Remove OS but not programs?

[Sgt.Mak]

Currently I have the OS and all my programs installed on a single 500GB HDD.

I want to get a new SSD for just OS because this HDD is taking solid 5min+ to boot up.

But can I like use the programs from the HDD and remove the OS files?

 

[Pixel5]

no this is not possible for most programs as they write stuff into the registry and expect certain dependencies to be there which are not anymore if you do it like this.

 

you should write down which programs you used within the last 3 months and reinstall them manually on the new SSD, everything you did not use in that time is not worth reinstalling before you actually need it again.

[Mira Yurizaki]

In my experience most programs work fine on an OS a Windows install they weren't installed to. If the app installer does touch the registry, it's basically doing the following:

• Writing an entry in the Add/Remove Programs applet database, which it's mostly metadata about the application and where its uninstaller is
• Context menu entries
• File associations, if the app doesn't do that when running

The only time you need to reinstall the application is if it has some DRM thing attached to it. If the application has dependencies, the app is only going to assume they exist already and if they don't, will hopefully throw a useful error why it won't start. At which point you just install the dependency (though getting the app's installer usually is the faster route)

 

So basically, you can remove Windows by simply deleting the Windows folder and removing the drive's bootloader.

Edited August 30, 2018 by M.Yurizaki
Some clearing up.

[homeap5]

1 hour ago, M.Yurizaki said:

In my experience most programs work fine on an OS they weren't installed to. If the app installer does touch the registry, it's basically doing the following (...)

Thx man. I thought that I'm the only crazy person here who knows that most programs just run without installers.