Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-04-27)

57

NEXT ISSUE

Subscribe to Computeractive at http://www.getcomputeractive.co.uk

PLUS

ON SALE

Weds

11

May

On sale Wednesday 11 May

MASTER YOUR VPN

LEARN NEW WAYS TO ACCESS

ANYTHING ANYWHERE

++ Best VPNs tested – why you probably should switch

How much power do

your devices use?

Find out & save money

Switch your email from Gmail

Beat Google’s 30 May deadline

Chrome is the world’s

most popular browser,

and Edge is installed by

default in both Windows

10 and 11. So why haven’t

we included them

here? Google used to make a portable

version of Chrome, but this hasn’t been

updated in some time. You can still run

the latest version using PortableApps

but, if you’re not using it for any other

software, we think it makes sense to

choose a Chromium-

based browser like Opera

or Vivaldi, which we’ve

recommended here.

As for Edge, Microsoft

hasn’t released a portable

version, although you can find unofficial

tools that make it portable. We don’t

recommend these, and you don’t need

them anyway. Because Edge is based on

Chromium, you should get similar results

when browsing with Opera and Vivaldi.

RUN YOUR BROWSER FROM A USB STICK

Launching a browser from a USB stick
means you’ll always have access to your
bookmarks and extensions, wherever you
are. All cookies will be stored on the
stick, rather than your internal hard
drive, so switching between browsers
installed on your PC and those on your
stick might also help obscure your
identity from advertisers and websites
that track your online activity.
For example, many online stores and
social networks set cookies that monitor
your browsing beyond their own sites,
and use what they learn to build a profile
of you so they can serve up ads you’re
more likely to click. By visiting those sites
only through a portable browser, and
using your PC browser for all other sites,
you’ll limit what they learn about you,
boosting your privacy.

Install Opera
Opera’s portable, Chromium-based
browser has all the features of the full
version, a fact it’s justifiably proud of. Just
visit http://www.snipca.com/41597 and look at
its emphatic ‘No’ in answer to the question
‘Are there any functional limitations in
Opera portable?’. The link in this section
is also where you can download the
portable version. Click the dark-blue
‘Download now’ button, then when the
installer asks where you want to put the
program, check whether it has
pre-selected your USB stick (as it has in
our screenshot below - drive D:). If it
hasn’t, click Change and open the stick in
File Explorer.

Where are Chrome and Edge?

Install Vivaldi

Download Vivaldi (www.vivaldi.

com) and, when you launch the installer,

click Advanced, then select ‘Install

standalone’ from the dropdown menu

below Installation Type (^1 in our

screenshot below). Click the Browse

button to the right of the Destination

Folder^2 , then select your USB stick.

By default, Vivaldi lets you block ads

and web trackers, whichever of its three

configurations you choose, so if you ever

need to visit a site about which you have

doubts, using it in place of your regular

browser might be a sensible move. The

‘Fully Loaded’ configuration can also

handle your email and calendar, which

makes the portable build of Vivaldi a

serious contender for anyone who needs

to stay productive on the move, but can’t

always predict which computer they’ll be

using.

Install Firefox

If you don’t want to use a

Chromium-powered browser, your only

option is Firefox, which is available

through PortableApps. Follow our

instructions for installing PortableApps

on page 56, then open the PortableApps

menu and click Apps.

Hover over ‘Get

More Apps...’ and

click By Title on the

menu. When the

Portable App

Directory opens,

click the box next

to Mozilla Firefox,

then Next. When it

has downloaded,

launch it from the

Internet category of

the PortableApps

menu (see screenshot above). If you have

a Firefox account, click the top-right menu,

followed by Sign In. Use your existing

email address and password to log in and

the add-ons you’re already familiar with

• along with your bookmarks – will be
  set up in the portable browser.

Issue 630 • 27 April – 10 May 2022

Check that Opera has pre-selected your USB
stick when it installs

Launch Firefox from

the Internet folder in

PortableApps’ menu

Select these options when installing Vivaldi on

your USB stick

1

2

Run Anything From A

USB STICK