Transferring already-installed programs?

[TheSuspect]

So I've noticed my ssd is filling up really quickly, and I wanted to move already-installed software like Photoshop onto a separate hard drive. Is there an easier way to do this? Or do I have to go through the whole process of uninstalling then reinstalling onto the drive.

[Sniperfox47]

You can either:

1) Uninstall and reinstall

or

2) (Advanced) Move all the files and then go through the registry and change every reference to the old location to the new one. It's a pretty big PITA but faster than uninstalling and reinstalling for really large or obscure programs.

[Mike87]

13 minutes ago, Sniperfox47 said:

You can either:

1) Uninstall and reinstall

or

2) (Advanced) Move all the files and then go through the registry and change every reference to the old location to the new one. It's a pretty big PITA but faster than uninstalling and reinstalling for really large or obscure programs.

This only works half... 
You also need to check if there is no data in the folders local, locallow or roaming, in most cases there are.

F.e. Chrome puts all profile settings in the Local folder. If you copy that and put it in the exact same folder it will keep all settings.

[TheSuspect]

16 minutes ago, Sniperfox47 said:

2) (Advanced) Move all the files and then go through the registry and change every reference to the old location to the new one. It's a pretty big PITA but faster than uninstalling and reinstalling for really large or obscure programs.

Where could I locate Photoshop for example? (It was installed onto my C drive with no changes in file locations)

[Sniperfox47]

Just now, TheSuspect said:

Where could I locate Photoshop for example? (It was installed onto my C drive with no changes in file locations)

Photoshop will probably be in C://Program Files/Adobe or something along those likes. But then you have to go through the registry searching by references to that file path and change them, otherwise the software might not load up properly. If you're not experienced tinkering with the Windows registry I would *strongly* suggest just uninstalling and reinstalling because messing with the registry is a good way to break things.

[TheSuspect]

Just now, Sniperfox47 said:

Photoshop will probably be in C://Program Files/Adobe or something along those likes. But then you have to go through the registry searching by references to that file path and change them, otherwise the software might not load up properly. If you're not experienced tinkering with the Windows registry I would *strongly* suggest just uninstalling and reinstalling because messing with the registry is a good way to break things.

I meant where would I find it in reg edit, not the installation path. I guess I'll just bear with uninstalling and reinstalling my things.

[Sniperfox47]

3 minutes ago, TheSuspect said:

I meant where would I find it in reg edit, not the installation path. I guess I'll just bear with uninstalling and reinstalling my things.

Oh, most likely there will be references for it scattered through the registry. I usually just search by the file path and change any that look relevant.

 

like for chrome, I'll search by references to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome" and change any of them as appropriate.