THESE APPS TURN YOUR FLASH DRIVE INTO A PORTABLE PC SURVIVAL KIT

START PORTABLE APPLICATIONS DIRECTLY FROM THE USB STICK.WE PRESENT THE BEST TOOLS FOR WINDOWS, HARDWARE, INTERNET, MULTIMEDIA, OFFICE, AND SECURITY.

- THORSTEN EGGELING

Portable apps are applications and tools that can be started directly upon clicking them, with no prior installation needed.

The advantage of this is that the programs are immediately ready for use and can be started from any storage drive—including a USB flash drive. These useful tools are then available for analyzing and maintaining any computer you slap the flash drive into, making them utterly invaluable for informal tech support duties.

Let’s take a look at the best portable applications for hardware analysis and system tuning, as well as a basic setup with media player, image editing, and word processing tools.

SET UP AND USE THE PORTABLEAPPS.COM PLATFORM

As a starting point for most portable applications, the PortableApp.​com Platform (fave.co/3BodHo3) is used to manage the programs and as a convenient program launcher. The tool also checks whether updates are available, which can be installed with a single click.

Unzip the portable app package to any directory on the hard drive or directly to a USB stick. You can specify the root directory or a subdirectory as the destination. The PortableApps folder contains the programs; you can use the Documents folder for your own files.

PortableApps.com Platform shows a menu with categories and programs. The portable applications can also be started from a USB stick.

Launcher: Start PortableApps.​com Platform via Start.exe. The program interface opens with the application menu. When you start a program or click on the desktop, the window closes automatically.

The tool appears as a button in the taskbar and as an icon in the notification area next to the clock. The programs are sorted into categories such as Graphics and Pictures, Hardware, Security, and System, and can be started with a click of the mouse.