Moving installed applications between disks

Question

I have two disks: one is SSD with Windows 8.1 and second is regular HDD for data. I installed frequently used programs to SSD disks and any other apps on HDD (games for example). But sometimes I installed some app on SSD by mistake. How to move application to HDD disk without reinstalling? Is there any tool that can handle moving applications by coping data from one disk to another, redirect shortcut files and change paths in registry?

Answer 1

Unless you have specific instructions for moving a certain program to another volume, you are far better off uninstalling and reinstalling the application on the desired drive.

There are programs that let you move their data to another drive, then perform a vendor-provided function to update the computer for the new location. For example, many of Blizzard's games support this. However, to do it correctly you must follow the directions provided on their website.

Lacking such specific instructions, there are too many potential issues you may encounter trying to move a program on your own. No harm trying in most cases, but be prepared to uninstall/reinstall anyway if things don't work as planned.

Answer 2

I found one solution. First copy directory with application from Program Files on SSD disk (C:) to HDD (D:) but leave the same path. For example:

C:\Program Files\Nikon

to

D:\Program Files\Nikon

Then run regedit and make export to file. Open this exported file with some text editor like Sublime Editor which has regex find function (may be helpful). Then find and replace path in exported file path:

C:\\Program Files\\Nikon

replace with

D:\\Program Files\\Nikon

Save file and import with regedit. Test moved program and if it works fine change source directory name to something else, in my example it will be

C:\Program Files\Nikon.bak

Test again, if it works you can remove source directory. Important. Make a backup of regedit file and before moving program quit it.