flo said:
i want to save the program (exe file) and all the dll's and ini's
files
Shenan said:
You can do that, but you better know which DLLs are needed and where
they go.. And what registry entries need to be made.
Essentially, what you REALLY want to save is the downloaded
executable that installs the software.. Not the installed and
working copy - as that would be pretty complicated and likely you
would not be able to get everything to work as it had before.
Right, and after I click on the exe file then it should open all the
dll's and ini's for that program.......... right???
I fear you are trying to make a simple process very complicated.
First, let me address your question and make sure everyone is on the same
page. You asked ".. and after I click on the exe file then it should open
all the dll's and ini's for that program.......... right???", which is very
obtuse, considering I do not know exactly what EXE you have saved. So here
is my answer..
If this is the EXE (executable) file you originally downloaded to install
the original application on your computer before you ever used it and it
installed the original application on your computer so you could use it
BEFORE.. Yes. It will work in that same way and reinstall the original
application on your computer. Just like it did before.
HOWEVER, if the EXE (executable) file you are referring to is the one you
now double-click on to START the application, burning that file and its
shortcut and its "DLL" files could, but unlikely with today's less packaged
and more modular applications, allow you to copy those files back to a
system without that particular application and run it. Simply because most
applications install DLLs that are not in the same directory as the EXE
(executable) file and/or install entries in your system registry
(registering files, modifying paths, setting up initialization and
configuring the application) that are required to run that application
properly. There are exceptions, and if the application you copy is one of
those exception, then this too would work.
The recommended way to do any backup is one of two ways..
Method 1:
Backup the whole machine - use some imaging software like Symantec Ghost and
make a backup of your entire hard drive to some off-computer location. You
can then later restore the image and that would restore the computer to that
time. It would restore EVERYTHING, including any problems you were having
with software, how things looked, felt and so on. But only up to the point
that you actually made the latest full image. Takes up a lot of space and
requires some skill to get that image off your computer.
Method 2:
Backup your personal files and the installable executables for your favorite
applications. This is the preferred in my book because in this way you can
backup more often (smaller, less time consuming process) and no matter what
happens to your computer or if you get a new computer or if you start over
from scratch, you will at least have your files (documents, pictures, etc)
and the installable applications to reinstall your favorite programs. Yes -
you will have to redo your look and feel, but the good part is, you know
what that is now.
I think you should use method 2. If you have the original files you
double-clicked on to install these applications you are trying to backup -
yes - burn those to CD and you are good to go. If you don't and you
downloaded them, you likely should go check for a newer version of the
application anyway and re-download the install file and burn that. If you
don't have the original install file and cannot get it again because the
company went out of business and no one else on the planet liked that
application enough to store it somewhere where you could do a Google search
and find a downloadable copy of it (free and shareware) ore you cannot
borrow a copy of the application (that you also have paperwork licenses for,
just not the media for some reason) and copy it - then you MAY be out of
luck. You can attempt to copy the directory and all files within that the
original application installation created, but as I said before, it's a hit
or miss situation.. If you put those files on a machine that doesn't have
that application installed, it may or may not run.
Does that help?
Once you do that a little icon will appear in the system tray next to the clock telling you that you have files waiting to be written to disk. Once you have all the files you want on the disk then double click it to see the files and then click file at the top left and choose "write to CD" and that's all there is to it. Make sure you only have about 620MB for a 650MB disk. I have all my programs on CD for much the same reason. They are all free ones and don't come with disks so when I reformat for whatever reason I can save hours of time by reinstalling from the disk instead of looking on the net. Good luck.