running applications off external harddrive on other machines

hello

recently i purchased an external hard drive to carry around my files and i wanted to know if it was possible to run applications that were installed to the external harddrive on another pc

i know there are somethings that need to be done with the registry settings, but im not sure exactly.

What i tried doing was exporting the HKLM key and then running it when i plugged in the external drive to another machine.. but that didnt seem to work

any help is appreciated... thanks

p.s. specifically i installed an online game, FFXI, but gives an error message saying "Class not registered" when trying to run it... i have heard it was possible to do this but not sure exactly how

What you are trying to do, in the significant majority of cases, is not possible. Installing a program onto a removable hard drive is very different to copying data onto a USB flash drive, etc. As you have already identified, the application will not only copy files onto the removable hard drive but it will also install a whole bunch of registry entries and possibly install some files into your Windows directory as well. When you take the removable hard drive and plug it into another PC, you don't get any of those entries and files, so the application doesn't work. Exporting the HKLM key was thinking along the right lines but the error message that you gave sounds like it was referring to the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT part of the registry as well, which installs hundreds or thousands of entries in a completely unidentifiable way.

WARNING: Exporting your registry (or part of it) and running that REG file on another PC is a REALLY REALLY bad idea! I'm surprised that the other PC still works. Those registry entries relate to programs, Windows settings, Internet Explorer options, etc that are on YOUR PC. You've now put all of your entries onto another computer. Consider yourself lucky that it didn't break!

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DJNafey
http://www.FutureSystems-Sussex.Co.UK
Future Systems (Sussex) - IT services to homes and small businesses

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one quick sort of solution could be to put your software cd into the rom and open the disc. Then you go to edit>select all and then copy. create a folder on your external hard drive, labeled what ever the sofware is, and move it there. Then just install it onto whatever computer your using at the time. keep in mind that some software may only allow you to install on one computer, so you may want to uninstall it when ever you ae done, or use your own discression. But some software has no limitations so in that case it would work great

As far as know No, it's not possible

I'm surprised too.
The 2_nd computer shouldn't be working now.