Question about moving Program Files...

I have two partitions, lets just call them C: and D:

I have programs such as Macromedia Studio 8, Netbeans(Java IDE), Office 2007 installed on the C:\ partition in C:\Program Files\xxx etc.

I want to format my C: partition but was wondering if it is possible to move these programs from C:\Program Files\Macromedia etc over to the D:\ parition temporarily? Then when I have cleared the partition and installed a new operating system move these back over to the C: parition and re-add the start menu shortcuts manually???

I would imagine this is not possible because formatting the C: partition (With the OS on (XP SP2) will remove any registry entries etc that may be needed by the programs?

 

No, it's not going to work like that because of registry entries that the programs in question create. You'll have to make an image of your current C:\ partition to replicate what you want.

 

One thing I would backup is your user profile.

On Xp it's C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>

Apart from your My Documents folder it also has your info for various apps like MS Office, Firefox, etc.

 

it will not work.

 

Some programs will work like that, they'll just re-create their registry entries when you run them again. I'm pretty sure Photoshop 5.5 works like that. Many don't, and I doubt your programs will either, especially with new registration methods and such. What I would suggest is that you get legitimate copies and install discs of the software you're asking about and just reinstall it, or look into open source replacements that don't lock you down like that. All the data files you created with them should be fine if you just back them up.

 

Hi, sorry to "hi jack" this topic but i think it is related...

I'm in the similiar situation as basskiddany regarding the drives parition. However, my question is:
Can i keep ONLY the system files (i have vista) on C:\ and have everything else (such as program files, documents, etc...) on D:\ ?

Again, sorry to have hi jacked this topic..

 

Sure you can but it doesnt really make sense to do that. It wont be faster or anymore safe in an event of drive loss.

If you had rather than 2 partitions on 1 drive but 2 physical drives, then you could get a speed boost out of running the os on one and the programs on another.

 

Thanks for your quick reply.

Won't it be easier to back up in case of a system failure since i'' only have to backup C:\ which contains the system files only?
Also since you mentioned it is possible to do, could you please direct me to where i can find information (i tried a google search but only came up with moving the "user" file).

 

@ basskiddanny: as others before me said, No, it wont work like that with most applications.
However, there are tools that tracks all the changes made to your system when a program is installed. If you use something like that next time you install your programs , then perhaps you can get by without installing all the applications the next time you want to format. But I don’t recommend it.

There are couple of advantages I can think of.
1. If something goes wrong with your OS and if you want to format, then you don’t have to worry about baking up your data because they are already in a separate partition. You can straightaway format the partition and reinstall. Otherwise you’d have to repair the OS just to backup data or use a recovery disk like ERD commander or a Linux Live CD etc.. (easier)

2. If you only have the OS and maybe only the most frequently used applications on let’s say C: drive, defragmenting is quicker and fragmentation is minimal (faster)

 

You didn't really hi-jack the thread because it's almost a year old. If a thread is this old, it is better just to start a new one of your own.