Moving Program Files

[broy1221]

I'm about to get a 2 terabyte external hard drive and I would like to move all my user installed programs to it without uninstalling them and reinstalling to the new drive. My question is....1. Is it safe to drag and drop the program files from C: to the new drive, and 2. If it's not a good idea to perform a drag and drop is there another option?

 

[inzone]

Windows 7 has an easy file transfer program to transfer files from another computer to the new one , you may be able to use that by connecting the new hard drive by usb to the computer.

 

[inzone]

If that doesn't workout then if you have the external drive installed you can right click on a folder in explorer and select send to f the external drive is listed as a option in the send to window. It is similar to the drag and drop method which there is nothing wrong with doing that either.

 

[benji720]

I don't think you're going to have much luck moving the programs without reinstalling them. There are lots of links made in the registry and in ini or cfg (or other types of config) files that need the files to be where they were initially installed.

The good news is that you can try it without much risk. If you try moving your programs over by moving folders and then they don't work, you can just move them back and they should work again.

Also, if your external drive uses USB 2.0 or firewire, your programs will load much more slowly.

 

[mlcaouette]

There are way to make full system copies but they don't always work perfectly.

Fresh installs are always recommended whenever possible.

Plus you probably don't want to run program files off an external drive. Sata transfer rates are well beyond that of USB transfer rates. Files and all user content is fine to store on an external drive.

As far as a straight drag and drop working for program files, I don't think it would. Easiest way to find out is to try it for yourself though.

 

[vlevy]

I know this thread is old but it's still coming to the top of Google searches for moving program files to another drive. Readers may like to try "WAM: Move Programs From One Drive to Another" developed by Tim Smith of PC Magazine. I have had a subscription to these PCMAG utilities in the past, and I have been very happy with them. I haven't tried WAM yet but I'm planning to. I'll circle back with feedback.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2421044,00.asp

 

[sg12]

I know this thread is old but it's still coming to the top of Google searches for moving program files to another drive. Readers may like to try "WAM: Move Programs From One Drive to Another" developed by Tim Smith of PC Magazine. I have had a subscription to these PCMAG utilities in the past, and I have been very happy with them. I haven't tried WAM yet but I'm planning to. I'll circle back with feedback.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2421044,00.asp

Hey, just wondering if you've had any luck with the WAM program?? I have a program on my (slowly dying) computer that I want to move and have no way of re-installing it, so I'm crossing my fingers!`

 

[vlevy]

I know this thread is old but it's still coming to the top of Google searches for moving program files to another drive. Readers may like to try "WAM: Move Programs From One Drive to Another" developed by Tim Smith of PC Magazine. I have had a subscription to these PCMAG utilities in the past, and I have been very happy with them. I haven't tried WAM yet but I'm planning to. I'll circle back with feedback.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2421044,00.asp

Hey, just wondering if you've had any luck with the WAM program?? I have a program on my (slowly dying) computer that I want to move and have no way of re-installing it, so I'm crossing my fingers!`

I did purchase WAM, but fortunately for me and unfortunately for those interested in WAM, I ended up getting a whole new PC and using the Windows migration tools instead.