LIberkey: 165 free programs.

I love the portable apps movement that's popular right now.  As an IT guy in charge of over 20 computers at work it's nice to have some good software that can be used where you need it.  Yeah, I know it's easier to just create a network drive and access it from each computer. I do that too but for those of you who don't have that kind of access this is a very good solution.

There three flavors of Liberkey.
Basic: 12programs using 120 MB
Standard: 90 programs using 442 MB
Ultimate: 168 programs using 587 MB

I've been using Liberkey Ultimate for a few months now.  It easily fits on a 1 GB flash drive which means I don't have to break the bank to get it portable.  I saw 1 GB drives at Target over the weekend for $5.  I've installed it on a 4 GB drive that I got at Best Buy for $13 so I have room to have additional documents and installations.

Liberkey allows for customized additional software and has it's own "My Documents" where you can store files accessible through Liberkey.  Here's what the default tree looks like. I've added an autorun.inf file which can be created within Liberkey.

 Here is what the Liberkey Tools section contains.

 

This what the main program window looks like.

Wish List: HDD Docking Station

At least once a quarter I need to remove a hard drive from a computer and put it in an external case to get some one's personal photos and music and whatnot. Having one of these would make that job MUCH easier. And who can say no to more USB ports.

Not only does it still take 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA drives ... there's an added 4-port USB hub on the front. Because if you're going to take up one of your machine's precious USB ports for something, it's even better when that something gives you 3 extra ports in return

And this isn't the only model that's available. This one has a "2.5- and 3.5-inch disks on top, but ditches the FireWire connectivity on the back in exchange for a card reader and two-port USB hub on the front -- perfect for plugging in storage of the smaller and quieter variety."

This one holds 2 HDDs at once.


This one holds a single HDD but is a media player with remote.
So there are more options for external enclosures than the typical ones you screw into a box. One of these in your IT department can improve data recovery immensely. Don't think you can't afford one either. All of the one's I've listed here are under US $100.

Here's a search result from Gizmodo.com