As any geek can tell you, the smaller and more portable a gadget is, the better that gadget becomes. You can’t get much more portable than USB drives, which can be carried in a pocket, around the neck, or even on a key chain. This, in and of itself, is already a pretty cool and a relatively inexpensive way to carry around a few extra gigs of whatever it is you need to carry around. But there are ways to make your USB drive even more useful, and these processes allow you to take many of the functions of your desktop with you to any computer you might want to use.

You can find numerous programs designed to run specifically from a USB drive. Best of all, almost all these programs are free, so put that Amex back in your wallet. Simply install them on your USB drive and they’re ready to travel with you anywhere. Here’s a list of 55 of the most useful USB programs around.

TheFreeGeek