Program migration, Is it possible?

Ok,I know you can transfer files with ease from HD to HD, but is it possible to transfer installed programs from one HD to another? I want to put the installed programs on my external HD so that I don't have to reinstall them after I refromat my internal HD.
If this is possible, canI do it for free, or would it cost me?

thanks in advance for helping and I look forward to reading your replies.

Fry

 

I don't quite understand. Are you wanting to put back your complete operating system / software installation after reformatting your HDD, or do you want an easy way to get your programs running after reinstalling the operating system to clear out the trash?

You can do a complete reinstall by using Acronis TrueImage. This will let you back up an image of the HDD and then restore it. A new recent option is the Universal Restore which would enable restoration onto different hardware.

However, I don't know if there is an easy way to reinstall all your programs onto a clean copy of the operating system.

John

 

hmm the problem is that some programs place files in specific folders other than the program files folder and they also insert registry entries so just moving them doesnt work. though there are some files that can easily just be moved over without registry files and the lot.

 

to put it plain and simple, I want to wipe the HD clean and start fresh. But I want to put the programs I have installed currently on my HD on an external HD and then transfer them back after I wipe the HD and reinstall the OS.
so far it seems like an impossible feat, at least if I want to do it for free.

 

I'm not sure that this is possible... programs have many, many settings in the registry they rely on, so that'd be necessary... also, I don't think the software producers would like this... they'd probably create a way to prevent this if is was possible... I've tried it before without success...

I could be terribly wrong...

Matt

 

Only really two ways to do this.

1. Make "backup" copies of the installed programs installation CD/DVD, for quite a lot of my stuff I burn an ISO copy of the CD to my external HD, that way I just mount the image, install, and then unmount the image (don't have to carry 50 CD/DVD's around with me just in case I need to reinstall).

2. Make a Ghost copy of the entire drive, that way you can restore to that point in time (Acronis Trueimage or something like that is another program that will do this)

 

This would not work, for sure! just reinstall your apps again after clean install of your OS.

 

I figured it was hopless. oh, well, i guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and reinstall the programs when I get around to reformating the HD.

 

A clean reinstall should mean that everything runs faster due to less of the rubbish which collects over time. So, on balance, it is the best solution even if it takes a day.

John

 

Most programs won’t work the way you want : install on to a separate HDD/partition and use them without reinstalling the next time you format. Mainly because of various registry settings and system files (runtimes and other files copied to the system32 directory etc..).

However here are few workarounds (buy they may turn out to be messier and more time consuming than just installing everything again ):

1. There are programs that will track registry changes and file changes during a program installation; you can use one of those tools to track all the changes and back them up (registry settings and files copied outside the program files folder). The next time you format and install the OS, all you have to do is merge those changes to the newly installed OS and copy the program files directory of the program back to the exact same location as before (if you originally installed the program on to an external HDD then just plug it in and have the same drive letter). This will work with most applications.

2. Do a clean installation and install all the applications you need; then take a backup image. Afterwards you can restore that image when ever feel like doing a fresh install (faster and easier).
If you install all the applications to an external disk or another partition then just take the backup image of the system drive, afterwards all you have to do is restore the system image (no need to worry about the installed programs cos they are not changed in anyway, and by restoring system image you will get all the registry settings and libraries back)


However if a program keeps changing the registry and or uses the registry to keep all user/session data, then this kind of restoring may not always give you the exact state of the program that you had before restoring. But I think that is the best you can do..

 

I've been hearing stuff about installing programs to seperate or external drives, but i never took the time to utilize such options.
How is it done?
what are it's benifits?
Would doing this save me from being in the bind I'm in now?
Since I will most likely be reinstalling everything once the drive is wiped, is there a way I can save some savedata files ie savegame files?

 

Installing programs on a separate HDD has no real advantage, except for perhaps help keep the System drive clean and defraged (if you only have the OS in the system drive), or if you plan to do what I said in my previous post.

All the games have a saved games folder; just back it up. The location varies from game to game (refer to the game documentation for exact info)

 

So if I understand you correct I can install the OS and programs/apps on one drive, and all save data(registry being the exception) on another, and next time I need to start fresh, I will only have to reformat the save data drive, and restore to the clean image for the other drive?

if this is the case this will save me tons headaches.

 

You can replicate nearly everything on your old hard drive onto a new one using a program called "Move Me". It has to be installed on both computers and you initiate Move Me on both computers while connected onto a network or via a USB-link cable.

There's a catch though. Some of the programs that Move Me transfers to the new hard drive won't retain its license because the program will detect that it's a different system. This happened with Adobe products such as Photoshop when I migrated my desktop to my laptop. BTW, there was an option for me to transfer the license to another computer when I uninstalled Photoshop on my desktop after the migration was complete.

 

After going through all of this, wouldn't it have just been easier to just save any files you need along with save game files on to another HDD, format the primary HDD, and reinstall Windows and all the programs? Even making an image of the drive after everything is setup and running isn't the most efficient thing either though, you still have to run updates on all the outdated software, which makes it take just as long as if you were just reinstalling the updated programs... Just make it a one day project and format and reinstall everything...less headache really than what you seem to want to do.

 

It seems that all this isn't worth the time and effort. I guess I'll just have to do things the oldfashion way. I just wish that somebody would figure out a way to make restoring things to normal after cleaning a HD easier.
I grow tired of the hassle.

thank to all who replied you have been most helpful

Fry

 

I'm trying to learn about this as well, both for myself and for a couple of other people I'm trying to help and have a couple of questions.

In my case most of the programs I use are downloaded opensource/shareware apps. I just counted 23 that I use regularly, and probably have another two dozen that I use on occasion. Even if I could get to all of these programs and redownload it would definitely take a lot more than one day of work, and I know for a fact that at least some of these no longer exist. I just can't believe that there isn't an easy way to do some sort of transfer over the network.

2. Many of the programs that I do have install media for are on floppy drives (yeah I haven't found a new piece of software I like since about 1997). Obviously I've got to find a way to install these as well.

3. I'm getting my dad a new laptop soon that will not have an OD. How do you go about installing Office and everything else on this computer. I don't want to drop a couple hundred bucks on an external drive, just for the one time event of installing some programs.

Surely I'm not the only person that has to deal with any of these situations? At work the IT department is only allowed 30 minutes to get a brand new box up and running and it is supposed to be functionally identical to the box is is replacing.

Sorry for the rant/despair but I know that when/if I get my new laptop I'll have started my new job which will require 100-120 hour work weeks the first 4-5 months. I'm not going to have time to spend tweaking my system.

 

Large companies use imaging software such as Norton Ghost to create an exact "image" of the base computer to use for all new ones. They also purchase group licenses so that they do not need to worry about purchasing individual licenses for each PC. Unfortunately, this practice isn't very practical for personal use, so there really aren't that many solutions.

Matt

 

When you download save the file so you can reinstall if needed.

4 or 5 years ago I bought a 54X CD-RW for $50 dollars so I don't think they are that expensive

If install disks have been lost kind of out of luck. If you have customized these programs with personal settings you can typically move the folder in program files to a different drive, install the program, then replace the new installs program folders with the old getting your look and feel back, on games really only need to do that with saved game file.