- Backup / File Syncronization:
SyncBack - I've tried AllWaySync but I'm not convinced that this is portable, or at the very least it seems to leave junk in the folders that were backed up. I wasn't too impressed with the user interface either, it seems a bit clumsy. FreeByte Backup is ok in backup emergencies but it would be nice if it had an option to zip the resulting backed up files. In general, I love SyncBack and would really like a portable version of it! I haven't tried RegRapper, that might be the only solution unless someone can suggest a program that has similar features, is freeware and portable! - Security / Maintenance:
Ad-Aware - One of the first programs I install on any computer I build, but it'd be nice if I could just run it from my portable drive. Not sure if Spybot is portable but that seems to be the most popular anti spyware tool alongside Ad-Aware.
- Internet Browsing
GreenBrowser (for IE based browsing) - Using an IE based browser, I'm sad to say ensures maximum website compatibility when surfing the net (even though we all know that IE is probably the worst non-stadards compliant browser in existence). I was previously using Avant browser, but found its ad blocking abilities to be limited. Not wishing to be a conspiracist, I do have to wonder whether this has been done intentionally by the author who may receive certain benefits from companies that Avant browser doesn't effectively block. I have had no such issues with GreenBrowser and it works like a charm. As far as non IE based browsing goes I've found the heir apparent to the browsing throne; Firefox, to be slow and not really as great as everyone makes it out to be. For a mozilla based browser, I prefer K-Meleon, which still seems a nice lean and mean browser. If I'm really paranoid then I'll use OffByOne, which is a handy and extremely small browser. - Image Editing
PaintStar - Finally, a small and not overly complicated image editing program that supports layers! For at least the last 2 years I've been using the great Serif PhotoPlus, which has all the features I need without being painfully over bloated (which is my impression of Photoshop and most Adobe software). Now, PaintStar was recommended on this forum and I haven't looked back! I tried Pixia and PhotoFiltre in the past but found them to be unecessarily complicated and not very intuitive or user friendly. - Just about every app converted to portable form by John Haller on portableapps.com... Having portable OpenOffice really saves a lot of messing around when the inevitable complete system failure leading to a complete Windows re-install occurs.
- Firewall - These days I tend to use the built-in XP firewall but sometimes I might use Win 9x, which means that I need a third-party firewall. I've been using ZoneAlarm for years and it has worked well but I suspect it is far from being portable. Furthermore, it seems as if the number of free firewall applications available has declined over the years or, at the very least, ceased further development.
- Media Management - In general, I am against these sort of media catalog/database type programs like iTunes. They seem to offer more bloat and less usefulness. However, I was recently converted to the church of Google's image managing package Picasa. I was actually looking for a Windows equivalent to the Mac's iPhoto (apparently only iTunes is available for Windows) for a friend who needed some software to manage her digitial photo collection. Having a digital camera myself, I have a lot of photos and am slowly beginning to see the benefits of having such a program.