Moving application without installing CD

  • Thread starter Thread starter setecastronomy
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setecastronomy

Here we have some legacy applications for windows whose installing media went
lost. We don't even have any contact with the software houses or programmers
who developed them. We would like to move some of them to new computers but
it can be a nightmare. Searching on the net I learnt there are commercial
software which claim to do that dirty work, but I found no clue on how to do
it manually. In the past I tried to solve a similar scenario using
sysinternals tools (ProcessMonitor) to understand what files and dlls an
application needed but I ended up with total failure. Any suggestions ?


Thanks
Filippo
 
setecastronomy said:
Here we have some legacy applications for windows whose installing media
went
lost. We don't even have any contact with the software houses or
programmers
who developed them. We would like to move some of them to new computers
but
it can be a nightmare. Searching on the net I learnt there are commercial
software which claim to do that dirty work, but I found no clue on how to
do
it manually. In the past I tried to solve a similar scenario using
sysinternals tools (ProcessMonitor) to understand what files and dlls an
application needed but I ended up with total failure. Any suggestions ?


Thanks
Filippo
Click to expand...

With simple applications it is sufficient to copy the application folders to
the new machine and perhaps also some .dll files in case it complains. With
complex applications you would have to replicate each and every registry
entry, which sounds like an impossible task unless they are all clearly
marked as belonging to this particular application. Your best bet may be to
replace the applications with new ones that are fully supported and for
which you implement a formal register to protect yourself against future
loss. Note also that if these are 16-bit applications, they won't run under
new OSs such as Windows 7.
 
With simple applications it is sufficient to copy the application
folders to the new machine and perhaps also some .dll files in case it
complains. With complex applications you would have to replicate each
and every registry entry, which sounds like an impossible task unless
they are all clearly marked as belonging to this particular application.
Your best bet may be to replace the applications with new ones that are
fully supported and for which you implement a formal register to protect
yourself against future loss. Note also that if these are 16-bit
applications, they won't run under new OSs such as Windows 7.
Click to expand...

One easier -IMHO- option is:

1/ Run a registry cleaner to get rid of existing issues *after* making a
backup of it and making sure System Restore is activated.

2/ Create a restore point.

3/ Move (not copy) the directory (ies) to their new location, keeping
the same structure.

4/ Run again the registry cleaner and make a careful note of what comes
up as new issues.

5/ Go into the registry and do a search and replace to replace the old
locations by the new ones.

6/ Run again the registry cleaner to see if you missed some registry keys.

7 / Try running the software.

Doing this assumes you are familiar with working on the registry, doing
backups, and restores. Sorry if this sounds patronizing.

I do not know many tools which can do search and replace in the
registry. One of them is Powertools, whose registry cleaner and other
applications I find reliable.

Good luck.
 
1/ Run a registry cleaner to get rid of existing issues *after* making a
backup of it and making sure System Restore is activated.
Click to expand...


Registry cleaning programs are *all* snake oil. Cleaning of the
registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone and
don't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think, and
what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,
having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit
it may have.

Read http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html
 
setecastronomy said:
Here we have some legacy applications for windows whose installing
media went lost. We don't even have any contact with the software
houses or programmers who developed them. We would like to move some
of them to new computers but it can be a nightmare. Searching on the
net I learnt there are commercial software which claim to do that
dirty work, but I found no clue on how to do it manually. In the past
I tried to solve a similar scenario using sysinternals tools
(ProcessMonitor) to understand what files and dlls an application
needed but I ended up with total failure. Any suggestions ?
Click to expand...

The first question that must be answered is WHY you want to move them to a
new computer?

Assuming your are REPLACING an existing computer with a new one, the
following often works:

1. Remove hard drive from new computer and install in old computer as #2
drive.
2. Use the new hard drive manufacturer's utilities to copy everything from
existing #1 hard drive to #2 hard drive
3. Put #2 hard drive back in new computer.
4. Deal with XP bitching about being in a strange land..
 
Registry cleaning programs are *all* snake oil. Cleaning of the
registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone and
don't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think, and
what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,
having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit
it may have.

Read http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html
Click to expand...

Sorry, but you missed the point by a mile. My suggestion has nothing to
do with "cleaning" or "removing" entries: it has all to do with allowing
a subsequent detection of what entries become faulty *due to* moving the
directories and files.

This cannot be done without prior establishing of a base, whatever its
merits. And I made sure to provide the useful advices in case the user
has little experience.
 
John Doue said:
One easier -IMHO- option is:

1/ Run a registry cleaner to get rid of existing issues *after* making a
backup of it and making sure System Restore is activated.

2/ Create a restore point.

3/ Move (not copy) the directory (ies) to their new location, keeping the
same structure.

4/ Run again the registry cleaner and make a careful note of what comes up
as new issues.

5/ Go into the registry and do a search and replace to replace the old
locations by the new ones.

6/ Run again the registry cleaner to see if you missed some registry keys.

7 / Try running the software.

Doing this assumes you are familiar with working on the registry, doing
backups, and restores. Sorry if this sounds patronizing.

I do not know many tools which can do search and replace in the registry.
One of them is Powertools, whose registry cleaner and other applications I
find reliable.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Your suggestion expands on the point I had made: That a transfer could be
feasible if the application had flagged all its registry keys so that they
would be recognisable. This is a tall order for a human and an much taller
order for an automated process. My suspicion is that the registry cleaner
would miss numerous relevant entries and flag numerous irrelevant entries.
Would you care to test the idea on your machine, e.g. with Acrobat Reader,
and report the results here?
 
Your suggestion expands on the point I had made: That a transfer could
be feasible if the application had flagged all its registry keys so that
they would be recognisable. This is a tall order for a human and an much
taller order for an automated process. My suspicion is that the registry
cleaner would miss numerous relevant entries and flag numerous
irrelevant entries. Would you care to test the idea on your machine,
e.g. with Acrobat Reader, and report the results here?
Click to expand...

We are talking legacy applications here. I do not think Acrobat Reader
qualifies. If I took the time to expose this process, it is because I
have used it previously, even for applications which make extensive
(very extensive use) of the registry. Like WordPerfect X4. Involved, but
feasible. Worth trying if you value said application.

If the application does not make much use of registry keys, it might
just work after a move, or editing of ini files might be in order.

Any way, this is worth a try. Of course, suggesting to replace legacy
applications is less involved: if your car no longer works, just buy a
new one. Easier.
 
John said:
We are talking legacy applications here. I do not think Acrobat Reader
qualifies. If I took the time to expose this process, it is because I
have used it previously, even for applications which make extensive
(very extensive use) of the registry. Like WordPerfect X4. Involved, but
feasible. Worth trying if you value said application.

If the application does not make much use of registry keys, it might
just work after a move, or editing of ini files might be in order.

Any way, this is worth a try. Of course, suggesting to replace legacy
applications is less involved: if your car no longer works, just buy a
new one. Easier.
Click to expand...

Although your process has a certain logical appeal, it depends on the
repeatability of the registry cleaner that is used. Although the cleaner
you used may well have worked for the applications that you had, I've
seen more than one report about registry cleaners that find "registry
errors" on a second pass *after* they have run, found errors, and been
permitted to "clean" or "repair" those errors.

As you suggest, it *may* be worth the time and effort to try, but your
first instruction, to make a backup, is crucial. I'd make a disk image,
rather than a registry backup. If you manage to corrupt the registry
sufficiently to prevent Windows from starting, then it probably will be
easier to restore using an image than using a registry backup utility
(which likely will require booting into a non-Windows OS).

[Sometimes it *is* more cost effective to buy a new car rather than
continuing to make repairs to an old one. But that's another story.]
 
John said:
We are talking legacy applications here. I do not think Acrobat Reader
qualifies. If I took the time to expose this process, it is because I
have used it previously, even for applications which make extensive
(very extensive use) of the registry. Like WordPerfect X4. Involved,
but feasible. Worth trying if you value said application.

If the application does not make much use of registry keys, it might
just work after a move, or editing of ini files might be in order.

Any way, this is worth a try. Of course, suggesting to replace legacy
applications is less involved: if your car no longer works, just buy a
new one. Easier.
Click to expand...

Although your process has a certain logical appeal, it depends on the
repeatability of the registry cleaner that is used. Although the cleaner
you used may well have worked for the applications that you had, I've
seen more than one report about registry cleaners that find "registry
errors" on a second pass *after* they have run, found errors, and been
permitted to "clean" or "repair" those errors.

As you suggest, it *may* be worth the time and effort to try, but your
first instruction, to make a backup, is crucial. I'd make a disk image,
rather than a registry backup. If you manage to corrupt the registry
sufficiently to prevent Windows from starting, then it probably will be
easier to restore using an image than using a registry backup utility
(which likely will require booting into a non-Windows OS).

[Sometimes it *is* more cost effective to buy a new car rather than
continuing to make repairs to an old one. But that's another story.]
Click to expand...
My idea of a registry backup is a backup which can be restored, if
needed, out of Windows, otherwise the interest is limited. For that
purpose, my registry backups (daily) are stored on a partition other
than C:. Saved my bacon more than once. Just to boot a CD or diskette,
unpack the zip file, modify as needed the restore batch file to reflect
the drive Windows is installed on, and there I go.

The cleaner I suggested (Powertools) is 100% consistent in its results.
Indeed, I would not trust any such utility without extensive experience
with it.

At the end of the day, the idea is to offer solutions to the OP, not to
attempt to prove your suggestion is the best, or the only one. On the
other hand, sidestepping the question is not answering it :-).

Indeed, moving to a more modern application is often a wise solution,
but in some cases, businesses especially, custom critical applications
were developped and for some reason, not updated to follow Windows
evolution. So, this is not always a simple option ... even if it remains
desirable in a longer term perspective.
 
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