Tranferring programs from one PC to other PC

[John John]

It's what I have done more than once, successfully, and gladly.
So, for you to say it doesn't work is what is nonsense.

This is (almost) reminiscent of the program .ini files in days of old...

I think that the point that others are trying to make, Jyeshta, is that
no modern applications are written that way and they have not been
written that way for quite a while now. Programs that use the Program
Files\ProgramName folder to store these settings are probably very old
applications that were written for much earlier Windows 9x versions.

With the introduction of NT no programs written in that manner would
qualify for the Windows logo program. I don't know exactly for sure,
Microsoft may have been a bit lenient or may have turned a bit of a
blind eye up to NT4 with this requirement but certainly since Windows
2000 no program written in that manner will have received the "Certified
for Windows..." logo, these applications do not meet the certification
requirements.

Of course, programmers can write and distribute software for any
Microsoft operating system without participating in the Certified for
Windows Program. They can write programs and store these settings
wherever they want but applications written that way are generally very
poorly written applications, few competent programmers would use that
method to store the settings, not only because it would fail to meet the
Certified for Windows Program but also because in this day and age it is
plain and simply bad program design.

John

 

[Jyeshta]

This is (almost) reminiscent of the program .ini files in days of old...

I think that the point that others are trying to make, Jyeshta, is that
no modern applications are written that way and they have not been
written that way for quite a while now. Programs that use the Program
Files\ProgramName folder to store these settings are probably very old
applications that were written for much earlier Windows 9x versions.

With the introduction of NT no programs written in that manner would
qualify for the Windows logo program. I don't know exactly for sure,
Microsoft may have been a bit lenient or may have turned a bit of a
blind eye up to NT4 with this requirement but certainly since Windows
2000 no program written in that manner will have received the "Certified
for Windows..." logo, these applications do not meet the certification
requirements.

Of course, programmers can write and distribute software for any
Microsoft operating system without participating in the Certified for
Windows Program. They can write programs and store these settings
wherever they want but applications written that way are generally very
poorly written applications, few competent programmers would use that
method to store the settings, not only because it would fail to meet the
Certified for Windows Program but also because in this day and age it is
plain and simply bad program design.

John

All right, thank you. The programs' settings I can successfully
transfer might have "bad program design" but, amazingly, they
work quite well and I am happy with them (they are mostly
freeware, by the way).

 

[John John]

All right, thank you. The programs' settings I can successfully
transfer might have "bad program design" but, amazingly, they
work quite well and I am happy with them (they are mostly
freeware, by the way).

I think that is an important point to be made. Old programs that write
to these locations are certainly not necessarily bad programs! Some of
these programs may be irreplaceable or they may be very expensive to
replace or upgrade. Even if you can replace them maybe the replacements
just aren't as good or as cozy as the older version. I think for these
programs what you say may make a lot of sense, you should do all you can
to keep your favorite programs. Instead of copying the Programs Files
folder wholesale copying selective Programs folders may be more
appropriate.

John

 

[Jyeshta]

I think that is an important point to be made. Old programs that write
to these locations are certainly not necessarily bad programs! Some of
these programs may be irreplaceable or they may be very expensive to
replace or upgrade. Even if you can replace them maybe the replacements
just aren't as good or as cozy as the older version. I think for these
programs what you say may make a lot of sense, you should do all you can
to keep your favorite programs. Instead of copying the Programs Files
folder wholesale copying selective Programs folders may be more
appropriate.

John

John, thank you for the acknowledgement! I was feeling quite a
bit under attack. I do take your point about being selective
about copying Programs folders, but when I originally suggested
it to the OP, I have no idea what programs he uses so I advised
copying all of them. Thanks again.

Gail