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Getting Windows 10 to recognize programs previously installed on another hard drive

I moved a hard drive (containing programs and data) to a new computer with Windows 10, already installed. The computer boots from the new hard drive (C:), but I would like to run the applications from the older (D:) drive. Is there any way to get Windows 10 to run the files on D:?  When I try it says I am missing the .dll files. Can I just copy these files to the corresponding system folder on drive C:?

By the way...the older hard drive was running Windows 10, but was having intermittent boot failures (grrr...) . My computer tech said the only way to correct the problem was to do a clean install of Windows 10 (including reformatting the disk - thereby losing all the data and programs). After discussing the options it was cheaper to move the hard drive to the new computer. The good news is that the data and programs on the old drive were intact.

Help is greatly appreciated.

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

To better understand the query, please answer the following questions:

1. When you say "files", are you referring to programs/applications?

2. When you say boot failures, do you receive any error message?

3. Are you trying to directly copy the program/application files to C: drive?

If so, I would suggest you to first uninstall all the programs/applications from the current driver and then re-install and choose the drive you would like to save the file in or run from. Copying the files directly to a new drive could cause issue with the file and may not work.

Let us know if you need further assistance.

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The intermittent boot failure started when I switched from Windows 7 to Windows 10 several months ago. During the installation process, the computer was required to reboot several times. I assume what was supposed to happen was that the computer would shut down and then restart on its own. Instead, the computer would hang indefinitely (hours). I had to shut the computer down and restart it manually. The computer eventually made it through a rather maddening installation process. All the application programs worked fine. I keep my computer on at all times - though it drops into sleep mode automatically.

The problem comes when power is lost, or a program installation requires a reboot, e.g. Norton Utilities. Nine times out of ten, the boot process failed, leading to a black screen. No combination of key strokes seemed to make a difference (including those that were supposed to start the computer in safe mode). I would have to shut the computer down and restart MANY times. This seemed to get me by until last week when, after a power failure (not storm related), the computer refused to boot. I did all kinds of hardware checks to see if a component had gone bad - cables, monitor, CMOS, CMOS battery, RAM, hard drive, etc. All components checked out just fine.

When I took it to a computer repair place, the technician said that he had encountered this problem many times before, and that the only thing that seemed to help was to do a "clean install" of Windows 10, which required reformatting the hard drive. I told him that I had important data on the hard drive that I could not afford to lose. He removed the hard drive from the old computer and put it in a new computer with Windows 10 already installed. I was able to move all my data to the new hard drive, but all my applications are on the older drive.

Reinstalling the applications is easier said than done. For example, Microsoft Office was preinstalled on my first computer (no disks for reinstallation). Most of the rest of my programs were downloaded (again no installation disks). And no...I did not write down the product keys for all of those programs.  So now I am left with a computer with two hard drives. A working version of Windows 10 on one hard drive, and a corrupted version of Windows 10 on the second drive. I have copied all my data files to the new hard drive, but all my programs are on the drive with the failed Windows 10. 

What I would really like to do is to reinstall Windows 10 on the first hard drive where my programs are, and put the hard drive back into my original computer. Can you help?

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Here is my situation and how I am handling it.

Computer (self build)

C: SSD 128 GB (Windows 10 OS)

D: 500 GB (Program Files, Program Files (86)

E: DVD R

F: 500 GB (User (Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Video, ETC)

I upgraded the SSD from 128 GB to 480

Installed Windows 10 fresh and then Mapped the users files to F: (right clicking the Icons and changing the c:\user\Kevin\Documents to f:\user\Kevin\Documents.

As for the Program Files - I was also unsure how to do this and so I just copied the both the Program Files folders (Program Files, Program Files (86)) to the D: Drive. I then opened each folder and opened the application and launched the application and reinstalled to the directory it was in.

I then copied from the old drive the pasted over the new installation. Some went well others not so much. I just reinstalled the ones that failed and then moved only some of the files and folders (checked the programs website, support and forums to find the right files and folders to move).

That is the best solution I found so far.

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Programs should always be installed on C since they write registry keys that integrate themselves into the OS until they are properly uninstalled, hence should remain a part of the System Image.  There are endless consequences with failing to do so which have come up regularly over the past seven years during which time I've helped over a hundred thousand in forums. 

The proper way to remedy this is to reinstall the programs to C where they belong.  Moving Program Files or Data should never a solution because it brings with it a whole new set of unintended consequences. 

If space is an issue (which you seem to have remedied by upping the SSD size) then you can move files off since they do not benefit as much from the speed and necessity of having the Programs on C. 

I understand you feel you've found a solution to your problem but others need to know the Best Practice so they don't go awry. 

Windows MVP 2010-2020 (ret).
Millions helped via my tutorials and personally in forums for 14 years.
Please notify me in my articles' Comments if a tutorial link is outdated or ads intrude.

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Last updated April 18, 2025 Views 30,072 Applies to: