I'm pretty sure you've got one of those USB things people call pendrives,
USB sticks, USB drives, flash drives, etc. And why
wouldn't you have one? They're cheap, reliable and easier to insert data
into compared to CD-Rs and DVD-Rs(I hardly even remember using those
anymore).

So it's suprising that a lot of people didn't know that you could put a
lot of applications on it which can be run at any computer, since it's a
pretty neat thing and you can do a lot of things without even having to
install applications into the computer.

Just plug it in, and you're ready to go!

Please note that these
are all for Windows, unless noted at the application's site whether other
platforms are supported.

Most of them can simply be extracted/installed directly onto your pendrive. If
there are additional steps, refer to the URL I've provided with the apps'
descriptions.

----Productivity----

Because that teacher of yours always hands out assignments just to suck
out your life.

OpenOffice.org Portable:-Because Open Source is cool, and not everyone
has MS Office on their PCs.
Get it at: http://portableapps.com/apps/office/openoffice_portable

If you just do Word Processing, AbiWord Portable is good enough for your
needs:
http://portableapps.com/apps/office/abiword_portable

Foxit Reader: Free and lightweight PDF reader. Useful for PCs without
Adobe Reader. Get the ZIP package and simply extract it.
Right here:
http://mirrors.foxitsoftware.com/pub/foxit...op/win/3.x/3.0/
enu/FoxitReader30_enu.zip

----Music & Video----

In case the PC you're on doesn't have Winamp.

XMPlay: According to the developers, it supports: OGG / MP3 / MP2 / MP1 /
WMA / WAV / CDA / MO3 / IT / XM / S3M / MTM / MOD / UMX audio formats, and
PLS / M3U / ASX / WAX playlists. A load more formats are also supported
via plugins(that's what it says on their website). The interface is
clunky, but there are skins which makes it easier to look at.
Well, here you go: http://www.un4seen.com/xmplay.html

Foobar2000: All the cool kids are using this, dammit. So why not you?
During installation, choose "Portable Install" and then direct it to the
directory of your pendrive.
Get it at: http://www.foobar2000.org/

VLC Portable: the only one you'll ever need.
It's available at: http://portableapps.com/apps/music_video/vlc_portable

----Programming----

Well, working on something amazing beats playing games.

PortablePython: Python is, without a doubt, one of the more loved
languages in HBH. So, instead of asking your friend if he has Py on his PC
(which he most likely doesn't), install this on your pendrives, then run
it and show him how fun coding is compared to slaying rats in MMOs. (the
py2.6.1 version is the best, IMO)
Get it at: http://portablepython.com/

Portable Java: Java is still loved by many, and since it's platform free,
I don't see why you should complain.(yeah, I know the reasons, but lots of
people still love it). It's actually the same JDK you would install and
run on your computer, except there are instructions on how to get it
portable.
Follow the tutorial at:
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/showtopic42544.htm

While you're at it, grab JCreatorLE at:
http://www.jcreator.com/download.htm
Install it on your PC, and then copy the whole directory (except the
uninstaller to your pendrives), launch it,go to Configure->Options->JDK
Profiles, Select New, find the directory where you installed JDK, name
it, and save it. You have repeat this at any computer you're on, though.

XAMPP: Well, there's PHP and Perl in it. Oh, and Apache and MySQL too.
I don't have to elaborate to you what XAMPP is, right?
Knock yourselves out: http://portableapps.com/apps/development/xampp

RubyOnRails Portable: For those that program in Ruby.
It's here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/railsportable/files/

Notepad++ Portable: Hey, it's lightyears ahead of Windows Notepad, and
includes syntax highlighting for programming purposes. It's available
here: http://portableapps.com/apps/development/notepadpp_portable

Code::Blocks with MinGW : For those who can't get enough of C/C++. Just
install it on your PC, copy and paste it to your pendrives, and run it.
Here it is: http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads/5

----P2P----

Down with the..oh, that's getting old. Just make sure you seed that Linux ISO, ok?

uTorrent: Small and doesn't require installation, and latest version runs
independently.
It's waiting for you right here: http://www.utorrent.com/

Limewire Portable: as if BT isn't good enough.
It's right here, along with instructions:
http://wiki.limewire.org/index.php?title=LimeWire_Portable

eMule Plus: For those that actually use eMule, here you go:
http://emuleplus.info/

----Internet----

Just had to inform those on my Twitter feed that I'm at an Internet Cafe,
using a portable app.

Firefox portable: Despite being among the most awesome applications
humanity has ever seen, millions of fools are still on IE.
Get it here: http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

xB Browser: It's created for those being oppressed by their governments.
You, on the other hand, use it to check out Facebook at your school's
computer lab.
Here it is anyway: https://xerobank.com/download/xb-browser/

Pidgin Portable: supports almost all IM protocols known to mankind, so you
can add even more friends from MSN, ICQ, YM, AIM, GTalk, etc.
Get it: http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/pidgin_portable

FileZilla Portable: Just for uploading / developing files using FTP
Here it is: http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/filezilla_portable


----Security----
Better safe than sorry.

ClamWin Portable: The portable version of ClamAV. From the download site:
Please note that ClamWin Free Antivirus does not include an on-access
real-time scanner, that is, you need to manually scan a file in order to
detect a virus or spyware. Also, ClamWin Portable has scheduled scans and
updates disabled as they are not used in a portable scenario.
http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/clamwin_portable

HijackThis: It's still going strong, after all these years, even if it can
be destructive if you don't know what you're doing.
Get it here:
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/to...ols/hijackthis/

AVZ Antiviral Toolkit: Despite its ridiculous sounding name,(the coder's
a Russian, if that helps) it's actually a pretty impressive toolkit, so
much so that it is said that the product is now part of Kaspersky 2009
suite. Since I doubt you can read Russian, so here's a download link:
http://download.softpedia.com/dl/a9d3cc147...4fb84319fef433/
49d24b1f/100113572/software/antivirus/avz4.zip

KeePass Password Safe Portable: Another app with a silly name. Despite
that, it's a pretty impressive app where you can store your passwords
with you(Duh).
Right, here it is: http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/keepass_portable

TrueCrypt: Well, you'd better make sure that your world domination plans
are with you at all times, and only you and a few select minions can read
it. (Which reminds me, where on earth are they? Stupid exams got me all
distracted from my plans).
The application can be found here: http://www.truecrypt.org/

----Operating Systems and Utilities----

Improving your experiences by the minute

Mac-On-Stick: Don't even start the flaming with topics like "OMG the MAC
SUX". I've had one of those too many, and considering I usually check out
forums related to computers a lot, which is saying something. And for
those interested, sorry, this is only up to OS 7 Classic.
Mac fans (or those just curious), follow the instructions here:
www.linuxbeacon.com/doku.php?id=minivmac
Or if it's too confusing, this one:
www.pendriveapps.com/mac-on-a-stick-portable-macintosh-on-a-usb-stick/

Command Prompt Portable: Well, you have to show your mad DOS skills to
someone, right?
Get your console goodness at:
http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/com...prompt_portable

On second thought, CMDPortable is primitive compared to Console, which
supports copy/paste, can be customised and has tabs.
Try it at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/files/

MokaFive: It's a VM manager, but unfortunately it's quite big, with 4 gigs
cited as the minimal storage capacity. Add in the VMs, and you'll need a
pendrive with really large storage just to run it properly.
Interested? http://www.mokafive.com/trial/player.php

Cygwin Portable: Truth is, details on this application are pretty
confusing at first, but it seems that this application has been around for
quite a while, and it seems to be a pretty good version by the looks of
it.
Grab it here: http://symbiosoft.net/?q=cygwinportable

BartPE: A lightweight variant of Win XP/2003 (You still need to have
either installed on the PC first) which can be ran from a portable media,
allows users to boot Windows even if it's fubar.
Follow the instructions here:
http://www.collewijn.info/xpe/page/pe2usb.php
(Links are provided for the applications needed)

Slax: The reason I chose this over other Linux Live USB distributions is
because it is based on Slackware, and that you can add more applications
later on, or build your own customised Slax with only the modules you
need, then download the TAR from the site itself.
The distribution can be found at: http://www.slax.org/get_slax.php
The modules are at: http://www.slax.org/modules.php
And for those that want to build their own: http://www.slax.org/build.php
And read the documentation at: http://www.slax.org/build.php
To see how the last two features can be done, so I don't have to answer to
your PM's asking about how to do it.

VirtuaWin Portable: Want to have multiple desktops like Linux or OSX? Now
you can too. This app can launch and hide itself at the TaskBar, and
changing desktops can be acheived by either keyboard shortcuts or
accessing the application itself.
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/virtuawin/
VirtuaWin_portable_4.0.1.zip?big_mirror=0

CPU-Z: Useful for finding information on some of the main devices of your
system. Which, in turn, is useful in case you want to show off how
powerful your computer is. Since they have both 32 and 64 bit versions,
this program is a must-have.
Get it here: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

GPU-Z: For those that just had to know what their GPU is capable of, even
if they don't even know what it means.
The download is at: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1379/mirrors.php

PC Wizard 2009: More information for those that get off on hardware
information. It can also analyze and benchmark many kinds of hardware,
so information overload ftw!
Right here: http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

ADRC Data Recovery Tools: Well, there must have been some really important
file that you forgot to backup before that reformat. So get this tool to
salvage it.
It's here at: http://adrc.com/software/data_recovery_tools

Auslogics Disk Defrag: A good tool to defrag other people's hard disks.
Why would I want to do that? You wonder. Most people are terrible in basic
PC maintenance, and showing them how to do it helps them in the long run,
that's why.
Download and Instructions at:
http://www.pendriveapps.com/auslogics-disk-defrag/

----Graphics and Images----

PortableGimp: Some call it the "poor man's Photoshop" which means that
either it's a lousy rip-off or that poor people have good taste, since
GIMP is a pretty powerful editor in its own right.
The app is available at:
http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/gimp_portable

Fotografix: It's the same like the one above, albeit with a less
embarrasing name.
It's right here:
http://lmadhavan.com/software/fotografix/fotografix103.zip

IrfanView: A great image viewer as it supports a large number of media
formats, even including video and sound formats.
This great application is available at: http://irfanview.com/

FastStone Capture: This application's main purpose is to capture
screenshots of the computer you're on (with your prompting of course).
Has a wealth of options on what you want to do with the images, too.
You can get it at: http://www.faststone.org/DN/FSCapture59.zip

----Links----

Get more applications at these sites. I didn't list them since I've
already written down a whole lot of them.

PortableApps: http://portableapps.com/apps
PendriveApps: http://www.pendriveapps.com/
LupoPenSuite: http://www.lupopensuite.com
PortableFreeware: http://www.portablefreeware.com/
List of more portable applications:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_portable_software
List of portable games:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_portable_software