Question
Will all of my old programs work on my new computer if I copy them with PCmover?
Answer
The vast majority of your existing programs should work perfectly after you transfer their files
and Registry settings to your new computer with PCmover. In some cases, however, a program may need
to be re-installed on the new computer.
- When a change in operating system is involved, one or more drivers required by the new
operating system may not be transferred from the old computer. (The reason for this is simple: the
drivers were never installed on the old system because that operating system did not require
them.)
- Some system utilities (e.g. certain anti-virus programs) may need to be re-installed after the
migration because system drivers used by the program are not transferred.
- A small number of software programs use a form of copy protection in which the application
verifies at start-up that it is running on the same computer on which it was initially installed.
When such programs are copied to a new computer, they will, by design, refuse to run and must be
re-installed on the new computer.
- If you are upgrading from one operating system to another, each program that is copied to the
new computer must be compatible with the new operating system. Some older DOS and Windows programs,
for instance, are not compatible with Windows XP. Such programs will not run on a Windows XP system
whether they are installed from scratch or copied over with a migration application such as
PCMover
Product: PCmover
KB: 192
Last updated: Aug 18, 2004
