Have you ever wanted to convert a wave file into a MP3 or vice-versa and not being able to do it because the machine your on doesn’t have a wave editor like SoundForge, WaveLab, GoldWave etc.? Audacity Portable is the portable version of Audacity, a popular audio editor. You can now take this on your USB stick and edit/record/convert wave/audio files on the go.

Some of the nice features:

• Record live audio and with some sound cards, capture streaming audio.
• Import/Export WAV, AIFF, AU, Ogg Vorbis files and MP3 files (using libmad and LAME)
• Create WAV files suitable for burning a music CD
• Decent editing features such as Cut, Copy, Paste, Envelope (fade in/out), Pitch Change (alter without tempo change)
• EQ and Filters, plus effects such as Compressor, Normalize and Echo.
• Unlimited Undo (and Redo)

So what more could you want in a portable wave editor. OK – it’s no SoundForge but it does what it does so well, you should always carry it with you just in case your favourite editors are not available or your using a machine where you are unable to install a wave editor. Highly recommended.

Foxit Reader is quick to download and it needs no installation. You just double-click the exe file to start the reader and your away. Foxit run on all flavours of Windows making the printing and reading of PDF documents even easier than before.

Foxit Reader also has the ability to read Chinese/Japanese/Korean character sets, but you will need to download an additional support package named “FPDFCJK.BIN” (about 1.8MB) to gain this feature.

I cannot recommend Foxit Reader highly enough and I have uninstalled Acrobat Reader from all of my sytems. I have also placed a copy on every USB stick I own to make sure I never leave without it.

1. Portable Firefox

Portable Firefox is the popular Mozilla Firefox web browser packaged with a PortableApps Launcher, so you can take your bookmarks, extensions and saved passwords with you. http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/browsers/portable_firefox

2. Portable Thunderbird

Portable Thunderbird is the popular Mozilla Thunderbird email client packaged with a PortableApps Launcher, so you can take your email, address book and account settings with you. http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/email/portable_thunderbird

3. Portable Gaim

Portable Gaim is the versatile Gaim instant messaging client packaged with a PortableApps Launcher, so you can take your IM settings and buddy lists with you. http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/chat/portable_gaim

4. Portable AbiWord

Portable Abiword is the lightweight AbiWord word processor packaged with a PortableApps Launcher, so you can edit your documents on the go. Opens Microsoft Word documents easily. http://portableapps.com/apps/office/word_processors/portable_abiword

5. MWSnap

MWSnap is a small yet powerful hot-key snapping (capturing) program that snaps images from selected parts of the screen. Supports BMP, JPG, TIFF, PNG and GIF formats with configurable color depth and quality settings. http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html

6. Foxit PDF Reader

Foxit PDF Reader is a fantastic alternative to Adobe Reader, that allows you to view and print PDF files. Unlike Adobe Reader, it opens PDF files very fast, without any delay. It supports all the standard features, browser integration, and also select/copy of text from the documents. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

7. Spread32

It is essentially a mini-Excel with all of the essential features that you would expect in a competent spreadsheet program. It can calculate functions and formulas, use array formulas, make charts, run macros and it reads and writes xls, csv, text, and pxl formats. http://www.byedesign.freeserve.co.uk/

8. Media Player Classic (with FFShowD plugins)

Media Player Classic is an extremely light-weight media player for Windows that like the old Windows Media Player 6.4, but has a loads more features. Plays almost all known formats, streams media with ease and even has a built in DVD player function. http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/

9. Deep Burner Portable Edition

DeepBurner Portable works straight from your removable media and has all the features of DeepBurner. Just plug your flash and burn your disks, using your favorite DeepBurner. http://www.deepburner.com/

10. Fileops 1.03

FileOps is a very handy utility that incorporates 5 useful utilities into one small and compact interface. It includes a file renaming tool. a timestamp changer as well as a small but complete FTP uploader. In addition, you get a file shredder and an encryption function that allows you to encrypt files using the most popular encryption algorithms. http://www.fullprograms.co.uk/descargas-file-207-details-FileOps.html

11. Context Text Editor

Programmer’s editor with syntax highlighting, HTML and RTF export, multiple language versions, macros, columnar text selection, and a file explorer. http://www.context.cx/

12. QuickZip Lite

QuickZip Lite is a compact version of QuickZip. It fully supports 25 different kinds of archives, creates sfx (for any supported archives), repairs .zip files and does much, much more. http://www.quickzip.org/

If like me you like portable/no-install apps, take a look at these great sites:

• http://www.tinyapps.org/
• http://portableapps.com/
• http://www.portablefreeware.com/
• http://standalone.atspace.org/