computerfreaker's favorites (29)

Firefox Browser is a fast, powerful and secure web browser that supports open standards and many of the latest web technologies. The program includes smart search, bookmark management, web development tools and built-in download manager. Smart content blocking for ads and trackers is available in both standard and private browsing modes.

Versions available for Mac, Android, iOS and Linux with synchronisation of passwords and browser state across devices. Additional features and customisations are available via the add-on system, which allows for thousands of specialized functions.

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition is a special build licensed by Mozilla and includes both the 32-bit and 64-bit builds and selects the appropriate one for each PC. Beta, Developer, Extended Release, and Win 7/8/8.1 and XP/Vista versions 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.

Notepad++ is a tabbed source code editor and Notepad replacement with a customizable interface. Includes source code "folding", allowing users to quickly reduce and expand sections of code to see the overall document. In addition, it features multi-language syntax highlighting, auto-completion, Perl-compatible regular expression search/replace, macro recording and playback, document map etc.

A host of additional functionality is available via the plugins admin view, including tools for file analysis, programming languages, viewers, calculations, user interface and many more.

Alternatively, Notepad++ Portable and the outdated X-Notepad++ clean the local folder.

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a powerful photo and image editor for composition and authoring. It can be used as a simple paint program, a high quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter and much more.

The program is cross-platform with versions available for Mac and Linux. GIMP Portable is the PortableApps version of the program.

Notes:

1. If you're willing to risk trying a 2012 add-on, mimic Photoshop adjusts GIMP's layout to a switched on Photoshop-like single-window mode.
2. Alternatively, another portable package (though outdated from 2021) is X-Gimp.

KeePass is a password manager that helps you store and manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key-disk. You need only remember one single master password to unlock the whole database, which is encrypted using AES and Twofish algorithms. The program includes a strong automatic password generator, expire dates, customized icons and categories etc.

Note that available plug-ins may not be portable.

Alternatively:

• KeePass Professional, which requires DotNet but has more features (see edition comparison)
• KeePass Portable with an additional feature to automatically adjusts paths
• Outdated X-KeePass
• Unofficial ports for multiple operating systems

SumatraPDF is a lightweight, tabbed document reader for a variety of formats. Includes a wide variety of views including table of contents, rotation, facing pages, book view (2 pages side-by-side), full screen and presentation mode. Includes support for bookmarks, command-line arguments, hotkeys, and more. Additionally, SumatraPDF can function as a portable browser plugin. Supported formats include PDF, eBooks (EPUB, MOBI, FB2/FB2Z, PDB, TCR), Comic Books (CBZ/CBR/CBT/CB7Z), DJVU, CHM, XPS, TXT, images (JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, J2K, WEBP, TGA) and PostScript documents (PS/EPS, AI, PRN - requires Ghostscript).

Alternatively, Sumatra Portable adjusts recently used and most used file paths.

FastStone Image Viewer is an image browser, viewer and converter that supports resizing, renaming, cropping, color adjustments, watermarks, lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image frames, scanner support, histogram and more. It also includes a built-in slideshow with 60+ transitional effects. It supports all major graphic formats including BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO, TGA and several Camera RAWs.

The program includes metadata (EXIF) tools including the ability to pull up a map of where a given picture was taken by looking at GPS data.

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.

Listary is an enhancement that allows you to quickly search almost any listing in Windows by simply typing your search terms. The program will pop up a small, semi-transparent window in Explorer windows (including open/save dialogs), Task Manager, Registry Editor and even directly on your desktop. The program works with almost any application with a system-generated list.

Although some programs will automatically jump to the first letter you type (a find-as-you-type feature of Windows Explorer), you must type quickly for more than one letter and cannot see your output. Listary brings a long-time feature of Linux to Windows, letting you enter whole words and type slower with automatic changes. Additionally, it allows wildcards and has the ability to edit your input with immediate results.

Advanced features include hotkeys, autocomplete, blacklists, favorites, a customizable window. Note that the program contains many "pro"-only features, but the program is very functional in its basic version.

Note: The latest version is no longer portable. This entry has been updated to reflect the last known portable version of the program.

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.

Apache OpenOffice is a full-featured, cross-platform office suite compatible with all major office suites and 100s of file formats. Includes word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentations, drawing and math/formulas software.

Apache OpenOffice Portable is a modified version of Apache OpenOffice. Alternatively, X-ApacheOpenOffice is also available.

Rapid Environment Editor (RapidEE) is an environment variables editor. It includes an easy to use GUI and replaces the small and inconvenient Windows edit box, located in the System Information section.

"Environment variables are specially named string aliases for basic system properties. They contain information such as drive, path, or file name. They control the behavior of various programs. For example, the TEMP environment variable specifies the location in which programs place temporary files." (source)

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.

Speccy is an advanced System Information tool for your PC including processor brand and model, hard drive size and speed, amount of memory (RAM), graphics card, operating system details and even system temperatures.

System Explorer is a tool for accessing a variety of system internals. It can also be used as a Task Manager replacement with detailed information about processes, startup entries, explorer/IE add-ons, uninstallers, services, drivers, connections, opened files etc. It has a registry/file snapshot feature so that changes to the system can be computed and displayed in tree view or text list format. It also has a processes security tool that checks your processes against an online database.

Alternatively, System Explorer Portable is available.

Process Hacker is a feature-packed tool for manipulating processes and services on your computer. Includes a simple, customized tree view, detailed performance graphs, list of network connections, comprehensive process list (including hidden), full control over processes, rootkit termination, and DLL controls.

Alternatively, Process Hacker Portable is stealth.

PhotoFiltre is a complete image editing/retouching program. It allows you to perform both simple and advanced adjustments to an image, as well as apply a vast range of effects and filters. Several extra plugins, selections, masks and patterns are available to download from the application website, to extend software features.

Languages: 26 including Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and French. Website also available in French.

Alternatively, PhotoFiltre Portable is also available.

Vectoroids is a clone of the classic arcade game "Asteroids" by Atari. Your objective is to maneuver a space ship within a field of asteroids, and shoot them into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually destroying them completely.

Mozilla Sunbird is a calendar client that supports the creation of scheduled events and the ability to get an overview of events on a particular day, week or month. The calendar can be shared by publishing it to a WebDAV-capable server.

Sunbird Portable is a portablized build of Sunbird.

Note:

• This project has been discontinued and is not recommended for a production or day-to-day environment, replaced by Thunderbird.
• Win 95, 98, or ME users must download an earlier version: V0.2 Rev 5.

Periodic Table Explorer contains all the elements of the Periodic Table along with images of the elements in their natural state, as well as lots of other information and interactive displays.

emergeDesktop is a Windows shell replacement, or desktop environment, for Windows Explorer. Advantages of this interface include modularity (applets) and a user-friendly configuration.

NOTE: this program is no longer in development. Linking to Archive.org.

PChat is an IRC client forked from XChat with a customizable, tabbed or tree interface, SSL support, DCC transfers and chats, CTCP, and multiple normal or SSL servers. PChat Portable is the portable version released by the developer. Includes a variety of scripting add-ons via the website including Lua, Perl, Python, and TCL. Also available for Linux.

Warning: development of this program appears to have stalled and the software may be subject to security vulnerabilities.

Scriptly is an extensive code editor for writing HTML and programming with PHP. In addition to the comprehensive search and replace facility, the program features syntax highlighting for several script languages and file types. Code snippets and complex tables can be added quickly and easily.

TurboRisk is the classic game of world domination on your computer. Choose one of four playing maps and compete for global supremacy against up to nine computer opponents. Tools to create your own maps and AI players are included.