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Do you have a USB stick? How about a Dropbox account, or a shared folder of some sort? If so, I want you to pause for a moment and take a peek inside. What software do you carry with you wherever you go? What applications that don’t require installation, but that are essential to your workflow? We are compiling another list of The Best Of, this time featuring exclusively portable software. If it has an installer, it doesn’t go on the list. Only stuff you can unzip, drop in a folder, and run. Oh, and it has to be for Windows – sorry, Linux and Mac fans.

Help us build the list! All you need to do is leave a comment below, with your favorite portable apps (and links), as well as why you love them. Make sure these apps are not in the list below, which our staff compiled. The five commenters we deem most helpful will win a free MakeUseOf T-shirt! It’s our way of saying thanks.

What are you waiting for? Check out this list and leave your suggestions below!

Security/Privacy

• ToddlerTrap
• ClamWin
• LicenseCrawler
• Magical Jellybean Finder
• KeePass

Productivity

• OpenOffice
• CorruptOffice2txt
• WriteMonkey
• FocusWriter
• Notepad2
• Abiword

Communication

• Pidgin
• Miranda IM
• Skype
• Email Stripper

Web/FTP

• Google Chrome
• Firefox
• Filezilla

System Tools

• 7-Zip
• Zip2Fix
• CCleaner
• GetFolderSize
• SpaceSniffer
• Recuva
• TeraCopy
• Zscreen

Multimedia

• CoolPlayer
• Easy Image Modifier
• SharePod
• Audacity
• CDex
• GIMP
• VirtualDub
• VLC Player
• AndreaMosaic
• Avidemux
• Camstudio
• Fotografix
• Snaptimer
• Splayer

So voice out in the comments with your suggestions and you could win a free MakeUseOf t-shirt!

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/webbrowser.jpg?323f2c" alt="" />Your browser is the centerpiece to your internet experience and keeping it nice and portable is an awesome luxury. While href="http://portableapps.com/">PortableApps.com does a great job of bundling our most popular software together into portable, auto-launching applications, I tend to avoid the packages because I often install my portable applications within href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox/">Dropbox. A lot of portable applications, typically designed for USB drives, don’t mesh well with Dropbox. I’ve found some that do, though.

You may not have heard of a couple of these browsers, but each and every one brings a unique benefit to your portable arsenal. Don’t let the fact that you may not have heard of them stand in the way of finding your new favorite browser.

href="http://www.avantbrowser.com/">Avant Browser

We’ve already covered a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/avant-browser-free-internet-explorer-alternative/">nice and in-depth review of the Avant browser, but it’s time to rehash the software now that an official portable version is readily available on their official website.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/avant.png?323f2c" alt="" width="580" height="455" />

Avant is like a souped-up version of Internet Explorer. One of the main differences is how well Avant handles Flash, in comparison. Avant is only a little slower than the current Firefox build, which puts it plenty ahead of IE’s speed. It’s also got a ton of features built in, like ways to disable on-page sound, scripting, and animations right out of the box.

You can download the official portable version href="http://dl.filekicker.com/send/file/184227-Z37W/avant.exe">here.

href="http://www.palemoon.org/">Pale Moon

What Avant is to Internet Explorer, Pale Moon strives to be alongside Firefox. Pale Moon is an alternative, slim-downed version of the Firefox browser that is built on Firefox’s official source code. The browser has been around for years and has been proven to use less memory than the original Firefox without the user being able to notice much difference alongside the powerhouse browser that Mozilla has on their hands.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/palemoon.png?323f2c" alt="" width="580" height="438" />

You can download Pale Moon’s official portable release from href="http://www.palemoon.org/palemoon-portable.shtml">this page.

href="http://www.browzar.com/">Browzar

Browzar has a distinct advantage over the rest on this list in respect that the official build of the original browser itself is portable. Browzar leaves an incredibly small fingerprint and is one of the most secure and easy-to-use browsers that I’ve used right from a flash drive.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/browzar.jpg?323f2c" alt="" width="580" height="387" />

While it does lack somethings in the features category, Browzar can’t be beaten when you’re looking for something to jump on and jump right off with. Browzar will even clear every single bit of sensitive, session-specific data after closing.

You can download it href="http://www.browzar.com/download/">here.

href="http://www.opera-usb.com/">Opera@USB

I decided to save the best for last. While Opera may already be my favorite official browser in the first place, it is not the Opera team who developed this third-party portable port. Nonetheless, it’s flawless. It’ll even update alongside released Opera versions and still maintain it’s portable status.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/operausb.jpg?323f2c" alt="" width="564" height="419" />

Other than that, there’s really not too much more to explain about Opera@USB. It is simply Opera in a portable package. Give Opera a shot just for a few days and I promise you’ll start to fall in love a little. You can click href="http://www.opera-usb.com/operausben.htm">here to download Opera@USB.

Though unheard of and maybe even a little obscure, these portable gems will help put your flash drive on the right track. If you enjoyed this list, check out href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-software-usb/">100 other portable applications that you may enjoy. Shoot me a line about any of these in the comments.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/logo.jpg" alt="portable sketchpad" />Occasionally here on MakeUseOf we think it’s nice to feature an app that’s worthy of both our and your money. Usually these apps are one-of-a-kind, where no decent free alternative exists – and I think iMaschine falls into this category.

iMaschine is a new app for your iPhone from the clever chaps over at Native Instruments who are responsible for all manner of professional-level href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/rock-on-with-free-mixxx-music-mixing-software/">music software and hardware – Traktor and Maschine, to name but two.

So you’d expect this app to be pretty good right? If you like to groove on the go, read on to find out if iMaschine is set to become your next App Store purchase.

Groovin’ on the Go

iMaschine is a simple app to suss out, and one that can be used to create all manner of beats and loops. You’re provided with 4 tracks on which to tap out a rhythm, each can be customized to use a pad (pre-determined samples on a 16 button “sampler”), keyboard or a simple mic-in.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/basic.jpg" alt="portable sketchpad" width="320" height="480" />

Tapping and holding A, B, C or D allows you to change the track’s input, so if you’d like to layer up some vocals, a guitar backing and a few handclaps you can choose 3 mic inputs and create a completely acoustic loop. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/keys.jpg" alt="imaschine app" width="320" height="480" /> /> On the other hand, 4 pads provides an opportunity to create some highly complex drum patterns using the in-built kits and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/royalty-free/">samples. Each of the 16 buttons on a pad can be changed, re-recorded and be used in one-shot mode (whereby the whole sample plays once pressed, instead of having to hold the button). /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/kitskeysmic.jpg" alt="imaschine app" width="320" height="480" /> /> Your $5 goes quite a way in terms of included sounds, kits and projects. There are 10 projects included which you can load and check out to see what’s possible. On top of these there are 25 kits (not just drum samples, but chord hits and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-essential-websites-download-free-dj-mixes-sets/">dubstep wub-wub noises too!) delivering more than 400 individual sounds. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/kits.jpg" alt="imaschine app" width="320" height="480" />

Building Up A Beat

The app itself is fairly intuitive, though you’ll need to play around for a few minutes to start with. Once you’ve selected an input the 5 buttons along the bottom of the screen come into play. The first is a simple note repeat, making it easy to just hold down a sample and have it repeat seamlessly. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/pattern.jpg" alt="imaschine ipad" width="320" height="480" /> /> The second controls velocity and the third allows you to remove, double and change your pattern. It’s worth noting at this point that your pattern will automatically loop, and the longest pattern you tap out essentially dictates the length of the loop – simple stuff. /> The fourth button enables the recording and editing of each sample individually and the bottom right allows you to change the whole kit or href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-sites-for-learning-piano-online/">keyboard sound. It might sound a little complex, but it’s really not and only takes a few minutes to master.

Along the top the first button allows you to save, load and so on. BPM can be set by tapping the number atop the screen, play and record are fairly self explanatory and the top right button is the mixer, which I’ll mention later. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/recording.jpg" alt="imaschine ipad" width="320" height="480" /> /> The key to creating funky loops is layering and building up a sound incrementally. Make a mistake? No problem, clear the pattern and re-record without affecting your other tracks. Try recording an intricate pattern at a low BPM and then jack it up to drum and bass standards for a real ego boost!

Effects, Live Use, Customizing and Usability

The mixer allows you to change each input’s level and also provides access to effects. Two effects can be defined and then applied to each track. Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of effects, but simple low-pass filters and delays can help fine-tune your desired sound, and for an iPhone the results certainly aren’t bad. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/mixer.jpg" alt="imaschine ipad" width="320" height="480" /> /> Another possible use for iMaschine is href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-websites-listen-live-music-band/">live performances, either during DJ sets for simple one-shot samples or as a fully customizable mobile sampler. By connecting your iPhone to your PC you can use iTunes file sharing to add your own 16-bit WAV samples which can then be imported into a kit and saved for quick access later. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/editsample.jpg" alt="portable sketchpad" width="320" height="480" /> /> Occasionally whilst using the app I found the odd sound didn’t register, and thus I missed a beat so to speak. There are a few other reports of this on the App Store, though on the whole it’s not a frequent problem and one I’m sure could be solved in a future update. Crashes have happened, though they are infrequent and the app resumed exactly where I left off. Aside from this, I had no other issues with iMaschine after prolonged use. It’s addictive, what can I say?

Conclusion

Considering this app only costs $5, you get an awful lot of bang for your buck. There are additional sample packs for download, though you’re more than welcome to cut up your own and create completely unique kits. For href="http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/?category=1773">Maschine veterans there is even an export option so you can continue your project on the desktop.

iMaschine is a great toy, tool or addition to your music workstation. It’s a creative time-killer which is both fun and rewarding to use, and thus has earned its very own MakeUseOf seal of approval.

Download: href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/imaschine/id400432594?mt=8">iMaschine @ App Store ($5) /> Visit: href="http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/imaschine/">iMaschine @ NativeInstruments.com

Have you tried iMaschine? Do you own any other Native Instruments products? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/deals.jpg" />Newegg has the Western Digital Elements SE 1TB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive for just $69.99 with free shipping. This is one of the smaller portable hard drives that run off of USB bus power and requires no extra AC adapter.

For more fresh hot deals, visit our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/hot-tech-deals/">Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.

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6. href="http://www.techbargains.com/jump.cfm?clkSubId=ZZ0AT11A99264522A0&afsrc=1&id=488&arg=N82E16822136540&source=makeuseof">TODAY ONLY Western Digital Elements SE 1TB Portable External Hard Drive $69.99 via code EMCYTZT646

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/hot-tech-deals-western-digital-elements-se-1tb-portable-external-hard-drive/">Hot Tech Deals – Western Digital Elements SE 1TB Portable External Hard Drive + more is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/00_1by1.jpg" alt="" />If every developer thinks that adding more features is the only way to improve a piece of software, then I think the story of almost every application made will have more or less the same ending – they will become bloated and slow. We can see examples of this everywhere, from operating systems to browsers to media players.

But what an increasing number of people want is exactly the opposite – applications which are minimal, small and fast. In the realm of class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/music-player/">music players, class="vt-p" href="http://mpesch3.de1.cc/1by1.html">1by1 is one which fits that description – a small, fast, and lightweight audio player that only does one thing but does it really good.

Let’s Play Them One By One

Compared to other media players which are hundreds of megabytes, 1by1 is really tiny. Its size is only around 150KB and it can be used as a portable app.  Therefore it’s small enough to be kept inside your Dropbox folder or USB drive or be installed on every computer you use.

Setting Up The Portable App

If you want to install it in your Dropbox folder or USB drive to use it as a portable app, choose the folder or drive as the location where you want to put it during the installation process. But please make sure that both the 1by1 application and a file called “mpglib.dll” are located in the same folder.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/00c_install.jpg" border="0" alt="00c install" width="503" height="389" />

Sometimes, the installation process will put “mpglib.dll” in a different location and thereby render 1by1 unfunctional as a portable app.  If this happens and you are unable to locate the file, you can just download it from class="vt-p" href="http://www.free-codecs.com/1by1_download.htm">here, and extract it to the same location as the application inside your USB drive or Dropbox folder.

Opening It Up For The First Time

The first time you open 1by1, you’ll quickly notice that the app is definitely not the prettiest one in town. It’s a bit difficult to get around the functions, especially if you are using it the for first time. Plus it’s hard to tell what each button does just by looking at the shape. You have to hover your mouse above each button and let 1by1 tell you its function.

The default interface is divided into three – the folder browser on the left, the song browser on the right, and the song information at the bottom. Once you get past the first time user confusion, using 1by1 is fairly simple. You navigate to a folder with a music file inside, pick a song, and press play. The app will go through the songs one by one if you do not interfere.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/01a_main_window.jpg" border="0" alt="01a main window" width="578" height="369" />

Just pick a folder and play, no complicated database required. If you want to play sets of songs in a certain arrangement, arrange them inside folders. If you’re the kind of person who can’t live without smart playlists, then 1by1 is not for you. On the other hand, 1by1 is perfect for those who just want to listen to their collection without any fuss.

Going Around The Player

You can completely minimize the player to get out of your way while working on something else by clicking on the minus button like any other Windows application. You can put it on minimal view by clicking the minimize button (showed in the picture below).

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/03b_compact_mode.jpg" border="0" alt="03b compact mode" width="273" height="68" />

Having a fast player means nothing if you have to go back and forth to the application to click on different buttons. You can go around the player faster if you learn some of the basic shortcuts. Hover your mouse above the buttons to view them.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/03f_available_shortcuts.jpg" border="0" alt="03f available shortcuts" width="580" height="130" />

style="text-align: center;">Other than the basic audio playing buttons, I think you should know the Options button at the furthest right of the player. You can access many player functions here, including the “Settings” window (F6). There are many customizations inside the Settings window, but you might want to visit the “Audio Enhancer” section first. Here’s where you can enable or disable the audio enhancer and audio equalizer.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/05a_audio_enhancer.jpg" border="0" alt="05a audio enhancer" width="580" height="385" />

From the “Control section“, you can set “Global Hotkeys” so you can access the player from anywhere on the computer.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/05b_control.jpg" border="0" alt="05b control" width="540" height="390" />

You can also set the fonts and background color if you want to. Play around with the settings to customize the player to your liking.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/05d_list_style.jpg" border="0" alt="05d list style" width="540" height="300" />

Despite the look, I think 1by1 is a great little audio player. It comes without all the bells and whistles of other big players, but that’s the strong point of this app. If you need a good audio player that won’t put stress on your system, you should try 1by1. Don’t forget to tell us what you think of it in the comments below.

Don’t forget to check out our articles about other music players such as  class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/clementine-simple-cross-platform-alternative-music-player/">Clementine, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/instinctiv-alternative-music-player-mac/">Instinctiv, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/banshee-20-comprehensive-media-player-streamer-podcast-tool-linux/">Banshee, and other players for class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-free-media-players-for-windows/">Windows and class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-great-alternative-linux-music-players/">Linux. />
/>Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

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Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/1by1-small-lightweight-portable-music-player-dropbox-windows/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

 

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More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/audio/" title="audio" rel="tag">audio, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox/" title="dropbox" rel="tag">dropbox, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/music/" title="music" rel="tag">music, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/music-player/" title="music player" rel="tag">music player, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/portable-app/" title="portable app" rel="tag">portable app />

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/NirLauncher06.png" alt="portable freeware utilities" /> title="NirLauncher" href="http://launcher.nirsoft.net/">NirLauncher is a library that comes packed with over 100 portable freeware utilities for Windows. It is the perfect toolbox to carry around on your USB stick for emergencies, for example if you need to recover lost passwords or monitor your network. The tools are pre-sorted into 12 different categories and you are free to add additional software packages if you like.

Although NirLauncher is designed for portable use on your USB flash drive, you can of course install it on your local hard drive for everyday use. The applications have been developed by NirSoft and are also available individually through the title="NirSoft" href="http://www.nirsoft.net/">NirSoft homepage.

What’s In It For Me?

The tool contains over 100 portable freeware utilities. If you are not familiar with utilities from NirSoft, you may not recognize these tools. However, not only are the apps sorted into categories by function in NirLauncher, you can also view a short description that explains what the respective tool does.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/NirLauncher01.png" border="0" alt="portable freeware utilities" />

It’s impossible to list and cover all the utilities in the scope of this article, but you can view all of them in the title="NirLauncher Utilities List" href="http://launcher.nirsoft.net/utilities_list.html">Utilities List. Below is a short list of utilities I found interesting or useful:

• Password Recovery Utilities

  WirelessKeyView: Recovers lost wireless network keys (WEP/WPA) stored in your computer. /> PasswordFox: View passwords stored in Firefox web browser. /> Asterisk Logger: Reveals passwords stored behind the asterisks (‘***’) boxes.

• Network Monitoring Tools

  SniffPass: Capture the passwords that pass through your network adapter. /> NetResView: Displays the list of all network resources on your LAN.

• Web Browser Tools

  MozillaCookiesView: Alternative to standard ‘Cookie Manager’ provided by Netscape and Mozilla. /> FirefoxDownloadsView: Displays the list of downloaded files in Firefox.

• Video/Audio Related Utilities

  Volumouse: Adjust the volume of your speaker with the wheel of your mouse.

• Internet Related Utilities

  SiteShorter: Save a screenshot of any webpage into a file. /> DownTester: Test your Internet download speed.

• Command-Line Utilities

  BluetoothCL: Show Bluetooth devices list.

• Desktop Utilities

  OpenWithView: Disable / enable items in the ‘Open With’ dialog-box of Windows. /> Clipboardic: Small and simple clipboard manager.

• Disk Utilities

  DriverLetterView: View and change drive letter assignments.

• System Utilities

  WhatIsHang: Get information about Windows software that hangs. /> ProduKey: Displays the CD-Keys of MS-Office/Windows installed on your computer. /> DriverView: Displays the list of all device drivers currently loaded on your system.

• Other Utilities

  SkypeLogView: View log files created by Skype. /> IconsExtract: Extract icons and cursors from executable files.

How Does It work?

Download the NirLauncher ZIP file and unpack it to your flash drive or local hard drive. The ZIP file is only 9.4 MB large and unpacks to a folder of 14.1 MB. Considering that it contains over 100 utilities this size is impressively small.

Note that your anti-virus program may detect and report some of the applications while you are installing NirLauncher. In my case AntiVir wanted to move iepv.exe, dialupass.exe, chromepass.exe, and some other tools to quarantine. Checking the detection code, however, didn’t yield results, meaning this specific app was not reported to be a virus, but it was detected based on malware-typical behavior. The false positive detection is a known issue and NirSoft openly discusses it in the following post on the NirBlog: title="False Positive Malware Detection by AntiVirus Programs" href="http://blog.nirsoft.net/2009/05/17/antivirus-companies-cause-a-big-headache-to-small-developers/">Antivirus companies cause a big headache to small developers.

Once unpacked, you can run the NirLauncher.exe and browse the tools by categories. To launch a utility, highlight it (click it once) and click on > Run in the bottom left of NirLauncher.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/NirLauncher02.png" border="0" alt="freeware software portable" />

Several tools require Administrator privileges to function. In this case you can either right-click the utility and select > Run As Administrator from the menu or click > Advanced Run.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/NirLauncher03.png" border="0" alt="run as administrator" />

Advanced Run gives you more options, for example to run the utility in full-screen mode or run with custom environment variables.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/NirLauncher04.png" border="0" alt="freeware software portable" />

Many utilities are available in a 64-bit version. If you’re running NirLauncher on a 64-bit Windows, the respective utility version will load automatically when selected to run.

You can also launch apps from the NirSoft folder within the package folder. Simply double-click the respective .exe file. You will note that for every .exe file there also is a .chm file. This is a help file, but even though there appears to be one for every utility, I didn’t find a single one where it worked, neither launching through NirLauncher, nor through the folder.

Can I Customize NirLauncher?

Yes you can! As mentioned above you can access all applications individually through the NirSoft folder. If you want to remove a utility, simply delete it from this folder. Likewise you can add portable tools.

However, you need to (remove or) make an entry in the respective group, so that the tool is (no longer) accessible via NirLauncher. Edits need to be made to the nirsoft.nlp file, which is also located within the NirSoft folder. This is a regular text file that you can open with Notepad. Simply remove or add the required information, save the file, restart NirLauncher and see whether your changes were successful.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/NirLauncher05.png" border="0" alt="portable freeware utilities" />

Additional utility packages can be found on the title="NirSoft Download Page" href="http://launcher.nirsoft.net/download.html">NirSoft Download page, for example the sysinternals2.nlp, which adds the SysInternals Suite to NirLauncher.

Conclusion

Taken together this is a super handy tool with many useful utilities that takes up astonishingly little space and should thus fit on any portable drive. In addition, you can customize it to contain only your favorite portable apps, which may make it even more compact and useful.

We have previously covered NirLauncher title="NirLauncher – Awesome Portable Utilities To Have On Your Flash Drive" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/nirlauncher-awesome-portable-utilitie-to-have-on-your-flash-drive/">here. If you are interested in portable apps in general, check out these resources:

• title="MakeUseOf Tag: Portable App" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/portable-app/">Portable App (MakeUseOf tag)
• title="Top 10 Most Downloaded Portable Apps [Movers & Shakers]" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-downloaded-portable-applications-movers-shakers/">Top 10 Most Downloaded Portable Apps [Movers & Shakers]
• title="PortableApps : Portable Apps Suite" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/portable-apps-suite/">PortableApps : Portable Apps Suite
• title="How To Create Your Own Portable App For A Flash Drive" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-portable-app-flash-drive/">How To Create Your Own Portable App For A Flash Drive

What utilities do you find are missing from this extensive collection and which ones are your favorites?

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/hot-tech-deals.png" />A couple of interesting random deals today. We have the Klipsch home theater speakers at $199.99 — that’s half off! And maintaing the spirit of audio systems, the Polk Audio RM85 5 channel home theater speaker system is also $199.99. Or if you’re a cheapskate, spend $19.99 on a pair of Sennheiser HD 201 cans.

For more fresh hot deals, visit our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/hot-tech-deals/">Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ipadiosafe.png" />Now comes the time that everyone is waiting for. We’re announcing the winners of both the ioSafe Rugged Portable 250 GB bulletproof hard drive, the 10 Genie Timeline Professional Licenses and the winner of the iPad 2 giveaway.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you were selected as a winner?

ioSafe Rugged Portable

Rolando Islas

Genie Timeline Professional

1. Primo Iglesias
2. Sandra W. Seaberry
3. Tom ONeill
4. Amandeep Singh
5. James Hughes
6. Tobias Brusegard
7. Anh Tao
8. Bryant Helms
9. Del Steiner
10. Jason Reid

iPad 2

Sam Shields

Congratulations! For the winners of the Genie Timeline Professional giveaway, your licenses will be sent via email. As for the ioSafe Rugged Portable and iPad 2 giveaway winners, we’ve sent you an email requesting for shipping information. Please reply that email within 48 hours or your prizes will be forfeit. Thanks! />
/>NEW: href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.makeuseof&feature=search_result" target="_blank">Download MakeUseOf App for Android. FREE! />
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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/serverback.png" alt="portable php web server" />Whether you’re a blogger or a web designer, upgrading and improving the website is a never-ending job. Whether you want to tweak the template or test some changes before activating them live, it’s nice to have a local system set up where you can view “live changes” before they ever go live on the Internet.

There are lots of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/kompozer-free-web-design-software-whip-web-pages/">WYSIWYG applications that let you create a static HTML page and then preview what it’ll look like before you actually upload the new pages to your web host. However, if you have a PHP-based website like a WordPress blog, things aren’t quite that simple. You need a web server that can handle PHP and MySQL at the very least.

id="more-67727"> /> Here at MUO, we’ve covered a number of ways to install your own local web server like Dave’s review of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/linux-web-server-software-apache-alternatives/">Linux web server software, as well as his review of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/install-windows-web-server-pc-xampp/">XAMPP for Windows. These are great if you intend on using the same computer for all of your development work, but if you travel a lot, wouldn’t it be nice to have a portal PHP web server installed on your thumb drive or portable hard drive where you can test changes anywhere, even if there’s no Internet access? One of the easiest portable solutions for this is href="http://www.server2go-web.de/index.html">Server2Go.

Bring A Working Web Server Anywhere

Compared to the configuration work it takes to set up a working web server, the ease with which you can install and run Server2Go on a portable drive is unbelievable. This is a perfect solution for me, because I want to make some design changes to my blog template without the risk of taking down my entire site. So, in order to accomplish this feat, I decided to test drive Server2Go.

When you download Server2Go and extract the files, you’ll see that the directories are set up like a regular web server with “htdocs” being the public directory where your web pages will go.  No installation required.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67728" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/server1.jpg" alt="portable php web server" width="462" height="415" />

style="text-align: left;">All you have to do is copy those files and directories to your portable drive. Now, if your only goal is to test your website that’s written in either straight HTML or PHP, you’re done. Just copy your site to htdocs and you can view it by launching the web server (running Server2Go.exe) and then going to http://127.0.0.1:4001/ – the default localhost IP configured in pms_config.ini.

This is pretty slick because you will have a fresh web server to test any website that you want at any time and anywhere. But what if you want to load up a complete PHP site with a back end SQL database?

Server2Go was originally made to run off of a read-only CD, so the default setup will not save MySQL database changes. If you want to configure the server to keep all of your settings, you need to edit pms_config.ini so that LocalMirror=0, OverwriteLocalMirror=0, and DeleteDatabaseFiles=0.

Do this edit before you move on or you’ll lose all of your configurations. When you’re done, open up phpMyAdmin by going to http://127.0.0.1:4001/phpmyadmin/ and log in as root without any password.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/server2.jpg" alt="" width="412" height="380" />

Now, set up your database. This needs to be the database name that you use for your regular website. In the case of a WordPress blog, you’ll make it whatever you configured in wp-config.php on your live blog.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/server41.jpg" alt="local host web server" width="444" height="427" />

Also create a new user with the same user id that you use on your live WordPress blog. You do this in phpMyAdmin by clicking on the SQL tab and typing:

“CREATE USER ‘my_id’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘your_password’; /> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO ‘my_id’@’localhost’ /> WITH GRANT OPTION; /> CREATE USER ‘my_id’@’%’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘your_password’; /> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO ‘my_id’@’%’ /> WITH GRANT OPTION;

Now that your database is ready to go, move a fresh copy of WordPress to your new portable web server by copying all of the WordPress files to the htdocs directory.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/server5.jpg" alt="local host web server" width="450" height="432" />

Remember to edit wp-config-sample.php with the database and user information, and rename the file to wp-config.php. Run “http://127.0.0.1:4001/wp-admin/install.php” and you should see the following screen.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67733" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/server6.jpg" alt="local host web server" width="545" height="382" />

You now have a working local installation of WordPress! The next step is to just export your database and import it into your local WordPress installation. We’ve covered lots of backup procedures at MUO, but one of my favorites was Dean’s on the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-easily-automate-backing-up-your-wordpress-blog/">database backup plugin. I won’t go into the details here, but I highly recommend that plugin to transfer over your entire database.

Keep in mind that even though the database backup will move over all posts and comments, the theme and formatting will not carry over. To do this, you need to copy your entire wp-content directory from your online blog to the fresh install of your local one. Enable the required plug-ins and configure the theme to match your online setup. Once you’re done, you have an exact local replica of your entire online website or blog.

Here’s a local copy of my own blog running on Server2Go.

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Now I can tweak the template and other aspects of my blog – including testing new plug-ins and widgets – before they ever go live on the actual online website. After taking my website down a few times just by playing around with a new widget, this feels a whole lot safer.

Give Server2Go a shot on your own portable thumb drive or hard drive and let us know how it goes. What other ideas do you have for making use of such a portable and fast to set up web server? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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