35 Portable Applications that Every Tech Needs - TheTechMentor.com (2025)

I have compiled and updated this new, more exhaustive list of the best 35 portable applications for techs. All of these apps run directly from your USB flash drive and require no installation.

Introduction to These Top USB-Portable Utilities

As you may know, I am a tech and I have found all of these portable apps to be very useful. I’ve expanded on this list over time so this list will jump-start you to your own collection of the best portable apps to carry on USB.

Don’t let the portability fool you. They belong in any computer technician’s software toolkit! Be sure to carry them with you.

A long time ago I wrote an article called 18 Portable Apps Every Tech Needs. Since then a lot has changed. I thought I would share this updated list with you. Feel free to add more in the comments to help others or share your own experiences.

This may be of Interest to Some Computer Techs

If you are in IT (and reading this page, there is a good chance you are!) then you might be interested in something I am interested in at the moment.

It is called Atera, and it would be great for anyone with a small to medium sized IT services business.

If you’re interested or want to learn more, See more information here!

So moving on, all of the computer technician software in this list can run directly from your USB flash drive. I hope you will find them useful too.

Archiver and Extractor

7-Zip Portable – An open source file archiver that supports 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR as well as others.

Auditing

SIW – A system analysis tool that gathers detailed information about your hardware and software.

WinAudit – Audits all of your hardware, software, licenses, and network settings.

CPU-Z – Gathers detailed information about your processor, motherboard, and memory.

Burning

Infra Recorder Portable – Portable CD/DVD burning software.

Disk Utilities

JkDefrag – Disk optimizer and defragmenter.

Document Viewers

OpenOffice.org Portable – A portable version of OpenOffice.org which includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database. Can also open most Microsoft Office documents.

Foxit Reader – A portable PDF reader.

Internet

FileZilla Portable – One of the best open source FTP programs available. I use FileZilla, for example, to access the large volume and size of files this website when I want to download backups.

Firefox Portable – A portable version of Firefox. Very useful when working on a computer that has been overwhelmed with spyware.

PuTTY Portable – An open source Telnet/SSH client.

Launcher

PStart – A launcher utility that allows you to organize and launch all of your portable applications.

Malware Removal

ClamWin Portable – One of the best free antivius programs as a portable version.

Avast! Virus Cleaner – Scans the computer for a specific set of viruses and worms.

RootkitRevealer – An advanced rootkit detection utility.

HiJackThis – A hijacker detector and remover. Outputs information to a log file so you can share the results with others when needing help.

McAfee Stinger – A stand-alone utility that scans for and removes specific viruses.

Networking

Angry IP Scanner – Scans a range of IP addresses so you can see which ones are in use. Also tells you hostname, MAC address, open ports, computer name, workgroup, and logged in Windows users.

CurrPorts – Allows you to see detailed information about all of the TCP/IP and UDP ports being used on the computer including which program is using them. Also allows you to close out the port and kill the process that opened it.

Optimization

CCleaner Portable – An optimization utility that cleans the registry and removes unwanted files from the computer.

PC Decrapifier – Uninstalls trialware and annoyances from new computers. Makes cleaning up a new computer much easier and saves a lot of time.

Organization

TiddlyWiki – A self-contained wiki that is great for storing a lot of information in one place.

Recovery Apps

Restoration – Scans any drive for items that have been deleted and allows you to restore them. Can also wipe files beyond simple recovery.

Learn more by viewing How To Restore Deleted Files After Emptying The Recycle Bin.

Unstoppable Copier – Copies files from disks that have physical damage.

TestDisk – Data recovery software that can recover lost partitions or make drives bootable again.

Remote Control

PcHelpware – Remote support software that lets you control remote computers. Learn more by viewing How To Remote Control Computers Using PCHelpWare.

Top Security Apps

LockNote – A simple text file that allows you to store whatever you like using a password and 256bit encryption.

KeePass – Securely store all of your passwords in one place and access them with one master password.

TrueCrypt – Disk encrypting utility that can encrypt hard drives and storage devices including your flash drive.

System Portable Utilities

Process Explorer – View detailed information about the processes running on a computer.

WinKeyLite – Easily view and change Windows Product Keys without having to edit the registry. Learn more by viewing How To Find And Change A Windows Vista, XP, And 2003 Product Key.

Unknown Devices – Helps you find out what the unknown devices in your device manager are.

AutoRuns – Comprehensive information about all of the programs and processes that start up when you boot up the computer or log into Windows.

DriverBackup – Backs up all of your drivers. Most useful when needing to reload a computer or when needing to copy a driver from one computer to another.

PC Stress Testing Software

Prime95 – One of the best apps for CPU stress testing. The Blended test option can be useful for stress testing RAM. This one replaces the following as an update:

Stress Prime 2004 – A stress test for CPUs and Memory. [Sorry this site no longer seems to be responding, so we found that Prime95 is available at the above link -Ed.]

Bonus – reset a password and more

Some of you may know about Hiren’s Boot CD. Well you can install it on a USB too. You just need to download the right file. See my article on how to perform a Hirens boot cd password reset here. Use this method if you need to reset a Windows 10 password.

Your thoughts?

What portable apps do you like that aren’t on the list? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

Summary of my selection of the best Portable Apps for Techs

These USB portable utilities are very handy. Since one or two might be hard to find now, I have a bonus USB utility for you below.