re: New Hard Drive is in! But I have questions
Saturday, June 4, 2005 at 11:44 pm
Windows 98 Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by gewg_
(4444 messages posted)
|When I try to launch any of the programs in the old HD I get errors
|Is this because the old HD has a goofed up OS?
| Bill (Single_Tasker)
|
If the OS is screwed up, who's to say the apps aren't as well.
OTOH, you could have hit it, 1st guess.
|When I dragged and dropped a couple of programs over to the new HD
|and opened them from the new HD I get errors.
|
OK, Windows 101:
When some Windoze programs install, they make changes to the Windows Registry.
The Registry is the master database
where Windows keeps lots of settings about where things are
and how it expects stuff to act.
More advanced OSes (e.g., UNIX) keep these things in individual scripts
(one per app).
As stuff in installed (and uninstalled--especially if that process goes badly),
the Registry gains cruft.
A nice fresh Registry is a nice thing to have.
Installs can also put ancillary files in places other than C:\Program Files.
The apps could be missing Registry data
or they could be missing drivers (in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32).
There could be stuff in C:\WINDOWS\Application Data of the old HDD
that the app is looking for on the new HDD.
The possibilities are legion.
|If I use the clone disk that came with my HD (Western Digital)
|and copy everything to my new HD,
|will all my former desktop icons show up on my new desktop
|
Probably.
|so I can launch the programs
|
Perhaps.
As I said in a previous post, on a Windoze system
(if you have the install disks) a FRESH install is ALWAYS prefered.
"Clone" typically means dupe EVERYTHING;
If, instead, it allows you to selectively copy over the data files, do that.
I definately wouldn't try to "clone" a HDD with a damaged OS.[1]
|and get the files out that are buried in them?
|
Buried in who??
You should be able to back up files
without the app that is typically used to open that type of file.
Files is files.
|Should I erase all the windows files in the old HD before cloning
|so they don't try to run in the new HD and screw up the OS in the new HD?
|
If your software doesn't do a selective backup (copy)
and you don't want to drag & drop from one disk to another,
that sounds like a fall-back plan to me.
Let's see if anybody disagrees.
|Should I drag and drop the 2 missing OS files
|from the new to the old as a windows repair
|and just boot up the old HD to get to all my old files?
|
With a brand new HDD in hand,
I see no advantage to that--only prospective problems.
Once the data is backed up, you can tinker with the old drive
--no harm, no foul.
|Yikes... This stuff is complicated.
|
Yup.
As I said, UNIX does the Settings thing a whole 'nother way;
the Registry was a M$ idea--a bad idea IMO.
[1] BTW, while you're copying files between disks,
seriously consider making backups to CDs--at least 2 copies of all data.
(Think: data corruption.)
In addition, there's an old saying:
Backups aren't backups until they're off-site.
(Think: fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, burglary.)
2nd location: safety deposit box, work, relative's house.
[2] I've been around this stuff long enough
that HD to me means a High Density floppy and HDD is a Hard Disk Drive.
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 | | | | | | |  | re: New Hard Drive is in! But I have questions (gewg_: Sat, Jun 4, 2005, 11:44 pm) |
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