Moving a file from my C: drive

[moon1130]

I have a PDF program on my C: drive under Program Files (x86) that I would like to move to an internal data disk drive that I am having installed. Can I perform a right click > copy on the program and then paste it in a folder on the new drive (and then erase it from my C: drive)? Or is it better to use the SEND To command and send it to the new drive?

Thank you.

[Banyarola]

What I usually do is just open both the folders on both drives and drag the file to the new location.

[Medico]

I have a PDF program on my C: drive under Program Files (x86) that I would like to move to an internal data disk drive that I am having installed. Can I perform a right click > copy on the program and then paste it in a folder on the new drive (and then erase it from my C: drive)? Or is it better to use the SEND To command and send it to the new drive?

Thank you.

No you can not just move a program (app) either by right click copy/paste or send to. You will have to install the app on the new drive. I would first uninstall the app on the old drive so that the path to the new app isn't "muddied" by the old path. Apps (programs must be installed / uninstalled, not moved)

[Banyarola]

Ooops, I was mistaken thinking it was just a PDF file needed moving...

Ted is right, has to be installed..

[Bundaburra]

If it's a data file you are wanting to move to your new data disk, you can certainly do so. More elegant than copy-and-paste would be to add "copy to" and "move to" to the right click explorer context menu. You can set this up via registry edits, or there is a download which will do it for you - see http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...ht-click-menu/ for details.

It it's an executable program you want to move, such as the pdf reader program (unlikely, since you mention a new DATA disk?) then as previously mentioned you would have to uninstall it from the old disk and then re-install it on the new one. As suggested, it would need to be a thorough uninstall, such as via the Revo uninstaller, so as to get rid of any old files or registry entries referring to the old location which may get left behind. Sometimes add/remove programs, or an application's own uninstaller, will not remove everything.

[moon1130]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I did try to copy and paste as well as drag from one folder to another; neither worked. In each case the .exe file was not transferred. So I ended up removing the old program with Revo Uninstaller and then downloading and installing the new program. However, I was not sure if I had done something wrong in these attempts. Your responses taught sme that that the copy/paste and dragging methods just don't work with executable files.

The very best to each of you,

moon1130

[ripley]

Hi

You didn't mention why you would want to move the program to another drive. If the reason is that you'd be able to disconnect the drive and then use it on another machine, this kind of approach might not work as expected. In case of ordinary applications they almost invariably want to have the registry settings of the original installation to be present. Hence you'd have to install the app to the target machine also.

However, there's another possibility for such cases. Namely portable applications. E.g. this site has a load of them. Such programs can be independently run from say an external thumbdrive.

Just to add my tuppence

[tptagth]

Use LapLink's PCMover application at http://www.laplink.com/pcmover. Get the "Pro" edition, so you can choose which applications to move.

[Brotman]

I have a PDF program on my C: drive under Program Files (x86) that I would like to move to an internal data disk drive that I am having installed. Can I perform a right click > copy on the program and then paste it in a folder on the new drive (and then erase it from my C: drive)? Or is it better to use the SEND To command and send it to the new drive?

Thank you.

Windows Provides Many ways to copy a file from one hard drive or partition or folder to another. All are equally "good". in addition to copy/paste and send, you can drag and drop (though you need to be more aware of your (to/from) disks as this can determine whether thew file is copied or moved. Either of the methods you mention will be fine, if you use "send" you may need to install an extension to your send menu to allow any folder to be accessed (the exension is called "any folder" (I believe) If you do use send, make sure you click the appropriate radio button for Move versus Copy

All-in-all Copy/Paste is probably the most straightforward and should do everything you need. There are many add-ons available to make copying more convenient, more robust and faster, though, unless you're moving a ton of files or very big ones there's little to be gained by using them. If you're interested, http://snapfiles.com is a good and safe place to "shop" for freeware and/or shareware. It is well organized and should allow you to find copy helpers easily.

To conclude: There are numerous alternatives, but, using copy and paste should do all you need!

(sorry for such a wordy answer to a simple question)
Chuck

[jscher2000]

To conclude: There are numerous alternatives, but, using copy and paste should do all you need!

Hi Chuck, further down the thread, he clarified that it was a program rather than an ordinary file, so a reinstallation probably is required.

[JackNoir]

Just a couple of observations.

There are SOME programs/applications that are "standalone". There are even some "standalone" programs that were "Installed" using an installer...but in reality all the installer did was put the program (and any support files) in a specific location, and it MIGHT have created some shortcuts in the desktop or programs folders. It could still be moved, and the only consequence is you'd have to either modify the shortcuts to point to the new location, or create new shortcuts and delete the old ones.

"Standalone" programs don't do anything unique to the registry, and IF any initialization files are created at run-time, they are usually put in the same folder as the program, and/or re-created whenever the program is run.

Such "standalone" programs can be MOVED, and don't require Uninstall/Re-install.


And...to MOVE standalones, you can also simply right-click on the program (or its folder) and drag it to the new location, and when you release the mouse button select "Move Here" option. That moves the application/files to the new location, AND it deletes them from the old location in one step.

[DrWho]

Years ago, before there was a reliable Move command, we did a lot of, "Copy, verify and then Delete" to get things from one place to another.
Obviously being able to just MOVE something using windows explorer is a lot better.

Uninstalling a program from one drive and re-installing it to another drive sounds good, but in practice, there are MANY programs that will NOT ask you where you want to put a program during install. It just puts it on the OS drive and that's it. In fact, there are very few programs that DO give you placement options.
I always liked the options provided by MS-Office and Corel Word-Perfect, because they will let you put the main program files on a second drive, or partition.
This helps to keep from overloading the C: drive with too many program files.

Good luck with that "PDF program". (you didn't say which program you're using)



PS: Thanks to info I've found on this very forum, (Thank You, Ripley) I've added several new programs to my "Portable" (stand alone) library.
Sometimes I need to run a program or demonstrate a program, like "Photo Filtre", to one of my customers. A "Portable" version of a program is a great way to do this without installing anything on the customer's PC. Thanks again, for the link to the "Portables" site. I never come to this forum without learning something new and I've been at this stuff for thirty years.