Moving Applications To A Separate Partition

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dad
  • Start date Start date
D

Dad

Hi,

Is there a clever way to move applications to another partition without having
to reinstall them? I have walked through the registry changing partitions with
some success but I had fewer and simpler applications back then.

Similarly, in a multi-boot configuration with each OS and applications in
separate partitions, is there a way to avoid installing applications for each
OS?

Thanks,
Gary
 
I've heard of installing applications to the same dedicated partition from
each OS and then sharing the dedicated partition.
for example:
C: Win XP
D: Vista
E: Programs

boot into Win XP and install the app on E:, then boot into Vista and again
install the app on E: but overwrite the files from when you fist installed
the app with XP. That way Win XP and Vista have the registry entries but
are sharing the same installed files on E:. The biggest problem might be
that saved preferences are stored in the My Documents folder for each OS and
aren't shared. There might be a way to get the two OS's to share a My
Documents folder.

I haven't tried it but it sounds like it would work in theory.
 
Dad said:
Hi,

Is there a clever way to move applications to another partition without having
to reinstall them?
No.

I have walked through the registry changing partitions with
some success but I had fewer and simpler applications back then.

Similarly, in a multi-boot configuration with each OS and applications in
separate partitions, is there a way to avoid installing applications for each
OS?
Click to expand...

No
 
Bill said:
I've heard of installing applications to the same dedicated partition from
each OS and then sharing the dedicated partition.
for example:
C: Win XP
D: Vista
E: Programs

boot into Win XP and install the app on E:, then boot into Vista and again
install the app on E: but overwrite the files from when you fist installed the
app with XP. That way Win XP and Vista have the registry entries but are
sharing the same installed files on E:. The biggest problem might be that
saved preferences are stored in the My Documents folder for each OS and aren't
shared. There might be a way to get the two OS's to share a My Documents
folder.
Click to expand...

It does work. That is what I did when I ran multiple OS's in the past. And it
is what I would like to avoid. In the early days of Windows, when you installed
an OS, it OS would look for apps and install most of them for you.

At one time I could keep track of our applications and drivers and do a complete
reinstall in an hour. The PCs and apps have multiplied since then.
1. No, except for earlier, simple games like Solataire, etc.
Click to expand...
2. No.
Click to expand...

That is what I thought. But it was worth a try.

Thanks,
Gary
 
Dad said:
Hi,

Is there a clever way to move applications to another partition without
having to reinstall them?
Click to expand...


No.

In fact, there's very little point, under normal circumstances, in
having a separate partition for just applications. Should you ever have
to reinstall the OS, you'll still also have to reinstall each and every
application anyway, in order to recreate the hundreds (possibly
thousands) of registry entries and to replace the dozens (possibly
hundreds) of essential system files back into the appropriate Windows
folders and sub-folders.

Similarly, in a multi-boot configuration with each OS and applications
in separate partitions, is there a way to avoid installing applications
for each OS?
Click to expand...

No.

However, it is also possible to have a 3rd partition for shared
applications, but it would be necessary for such a partition to be
formatted in the common file format. The applications would
also have to be installed into each OS (to ensure proper system file
placement and registry updates), one at a time, but the bulk of the
program files could be located on this common partition. I do not,
however, actually recommend doing this as, if you were to uninstall
such an application from one OS, you may not be able to gracefully
uninstall it from the second OS, having already deleted crucial
installation data during the first uninstall action.


--

Bruce Chambers

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Dad,

The easiest, fastest and best way to avoid reinstalling applications is to
invest in a backup imaging application such as Acronis True Image 9. It will
recover a partition perfectly in a 45 minutes or less depending on the size
of your partition. Mine takes 25 minutes. I wouldn't do without it.

www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/trueimage

Note that you can use the fully usable trial for 15 days but if you decide
to buy it, I believe you can't recover from with a backup image
created with the trial. Maybe someone can confirm this.

Drew
 
Drew T said:
The easiest, fastest and best way to avoid reinstalling applications is to
invest in a backup imaging application such as Acronis True Image 9.
Click to expand...

2009, not 9.

9 was replaced by 10, then 11, then 2009.
 
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