others by leaving a comment