Posted by Steve on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 12:47:01 :
In Reply to: OT - Computer problems - help needed posted by jack cain on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 10:35:19 :
Hi Jack,
Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to do it - certainly not easily.
The newer versions of Windows all use something called the registry to maintain all of the settings for each program.
When you run the install routine for a program, it writes a bunch of registry entries at the same time that the software needs.
If you try to just copy the software from one drive to the next, you miss the registry settings and your software won't run... Just what you've encountered by the sounds of it.
I suppose you could back up the registry and overwrite your new install and also copy all of the software. Not sure that would work though and it would be pretty dicey because there are also windows registration and system settings contained there.
***You might very well end up with a Windows install that won't boot...***
The old days of just moving programs easily from one machine to another are gone I'm afraid...
Finally, many of the software install routines now tweak their install settings based on specifics of the machine that they are installing to. I'm thinking video card drivers for one. If you attempt to move it to another machine with different hardware, it may not run at all...
Sorry, not much help.
That's what you're up against...
Best,
Steve
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