By now, most of you know how really useful flash drives are for storing files like photos, emails, music, documents, etc. But did you know your flash drive can be used to store and run what are known as portable applications? Portable applications are small programs that install to and run from a USB flash drive. Portable applications are cool because they don’t take up space on your hard drive, they don’t clutter up your Windows registry, and you can take your programs with you and run them from any computer wherever you are.
Don’t install programs on flash drives unless they were created to be installed on a flash drive. Unless a program was created specifically to run on a USB flash drive, don’t install it on a flash drive. OK?
Here are just a few portable applications designed specifically to run from a USB flash drive.
Weather Notify – get current weather conditions and forecasts.
12Voip
12Voip is free Portable Voice Over IP software (Internet Phone). Like many other VOIP products, it enables a computer user with internet access to have superb high quality voice conversations with friends and relatives from all over the world. Using this 12Voip tool, you can call landlines or even mobile cell phones for free * in the USA and many other Countries, using only a computer and an internet connection. You can also call online friends using “peer-to-peer calls”. This application requires roughly 9.85MB for completely portable stand alone installation.
Lightscreen Portable
Lightscreen Portable is an easy to use screenshot app packaged as a portable app so you can take pictures of the current in-use desktop wherever you go. You can place it on your USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive or a CD and use it on any computer, without leaving any personal information behind.
There are literally hundreds more free portable applications that are designed especially to be installed and run from a USB flash drive. Here are a couple of sites which list all kinds of portable applications you can take with you wherever you go.
We just wanted you to know that USB flash drives can be used for more than just storing files. Find some free portable apps and turn your USB flash drive into a miniature computer – and take it with you wherever you go. You can use your portable programs on any computer with a USB port – and that would be just about every computer in the world right?
I tried Google Chrome OS on flash drive, but couldn’t get it to work; Then found that it doesn’t work with some network adapters 🙁