When you don’t have your trusty laptop handy you can always rely on your thumb drive to maintain your productivity on the go, access your online accounts, securely store and backup important files, and run your favorite applications. USB flash drives not only make data portability easy, but they also provide extra privacy and security. If used correctly, self contained programs installed on your flash drive can prevent snoopy coworkers, keyloggers, and hackers from accessing your private data.
One of my favorite portable software apps is RoboForm2Go, a password manager and form filler that runs on any U3 or non-U3 based flash drive. I went ahead and upgraded to the pro version to receive the dedicated customer service and technical support and grabbed a free version of GoodSync to keep my passwords, online identities, and passcards synchronized between my laptop and flash drive. If you don’t think you need a password manager think again and check out the video below to see just how easy it is for someone to hack into an online account that has a weak password.
Your passwords should vary across different web services and they should be strengthened by comprising them of long combinations of various numbers, symbols, and a mix of upper and lower case letters. Using a single password for every online account you use is dangerous because if someone cracks it at website A, they can now access your online account at website B, C, D, etc… It is especially important to make sure your email has a very secure password since it’s the central portal to you and your personal information. By hacking into that, someone could find out which bank you use, where you shop, the type of credit cards you use, and other valuable accounts to target.
There are some really fantastic applications available now that you can store on your portable drive to access at anytime and help you keep getting things done while your on the go. Here’s the list of my personal favorite portable applications:
Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition – by far the best and most flexible, safe, and secure web browser available today
OpenOffice.org Portable – suite of Microsoft Office-like apps that include a word processor, spreadsheet editor, and presentation software
PNotes Portable – digital sticky notes
Task Coach Portable – task manager to keep all your to-dos in order
SpeedCrunch Portable – a handy dandy portable algebraic calculator
Sumatra PDF Portable- simple PDF viewer
Notepad++ Portable – great text editor
GnuCash Portable – keep track of your financial expenses
FileZilla Portable – best free FTP client
Nvu Portable & KompoZer Portable – wicked web editor
Lightscreen Portable – gives you the ability to take snapshots of your computer screen
Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition -Mozilla’s portable email client
Mozilla Sunbird, Portable Edition – calendar and task manager
Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition (Address Book) – address book
Firefox Accessibility Extension – enhances Firefox accessibility
PortableApps.com AppCompactor – compacts your portable apps without dampening their functionality
PortableApps.com Backup – backs up your portable flash drive data
PortableApps.com Menu – start menu for your flash drive programs
7-Zip Portable – for zipping and compressing files
ClamWin Portable – portable antivirus software to keep your flash drive healthy
GIMP Portable – free open source Photoshop-like image editor
Audacity Portable – excellent audio recorder and editor
VLC Media Player Portable – great media player that plays can play nearly every audio and video format available
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