# move one program to another pc



## thegraphicstore

I have a new pc and the is one program on old pc from a company that is out of business and I dont have the install disk that is a big part of my business.Is there anyway to move this program? Dont want anything else from old pc.


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## Hughv

What program?
Some older programs might be movable, but most are not.


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## SUEOHIO

u can try 2 things. burn it to a cd and then put in your new computer or put it on a thumbdrive or external harddrive and transfer it over.hope this helps u.


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## thegraphicstore

I did copy the entire folder on to a disk but got a error when I hit the start (.exe) command. Does the Registry key matter? Can I ghost just one program with some kind of software?


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## phatfred

you could manually trawl through the registry, export all references to it as reg files and then import them to the new computer's registry. Tedious but it sometimes works.


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## Elvandil

Programs cannot generally be moved. For one thing, it is often violation of the program's licensing. The main reason is that an installation is a complex process where files are copied to multiple locations and the registry keys created. That is why we have installers in the first place.

Though some software exists to attempt these moves, I'm afraid we can't help you unless you can show us something in the program's license that says you are allowed to move the program or have multiple copies of it.


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## SUEOHIO

if the company is out of business and u dont have the install disks anymore or u cant show us anything than i have to agree and im afraid u may be out of luck then.


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## Elvandil

If you tell us what program, we could find out more about it, and with luck, maybe even suggest a replacement. It seems a bit strange that the installation media for a program that a business depends on was not safe-guarded in some way. Hard drives fail all the time and everything would be lost.


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## thegraphicstore

Ok the program xpressign which came on a pc of a company we brought out a few year ago has key features we like.Its still working fine on that pc but its older and its the only thing we use off of it.After much search I think I may have found a answer. Has anyone ever used this software?

http://www.laplink.com/pcmover/


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## DVOM

Exactly what error do you get when trying to start the transplanted program?

And what does the program do? Maybe we could help you find a newer program that does what you need.


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## thegraphicstore

The error is "can not connect with user database" And the program has templates of sign designs which we can edit and a estimating part that we like. This was a problem I was hoping to solve by asking others also the program I thought would work moves the OS a well and thats not what I need..


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## Plantsman

This may help

http://www.pickmeapp.com/

and a list of programs it supports. If your program is not listed it's still worth a try.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pqhC2ge2EU_fHWRL_BStqMA


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## DVOM

Having moved commercial software, (with instructions from the vendor), I would try moving the data base into the main program folder.

Another option, would be to use VMWare Workstation and create a virtual machine out of the old machine's OS with the software included.

Then you could run the old OS and software as a virtual machine on the new machine.

VMWare Workstation is kinda pricey at $189 US but it would get the job done. And there's a trial download so you could see if it's what you need. Of course you may need to buy a license to run the VM OS on your new machine.

http://www.vmware.com/products/ws/
or
That's just a couple of possibilities, I'm sure there's others.

Edit: I just did some research on VMWare and found it can be done with the free VMWare Converter and the image can be run in the free VMWare Player or free VMWare Server.

Here's a tutorial to create a virtual image to run on a Linux host but the image preparation is the same to run it on a windows host:

http://www.howtoforge.com/vmware_converter_windows_linux


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## Elvandil

Considering that this program was licensed to someone else, I'm afraid we need to close this one. It is doubtful that the EULA made provisions for the transfer of license.


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