Can I Transfer Purchased Programs from My Old Putey to the New One I'm Buying?

Hi All,
I've kinda sped my machine up but am now going to buy a new system .. get into the new Century and give my kids this putey.
I have all the free programs that I'd like to transfer over next Monday copied onto a DVD. The ones I purchased on line (Fruity-Loops, Offfice 2003 etc), can I just put them onto a DVD and copy those over as well?
The new putey I'm geting is a 160Gb, 3.GMhz Chip, 512 RAM with only XP Home on it ( though I've always had XP Pro, I don't know if there'll be a difference).
Thanks,
JS.
(I'll reformat this one for the kids so it's a clean HDD. It's never been as good as before I updated all the SP2 stuff a few weeks ago).

 

>> The ones I purchased on line (Fruity-Loops, Office 2003 etc), can I just put them onto a DVD and copy those over as well? << JimSpriggs

If you mean the FruityLoops program developed by The Sonic Spot you might want to contact their support (via their homepage) to find out if it is ok to transfer it to another computer - as well as ask them exactly how to go about doing this properly.

As for Microsoft Office 2003, you cannot “copy” Microsoft Office onto a CD or DVD from one computer and then move it en masse to an entirely different computer - if that's what you're asking here. This will not work, because the program needs to be installed (in the registry, etc) via the official Microsoft Office 2003 installation CD-Rom disks.

In order to reinstall Microsoft Office 2003 - on another computer:

(1) You will need remove the Microsoft Office 2003 program entirely from your old computer first and then install the program by inserting the official Office 2003 installation CD-Rom disks into your CD-Rom drive. It should then Auto-Start.

(2) During the installation it will ask/prompt you to enter the Office 2003 Product Key. This Product Key is a multi-character security code is located on your Certificate of Authenticity which is usually either affixed to your software package, the PC box, or laptop. Microsoft stores this information in a database so that no one (including you) can use your Product Key on another PC simultaneously. Important: If you do not have this key available during installation you will not be able to continue.

(3) Even after it is properly installed; you will also need to ‘activate’ Microsoft Office 2003 (via the internet) once it is installed. Microsoft uses this "online validation process" in order to verify that your copy of Office is genuine. If you do not activate it via the internet immediately; you still must complete activation within the first 30 days of initial use or within the first 50 launches. Otherwise the program will no longer function.

(4) To keep your Microsoft Office products up-to-date with critical patches and security updates, visit the Microsoft Office Updates site right after the reinstallation process is completed and regularly thereafter.

A few other things that are "good to know" regarding re-installation of Microsoft Office 2003: Once again; the program can only be installed on one computer at a time. You will need remove the program from your old computer first. You also must "revalidate" Office each time the Office program is reinstalled.

Additionally, the program can only be installed and activated so many times - even if you reinstall it and only on only one computer; if you repeat this procedure (reinstalling, that is) too many times; you will be prompted during the install that you have installed it too many times. In this case, you can contact Microsoft for another key. You will need to provide proof that you actually purchased it when you contact them; in order to receive a new key.

Good Luck!

 

Thanks for the speedy reply Comp. I can do the re-registering and re-activation etc .. It's just me trying to get an easy way out.
Cheers,
JS.

 

If it not too late, try and buy your new PC without an OS, You may be lucky and they should reduce the sticker price, as well.

Or with XP Pro already installed.

A smaller firm I tried would take $160 off the price (for Home) and you buy XP Pro upgrade for $135. That way you can buy an XP Pro upgrade for the same price as XP Home.


Bigger firms make you pay extra to go to XP Pro, from the installed XP home. You have to do the maths. You are effectively paying for both and lose the copy of XP Home, in the process.

You can then install XP Pro on your new PC as long as you have an original MS OS CD. Just load the CD when XP (Pro upgrade) asks for it.

XP Pro upgrade is on sale from Harvey Norman for around AUD$135.
Also they have MS Office Student and Teacher 2003 edition for between AUD$182-$245 depending on whenever they have them on sale. Bazza

 

>> Thanks for the speedy reply Comp. I can do the re-registering and re-activation etc .. It's just me trying to get an easy way out. Cheers, JS. <<

I forgot to mention this in my previous post; since you are buying a new computer, and (obviously) you want it to run at maximum efficiency, my advice would not to ever COPY entire program folders onto another hard drive or another computer; especially when the program was originally designed by the developer to be installed before using it. This applies freeware as well as shareware programs; it makes no difference - installing is almost always a better idea IMO.

Using this method is not really going to save you all that much time, even if you have dozens of programs to install. Also this "copy instead of install method" might save a few minutes originally; but can it can have considerable consequences down-the-road that are very bad for your PC's health which might cause you hours, even days of frustration when these copied programs eventually malfunction!

The exception of course is a tiny program like CPU-Z or something that does not need or was not interned to be installed before using it. Developers of small programs like to make "no-need-to-install" applications like this. Trust me here… the people who author larger programs would simply love to be able to do this if they could get away with it; as it would save then time not having to develop the install and uninstall .exes etc.

However larger programs often include the "necessity" of installation from an .exe for several different reasons: They need to interact with the registry or your browser for instance, in order to function optimally. Also some of the 'copied' programs might appear to function fine or work "seem to be OK" but then when they crap out on you this can potentially affect other programs in a way that might not easily be diagnosed or fixed.

There is a developer who is also a forum member here at Major geeks by the name of "matt.chugg." If he sees this post, perhaps he can "chime in" on why "installing programs" is usually a better idea than copying programs from one drive to another especially when they were originally designed to be installed prior to using them...

Good Luck!

 

If the MS Office becomes a problem you could consider "Open Office" a open source freeware office suite that is getting signifcant recognition across the world. In fact there are many capital cities and states that are switching the whole government public service over to "Open Office" from M$ and it has recently become a recognised standard. It is avail here:

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3461

If your interested do a google on it and you will find tons of info. I beleive it is quite interchangeable with previous office files but can't be certain about this.