Although I generally carry my Palm Tungsten with me everywhere I go in case I have a spare moment to read one of the many ebooks loaded on my compact flash card, I have found myself in situations where I don’t have it but have computer access. My flash drive is on my keyring and so is always in my pocket. So, when I’m wrapped up in a good book that I just can’t put down (or sometimes it’s an entire series: Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels – I read all 10 in less than 1 month, I highly recommend it!), I’ve found some backup solutions for those critical times when I can’t use the Palm but have access to a computer.

This is my software arsenal:

• DOC Reader
• Portable VLC media player
• Foxit PDF Reader (for when I’m really desperate)

DOC Reader

I have been using DocReader for years. It’s a Windows software that reads Palm format books (pdb) as well as text files and allows you to convert between the two. Mostly, I used it to convert txt files to Palm format before uploading them to my Palm. But I realized that this is a completely portable application. It creates an ini file in its own directory and it’s very small (511 Kb). It’s simple to use and supports the most important features for avid ebook readers:

1. Bookmark management for marking where you left off
2. Background colour and font size and colour control for easier reading
3. Keeps a list of recently opened books for quick access

VLC Media Player

This is great for audiobooks! You can download audiobooks ready-made or you can make your own with Text-To-Speech software. One of my favorites is TextAloud. TextAloud and other similar software will read your text file into an MP3 which you can then load onto your flash drive (or Palm or iPod, etc).

Foxit PDF Reader

Although I avoid reading ebooks in Adobe PDF format like the plague, there are times when I just have no choice. I long abandoned using Adobe’s Palm Reader on my Palm since it always did a pitiful job at converting the original PDF for use on the Palm (I would often be missing text and it would often hang during conversion when the file was too big) and I just found the quality poor and the software was slow.(NOTE: for Palm users out there, there is a new alternative to Adobe Palm Reader, called PalmPDF which doesn’t require converting the PDF and it supports adding bookmarks, I’ll be trying it out soon!) Foxit, however, is quick! And there is no conversion required. It’s simply a speedy portable alternative to Adobe Reader. Keep in mind though that you can’t add bookmarks of where you left off reading neither can you adjust the background colour nor the font. You can only zoom in or zoom out.

Hope this helps other compulsive readers out there. Now, I have several options available for when I just can’t put that book down. Only problem now is that the next Jack Reacher book is going to be released only in 2007! I guess I should have stretched out my reading…

Here is a great site called Linux on a Stick!. It gives very clear instructions on how to install Linux on your flash drive and make it bootable. Although this isn’t a quick and simple installation, this site thouroughly explains everything step by step and insists that anyone can learn how to do it. Putting Linux onto your flash drive involves reformatting it, so you may want to try this on an old or spare flash drive. The tutorial gives clear instructions for a variety of portable versions of Linux, such as Slax, DSL, Feather and Runt.

Yes, there are even portable games that you can carry around on your flash drive to play! Check out these links:

• List of Portable Computer Games from the Wikipedia, a monster list!!
• Portable Puzzles.
• Super Mario War Cool!
• The InfoBox. a small list of 11 games but they are all found on Wikipedia and/or PortableFreeware.com
• Portablefreeware.com. Some good games (about 69 of them)
• French Application Pack with about 9 games, a few of which I didn’t find in the collections above. Includes a flight sim, casino, chess and billiards. Most games are in French but not all.
• If you like classic arcade games, check out my Downloads page for a hand picked list of portable arcade games.

If you know of any others, drop me a note!

Taking care of such a little device is pretty simple. Follow these tips to ensure your flash drive has a long life and that your data remains intact:

1. Unplug your flash drive properly through Windows
2. Replace the cover when not in use
3. Store it in a safe place

1. Unplug your flash drive properly through Windows

I’ve seen a lot of flash drive owners pull out their drives from their computers without using the “Safely remove hardware” icon located in the system tray. This could cause file corruption or, even worse, it can cause the entire flash drive to become corrupted and unreadable (the latter can happen if the flash drive is removed while the main index file is being modifed). The best practice is to remove your flash drive by doing the following:

1. Close any directory listings you might have open in Windows Explorer
2. Close any files, portable applications and launchers running off the flash drive
3. Click on the Safely Remove Hardware icon from the system tray
4. Select your flash drive and click Stop
5. Click on OK in the pop-up window
6. When your flash drive light goes off, then it’s safe to remove your flash drive

2. Replace the cover when not in use

Keep the protective cap on the USB connector when not using your flash drive to keep the connector clean and to prevent it from getting damaged.
3. Store it in a safe place

Finally, I have to add, keep it in a safe place! I left mine on my desk with the lanyard dangling and my dog decided it was her new toy. Seeing my flash drive in her teeth made me realize how easily she could have destroyed it or even choked on the cover. Luckily, a Toy Poodle isn’t much of a challenge even for me, so it was very easy to wrestle it out of her jaw lock and bribe her with a real treat instead. It still bears tiny dent marks on the plastic case from this experience. I have also misplaced it on numerous occassions, forgetting where I put it or loosing it between several papers.

So that’s the basic requirements of taking care of your little flash drive. I’ve read there isn’t much danger at airport security machines (you see test results at this site: http://www.i3a.org/itip.html); however, you might want to check the specifications of your particular drive to make sure. Finally, label your drive with your contact information. It wouldn’t hurt to create a file in the root directory named something like “LostandFound.txt” and put your contact information in there too, in case the outside label becomes illegible.

A portable app is software that you can carry around with you on your flash drive (or other portable device such as a compact flash card, iPod, USB hard drive).

Characteristics of portable apps include:

• No installation on the Windows PC is required, the software runs directly off of the portable drive
• Leaves no files behind on the PC (such as browser cache and other sensitive data)
• All your software settings come with you

No Installation

Portable apps are easy to install and are usually smaller versions of Windows software. For example, one useful portable app is Foxit PDF reader. It loads very quickly (unlike Adobe Reader!) and is only 1 file to copy to your flash drive taking up a measly 2 Mb.

Leave No Files Behind

Whenever you plug your flash drive into a PC, such as the portable version of FireFox for browsing the web, nothing is left behind on the PC. For example, if you do your banking online on a public computer, you don’t have to worry about clearing the cache.

Take Your Settings With You

Imagine the convenience of browsing the internet and having your bookmarks with you all the time and your saved login information from favorite websites or of being able to IM all your contacts (using the portable version of Trillian) wherever you are! You can have quick access to your favorite templates, macros and calendar. There are portable apps for FTP, email, RSS, media playing and a host of others and being able to keep your settings with you is practical and a time saver!

Tons of Apps to Choose From

Besides the conveniences mentioned above, there is such a large collection of apps available that you can really carry around everything you need on a little drive when you want to travel light. There are a lot of tiny utilities and diagnostic tools and there are even operating systems available (such as a portable version of Linux)!

UPDATE March 26, 2007: For an up-to-date list of portable apps resources, check my Links page.

Here are my favorite sources for finding portable software. Lots of apps to explore so have fun!

1. Portable Apps. A very nice collection of free portable software. Available for individual download or in a package. Updated regularly
2. Portable Freeware. A HUGE collection of portable software all for free.
3. Portable Software Blog reviewing lots of different apps.
4. No-Install Portal for stand-alone apps. Downloads, Forum and news
5. Wikipedia List of Portable Apps The Wikipedia list, this is also a very HUGE list, and has a nice list to external sites.
6. The Info BoxThis is also a huge collection, scroll down to the bottom of the page and select the software categories: Productivity, Security, Utilities, Multimedia, Games and Education
7. Snapfiles. Handy programs to put on a USB stick.
8. Kikizas.net. A well organized list of apps.
9. Dirk Loss’s site Over 600 portable apps!
10. Bureau de Poche – English Version. And Bureau de Poche – French Version.
11. MarkTaw.com: My Favorite Smallware

I recently received a USB flash drive as a brithday present. Cool, I thought. Now I can make backups easily and quickly. And I did. But then I noticed that this little drive was hanging around doing nothing most of the time. I thought there must be other exciting things I can do with this little bugger besides looking at it collecting dust?

That’s how I found out about a whole new world of portable apps, USB hacks, music, games and a whole bunch of other cool stuff. This site is all about maximizing your drive and having some fun with it, so enjoy!