Where to save programs

[keithmacsd]

"My Programs " on my C Drive contains 6.5GB, and I'm sure some of that is stuff I never/rarely use.  I know I can uninstall  most programs with either a built-in uninstall feature or Windows Add/Delete Programs utility.  But what if I want to save them for possible future use?  Can I move them to my external drive and still have them work when I open them?  Any special requirements for doing that?  Also, if I download a new program, can I save it on the external drive and have it function properly?

[Jonas Wauters]

Alright moving them once they are installed would be hard but maybe possible but then you would have to change some feathers. (I can't do that maybe someone else can.)
But what I would do is uninstall them and reinstall them at a external drive then there wouldn't be any problem. I even run a program on my memory stick (2Gb).
When you install a program you will be asked where you want to save that program.
At default this would be "C:\program files\make of program\name of program" you can change this to whatever you want so you can change it to F:\Programs\name of program.
If you do it that way there won't be any problem but just moving them will not work with most of the programs.

Jonas

[soybean]

Can I move them to my external drive and still have them work when I open them?  Any special requirements for doing that?  Also, if I download a new program, can I save it on the external drive and have it function properly?

As Jonas Wauters said, you need to uninstall the programs under the normal uninstall procedure and then reinstall them, specifying the external drive as the location for the program to be installed. 

Also, be sure your external drive is always assigned the same drive letter when it's running.  Otherwise, programs installed on it would not work; in other words, when a program is installed, Windows Registry gets updated and the path to program files is saved in the Registry.

[patio]

I would not un-install anything you don't have an installation CD for...

[Jonas Wauters]

Yes of cours but I think keithmacsd is aware of that, don't you?
If you aren't just don't do it if you want to keep the program.

Jonas

[keithmacsd]

Thanks, all.  I've decided against "moving" any programs right now, because I ran CCleaner and picked up another 4.5GB of HDD space.  That gives me about half of my 20GB drive free, and CCleaner also reduced "My Programs" by about 40%.  Unless I do some heavy downloading in the future, I should be good to go for quite a while now.

[patio]

In the meantime take an inventory of all your Program CD's and organise them in to one location...always a good idea in case something goes wrong.

[keithmacsd]

Thanks, Patio; I've got them all in a little book with my recovery diskette.

[patio]

You're Welcome.
Another good approach is getting a software imaging program for your computer such as Acronis True Image or Ghost. The software creates an exact image of your hard drive at the time you run it.
This image can then be burned to CD/DVD for safekeeping and in the case of a system failure or other problems you simply use it to recreate your system in one step.
Beats the heck out of having to re-install everything including drivers, programs and system settings/preferences etc.

Well worth the money spent.

Good Luck to you and stop by anytime...