CodySafe Sigma is essentially a portable apps manager. Portable apps are great because you can take them with you, they rarely care what version of the Windows OS they’re running on, and all your settings go with you on a single USB drive. Unfortunately portable apps are also a little unruly; they’re just files on your USB drive and you have to track down the executable you want. That’s where CodySafe comes in: it provides the Start Menu-like coordination for the portable apps you’ve installed on your USB drive. Even better, the developer has generously offered a coupon code to 404 Tech Support readers as well as 10 free licenses for CodySafe Sigma that I’ll be giving away on Thursday, you can find the details for this near the end of the article.
There’s a small icon in the system tray to allow easy access to the menu which runs automatically if you have autoplay enabled. Here’s what a fully loaded USB drive running CodySafe Sigma looks like:
The menu provides quick access to file folders stored on the drive along with a menu to easily access any of the portable apps you have loaded. You can also see how much space is available on the drive. The system takes up a little bit of space but that’s becoming less and less significant as USB drives get larger and cheaper. I’m still looking forward to when USB 3.0 is wide-spread though.
CodySafe also has a number of different themes you can choose from with custom backgrounds, sounds and icons. This might make the menu even more appealing to you. It would also be interesting if there was a tool or means to create your own themes.
I’m a little less playful so I was happy to find that under the settings I could turn off the sounds that I found a little annoying. I also unchecked Forced close of application on Exit/Eject because I didn’t want them closing native applications from the computer if just wanted to remove the USB drive.
Under the Control Panel, you can can find different settings, the ability to setup Hot Keys, check the drive integrity, add or remove applications, and put some information that will help somebody return the drive to you if it’s lost.
The number of apps you can find in the Apps Depot easily covers a number of things you might look to do. From browsers to games to image editors and more, you can easily have every tool you need in your pocket. The Apps Depot makes it very easy to add more apps and the hierarchy that CodySafe Sigma allows makes it easy to keep them all organized.
CodySafe Sigma is paid software. It costs $9.90 but it is a reasonable charge for the product, the development time and adding of apps, and the additional features. However, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t tell you that there was also a free version called CodySafe Free. You can compare what’s included in the different versions and decide for yourself. Also be sure to notice that there are upcoming versions of the product that have even more features in them. You might also compare the alternatives:
From my experience though, CodySafe Sigma is an excellent product and works great. You can check out the free demo and see if it’s worth the money to you.
Discount and Give Away
To sweeten the deal and help convince you that the program is worth your coin, the developer has offered a 404 Tech Support-exclusive deal. Just enter this coupon code when you go to check out for 15% off:
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Not only are we getting 15% off with that code, but I also have 10 full license keys to give away (completely free!) to readers of 404 Tech Support. Just drop a comment below and tell us a bit about yourself. I’ll be choosing 10 individuals randomly from the list. Be sure to put your e-mail address in the contact form so I can send you the license key. I promise I won’t spam you and the e-mail address form isn’t publicly shown, so you don’t have to worry about bots getting it either.
Big thanks to Eugene of Codyssey for coordinating this, providing the discount, and the giveaways! Check back on Thursday to see who our winners are and let me hear you below in the comments.