Rob Chartier ~ Contemplation... : Infocard

Portable Apps...

Rob Chartier — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 02:44:00 GMT

I finally installed Vista Build 5472, an upgrade from Beta 2 which I had been running ever since it was released. During the time previous to this most recent upgrade I obviously installed all my applications which I frequently use and need from day to day. I even ventured into the recent Office 2007 Beta. I migrated my PST file out of the previous outlook into this new build. This is always so much work; what a pain.

Even though everything went well it still is a time consuming effort. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just keep everything separate? All of useful applications and personal data sitting on another disk or partition. The pain in the ass part is that most applications require to be installed into the machine and have dependencies (like COM) that need to be registered with the system. There is also the registry, many applications use it to store user settings, which will be blown away along with the OS.

I decided to postpone the install of 5472 because of these issues. This needs to change, I need to become more “portable”.

Being portable essentially means:

Zero install
1. If there is an install, it can be copied onto a new machine and ran with no dependencies
No machine dependencies
1. including COM, the registry, etc.
2. All settings are stored locally along with the application
It is small enough to fit on a USB Pen drive
I can easily remove all the language files, for a smaller fit (optional)

With this upgrade I decided to go as portable as i possibly could. I decided that it is more important to use applications which will run apart from the OS than my “normal” software which mostly require large and annoying long installations. Of course I would be still limited to a Windows environment.

Another major decision I made was to centralize all my credentials for the various applications and websites which I have been struggling to keep track of over so many years. After taking a look at what Microsofts latest lame-brained idea which is currently named CardSpaces had to offer I chose to find an alternative product available on the market. I stumbled across RoboForm which has a very secure and portable solution. I downloaded it and gave it a spin for a week or two. Great software. Like most apps which I love, I purchased it (Pass2Go).

The first thing I dug around for was a good sized USB drive. My big requirements is that it has to be rough and tough and since I live in Vancouver, where it rains so much, it also had to be water resistant if not water proof. I found and chose the ATP ToughDrive (http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=toughdrive) which claims to be one of the toughest and water resistant, not to mention they boast that they are one of the faster drives available.

Next, I focused a few days in gathering and building at first a list of links, and then finally a fully ordered collection of portable apps, ready for my pen drive. If you take the time to have a look, there is an amazing wealth of “portable” applications available. Some free, some not. Below are my links and the full list of applications on the drive.

The two last things I want to mention, and both are probably the most important of all things. Constant backups (I just password protected a rar of it all). And you will need to decide on a secure way to store your data on the pen drive. The two primary ways to do this are TrueCrypt and a utility that actually came with the pendrive itself, USBDiskUtility. Both essentially create a partition or file which is encrypted and password protected. I chose the USBDiskUtility for its simplicity and ease of use.

Links:

Portable USB Apps - TheInfoBox.com

List of Portable Software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Must have programs for a USB card | Ask MetaFilter

del.icio.us/tag/portable+apps

TinyApps.Org : Home

The Portable Freeware Collection

kikizas.net » USB applications

Portable apps for USB flash Drives

Portable USB Programs | Combobulate

Apps:

Unfortunately I didnt save the URL's for each application listed, but I'm sure you can quickly find each by using google or your other favorite search engine.

Periodic Table - (Periodic Table\ADPT_Mini.exe)

Solar System Info Viewer - (solarinfo\SolarInfo.exe)

celestia - (Celestia\celestia.exe)

Converber - (Converber.exe)

MP3 Pizza Timer counts down a timer and plays a MP3 to remind you - (Pizza-Timer.exe)

CD/DVD recording software - (PortableDeepBurner\DeepBurner.exe)

XnView for Windows 9x/NT/2000/Me/Xp - (XnView\xnview.exe)

PortableGIMP - (PortableGIMP.lnk)

EasyThumb executable - (EThumb.exe)

IrfanView - (IrfanView\i_view32.exe)

Portable GIMP - (PortableGIMP\PortableGIMP.exe)

PortableScribus - (PortableScribus.lnk)

VCDControlTool MFC Application - (winxpvirtualcdcontrolpanel_21\VCdControlTool.exe)

STOPWATCH MFC Application - (StopWatch.exe)

GSpot Codec Information Appliance - (GSpot252b01\GSpot.exe)

WinMerge - (Dev\WinMerge-2.4.8\WinMerge.exe)

DBTray - (Dev\DBTray.exe)

Pass2Go Starter - (PortableRoboForm.exe)

PortableClamWin - (PortableClamWin.lnk)

TrueCrypt - (Security\TrueCrypt\TrueCrypt.exe)

Clear Passwords - (Security\ClearProg.exe)

CyberShredder - (Security\CyberShredder.exe)

Clear Prog - (Security\ClearProg_1.4.1_Final\ClearProg.exe)

Instant Messengers Password Recovery - (Security\mspass.exe)

Protected Storage PassView - (Security\pspv.exe)

PicoRecovery - (Security\PicoZipRT\PicoRecovery.exe)

Asterisk Logger - (Security\astlog.exe)

Network Password Recovery - (Security\netpass.exe)

Dialup Password Recovery - (Security\dialupass.exe)

Mail Password Recovery - (Security\mailpv.exe)

NetMeter - (Network\NetMeter.exe)

Performance Pinging - (Network\perfping.exe)

Ping Plotter Freeware (Trace Route Grapher) - (Network\PingPlotter.exe)

winips - (Network\winips.exe)

HoverIP - (Network\HoverIP\HoverIP.exe)

CurrPorts - (Network\cports.exe)

tcpdump - (Network\tcpdump.exe)

TCP/UDP endpoint viewer - (Network\Tcpview.exe)

Monitors network traffic and displays it - (Network\ShowTraf.exe)

Network Stumbler - (Network\Network Stumbler\NetStumbler.exe)

SmartSniff - (Network\smsniff.exe)

Web Downloader - (Network\web_downldr\WebDownload.exe)

VNCViewer - (Network\vncviewer.exe)

HydraIRC - (Network\HydraIRC\HydraIRC.exe)

putty - (Network\putty.exe)

GreatNews: the intelligent rss reader - (Network\GreatNews\GreatNews.exe)

BitComet - a BitTorrent Client - (Network\BitComet_0.70\BitComet.exe)

Foxit Reader - (FoxitReader.exe)

Notepad2 - (Notepad2.exe)

EssentialPIM - (essentialpimport1\EssentialPIM.exe)

PortableScribus - (PortableScribus.lnk)

dsl-windows - (Linux\dsl-windows.bat)

DM2 - (System\dm\DM2.exe)

YadabyteDisk - (System\YadabyteDisk.exe)

DSynchronize - (System\DSynchronize\DSynchronize.exe)

Universal Extractor - (System\Extractor\UniExtract.exe)

poweroff - (System\poweroff.exe)

MultiRes - (System\MultiRes.exe)

Portable 7 Zip - (System\Portable7zip\Portable7zip.exe)

capture - (System\capture.exe)

ADRC_Data_Recovery_Tools_v1.0 - (System\ADRC_Data_Recovery_Tools_v1.0.exe)

Filerecovery - (System\PC Inspector File Recovery\Filerecovery.exe)

VirtualDrives - (System\VirtualDrives.exe)

Explore2fs Main Executable - (System\Linux\explore2fs-1.08beta7.exe)

DiskCheckup - (System\DiskCheckup.exe)

Flash File Recovery - (System\Flash File Recovery\ffrecovery.exe)

DefragNT MFC Application - (System\Dfrag.exe)

Windows Directory Statistics - (System\windirstat\windirstat.exe)

HD Tune - (System\HDTune.exe)

File system monitor - (System\Filemon.exe)

CPU-Z Application - (System\cpuz.exe)

Autostart program viewer - (System\autoruns.exe)

Sysinternals Registry Monitor - (Security\Regmon.exe)

Shows post-reboot processing triggered by an installer, helps determine if reboot is needed - (System\WhyReboot.exe)

Your fast and handy uninstallation - (System\utool.exe)

Nero InfoTool MFC Application - (System\InfoTool\InfoTool.exe)

ClearType Contrast Adjuster - (System\ClearTweak.exe)

Parmavex WinAudit Freeware [Unicode] for Windows(TM) - (System\WinAuditu.exe)

Helps find out what unknown devices are - (System\UnknownDevices\UnknownDevices.exe)

ProduKey - (System\produkey\ProduKey.exe)

Sysinternals Process Explorer - (System\procexp.exe)

PortableVLC - (PortableVLC.lnk)

PortableClamWin - (PortableClamWin.lnk)

PortableOpenOffice - (PortableOpenOffice.exe)

PortableFileZilla - (PortableFileZilla.exe)

PortableFirefox - (PortableFirefox.exe)

Skype - (PortableSkype\Skype.exe)

PortableWinamp - (PortableWinamp.lnk)

Portable Gaim - (PortableGaim\PortableGaim.exe)

PortableThunderbird - (PortableThunderbird.exe)

Maxthon Web Browser - (Network\Maxthon\Maxthon.exe)

InfoCard == Passport Version 2? == Doomed

Rob Chartier — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:23:00 GMT

I recently attended the RealDevelopment 06 tour here in Vancouver and had the change to listen John Bristowe give us an overview of Microsoft’s big plans for the next client security model. It’s called InfoCard or recently named “Windows CardSpace” (WCS).

A quick overview, as I see it…

So in Vista we see this new control panel item, which is supposed to emulate a “Virtual Wallet”. Literally it gives the end user a place to store their credentials all in one handy place.

Note: In Build 5384 of Vista you need to go to Control Panel, User Accounts (and Family Safety), and choose “Digital Identities”. It will launch the InfoCard interface.

So, how do we use this? Well what happens is, let’s say you do banking with Wells Fargo for example. Wells Fargo needs to meet the requirements which Microsoft will lay down in order to participate/qualify for an InfoCard exchange to happen. They also need to embed an <object…> tag on their site, typically in a membership area which you will need to click and then go through some authorization process. Once that process is complete you are now in a sharing relationship with Wells Fargo. IIRC, so far, there is no way to revoke this sharing relationship, or give the ability to the client to modify their details at will in order to notify of a change of address, etc. I know this is a vague description but you get the point.

So, I ask, what is so different from this and Passport? Essentially the concept is the same. The 3^rd party (Wells Fargo, or other institution) needs to go through some sort of development process to make this InfoCard feature available on their site. It does add additional metadata to the entire service but I simply don’t see that as any value added for these 3^rd party sites to spend the time and money going through the integration process.

Is it more secure? I can’t see how. The biggest issue with security is typically NOT software, it’s the people. Since we can never fully secure people, and the (sometimes stupid) decisions they make why wrap it all up in a new UI/API for people to struggle with?

So what could be a potential solution…?

Recently I’ve been using the Microsoft Fingerprint reader. DigitalPersona is the actual vendor for the product, but just tagged the devices with the Microsoft Logo. With this product we get a full blown GINA (the login screen, etc.) and a little application which sits in your System Tray which responds to the Finger Down/Up events on your Fingerprint reader. This software (most of the time) is actually quite nice because it handles Windows and Webform authentication quite nicely. You have a dialog box on the screen asking for your credentials, simply press the reader and it will give you a simple step to punch in the needed details for you and automatically submit the form. The next time you hit that authentication challenge you need only to press your finger to the device and it submits the form for you. Very easy.

Now I know, not everyone can get their hands on one of these readers but why can’t MSFT simply beg/borrow/steal/buy this software from DigitalPersona and embed it at the core level of Vista?

Have a tray app, call it “InfoCard” or whatever the heck you please. This tray app is activated whenever the user clicks on it (instead of the finger down/up event). This new version of “InfoCard” will scan the active form (Win or Web) and uses the same logic and work flow as DigitalPersona uses. It could even pop-up the fancy virtual wallet and give us the option of using pre-defined credentials to make the association.

This would be a 100% client sided feature. As a developer I would never have to care about making my site or my windows form application “InfoCard aware” or whatever. All I would need to do is pop-up the authentication dialog, like I always do now, and allow the client to choose the way they want to integrate.

Bottom line, InfoCard is doomed to merely be a Passport v2 tool which Microsoft and very few of its closest vendors will use and that’s it. Lame!