carbonize's favorites (32)

calibre is a feature-rich e-book library management application with a variety of useful functions including viewer, addendums, editor, online book and news search/download. The software can perform detailed searches, convert e-books to device-specific formats, batch metadata tools, and a content server for online access to your collection.

The program syncs automatically with many different physical devices. It supports a variety of ebook and document formats.

Cross-platform with clients available for Mac and Linux. Alternatively, Calibre Portable and an outdated X-calibre, as well as a WinXP-compatible version are also available.

NOTE: Recent press about CCleaner indicates it may represent a privacy concern.

CCleaner is a feature-rich system optimization and privacy tool. The program cleans unused, temporary and log files from your system, as well as traces of online activities such as Internet history and flash cookies. The program contains startup controls for Windows, major internet browsers and context menu entries. Includes a separate registry cleaner, duplicate search, system restore tool and can wipe both deleted files and drive free space for security.

A 64-bit version is available (within the folder). Monitoring functions are only available in the pro version.

Additional cleaner rules can be using an unofficial set of community-developed set. It should be noted that many of these rules are alpha and the developers will not provide support for these rules, a thread in the users forum is dedicated to supporting the add-on rules.

Alternatively, ccPortable is also available.

FileZilla is a fast and reliable FTP client, including secure options SFTP and TLS. The program interface includes an easy-to-use tabbed window, drag-and-drop capability, bookmarks, remote and recursive file search, remote file editing and a managable upload/download queue. Internally, it supports connection throttling, keepalive, timeout detection, IPv6, SOCKS 4/5 and HTTP 1.1 proxy etc.

Alternatively, Filezilla Portable is pre-configured as portable and automatically adjusts paths, as well as an outdated X-Filezilla.

Cross-platform with clients available for Mac and Linux. For Windows XP, an older and unsupported version is available. A portable Filezilla server is available as part of XAMPP.

RJ TextEd is a full featured text, source code and web development editor. The program includes spell checking, auto completion, HTML validation, templates, as well as a dual pane file commander with (S)FTP client. Includes support for regular expressions, PHP, ASP, JavaScript and CSS/HTML editing with integrated preview.

A earlier version (14.81) is also available for WinXP, Vista, and Wine users.

Mozilla Thunderbird is a skinnable, feature-rich email, calendar, task and instant messaging client with support for plugins and many protocols. It comes with advanced search tools, message filtering, Bayesian spam detector, built-in spell checker, mailbox compression and many more. Program features can be extended with add-ons, including a specialized version of email encryption tool GPG.

Email protocols include SMTP, POP3, IMAP (including uploads, albeit a date issue), NNTP and RSS and chat support for IRC, Twitter, XMPP, Google Talk, and Matrix. Also supports OAuth for use with accounts that require it instead of a password.

Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition is a special build licensed by Mozilla. Alternatively, X-Thunderbird is also available. For XP/Vista, version 52.9.1 is available here.

Autoruns shows programs that run during system bootup or login, as well as entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility.

A 64-bit version is available (within the folder).

Alternatively, Autoruns Portable is stealth and will only show the EULA once.

PotPlayer is a feature-rich media player that plays hundreds of different video and audio formats without any dependency on installed codecs, as well as streaming media and DVD video. The program includes configurable subtitles, audio and subtitles delay adjustment, video equalizer, 3D capabilities, playlist support, bookmarks, audio visualizations etc.

The program can also capture video sequences and record audio, split video and add processing filters. It can sleep or shut down the computer after a timer finishes or at a set time.

Alternatively, PotPlayer Portable is also available.

USBDeview lists all USB devices plugged into your computer, both current and past. Information on devices includes name/description, type, serial number (for mass storage), the date/time that device was added, Vendor ID, Product ID etc. The program also allows you to disconnect currently connected USB devices as well as uninstall previously used USB devices.

The program will also allows you to execute a command from EXE/CMD/BAT file in every time that insert a USB device to your system, and USBDeview includes a read/write speed test for your USB flash drives.

Functional on remote computers, as long as you have an admin login to the destination machine.

Process Explorer is an advanced task manager. It is an indispensable tool for both beginners and power users. I use it all the time to kill tasks that refuse to be killed, or find what which processes are still holding on to a particular file or DLL so it refuses to be deleted.

Alternatively, Process Explorer Portable is also available, which is stealth.

Recuva helps recover files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players.

The program has a friendly "wizard"-style set up for finding documents by type (pictures, documents etc.) or an advanced mode to search manually through all deleted files.

Revo Uninstaller Free helps you remove any unwanted application installed on your computer. Additional clean-up tools include an auto-start manager, Windows tools manager, junk files cleaner, browsers history cleaner, office history cleaner, Windows history cleaner, unrecoverable delete tool and evidence remover.

Pidgin Portable is a Pidgin version made by PortableApps.com. Pidgin is an easy-to-use multi-protocol instant messaging client with a tabbed interface, customizable sounds, themes and more. Supports a long list of networks including Jabber/XMPP, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, MicroFocus GroupWise Messenger, SILC, and more. It also includes support for many features such as file transfers, away messages, buddy icons, emoticons and typing notifications.

Plugins are also available to add more features including more networks, security, interface tweaks, and more. Themes are available via an additional download.

Pidgin is cross-platform with clients available for Mac OS and Linux; it supports 80+ world languages.

Other portable versions (note that these are oudated and may not function):

• Official Procedure to make the official client portable (fairly long)
• Script kindly contributed by rokth

PSPad is a plain text editor with syntax highlighting support and tabbed interface. It includes an integrated hex editor, spell checker, FTP client, code explorer etc. It also allows you to automate repetitive activities through macro recording and playback.

PSPad supports column selection.

Note: The 64-bit version of PSPad is not limited by memory, but is missing the scripting capability of the 32-bit version, as noted here

ClamWin is the Windows version of ClamAV, a virus and spyware scanner which database is constantly maintained by a group of volunteers and updates are always available for free. Note that the program does not contain an on-access real-time scanner; you must manually scan a file in order to detect malware or use a third party tool like the general purpose Directory Monitor (see Execute scripts/applications when events occur) or the outdated Clam Sentinel.

ClamWin Portable is a portable wrapper for ClamWin and can be modified to automatically update virus database periodically or during startup.

Alternatives:

• Instructions are available to make the official program portable
• X-ClamWin

µTorrent (or uTorrent) is a lightweight BitTorrent client that supports multiple simultaneous downloads, file level priorities, configurable bandwidth scheduler and speed limiters, even the ability to only run while user activity is detected. Also includes boss key, built-in search function and RSS capability for subscribed downloads.

Note that this software was changed to adware after being added to the Portable Freeware database.

Alternatively, µTorrent Portable is also available, which automatically adjusts paths.

Spamihilator works between your email client and the Internet to examine incoming messages for problems, filtering out useless and unsolicited spam mails (junk). This process runs completely in the background, using a number of different filters in order to achieve the highest spam recognition rate possible. The program is highly configurable and can be extended via plugins.

AIMP is a skinnable audio player similar to Winamp that supports most audio formats, as well as Internet radio. Features include a music library, mini-player, colorizing of individual skins, visualizations, smart playlists, global hotkeys, and plug-ins capability. Filters/effects include equalizer, reverb, normalization, voice remover, speed changes and more.

AIMP includes a built-in audio converter, APE image splitter, tag editor, alarm clock, and auto-shutdown.

Alternatively, AIMP Portable is stealth and automatically adjusts paths.

Mail PassView is a password recovery tool that reveals the passwords and other account details for many email clients. For each email account, the following fields are displayed: Account Name, Application, Email, Server, Server Type (POP3/IMAP/SMTP), User Name and Password.

Supported clients: Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook 2000 (POP3 and SMTP Accounts only), Microsoft Outlook 2002/2003/2007/2010/2013/2016 (POP3, IMAP, HTTP and SMTP Accounts), Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, IncrediMail, Eudora. If not encrypted with a master password: Netscape 6.x/7.x, Mozilla Thunderbird. If settings have password saved: Group Mail Free, Yahoo! Messenger application, MSN/Windows/Live Messenger, Gmail Notifier application, Google Desktop, Google Talk.

ProduKey recovers the Product IDs and CD keys of Microsoft Office, Windows, Exchange Server, SQL Server, Visual Studio and some of the Adobe and Autodesk products installed on your machine. You can also view this information for for another machine using command-line options.

SynWrite is a powerful tabbed source code and web development editor. This feature-rich program includes syntax highlighting for many languages, code folding, tree structure, project management, FTP/SFTP client, keyboard macros, spell checking, customizable hotkeys etc.

KMPlayer is a audio/video player that supports a wide range of file formats, including AVI, MKV, MPEG, OGM, MP4, ASF etc. without any additional codecs installed. It also has full VCD/DVD playback functionality. In addition, it is able to play incomplete/damaged AVI files, or media files that are locked while downloading or sharing.

Note: In the past, this application managed open source components against the terms of their respective licenses. The current status of this is unclear.

NOTE: This program has mostly been replaced by PDF-XChange Editor (also portable), which is actively updated and contains additional features.

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PDF-XChange Viewer is a feature-rich program that displays multiple PDF documents within a tabbed interface. Edit features include the ability to rotate documents, add comments/annotations to any PDF file, apply custom stamps from any image/PDF file/Windows clipboard, mark-up pages with text and objects, and type directly on any PDF page in "Typewriter" mode.

The program supports exporting to BMP/JPEG/TIFF/PNG etc., or extracting text from a PDF page/file. Additional features include capturing the document with the snapshot tool (copies an area to clipboard), measuring tools for distance, area and perimeter, and more. A recommended picture-to-text OCR plugin is available (thanks Bruce) as is a PDF help file.

Reported as functional on Mac/Linux under WINE. Alternatively, PDF-XChange Viewer Portable adjusts paths, with an OCR plugin and help file available from the website as separate downloads.

For 64-bit, see forum post

Defraggler improves drive performance by organizing data at a file system level. Since files over time spread out over a drive, occasional "defragmentation" can help reduce drive seek time. Uniquely, Defraggler can function at a file or folder-level to help clean up specific areas, or the whole disk. The program will also list fragmented files and their locations.

The package includes both 32-bit and a 64-bit versions, as well as a command line program. This tool is not recommended for SSD drives or other flash-based media.

Version note: This program has not been updated since 2016 and may contain security vulnerabilities. Please see this entry for the latest version of Opera.

Opera (Presto) is a discontinued version of the Opera web browser, meaning feature development and maintenance for this version of Opera has ceased. Compared to the newer version based on Google Chrome, it features a leaner memory footprint, more user-interface customization, an RSS reader, integrated e-mail client, IRC chat, and native BitTorrent support. A variety of extensions are available to further extend functionality.

Alternative Portable versions:

• Opera, Portable Edition (Legacy 12.x) (PortableApps.com Format, portablizes paths/registry, portable Java support)
• Opera@USB - (Opera in a ZIP file and a few custom tweaks.)