Question for the Computer Geeks

[arturo7]

Just took a new job and with it will come a new laptop. I would like to keep all of my personal stuff off of the new employer's machine.

Is it possible to have an "outboard" drive? Something that could hold a web browser, email, and a few other programs? Would it need to have Windows installed on it?

The new gig requires quite a bit of travel and I like to avoid carrying two laptops.

Thanks in advance

 

[ajwillys]

Alot of apps can be installed on a USB stick. Check out:

http://portableapps.com/

I installed BeerSmith into a Dropbox folder so that I could access it from my work computer.

 

[gestyr]

You could run stuff like that off of a thumb drive.

 

[wildwest450]

You could just come out and say you need to keep porn off your work computer.

_

 

[jbrookeiv]

You could just come out and say you need to keep porn off your work computer.

_

I lol'ed.

 

[dallasdb]

External hard drive to save all of your personal files and you could set up a "server" on your home computer.

Use the PuTty software to connet remotely to your system.

Putty allows Windows users to connect to remote systems over the Internet via Telnet and SSH.

While both Telnet and SSH allow you to connect to remote systems, SSH, supported in Putty, provides for a "Secure Shell", encrypting information before it is transferred. This way, it is harder for others to intercept passwords and other private information than if you were to just use Telnet. Plus your employer will only see you viewing one website when in fact you can search the entire web without them being able to track what you are doing.

 

[arturo7]

You could just come out and say you need to keep porn off your work computer.

_

Not sure which would be worse, the porn or time spent on HBT...

 

[michaeltrego]

If your BIOS supports it, it is possible to have bootable external USB drive, but you would have to load it up with all of the O/S and apps that you desire. If it were me, I would consider an iPad instead. Sure it will be a little bigger than a USB drive, but I think it would probably fit in your laptop bag, and the benefits of ease of use/maintainability/etc. would far outweigh the pain of dealing with that other drive.

 

[arturo7]

External hard drive to save all of your personal files and you could set up a "server" on your home computer.

Use the PuTty software to connet remotely to your system.

Sounds like a good idea but unfortunately, the home computer is a laptop that is presently dying a slow death.

 

[brettwasbtd]

logmein.com - Install on your home computer and then you can log in from any internet browser and use your home computer

 

[arturo7]

If your BIOS supports it, it is possible to have bootable external USB drive, but you would have to load it up with all of the O/S and apps that you desire. If it were me, I would consider an iPad instead. Sure it will be a little bigger than a USB drive, but I think it would probably fit in your laptop bag, and the benefits of ease of use/maintainability/etc. would far outweigh the pain of dealing with that other drive.

The whole point is to avoid carrying a second rig. I'd ruther have a Slate anyway.

 

[arturo7]

So, a thumb drive plus this http://portableapps.com/suite ?

Any thoughts?

 

[ajwillys]

So, a thumb drive plus this http://portableapps.com/suite ?

Any thoughts?

That's my vote. It's simple and easy to use for what you want. There are more robust solutions (such as logging into your home computer) but they are somewhat non-trivial to setup and I'm guessing that's not what you want. FWIW, I have the ability to log in via ssh to my home network (I'm a geek) and I've used the combination of a live linux cd with a thumb drive to create an entire portable OS.

For your exact scenario, I would use portableapps.com to install your applications on the thumb drive and I'd keep personal files at dropbox. That way, no matter where you are (home, work laptop, smartphone), you can access the files and when you are on the work laptop you can use access the apps as well.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

I don't know what portable-apps does (and I can't open the website from work), but the majority of applications can be installed on a thumb drive quite easily. The only drawback is that the registry may be modified by the app.

I've never tried booting off of a USB stick but it can be done. Or you could also boot off a USB external disk.

M_C

 

[ajwillys]

Portableapps is a suite of open source apps that have been modified (when necessary) to be installed entirely in a directory without relying on any environment variables, dll's, or registry entries. They're installed and ran inside the key and basically leave no footprint once closed.

 

[Bithead]

Thumb drive & portableapps has got to be the cheapest, easiest and most reliable. And with the size and speed drives you can get these days should work very well. I've found SanDisk Cruzer drives to be very fast. Maybe someone else knows of others.

Make sure you back up your drive, they do fail sometimes.