Portable Applications on USB Drives?? What?!?!?

Question

Okay, can anyone explain to me how portable applications work on usb drives? Even what it means exactly...

Can I get a usb drive and download microsoft word or something on it and then use it on every computer i go on, or do i have to re-download it? what size usb drive do i need to carry a few apps around? would this be a good solution if i dont really have extra space on my comp but want to download some app on it anyways? ugh, im so confused...

Answer 1

Okay, can anyone explain to me how portable applications work on usb drives? Even what it means exactly...

It means you can carry it around with you and can run from an executable without needing to be entered in the registry of the machine you are using it on, ie, no 'installer' needed to make it work

Can I get a usb drive and download microsoft word or something on it and then use it on every computer i go on, or do i have to re-download it?

Yes. You put a portable app on a usb stick and carry it around with you. In the case of a web browser, the advantage would be that you can also carry around all of your bookmarks.

what size usb drive do i need to carry a few apps around?

A 1gig stick would be fine for a bunch of software. Really depends on how much you want to put on. You can actually run a whole operating system from a usb stick if you want to. Portable apps by themselves are simpler though.

would this be a good solution if i dont really have extra space on my comp but want to download some app on it anyways?

Its one solution to that problem.

Answer 2

At this site you can find a lot of handy portable apps:

http://portableapps.com/apps

Just install the exe like any other program but install it to somewhere in your usb drive. then you can freely click on the program icon within the usb and it will launch like it is installed on the comp, the best part is, that it leaves absolutely no trace on the comp.