GO Portable! TrueCrypt + Portable Apps + Thunderbird + Roboform

There are essentially 3 ways to manage your settings as you float from computer to computer.

1. Online Syncing
2. Manually copying/syncing from computer-to-computer
3. Go portable!

I like to physically keep my files, so I don't trust option#1 and option#2 is too arduous. That's why I've been a big supporter of going portable. I carry around a 500GB WD Passport. My files are encrypted (NSA level encryption) with TrueCrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads) and I use the Portable Apps suite (http://portableapps.com/suite) to run Firefox. Thunderbird (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/thunderbird_portable) is my portable e-mail program.

Here's my setup:

1. After installing TrueCrypt I created a 400GB container so that I have 100 GB left-over on my portable hard drive to transfer files on a foreign PC.
2. Once my new 400GB container is mounted (I chose drive letter M to be safe), I installed the Portable Apps Suite to M:\
3. I also, install Thunderbird Portable into it's own folder in M:\
4. Created a batch script in M:\ to run my programs all at once, by putting the following into a text document and renaming the saved file from .txt to .bat:
   start apps\startportableapps.exe
   start apps\portableapps\roboform\portableroboform.exe
   start apps\portableapps\firefoxportable3\firefoxportable.exe
   exit

And that's pretty much it. I launch Thunderbird separately since I don't normally use it at home. Any bookmark, add-on, contact, etc. that I add to any of my portable apps is now, well, portable. I made a copy of my 400GB container and when I need to backup, I mount both of them and use Microsoft's Robocopy to sync them one-way (from the new container to the old only).

Get Robocopy:

1. Download here: http://www.csxstudios.com/share/Robocopy.zip
2. Extract Robocopy.exe to your C:\Windows\System32 folder

Robocopy script:
robocopy M: S: /MIR /Z /R:1 /W:1 /ETA /TEE

• M: is my portable 400GB container
• S: is the backup container

Last, I have my essential add-ons for Firefox Portable:

• Adblock Plus
  Ad-free web-browsing. Never see an ad again, especially on Facebook!
  
• AI Roboform PORTABLE Toolbar for Firefox
  I paid for this add-on, but to me it's well worth it. Basically it stores your passwords and will GO to the site you want and AUTOMATICALLY log you in. Very convenient. Not to mention, the added security of getting around keyloggers, because you never have to type your password
  
• BetterYouTube
  Puts a convenient link under YouTube videos, so you can download the video. (Needs Greasemonkey)
  
• DownloadThemAll!
  MUST HAVE. Download files way faster and it can download all files off a site automatically.
  
• Greasemonkey
  Enables BetterYouTube and other add-ons to work.
  
• Nuke Anything Enhanced
  Right click on any part of a web page and remove it to never see it again.
  
• TinyMenu
  Makes my firefox menu tiny so I have a bigger browsing window.
  
• Ubiquity
  Search, send e-mails, make calendar events, check weather, find directions, etc. using commands anywhere in Firefox by pressing CTRL+SPACEBAR.

Note:
It's a good idea to keep a copy of TrueCrypt outside of your container on the unencrypted empty space of your hard drive. Just in case you're on someone else's computer and need to access your files or you do a fresh install and can't access the internet (especially when you keep your computer drivers in your truecrypt volume...).