Laptop computers are shedding weight but they still weigh a few pounds and carrying them around on the shoulders is often very inconvenient.
Do you really need that notebook wherever you go? Not always.
For instance, you are traveling for a business conference or an Internet café or a friend’s place that will definitely have spare computers but you need to carry the laptop just because it contains all your software programs, application settings and personal data (like docs, photos, music, videos, etc).
Are you are in a similar situation? If yes, it’s time to give your shoulders some rest – leave that laptop at home and just switch to a USB Flash Drive (or an iPod or any other removable disk).
We generally use USB drives to transfer documents and presentations across computers but these key chains can also be used for carrying software programs and other files. Here are some resources to help your turn that USB drive into a personal computer.
PortableApps – This is a excellent collection of useful programs like Firefox (for web browsing), OpenOffice (like Microsoft Office), Pidgin (for chat) and GIMP (for photo editing) designed to run from any removable disk without installation. PortableApps also includes VLC Media Player that can virtually play all multimedia file formats.
Do checkout some other wonderful sites like portablefreeware.com and tinyapps.org for downloading apps that can run off your USB drive.
MojoPac – This program turns any USB drive into a self-contained Windows XP computer. (Read: "Clone Your Computer on a USB Drive")
The first step is to to install the MojoPac software on your USB drive and then install (or copy) all the applications, games and other files onto the drive. Now just plug this USB device into any Windows XP computer and Mojopac will launch itself providing you a work environment that looks the same as your PC at home.
You will see all the familiar applications, icons and documents at the same locations where you expect them to be.
MetroPipe – The Portal Privacy machine at metropipe.net is a suite of Internet applications (Firefox browser and Thunderbird for email) that fits on your USB drive and lets you surf the web in a more private and anonymous environment. Metropipe can be useful when you are using the web from an Internet café or some other public terminal.
Webaroo – Like an offline browser, Webaroo lets you read websites and blogs from your portable drive even while you are offline. It works like this – you suggest Webaroo a list of websites and it automatically fetches them to the portable drive whenever you go online (full review).
These local copies of web pages are exact replicas of the original web version. You can now go offline but the web pages will always remain accessible from the USB drive. If the source content is updated, Webaroo will update the local version itself the next time you connect to the web.
Read: Read Your Favorite Websites Offline
A word of caution here – USB Drives are very convenient but at the same time, they are small so the chances of losing them also run high. You should therefore consider using a free program like TrueCrypt to encrypt data that’s on the portable drive.
When you are done working on your friend’s computer, eject out the USB drive and no traces of your computing activity are left on the host computer – your applications preferences, web browsing history and all data files are stored back onto the flash drive.
Related: Protect Your Laptop From Theft In Schools and Libraries
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/software/organize/carry-computer-usb-pen-drive-travel-without-laptop-ipod/2400/
Tags: Archives, iPod, laptop, offline, portable, productivity, webaroo, Organize, Software
Reader Comments
Well, Webaroo is good but I use Google Desktop here on my PC so I don’t need it.
All webpages that I visit are cached by the GDSpider so I can browse them even when I’m offline (only text versions though, not the entire site with the images)
GD is, of course, not portable but I’m just saying that it’s worth a try if you have too much stuff on your PC (and, browse a lot).
Just in case your internet connection goes down, you’ll still have something to read in cached versions. :-P
Written by Shankar Ganesh on 02.26.08
PortableApps is a pain, and MojoPac often misfires for some apps. Laptop is still a better way IMHO.
You’ve got 119 diggs as of now- almost into the popular section. I hope, you’ve installed WPSuperCache, or be prepared for a downtime (dreamhost servers go down if not for the cache plugin).
Speaking of which, Amit, would the WP Super Cache plugin affect SEO? It creates static versions in a separate directory and uses htaccess for redirects. Would it cause duplicate content in search-engine’s eyes?
Written by Sumesh on 02.27.08
I love PortableApps, it has made on-site client work much easier to deal with. I have Firefox with links to sdoftware and news and HowTo sites; I have chat (Gaim or Pidgin, i forget which) to connect with my office’s Jabber setup; I have Thunderbird for secure, easy email without needing to use the painful webmail interface… PortableApps is truly amazing.
Written by lefty.crupps on 02.27.08
I’d really like to shift over to using my USB flash drive as much as possible, but the encryption issue stops me every time. Last time I looked, TrueCrypt will only work if you have Admin access on the computer you’re using — and that’s not gonna happen at the coffeehouse.
Written by Tegan on 02.27.08
Lotus Notes on a Stick is a feature of IBM Lotus Notes V7.0.2 and later that allows you to download your Lotus Notes client, including data, applications, mail, and more, to a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device that you can then plug into any Microsoft Windows workstation with a USB port. You use a simple command to install Lotus Notes on the USB device. Once that is done, you can work with Lotus Notes from any location without your laptop.
Written by SPGrino on 02.27.08
Great collection of applications. I didn’t realize USB flash drives had this much power. I really like the concept of MojoPac.
Written by Jason on 02.27.08
Rather than live with the limitations of these apps, why not create a virtual machine with the OS of your choice, and keep it on a portable drive along with the free version of VirtualBox for Win32, OS X, Linux. Then you could plug your usb device into machines running any OS.
Written by Toby on 02.27.08
If you trust a public computer not to have a keylogger, this might be worth doing. See “Slashdot | Kinko’s Spy Case Illustrates Public Terminal Risk”
link and google for “Kinko’s Keylogger” for more info.
I wouldn’t use any online site that needs a login and password (like E-MAIL!) on a computer I didn’t own.
Written by AngusSF on 02.27.08
We have recently released new version of Webaroo. Checkit out at link . In addition to Websites, as in earlier version, it lets you download videos, subscribe to channels from Youtube, Metacafe etc, photos, photosets, group and users from flickr, RSS feeds. Just like GD, it also keeps saving every single webpage you visit. Please give it a try. We would like to hear your feedback and recommendation to make it better.
Written by Prajakt on 03.09.08
Hello, I need to get to a conference and was wondering how can I record the whole thing with my laptop?
Written by Tara Stannard on 05.04.08
The collection is great, I particularly like mojopac and the portable apps, however if the RAM availability permits than the best solution is to carry a virtual machine and VirtualBox if you need total customization and security
Written by Varun Kashyap on 07.03.08
I tried Mojopac several months ago and was disappointed. To make it work, you then had to install some software on the target machine. I really wanted and still need something that really will let me store store and launch programs from my USB drive with no trace being left on the computer I use. Our school district has a very restrictive downloading policy and I’m trying to work around that. Mojopac did not live up to its claims.
Written by Sue Hellman on 07.24.08
I have taken my laptop to AZ, leaving my computer in NY. The only problem is I do not have cable in AZ as yet, and would like to bring up my email and be able to search things on line.
Can someone tell me what I need to buy to make my laptop pick up my aol without connecting to the Cable and still be secure.
Written by pat on 08.04.08