Moving programs and files from SD to CF card

[asims]

Greetings!

I have a 512 MB CF card and 2 SD cards (512 & 256). I have only 14 MB used on my 512 MB SD card and would like to move those files and programs over to the CF card which has 382 MB of space free. Can I just cut and paste from one to the other or do I have to uninstall and reinstall to the CF card? I'm hoping for the former since it would be so much easier.

[Kati Compton]

Greetings!

I have a 512 MB CF card and 2 SD cards (512 & 256). I have only 14 MB used on my 512 MB SD card and would like to move those files and programs over to the CF card which has 382 MB of space free. Can I just cut and paste from one to the other or do I have to uninstall and reinstall to the CF card? I'm hoping for the former since it would be so much easier.
For almost anything (anything that changes the registry anyway), you should uninstall and reinstall. Fortunately, apart from entering serial numbers, it's not too tough - you can do it through the add/remove programs dialog in Activesync on the desktop.

[yankeejeep]

If you want to copy them from SD to CF, you will need to do a thorough search and edit of the registry so that all the location pointers for the apps you move are corrected. You'll also need to update the .lnk files on your Start menu and in the Programs group. I'm with Kati; reinstall apps to the new card location if you have all the registration information and only cut-and-paste for any apps that you may have lost the registration info (and don't forget you will need to maually edit the registry and .lnk files for these).

[asims]

I thought that would be the case.

If I uninstall a program like FreeWallet, will I lose all the information I've saved to it as well? How could I find that file of info and save it so that I don't lose it? There's a lot of retyping if it is lost.
Also, if I uninstall and reinstall a program that requires a key to unlock it, will the key given still work?

I'm the type of person who experiments - with extreme caution. After creating a complete backup, I might try to find the registry entries for those programs and just change the path from \SD card to \CF card - of course, after moving the program from one to the other. And most likely, I'll do it to a least critical program first to see if that would work.

[asims]

If you want to copy them from SD to CF, you will need to do a thorough search and edit of the registry so that all the location pointers for the apps you move are corrected. You'll also need to update the .lnk files on your Start menu and in the Programs group. I'm with Kati; reinstall apps to the new card location if you have all the registration information and only cut-and-paste for any apps that you may have lost the registration info (and don't forget you will need to maually edit the registry and .lnk files for these).

Thanks, yankeejeep! You posted this while I was typing my reply that follows yours. I have Tascal RegEdit to help me with the registry. Is it sufficient to find all entries of a given program?

[yankeejeep]

Probably finding the app's entries will make the necessary changes since many store their dll files in the Windows folder, which isn't moving. I would do this: copy (not cut) and paste the app's folder, do the registry edits, and using a file manager, change the properties of the .lnk file in Windows\Start Menu\Programs so it points to the new location. Then, remove the SD card and make sure the app starts alright with just the CF card inserted. If the app runs fine without the SD card, then you can probably feel fine deleting it from the SD card.

If you search the registry for keys referencing the name of the app's installation folder, you should find all that require changing for the folder's location on the CFCard rather than the SDCard. You will only need to change the name of the card; the folder name will remain the same using copy and paste.

[asims]

Great! Thanks for your help! I'll post the outcome of this registry adventure!

[asims]

Just a quick note -- I haven't forgotten to post the results. I just haven't taken the time to make the transfer yet. But I will definitely let the forum know how well things go and what issues (if any) occurred. :)

[asims]

As promised, here are my results:

I uninstalled and reinstalled most of the programs (just to cut down on confusion). There were two I left to experiment on and was unable to get them switched over. Using yankeejeep's suggestions and instructions, I copied and pasted the folders to the CF card, then went into the registry and changed the path to point to the CF card instead of the SD card. However, I must have missed one or two registry entries because the programs still work if the SD card is in but won't if it is removed. And for some reason, TascalRegEdit's 'Find' function is not available to look for anything. Any suggestions?
On a positive note, I think I found the information file related to FreeWallet and was able to save that file to another location in case I lost it. The way I found the file was to note the Last Modified date of files in that folder; go into the program and update some information; then note the date again.