Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: How do I install a program that's already installed?

This is topic How do I install a program that's already installed? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=004774

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 08-21-2006, 01:01 AM:

Confused by the title? I didn't know what else to call it....

Anyway, situation-dumbass roomate tries downloading a key generator for this game he wants to play and fucks up my computer with a virus. Dumbass roomate continues to screw up by trying to fix my computer and subsequently rendering it unable to even start up. I couldn't even start it in safe mode with a command prompt.

So after trying to repair the current windows xp installation unsuccessfully I said 'fuck it' and just reinstalled windows. I have my hard drive partitioned and windows is the only thing on C so I didn't lose any data or programs. The reinstall of XP worked great, got rid of all my problems at the same time (as verified by a virus scan). My problem now though is I have all these programs installed on a seperate partition (F drive, not that it matters) but of course the fresh install of windows doesn't 'know' they're there. So, my question:

1) Other than manually creating links to the executables on the start menu is there any way to 're-install' the old programs without actually, you know, installing them?
2) Will there be any performance issues if I don't 're-install' the programs?

And to answer your question, yes, I'd let my anti-virus subscription lax because I didn't want to pay to renew and in the 4 years I've had this computer the only virus I've ever gotten was the damned blaster worm. I'm careful about what I download, my roomate was not.

It doesn't matter now though, he'll still be able to use my computer but only as a limited user, everything else will be locked out to him.

Posted by Charles Greenlee (Member # 3856) on 08-21-2006, 01:24 AM:

XP is pretty smart at times and can sometimes run some programs without reinstalling. Sometimes, I've noticed, it automatically recreated the registry entries. However, this is not common. Best bet, temporarily rename the folder of the desired program, reinstall it to the same drive and under the old folder name, then copy the files from the renamed folder, over the fresh install(you want to say yes to all when it asks to overwrite). This will add everything windows needs to run the software, and icons, etc, while preserving, hopefully, your old settings and data, and the like. This had worked over 75% of the time for me, though a few programs are picky and must be reinstalled normally, and set back up manually. So be prepared if it doesn't work, don't delete the information in the renamed foler until you're sure the install worked.
example - Reinstalling 007Nightfire
Was installed on D:\007Nightfire
I rename to d:\007NightfireOld
I now install the game to what the folder was d:\007Nightfire
Once that's complete, I run the program to make sure there aren't any problems, if everything's ok,
I copy the information from D:\007NightfireOld to D:\007Nightfire, allowing it to overwrite all files.
Once complete, I run the game again and verify it works, and also checking to see if everything transferred over corretly.
If everything's fine, I can now delete d:\007NightfireOld and all of it's contents.

Be sure You remember which folder is which. You don't want to copy the new information over the information you want to keep, and liekwise you don't want to accidentally delete the new/working install after it's good. This assumes you already have some competance in windows, and know a file from a folder, etc.

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 08-21-2006, 12:02 PM:

simply adding shortcuts to the executables won't rebuild the registry. Charles' suggestion has worked for me in the past. Also, some installers have a "repair installation" option where you tell it where the program is, and it goes through the registry and rebuilds the keys and updates the start menu etc. without messing up the current install on your F drive.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 08-21-2006, 12:29 PM:

There are very good anti-virus programs which have free versions for private users, such as avast! and AVG, both of which I have used with great success. There is no reason your computer has to be unprotected, even if you don't want to spend a lot of - or any - money.

Also get Spybot and Ad-aware personal edition, both are free, too. Finally, free CCleaner which stands for CrapCleaner and which helps you keep your system and the registry clean. It also allows you to backup the registry.

Before you reinstalled, did you try the XP system recovery function?

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 08-21-2006, 01:08 PM:

Yeah, tried everything. Re-installing was my last resort.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 08-21-2006, 02:05 PM:

Use a non-administrator identity for everything you can, keep an admin identity with a password for the few things you need it for.
It's pretty hard to destroy XP from a user identity... far from impossible but much more difficult than with admin rights.