Take programs and data with you
Thumb drives are handy little storage devices. They transport documents, picture files and the like with aplomb. But they can also be used to run programs.

This portability allows you to use a program on a computer that doesn't have it installed. For example, you may love using Firefox at home, but your office's computer policies forbid installing it.

Portable programs also allow you to surf without leaving too many tracks. This is useful on a public computer, such as at a hotel or library.

Thumb drives range from $20 for a 128 megabyte unit to over $600 for 8 gigabytes. Look for 2GB or 4GB units. They provide a lot of storage and can be had for under $100.

There are other models of thumb drives called U3 smart drives. They generally cost more than standard thumb drives. Often they come pre-packaged with software. For a listing, check www.u3.com.

Here are four useful programs that will run on any storage device, even your MP3 player:

1) A free office suite. Imagine showing up to give a PowerPoint presentation, but the computer you are given doesn't have PowerPoint installed. You can download a free viewer from Microsoft, but forget about last second changes in sale figures.

That's where Portable OpenOffice.org (portableapps.com) comes in. It's a free suite of programs. Included are a word processor, a spreadsheet, multimedia presentation program, drawing program and a database management program. All of the programs are compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio and Access. They are also compatible with other programs like Word Perfect and Lotus.

Even though it's a portable version of OpenOffice.org, it still requires a lot of space - 167 MB.

2) A Web browser. Surfing the Net on a public computer is, well, public. Purchasing something online and failing to sign out could be dangerous. Clearing the browsing history, and dumping the cookies and cache should erase your tracks. But what if you forget?

Portable Firefox (portableapps.com) allows you to surf the Net without leaving tracks. Extensions used on your home computer can be carried over as well. Ditto for your bookmarks (a listing of favorite sites) and passwords.

Portable Firefox takes up 16.9 MB on a thumb drive.

3) All-in-one Instant Messaging program. Imagine talking simultaneously on Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger. And using only one program.

Well, you can do it with Portable GAIM and Portable Miranda (both at portableapps.com). Portable GAIM is best suited for users who want to avoid settings. Miranda, although more complex, gives greater customization.

Portable GAIM requires 8.9MB of free space, and Portable Miranda, 1.2MB.

4) Password security. There's a user name and password for everything. Strong passwords require a combination of letters, symbols and numbers. Those passwords are difficult to remember. And each account should have a different password. That's a lot of information to keep in your head!

The free KeePass (keepass.sourceforge.net) stores passwords in an encrypted database. It will import your list of passwords from various file formats, such as CSV. Or, you can enter each user name and password manually.

KeePass requires less than 1MB of space.