SanDisk U3, PortableApps and geek.menu

[Louie G]

From using the portable app technology (for a short time), here's what I've found so far. Some items are just my personal opinion.

U3 available at www.u3.com (must buy a U3 SanDisk flash drive).
*Launchpad shows GB's free but not size of USB drive.
*LaunchPad is rather dull looking (in comparison to PortableApps and
geek.menu). But is still nice looking. It's growing on me.
*Menu and app names are small but icons are nice and big.
*Instant 1 click access to download apps.
*Has several unneeded icons.
*Only 8 programs viewable in menu.
*Scrolling through many apps is not possible. A "More Programs" feature
leads you to more programs. But then you need to right click on a program to get back in the list (or click on an empty area, or hit the escape key). Only the 1st 8 programs can be right clicked to see more options. A very annoying feature.
*Scrolling slowly through the features on the right side of the launchpad is not possible once a description comes up. Again, right click on another category to get out of this. A very annoying feature.
*Can only use dedicated SanDisk USB drive. Cannot use memory card
or external drive.
*Hovering mouse over app name gives a description - very nice!
*Shareware & freeware available.
*Website is extremely cluttered looking. I hate it! But if accessed from
the U3 drive, it looks pretty good, only showing what is needed.
*OpenOffice is one icon. Then open the application you want. Then make it full screen. When tested with Mozilla Sunbird and OpenOffice, geek.menu is between 10-20% faster, respectively. You may have different results. Geek.menu remembers to go to full screen. Note: as of 2-16-09, geek.menu uses newer versions of both OpenOffice and Mozilla Firefox.
*Is beginning to run smooth on my Vista computer as I get to know it,
and set it up correctly.
*Launches apps faster than PortableApps but slower than geek.menu.
*Categories? I'm not sure yet, but I don't think so.
*Reinserting the USB drive brings up two windows. One is for opening the
folders and the other can be configured in Control Panel/AutoPlay. Where it says "Software and Games," set it to "Install or run program." Then click save. I'm not sure yet how to keep the folder one from popping up.
*Can be set up to automatically launch an app or internet (Opera or
Mozilla Firefox) when USB drive is inserted. Very nice feature!
*Launchpad is not movable. It is always in the lower right corner.
*Cannot name launchpad. No photo. Cannot personalize. Bummer!
*Way too much advertising of brand names. U3 is shown in 4 places.
SanDisk in one. Ugh! I hate that!
*Has a security feature. That could prove very useful.
*No forums found (for each app) that I know of. Seen a few blogs.
*The icon in the taskbar is the easiest to recognize quickly.
*Other than some minor and major annoyances, I'm beginning to like U3.
*Uninstalling a portable app is the easiest with U3 as you just right click on a app and then click Uninstall. If the app to uninstall is in More Programs though, then move it up to the main menu and right click to uninstall.

PortableApps available at www.portableapps.com (Freeware)
*Can include personal photo.
*Can name the launchpad but only in small letters. Brand name is
prominent, but is okay as the name is also a description.
*Shows GB's free and size of drive/card/etc.
*Launchpad is a maroon color. Beautiful!
*2 click access to website. Not as fast as U3.
*Website is beautiful, well laid out and very inviting!
*No unneeded icons.
*Cannot make categories. Bummer!
*Cannot edit names of apps. I hate that!
*Cannot right click on app name to see more options. Bummer!
*20 apps & icons viewable in 2 font sizes.
*OpenSource.
*OpenOffice has individual icons for each software app.
*Only freeware, but has a very good selection. I prefer freeware.
*Forums available for many of the apps. Very nice feature.
*The up arrow icon is confusing until you try it. It actually will show you
lots of info. I prefer the method used by geek.menu.
*Launchpad is movable. And it remembers it's new location.
*Ejecting and reinserting card or USB flash drive properly is not quite as fast as geek.menu. See the geek.menu method below.

Geek.menu available at www.geek-menu.sourceforge.net. (Freeware) Once there click on the "stable release" link, which will lead you to all kinds of useful information.
*Uses the PortableApps website for freeware, forums, etc. Uses same
freeware.
*LaunchPad is in black & white, and shades of gray. Beautiful!
(Reminds me of the color theme I use on my Zodiac. Along with the planet Saturn DIA photo.)
*Can include personal photo.
*Can name the launchpad in BIG letters. Software name is very small. I
like that a lot. This one can really be personalized!
*Can change app icons. (Though I have not yet figured out how.)
*Can edit names of apps. That's a BIG plus to me!
*Can hide and unhide apps.
*Shows GB's free and size of drive/card/etc.
*2 click access to website. Not as fast as U3.
*No unneeded icons.
*CAN make categories. Wow! I now have several.
*Can right click on any app name to see several useful options.
*15-25 apps & icons viewable in 2 font sizes. I have mine set to 21 apps so that its height is no taller than how I have 8start configured.
*Only uses freeware so far.
*Instead of the up arrow icon of portableapps, just open the advanced
options from the Options icon.
*Launchpad is movable. And it remembers it's new location.
*Has several internet icons. I'm not sure if I like those yet.
*Has a search bar.
*Now runs smoother than the other 2 methods. Way smoother than U3.
*I have finally figured out how to quickly eject and reinsert card quickly without any hassles. Very smooth. This is now the fastest of the three.
This only needs to be configured once:
1. On launchpad, click on the X in lower right corner to exit. The icon on the bottom right taskbar will disappear.
2. Open My Computer.
3. Rt click on the appropriate drive. (It should have renamed itself geek.menu automatically. If not, do so manually.)
4. Click Eject. wait till the drive returns to its original name.
5. Remove the USB flashdrive or memory card.
(The icon will disappear from the lower right taskbar).
6. Reinsert the USB flashdrive or memory card.
7. When the window pops up that says "Automatically Fix System Errors", click on Start.
8. For now on all you have to do is click the X on the launchpad before ejecting (after closing any open apps). The taskbar icon will also disappear. When you reinsert the card or USB drive, the launchpad will pop up automatically. The PortableApps method is similar, but with a few more clicks. You should only need to repeat this process if for some reason you restart or turn off your computer.
*If you figure out the author's method, please let me know. (I'm not yet familiar with how to set-up "eject commands" or "parameters".)
*Geek.menu is probably more likely to add new features than are the
other two I have.
*A forum is available.
*To uninstall a portable app: 1. click on Explore, 2. open up Portable Apps, 3.right click on the appropriate app and click on delete, 4. open up Options and click on Refresh App Icons.
*This is definitely the most complicated of the three (documentation and some instructions are kinda lousy), but patience and diligence does pay off. I love this one!


Note: With all three methods, it's best to close all running apps before ejecting the card, or USB flash drive. Also, some of the above features can probably be changed in options/properties.

I'm hoping that I can eventually just settle on one, but knowing me, I'll keep all three, as I love variety, and I learn better that way. Note: although I've now deleted PortableApps, I'll check back with it once in awhile to see how it has been improved.

Here's a few others I have not tried yet:

Mojopac available at www.mojopac.com
*Website seems completely useless.
*Is only compatible with XP computers. (I have Vista).
*Pro version is $50. Ouch!
*Free version available.

Ceedo available at www.ceedo.com
*$39 ugh!
*Launchpad looks very nice.
*Has some rather impressive features.

SmithTech Portable Menu (Freeware)
available at www.usb.smithtech.us/projects/spm.php
Just found this one on 2-16-09
Check out the features on the home page. Looks real nice.

And I'm sure there are others out there.

Bottom line: geek.menu has now become my favorite, by far. I have deleted the PortableApps method since geek.menu can do so much more (though of course I still use www.portableapps.com for freeware). U3 has some neat features but the website is very cluttered, and way too much advertising on launchpad. But it does have lots of potential.

I now have over 20 freeware apps using geek.menu and 8 freeware apps using U3. Those numbers will of course go up in time. It's great having as many apps as I want without having them installed on my computer. So how far away is the true solid state desktop computer? I want one!

I have 4 memory card slots on my computer but was only using the SD and xD slots, so I bought cards for the other 2 slots. One runs geek.menu and the other has ReadyBoost, a Vista "RAM" add-on that I'm using until I can add a true RAM card to my computer. When I turn my computer on, though, only the U3 icon comes up automatically in the taskbar. But I have the icon for geek.menu listed permanently in 8start Launcher, so it comes up easily.

I've only been using this technology for short time (about Feb. 1st, 2009), so I'm sure I still have a great deal to learn. I hope something here is useful to any of you out there that are new to this technology.

Lastly, I tried putting a shortcut for Firefox directly on my Desktop. I deleted it as, for some reason it messed up a few things. Better to launch it from the launchpad as was intended. I don't know if you'll encounter any similar problems.



Ya, I know, I write too much!
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"It's my idea but I don't think much of it!" Moe Howard