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Get a thumb drive and Firefox Portable, and all your problems will be solved.

A relatively new option that should be looked at is providing each student with their own USB drive, at a cost of 10USD to 100USD each, depending on whether flash or spinning, and size. Load these with a standard image of portable FOSS software (assuming you are using Windows, look at the Portable Apps web site. There will be room enough for a full suite of portable applications plus storage for all text a student might author in the course of year. Plus, with the larger drives, enough room for libraries of whatever. Be worth the while to check what's now available through the Open CourseWare initiatives of MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and a host of other institutions. Some of it may be appropriate to the students in question, and you can't beat the price or accessibility.

A key to this approach is loading a portable image of Firefox that is preconfigured with the bookmarks and other features the school wants the students to have access to.

This showed a great deal of promise in an adult ed "Preparation For The WorkPlace" environment I was associated with until last July. The software was well received by students, especially Firefox with its bookmarks. They got very comfortable using it. These were on 1 GB thumb drives, which was more than adequate in size.

The portable OpenOffice.org component was not well received by those teachers who were already very defensive about their minimalist skill level with Microsoft Office, but that kind of resistance (of teachers being required to learn new software) is a separate issue that has to be faced no matter how software in the schools is updated.

Not everyone is in a position where they can install their own browser and/or extensions.

If your workstation has any location where you have write access, or if it has an available USB port, you can use Firefox Portable. No installation privileges needed (no registry writes), and very little trace if you run it from a stick.

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

The only limit I've run into is that when I produce a presentation using Impress, where it's going to be displayed in MS Power Point, I open the file in MS PowerPoint before presenting to make sure it's going to display OK. Sometimes, fonts will be different, carefully aligned elements will be out of order, graphics scale the wrong size, etc.

One way to solve this is to download OpenOffice Portable and install it on your flash drive (or network drive). This way you never have to care if M$ PowerPoint will render your presentation correctly.

Some useful sites I've found are:

• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx
• http://www.nirsoft.net/
• http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/31/portable-wscc-simplifies-access-to-sysinternals-nirsoft-utiliti/
• http://portableapps.com/
• http://portablefreeware.com/
• http://www.getusb.info/55-portable-apps-for-making-a-usb-super-stick/
• http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-software-usb/
• http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/02/24-killer-portable-apps-for-your-usb-flash-drive/2
• http://www.emergingtechs.com/posts/35-portable-applications-every-tech-needs/
• http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/07/21/15-portable-apps-to-help-troubleshoot-pcs/

Using mostly these sites, I've come up with a very useful collection of apps and utilities totalling under 2Gb, which easily fits on a flash drive with room to spare for data. One example is winaudit, which will generate an extensive report when run on a pc. You can save the reports on various pcs to your flash drive in various formats (pdf, html, text, csv), bring them home, and go over them in more detail to see what needs to be fixed or updated on the various pcs you encountered.

Getting rid of Acrobat is not remedial. Acrobat has sucked since.... Well, every time I've ever used it. Horrendous bloat, tiresome lag.... Acrobat by itself is a virus!

I use Portable Sumatra PDF. It's phenomenal!

http://portableapps.com/apps/office/sumatra_pdf_portable

If someone puts Acrobat on any of the machines in my lab, I reformat that computer immediately. The same is true for iTunes, Norton, or any other bloat/malware I come across. This is my biggest gripe in Windows actually: How shitty 90% of the software idiots in my lab install is.

1. Before you lose access to high-speed, log into your email service and disable the "advanced" services and use HTML-based as your default. This is critical, especially for Gmail.

2. While at sea, write all of your emails in notepad. At the top of each file, include the block of email addresses, separated by commas. Save them until you're ready to connect.

3. Use FireFox with NoScript and AdBlock. Carry it with you on a USB key if you have to. Make sure you disable images, but check off "show image place holders"!!!

4. When you sit down to connect, open all of your emails in an individual notepad window so you can copy pasta quickly.

5. Connect, log in, start copying and pasting. You can send a LOT of emails in 2 minutes that way.

Or you can enable POP3/SMTP access on your webmail, then use your own client. Just make sure to configure you webmail account before you leave. Using this sort of solution is best set up with a USB key using PortableApps.

Andy

Uuuhhh.....sorry, but no. While I have nothing against Opera,in fact have one nephew that refuses to use anything but Opera 5(says the new versions suck) how can that be in any way compared to the ease of use of Adblock+Noscript? With Adblock I have a nice easy filterlist that autoupdates weekly so I don't have to keep up with the latest ad companies, and with Noscript I have a nice little option button that lets me switch individual elements per tab on and off with just 2 clicks.

So I'm sorry, but no Adblock and no Noscript = no use to me. Those 2 extensions more than any other have kept me firmly in the Gecko camp. If Opera had their own Adblock and Noscript that was as easy to use as the Firefox versions I might switch, since it does have some nice features and does seem to render fast and accurately. But the web without those 2 extensions = a big PITA for me. That is why I carry Portable Firefox on a stick so I don't have to suffer the craptastic IE when I have to do a service call on a customer's PC. Which is a shame because I have tried portable Opera and think that it runs a little snappier on a flash IMHO, but without those 2 extensions it just sucks too much for me to use.

"the fact that it can be installed to USB flash drives."

That's not unique to this suite because there's OpenOffice.org portable.

Perhaps they haven't hear of http://portableapps.com/

Or, more likely, they have but are just pretending...

It's always good to have a second opinion - see e.g.portable clamwin

Andy

Plus, pidgin is portable.
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/pidgin_portable

I would suggest using both.

For example, what do you see on /.'s main page when:
1. using internet explorer (having SWF installed)
2. Windows OS with Firefox base install.
3. Win OS w/firefox and adblock, or adblock +, with the filterset updater.
4.Win OS, Firefox, adblock(+, and updater), flashblock (using the 'click on triangle' to play media)

Using Firefox3 with the 'Noscript", "Ad-block+", "addblock filterset.g updates, flashblock, and dwhelper. (similar to all of my ff profiles- irregardless of OS/PC)from my USB drive.

I have a 4GB USB drive that I run a portable version of Firefox on any PC, and wit the 'plugins' for 'flash', flash need not br installed on the PC.**

**After installing FFPortable to a directory on your USB drive, then go to [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:7]

Download and install to said USB drive/Firefox!

No need for the host PC to have FF or Flash installed!

Will Portable Firefox not work?

http://www.portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

I haven't tried it in a while so I can't remember but might the portable version of openoffice.org be a solution? http://portableapps.com/apps/office/openoffice_portable

It is also quite easy to customize,both with extensions and full bore rebuilds. Firefox by itself is okay, but with Noscript,Adblock Plus,Forecastfox,and FEBE to ensure backups it makes Firefox a must have in my book,even so far as keeping a copy of Firefox Portable(another nice customization) on my flash for out in the field.

And then if Firefox isn't to your liking there is always Flock,and Kmeleon for older Windows machines(also works with Noscript and Adblock with a little tinkering) and of course there is Songbird which is going for an Open Source iTunes kind of thing and is actually a pretty nice media player IMHO. To me that is what is nice about Gecko,it has enough features built in that a good coder can use it as the basis for all sorts of applications and it is trivial to add functionality through extensions to make the browser YOUR way,instead of what some company thinks is best. This is why despite the buzz around Chrome I'll still be installing Gecko based browsers(Firefox,Seamonkey,or Kmeleon depending on the client/machine) on every machine I service or sell. But as always this is my 02c,YMMV

On version 8 of any software, this is alarming. Considering that IE8 is not rewriten from scrach, they will have to work hard to convince.

No they won't. They'll do it just like they got versions 4, 5, 6, and 7 out there: bundling and forced upgrades.

Fortunately, there are portable Opera and portable Firefox... at least until some "security" "upgrade" blocks them permanently or something.

MSIE is one of the ongoing embarrassments for MSFTers. If quality were an issue, it would make since to send MSIE to the bit bucket and skin Opera or FF, but lock-in trumps function so it won't happen.

I guess a small, good effect is that to get rid of MSIE, you do have to leave Windows behind completely.

You could always use Firefox Portable. Other than the fact that it's portable, I haven't noticed any difference between it and the full install.

I use Ubuntu on my laptop at College (BCIT) and whenever I have to print something, I just use OpenOffice Portable which I have on a USB key.

For those that don't want to use up 80MB on their USB key, there is also AbiWord Portable at 6MB for text documents.

PortableApps are invaluable if you need to use programs temporarily on windows machines.

I use Ubuntu on my laptop at College (BCIT) and whenever I have to print something, I just use OpenOffice Portable which I have on a USB key.

For those that don't want to use up 80MB on their USB key, there is also AbiWord Portable at 6MB for text documents.

PortableApps are invaluable if you need to use programs temporarily on windows machines.

Try Firefox Portable, it can be installed on a USB portable drive and run any Windows PC.

Firefox portable.

Solved it for you.

If they can write to their user directory (and chances are, unless they're on a kiosk, they can), they can "install" Firefox without installing Firefox.

I was hoping to find something with a GUI

Then you should have put this as a requirement in your query. But I would ask WHY you want a gui? Backups should be set-and-forget! My USB sticks have multi-platform autorun scripts to execute my backup. I only need an interface if I choose to expand or shrink the backup set--I can edit a text file that has the list of what to exclude.

and that was easier to put on a portable hard drive than Python.

Python is pretty easy to put on a portable hard drive and there are multiple portable versions.

* - yes, i know, iknow, but it's a work computer so no firefox..

FirefoxPortable?

Ok, not exactly fruit loops, but there's a program called Toucan. Whenever I need to swap files from one device to another I drop them through the handy encryption functionality first. Haven't needed it often, but kept a credit card number from floating away from me that way once already ... not that I would have stored that un-encrypted in the first place.

For any device of dubious origins/destinations, I use Eraser to delete the files off.

The nice thing about what I've linked is that they're the portable versions of the app ... meant to float on your thumb drive in your pocket so you can use them most anywhere.

Ok, not exactly fruit loops, but there's a program called Toucan. Whenever I need to swap files from one device to another I drop them through the handy encryption functionality first. Haven't needed it often, but kept a credit card number from floating away from me that way once already ... not that I would have stored that un-encrypted in the first place.

For any device of dubious origins/destinations, I use Eraser to delete the files off.

The nice thing about what I've linked is that they're the portable versions of the app ... meant to float on your thumb drive in your pocket so you can use them most anywhere.

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition

Gotta say... I agree with you, except that it's not entirely the operating system's fault. The registry exists, yes, but it's partly the software developers' fault for throwing everything and the kitchen sink into it. I'd personally love to have apps be more portable, and looking at PortableApps.com it's obvious that it's possible to accomplish that if the developers want to do it.

Just to let everyone know.

So for anyone else looking for a FOSS alternative to PortableVault:

TCExplorer 1.6: http://sourceforge.net/projects/tcexplorer
TrueCrypt 4.3a: http://www.truecrypt.org/pastversions.php
Eraser Portable: http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/eraser_portable

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

I'm running FF3 on a company desktop without admin rights. It installed just fine. If your system's locked down tighter than mine, try the Portable Edition. I haven't tried, but I suspect that it would also run just fine from anyplace you have write access to.

Why not upgrade to FF3 for your primary browser, and use a portable version of FF2 for testing?

Download portable firefox if you want to try it out without any risk. But you'll need to configure it from scratch.

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable/test

The other method would be to back up all your settings (one folder C:\Documents and Settings\$USER\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\$random.default IIRC). Then install the regular RC.

The easiest thing to do is download the PortableApps installation of FF3

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable/test

Do I just not know some Windows Admin secret magic, or is it true that I really can't back up my applications. I'd like to be able to reinstall Windows and then restore all of my applications.

Not quite a direct answer, but you might want to consider using mostly "Portable" apps (that site has tons of them, but by no means counts as the only source... And of course, better-designed programs work portably without needing a wrapper).

They have nothing to do with Linux or FOSS (though they do tend to exist as FOSS and have Linux versions available). You copy the program's directory (and, if you changed it, your data directory) to a new machine, and bam, it just works. No installation, no annoying migration tools that fail half the time, no custom compression schemes that only worked back on version 4.8 but they stopped supporting in 5.0 and no longer sell version 4.8, etc.

With most of them, you can run them from USB thumb-drives (the original meaning in this context of "portable" - Literally, you can take them with you); With many, you can even run them from read-only media such as a CD (though obviously you can't save your data in the same place when doing so).

A while ago I discovered InfraRecorder thanks to PortableApps.com. It's free as in beer speech.

Actually IMHO I think Firefox is a MUCH better tool for downloading Firefox than IE. Then once Firefox is done installing I just switch over to...Firefox.

Not everyone who uses IE6 does so by choice. The admins at my last workplace refuse to upgrade, install an alternate browser, or allow users to install an alternate browser.

you can already download FF 3 RC 1 from portable apps. it works great for me.

Those are all good suggestions but I MUCH prefer firefox to opera..... And I am completely a VLC whore.

utorrent is not to be trusted since version 1.6 from what I've heard. I don't have access to the code, though, so I could be wrong, which brings me back to:

I go with FOSS unless there is a VERY good reason not to, and other than skype and utorrent, I don't have any!!!

Also, abiword has many bugs in it's screen display compared to openoffice writer. Also, it's not so much light software I'm after, but CLEAN software. I run everything portable and do not alter the registry. I am a HUGE fanboy of everything here:

http://portableapps.com/

And yes, they have abiword and gnumeric and miranda, too.... :)

Well, I disagree whole heartedly on several points and AM a dyed in the wool firefox fanboy, but at least you were polite and argued on the topic, and with valid points! I still got modded down by a MacFanboy though. I should have seen that coming. I'm still waiting for somebody to defend OS 9. I guess you could say it was OK compared to Windows ME, weren't they out about the same time?!?

LOL

To be fair though, you are absolutely right about people chose an OS for the software. I'm on Windows because of the awesome FOSS tool chain I've acquired there. I haven't found Linux software to be as good as the FOSS apps in Windows, even though some of it is SUPPOSEDLY the same software! For instance, Firefox is much better in windows than in Ubuntu.....

The real truth (for me) though is that all the software over at:

http://portableapps.com/

is so easy to manage, run, and reliable that I can't imagine switching much of what I do for a long time to come. The only thing I miss from Linux is Ardour, and the only thing I miss from Mac is..... iChat?!?? Though like I initially said, skype works pretty well.....

I can help you with that. Grab the latest version of Firefox at Portable Apps -- I would have gone crazy at work long ago without Firefox Portable. The way it works is it installs software to a USB drive, i.e. only to one directory. You miss out on browsing history and page caching (to avoid wearing out your USB memory), but I've used it for 9 months without problems or headaches. Anyhow, I put my FF Portable on a USB stick and start it off that each morning. If you can't mount USB drives, you can run the software off your desktop. If you can't access that website, you could attach the exe file to an email to yourself, renamed to something like firefox.ppt -- enjoy Firefox at work!

1. Upload all of your data on a web host with SFTP support and lots of bandwidth.
2. Purge your hard drive.
3. Be politeness incarnate to the customs officer and get through fast.
4. Once inside, use any available network at your disposal to download all of your data back.

The downsides? You probably won't be able to work in the airplane, but is it worth it now that the Customs are being so much trouble?

Probably not a good idea. http://portableapps.com/forums/support/firefox_portable/faq http://portableapps.com/node/10338