Portable Applications on a thumb-drive

We are seeing a lot of Trojan’s on removable drives, as reported by McAfee Alert;

The file F:\Autorun.inf is infected with Generic component Trojan. The file was successfully deleted. (from MACHINE IP 192.168.255.255 user NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM running VirusScan Ent. 8.5 OAS)

There is some discussion as to whether these are increased by having a portable application configuration on the removable drives. Time for a quick look at applications that can be run directly from a USB thumb-drive without having been installed on the computer, and the environments they run from.

Portable Apps Suite
The Portable Apps Suite is a way to get a normal thumb-drive loaded with portable applications quickly and easily. This is a Windows only solution, but will work on an ordinary thumb-drive (compared with the U3 solution below). There are issues with the delay between the official release of an application, and the availability of a portable version especially in the case of security updates. Mounts using a single drive letter.

The Portable Apps Suite™ is free. It contains no spyware. There are no advertisements. It isn’t a limited or trial version. There is no additional hardware or software to buy. You don’t even have to give out your email address. It’s 100% free to use, free to copy and free to share. [portableapps.com]

PortableApps.com Suite™ is a collection of portable apps including a web browser, email client, office suite, calendar/scheduler, instant messaging client, antivirus, sudoku game, backup utility and integrated menu, all preconfigured to work portably. Just drop it on your portable device and you’re ready to go.

U3 smart drive
The U3 smart drive needs a special “U3” thumb-drive. This is a Windows only solution. Mounts using a two drive letters.

Meet the next generation of USB flash drives: the U3 smart drive. It’s what’s inside that makes them smart.

The U3 Launchpad can be uninstalled by an end-user using the uninstall software available on the U3 website.

Ceedo
Ceedo Personal comes pre-bundled on portable storage devices from a variety of manufacturers, including Seagate, Verbatim, Maxell, ExcelStor, Venzero and others. This is a Windows only solution.

With Ceedo Personal, the comfort of your desktop environment is never farther than your own pocket. Easily installed on any portable storage gadget you choose – whether it’s a thumb drive, an iPod, or a pocket hard drive – Ceedo Personal allows you to enjoy the convenience and productivity of your personal work space on any host PC.

[1] Portable Apps Suite [PortableApps.com]
[2] U3 brings the power of portable software to your USB flash drive – make it a smart drive! [U3]
[3] U3 Software Central [U3]
[4] Portable Apps Suite: A Powerful (and Free) Alternative to Software Bloat – Taking Your Office Suite With You [WinPlanet]
[5] PortableApps.com [Wikipedia]
[6] U3 [Wikipedia]
[7] Ceedo [Ceedo]
[8] Ceedo [Wikipedia]