Portable Apps..?

[Thomas McGrath III]

Safe Portable App-ing

An important thing to keep in mind when using portable applications  
is that they can be used to spread viruses between machines. While  
this isn't as much of an issue when you own or are responsible for  
both the machines you are using it on (say work and home), it can be  
a very big issue when you use a portable app on an untrusted or  
unknown machine (school, internet cafe, family member's PC, etc). For  
this reason, it is important that you practice Safe Portable App-ing!
The Checklist
	•	Use a solid antivirus program on your primary PC and keep its  
virus definitions up to date.
	•	Scan your PC and portable drive for viruses on a regular basis.
	•	Whenever you plug your portable drive into an unknown computer,  
you should assume that it may now be infected with a virus. If the PC  
has a virus that is currently in memory, it may attempt to infect  
your portable applications as soon as you plug it in.
	•	When you then plug your portable drive into another computer  
(after an unknown), you should first scan it for viruses before  
running any of your applications. (Most antivirus software will make  
this available to you by right-clicking on your drive in Explorer or  
My Computer.) That way, if it is infected, you'll know before you run  
your applications and the new computer will not be infected.
	•	Always wait until the drive access light has stopped blinking and  
then click the icon in your system tray to 'Safely Remove' your  
device. Don't just remove it. Just because the portable app's window  
is closed doesn't mean the app has fully closed and finished writing  
to the disk.
	•	Back up your portable applications on a regular basis.
If you follow these simple rules, you'll be able to enjoy your  
portable applications without getting stuck with a virus or losing  
your data. As always, there is still the risk of getting a new virus  
that your antivirus program can't yet detect, but the probability  
would be relatively low, and you run the same risk whenever you  
download a file from the internet.


Thomas J McGrath III
3mcgrath at adelphia.net

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