Freeware Files: Five Portable Software Suites for your USB Key

David Murphy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:30:00 -0500

If you're like me, your USB key should come with its own flame retardant coating. That's because I tend to use my little four-gigabyte device to great excess on a near-daily basis. It's an easy fix for transferring files from a desktop PC to a laptop, and it's great for carrying batches of files I need to access (especially if I'm without an Internet connection, making Dropbox useless). If I'm heading over to a friend's house, I can slap a movie on the drive for us to watch on an attached PC or home theater device. I can throw down a game or two if I'm going to be travelling and don't feel like reading about overpriced devices that will pet my cat for me. USB keys are more than just a geek's trusty friends. They're uber-tools in their own right.

Application suites for USB keys are another popular way of extending the functionality of your desktop into the portable realm. Install these batches of software and you can take your favorite programs along with you wherever you go--perfect for when you're using a computer that isn't yours, yet you would prefer to be able to access to a better range of apps than Windows' default programs. Better still, you can stick these batches of applications on smaller USB keys to extend the life of these sub-gigabyte devices. The storage might stink, but the functionality will rule.

[Update: Removed one entry due to complaints of GPL violations -- Editor]

PortableApps

What it does: The alpha and omega of portable application suites is conveniently called, "PortableApps." Were there any software suites on this list that you would have already heard of prior to this article, this would be the one. And there's a good reason why. PortableApps packs a great deal of functionality into its three software bundles, which take up space ranging from 1.3MB to 355MB. You get the standard suite of Mozilla applications, a portable antivirus scanner, games, the OpenOffice suite, and more! Check out the full list here.

Download it here!

Lupo PenSuite

What it does: If you thought PortableApps was packed, just wait. The three versions of Lupo PenSuite range from 3MB to 300MB in space. The latter includes a more than 200 apps themed around nine main categories: Internet, Multimedia, Graphics, System, Security, Office, Utility, Extra, and Games. Highlights included a portable version of uTorrent; more audio editing and CD ripping/burning apps then you ever thought you needed; Gimp for photo editing; CPU-Z and JkDefrag Plus for system information and drive cleaning; CCleaner for keeping your system clutter-free; and Notepad++ for adding colorful syntax to your file editing. I tried to say all of those in one breath, but failed. Check out the full list of apps here.

Download it here!

MyApps

What it does: Tired of grabbing application suites in which you only end up using five percent of the listed programs? Think you can do better than your average suite developer when it comes to picking and choosing the top apps that should go in a bundle? Alright, tough person. Hit up the Regional Support Centre Scotland North & East's official Web site and create your own customized MyApps listing. Pick the programs you want to have on your key, and the site will automatically create the single install file for you. It's as easy as that (or, if you're stubborn, grab one of the three pre-built packages: AccessApps, LearnApps, or TeachApps)

Download it here!

Mojopac

What it does: I lied. Mojopac isn't an application suite so much as it is an entire virtualized operating system--sort-of. Load this onto your USB key and you can boot into a separate Windows environment on any Windows XP-based PC. While the program ties into existing files on the system's hard drive to create this second operating system, the contents of said OS remain yours to install programs into, modify, and tweak. When you're done, shut down your personalized OS and it's as if you were never sitting at the attached PC to begin with. Neat, huh?

Download it here!

Install David Murphy on your USB drive by first befriending him @acererak. He's only 35MB, so no need to worry about space concerns.

Mojopac

David Murphy — Tue, 22 May 2007 19:13:26 -0500

Congratulations, Mojopac. You have left us bitter and broken, but in the best way possible. For as much as we tried to find fault with, or otherwise break, your portable Windows virtualization software, we have returned from the war sans spoils. You win.

For a fairly complex piece of software, Mojopac is remarkably easy to use. You install the program onto any storage-themed external device—like a USB drive or an iPod—and that’s it. In essence, Mojopac operates as a clone of your current Windows XP environment, but the primary hard drive is mapped to the external device, not the connected PC.

It’s a separate operating system in the sense that you can’t physically access the contents of the host computer from “Mojopac XP.” Whatever you install in the Mojopac interface stays in that environment completely, never crossing over to the “real” OS. And like a facehugger, Mojopac’s operating system uses the resources of the host computer.

We fired up a FEAR benchmark on our test rig and found that the game performed identically whether we launched it in the native copy of Windows or in Mojopac’s version. Load times, however, will be affected by the storage device’s physical connection to your rig—USB, eSATA, etc.

Mojopac isn’t flawless. We couldn’t get the most recent version of DirectX 9 to install on our iPod-based setup. And Mojopac’s cloned Windows XP setup is highly limited, settings-wise. You can’t customize video settings, and dual-monitor is a no-no. Worse, Mojopac uses the network settings of its host machine, which absolutely kills some of our favorite third-party VPN software (sorry, Hamachi).

But if it’s any consolation, we found ourselves actually using Mojopac to transfer sacred Maximum PC materials between work and home after completing our review of the product. It’s a wonderful way

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Freeware Files: Five Portable Software Suites for your USB Key

PortableApps

Lupo PenSuite

MyApps

Mojopac

Mojopac