Calling all computer geeks: can I back up software on my USB harddrive?

[Nero]

What software and programs can I back up and how? I read the user manual from my HP personal media hard drive, but haven't a clue. Can I back up Microsoft Office - meaning if I uninstall Microsoft Office, can I get it again from the backup? What about movie making softwares? PC games without discs?
Help!

[Flan]

for something like ms office, you'll need the installer files and the cd-key, otherwise it's easy to make a backup copy, for games without install media, it depends on the game, the preinstalled stuff is generic for the make of system, downloaded games usually can be downloaded again

ms moviemaker (...) is bundled with the os so no download/backup needed

everything, including the os install/restore can be put on a usb storage stick

(ps: can we group dopeslap hp for not including install media?)

[lizbeth]

you can use a disk imaging program like norton's Ghost and put a restore image of your entire computer hard drive onto the external and then use that to restore your computer to that "snapshot" in time, but Like flan said you can't just copy most programs from the program files folder to the external drive without the install files or cd keys. you can however copy the contents of the CDs to tha thard drive and then install from teh harddrive instead of cdrom. it's faster and more convenient.

documents, pictures and media files can be copied to the external drive without issue though.

[finewine]

Previous posters are correct...

While some applications install by simply unpacking an archive, the majority go through the installer framework, which means registering their presence and post-install config (as required) in the "Registry".  This means that while you can copy the application binaries to your USB drive (i.e. copy+paste the folder containing the application), this won't copy over the registry information which can frequently provide essential startup, config, key info that the app wants.

Some apps, like games, look in the registry to find out what cd/dvd install device was used, then go and try and read from that device to verify the install/play media is still there - this is particularly annoying when you clone the install media and mount it on a virtual cd/dvd because it then has the wrong device path...(roll up sleeves and grub around in registry time - again)

On some occasions (like when I'm backing up an old, soon to be destroyed and replaced laptop) I'll copy the application and take a dump of the registry.  With the exception of checks against physical install media, this usually works well enough for me - although I little manual intervention is required to restore and normalize whatever registry info is needed.

Of course, by now you're probably thinking "meh, I can't be bothered with all this hassle".

[Windrider]

Computer makers haven't included install media for years. Well, at least not what *I'd* call install media. I'm sorry, but I don't want your crappy "Dell boot disk". I want a Windows CD, driver CDs, etc. I loathe those "install partitions"; if your drive dies, you've just lost all of your install images with no way to recover them. So you're stuck with a large paperweight, if you don't want to shell out the $$ to buy new copies of everything. (Please don't turn this into a Windows vs. Linux/mac thread.)

Anywho, to answer Nero's question, I'd look into disk imagers. There are free ones out there. The problem with applications is that they install stuff into various places, not just the install directory. Most stick stuff in the Windows directory, registry and sometimes other places. If you don't copy all of it, the app doesn't work. (I've had to make manual copies of apps for when apps stopped working and a former boss deleted my installers....it's very tedious and requires that you know a bit about what you're doing.)

WR

[sd]

Yes, you can backup an installed program.
However it doesn't always work and you need to be an I.T. person to really even have that good of luck.



Stick to disk imagers:
Norton Ghost
Active Disk Image
Acronis Disk Image

Any of those will work to back up the entire drive.