I plan on doing a clean install of Windows however, as I have limited time and slow internet speed, downloading all the programs again that I currently have would be extremely difficult and time-consuming. How do I backup all of my programs so that I can just restore them after clean installing?
That's the biggest problem with streaming installers, doesn't save the setup files to the computer. Whenever possible [usually always] I do the Save or Save As to enable retaining the files for reuse later.
Installing Windows-based programs entails a couple of things, one is the decompressing [where needed] of the files needed to run the program, installing support files in Windows, creating the icons in the menus or on the desktop and the most critical, creating Registry entries so Windows knows how to run the programs. This process is also the reason one cannot simply copy the programs' Folders to another computer.
Last edited by Berton; 14 May 2017 at 19:26.
That situation, which happened to me long ago, is exactly why I save almost all of the install EXEs, MSIs, ZIPs, etc. on my Data partition. Going forward, do you plan on making routine OS and Data partition full image backups onto external media? Sometimes a good ol' restore trumps a clean reinstall and successive 3rd party programs reinstall.
"I save almost all of the install EXEs, MSIs, ZIPs, etc. on my Data partition"
There's something to the saying that "Great minds think alike' :)
I put all my installers for every program on my computer on a partition and sync it to an external hdd in case of hard drive crash. I have many old programs, some dating back 20 yrs, no longer out there and some mfr bloatware that I uninstalled but may one day use. Also, have older versions that work better than current updated versions. I don't delete any until I've installed and tested 'upgrades'.
I go so far as to even download things like Firefox or Skype that auto update within themselves and copy the latest Windows 10 ISO in case I need an in place repair. It's better to have and not need than to need and not have.
Is there a way to make an executable out of currently installed programs?
Everything else that I have can be easily downloaded. The problem is with my Adobe suite. These programs are huge.
Also, if I do a clean install and install Windows on Drive C and my programs and data go on Drive D, will performing a clean install in the future on the C partition keep the programs on Drive D useable? Or do I need to reinstall them again?
What makes you think a fresh install will help?
Fresh installs are only needed if you have issues. If you regularly maintain pc eg disk cleanups, uninstall stuff not needed etc, then clean installing will not really benefit you. Days when you needed registry cleaners etc are long gone.
Are you having issues or are you just using 'last decade' mantra?
Hi,
There's a hidden/protected folder named "Installer" as a subfolder of the Windows folder that contains the installers of all the programs adhering to MS's .msi standard which you can use to reinstall them should you want to.
Cheers,
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