For reasons far too lengthy to go into here, I had to re-install Windows XP Home edition SP2 on my wife's computer. Since her computer was partitioned into two drives and the old XP's problems were not virus related, I decided on a clean install on my wife's second drive (D:) and not delete her old materials (C:). The install went fine and everything can be seen on her old drive (C:). Rather than re-install everything on her new drive to make everything accessible to the new install, is there away for her to load directly into her old desktop settings and use her programs?

There would seem to be an easy way but I cannot figure it out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Feel free to get lengthy, without doing that, help is hard to give.

What type of programs and materials need accessed?

ITunes, Adobe Suite, Palm software, and Wordperfect are the primary ones. I'd like to be able to access everything from the C: drive on the new install of D: Everything installed C: was done under the exact same version of XP. I have figured out how to share the documents folder, but not much else. When I attempt to access these programs they either don't work or so configuration is wrong.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The short answer is NO (the long answer is also NO )

When a program is installed, it places a few to dozens of entries in the registry that control it's behavior. You do not have access to that registry from the new installation.

Having said that, it's actually possible to run some of the programs by opening the folder they are installed in and double clicking on the .exe file, but there is no telling how well it will run or if it will run at all. You could even try copying the shortcuts from the old Desktop to the new one and see what happens.

You will most likely need to reinstall all software. You can however, copy over any personal data and things like address books, browser history, cookies and favorites.

Since the original problem was not virus related, you could also try a Repair Install. It will leave all data and "MOST" programs alone.

This post has been edited by Ztruker: Mar 1 2008, 10:08 PM

You need those programs installed on drive D.

I got it figured out (after some serious shenanigans) and successfully got it working on the original drive. Now here's my new dilemma. The Adobe programs won't load, citing that I don't have the permissions, even though its the same drive. I do not have the Adobe disks but I'd like to continue using them and since they are clearly installed on the same drive, how can I access them to make them work?

After doing the Repair Install, it install my wife as a new user while keeping all her info under the old user. Everything else appears to be working ok, but for the Adobe.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.