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Using software installed on old hard drive

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by modemjunkie

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My old emachine crashed last night. I have a temporary laptop replacement but I would like to use software on my old hard drive as an external drive. I assume I can use an external drive with an appropriate enclosure.

The question: Is there any way I can run the software (aside from the OS) installed on the old drive without reinstalling it?

Len

2 replies

by thechas

It is usually not possible to run software that was installed on one system from just the installed files.

Many software packages require registry settings and install files in shared and system folders.

While you can run applications from an external drive, the application still needs to be installed with the external drive connected to your computer.

Not to say that all applications are that way. Many free-ware and share-ware programs are written to run from just the files in the folder the program installs to.

Chas

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