If your machine is acting strangely, just run the program, update its database of threats, and scan for nasties. Most of the portable software here is nice to have to hand, but Emsisoft Emergency Kit is essential – particularly if you’ve been lumbered with the role of unofficial tech support for your friends and relations.Įmsisoft Emergency Kit isn't a replacement for antivirus software (opens in new tab) instead, it's designed to save your bacon if your PC has already become infected with something unpleasant. Read our full LibreOffice review (opens in new tab). However, that time has been well spent and it's well optimized for use on the move, with easy access to documents stored on a networked drive, an FTP server, or cloud storage (opens in new tab) account. This takes some time, so it's a few versions behind the installable version of LibreOffice.

Like many portable apps, LibreOffice Portable is made using open source (opens in new tab) code. The only thing missing is Charts – though you can create graphs and other visualizations using Calc. LibreOffice Portable includes almost all the programs from the installable version of LibreOffice: Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector drawing), Math (formulas), and Base (databases).

You’ll need an external drive if you want to carry it, but you can easily keep it in the cloud (Google Drives gives you a free 10GB to play with, and DropBox gives you 2GB). LibreOffice Portable is the largest of the portable apps here, but it's still amazingly compact considering it's a full office suite.

Pen drive portable software