External Hard Drive Question, Install Programs

Hello. I have a Maxtor OneTouch III 60gb hard drive and am using it with an inspiron 9300. Is it possible to install a program onto the hard drive and run that program on my friend's computer? I plan on installing Nero into my external hard drive. Since this is a hard drive it seems it could be possible. If it is possible, is there anything else I need to know when installing the program? Thanks for reading.

 

It really depends on the program. Many programs want to be installed in the windows directory. I guess you could give it a try and see what happens, but as a rule I'd say that most of the time it won't work very well.

 

I'm guessing it won't work at all, as the program need access to the Windows Registry.

 

*if* the program doesn't rely on registry data, it should work just fine. You won't get fancy start menu shortcuts and filetypes won't be registered to start the program when doubleclicked, but other than that, it can work (if, as said above, the program doesn't store anything important in the registry)

In short, it most likely won't work. Only way to find out for your specific program is to try it.

 

You could always just install the proggie on your friend's computer, as well as yours and ovewrite what data is on your external hardrive for the second comp install. Like everyone said, the comps will just want the registry information to run the program. Otherwise you could get a self contained burner. I know there are a few stripped down versions out there that'll do the minimum some of us do, like just burning isos. I think there's one called Silent Night Micro that's actually pretty good...it's free, small, and works without installation. Erm, I just checked and it looks like you can pay for it now, but you can still get it free on softsland, I think. Either way, there are other options, like in most things, besides one proggie.