New Machine...Bringing Back the Backup

OK...

Everything’s up & running fine...thanks to everyone who’s helped.

So...when I backed up the old machine...for future transfer back to the new machine...there were several 'downloaded' programs, installed from the internet; & w/ no CD-ROM to rely on for reinstall. So...I merely copied these program's folders from: C:\Program Files, to an external hard drive; & tonight moved those folders back to the new machine.

Now...I know they function...'cause if I double click on the executable they load & work fine.

But what I want to know is...they need to obviously have listings under Start > Programs (& I'd like to be able to do that so that those listings look like the programs were actually installed (as opposed to stupid Shortcut icons)...but also...they need their Registry entries in place (& if I go to CURRENT USER or LOCAL MACHINE...they ain't in there.)

How do I solve this one?

Is there a way to run a real, new install from the program files, where nothing gets overwritten (but the Start Menu listings go in correctly; & also the Registry entries?

Thanks,

mark4man
XP Pro SP2

 

If those programs work then you won't need any entries in the Registry since they will be stand-alone programs that require no Registry support.

You can create shortcuts in the appropriate folder and they will show up on the All Programs menu without any arrows so that no problem either.

The path to that folder is:

C:\Documents and Settings\<your user id>\Start Menu\Programs

or if you want all users to share it:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs

Either create a shortcut to the executable and cut/paste it in one of those folders or for even greater simplicity you can drag the new shortcut to the Start button and when it opens the All Programs menu continue to drag the shortcut wherever you prefer it to be located. Either way it won't have the shortcut arrow when it shows up on the All Programs menu.

You can handle folders with multiple shortcuts the same way. Create the folder and name it appropriately and then create the desired shortcuts inside that folder. Then place it on the menu with the same procedure outlined above.