transfering programs from old to new computer

[AllUrban]

As above, I purchased a new computer and am wondering how to transfer some installed programmes (Adobe Acrobat 9, Office 2007) from my old computer into the new computer.

I do not have the original disks as the software was installed by the company I worked for.

Can anyone give me some simple directions on how to transfer the software. I really want Acrobat 9 as I can always use Open Office instead of MSOffice - but hvaving both (among others) would be fine.

Cheers, m

[bslee]

Acrobat require installation from scratch and need to be activated for full functionality. You can't transfer the program. The activation numbers are with the documentation in the legit package.

[kwchang]

Installed programs need to be re-installed to the new computer because it needs to create many other files like DLL's and script in the registry. The installation process actually builds the application within the PC to integrate its functions to the Operating System as well as to interface with the other hardware and firmware.

I am sorry, there is no way to do what you proposed.

By the way, if it is just the Acrobat Reader, it is available as a free download. If it is the acrobat Writer, then no way, you need to buy an original version if you do not want pirated applications. Or go look for open source or freeware equivalents. If all you want is just to make PDF files without setting any password or advanced security features to your PDF documents, then google for PDF99 - it is free and works very well.

[LMei]

I do not have the original disks as the software was installed by the company I worked for.

One thing is you have to install the programs onto your own machine. Cannot copy & paste over :D The other thing is I doubt you can "transfer" to your own computer as the software is probably licenced to the company you work for. Unless you are still working for that company, you will have to get new licenced copies for yourself.

[fRaNkY]

One way is to swap old hdd to new pc. New hdd can later use as spare hdd. Cannot guarantee if it works.... we use to do it on problematic notebooks.... dont delete the vista on the new hdd unless u have the ori disk.

However, one should not bring software from old company out.... that to me is theft. Software belongs to the former company. MS Officem2007 for educationist and student is cheap.... :) less than RM300 for 3 users. If u buy a scanner, pdf compiler comes with it...called presto!

[currymee]

....

However, one should not bring software from old company out.... that to me is theft. Software belongs to the former company. MS Office for educationist and student is cheap.... :)

Yes, Franky is right on this - AllUrban, since you will be going back to Canada, you get a WIDER and BETTER CHOICE of LEGAL Academic edition of ALL major softwares and cheaper too than from Msia.

[VeeJay]

Legality, I leave it to individual. In order to copy from one HD to another you need to have the same setup of environment setup on the new HD/computer then you could use a ghost/image/mirror application to port the installation.

[AllUrban]

However, one should not bring software from old company out.... that to me is theft. Software belongs to the former company. MS Officem2007 for educationist and student is cheap.... :) less than RM300 for 3 users. If u buy a scanner, pdf compiler comes with it...called presto!I will still be doing consultation work with the company but I agree that it is probably better to invest in the programs myself. I was just hoping that I could transfer the programs and sell the old laptop before I leave Malaysia - who wants to lug 2 laptops to the other side of the world.

Anyways - Chang, thanks for the info about pdf99 - I will definitely look into it.

Cheers, m

[kwchang]

...Chang, thanks for the info about pdf99 - I will definitely look into it...
Correction, it is pdf995 (I left out one digit).
When I introduced it to another colleague, he was reluctant because of his experience in using freeware in which case the application left watermarks on the PDF documents. However, the PDF995 does not produce unuseable documents - it produces clean PDF docs at no cost except for some on-screen adverts (mostly from pdf995 themselves) which I can live with. You will find a few other accessory installs that should be useful such as "pdf995 edit" which allows you to extract simple pdf documents into text format for Word

[kuma]

Correction, it is pdf995 except for some on-screen adverts (mostly from pdf995 themselves)

I've used PDF995 before and its fine except for the slight delay it takes to produce your pdf and the pop up ads,

For over a year now, I've been using CutePDF....the end result is the same but this works fast and no ads...just choose the destination folder, name the pdf and it saves in the background. Try it...FREE too.


http://www.cutepdf.com/

Quote from the site:
Selected as One of the "50 Best free downloads" by Computer Shopper.
Create professional quality PDF files from almost any printable document. FREE for personal, commercial, gov or edu use! No watermarks! No popup Web ads! Now supports 64-bit Windows. [Dont forget to D/L the FREEWARE version]


Just to share something that I've been doing........since I started using these Free PDF software, I just PDF anything that I might want a Hard Copy for save keeping, and save into Folders...online Bank Trans, my online payment trans, some important mail, etc...previously I used to print a Hard Copy and file it.....so much cleaner this way and less clutter.

[VeeJay]

I use doPDF, its a freeware too no hassle, instead of printing just print to PDF.

[simon_tan]

AllUrban, I will not address your legal rights to the existing applications.. only you can answer that.. but in order to 'transfer' all applications to another drive, you may need a disk cloning application. I use the Acronis True Image Home 2010 - part of this application allows you to replicate and CLONE one hard drive to another, and even the cloned drive can be bootable, if the source drive is.

http://www.amazon.com/Acronis-True-Image-Home-2010/dp/B002MFSG0M/ref=dp_ob_title_sw

[macgyver_usj]

AllUrban, I will not address your legal rights to the existing applications.. only you can answer that.. but in order to 'transfer' all applications to another drive, you may need a disk cloning application. I use the Acronis True Image Home 2010 - part of this application allows you to replicate and CLONE one hard drive to another, and even the cloned drive can be bootable, if the source drive is.

http://www.amazon.com/Acronis-True-Image-Home-2010/dp/B002MFSG0M/ref=dp_ob_title_sw
There is a free version from Seagate itself. Watch the demo and you will noticed it is very easy to use.
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/discwizard

[FineTuned]

AllUrban, face the facts. There is no legal way to do it if you do not own the software license. If you don't mind other ways.... :D, there are a thousand and one easy ways on the high seas (which, of course, we must never discuss here).

OpenOffice already has a legal built in pdf exporter, one really useful function which MS Office does not have. So you can already produce pdf files without straying off the righteous path. A little bit of convoluted brain storming will tell you that you can pdf almost anything legally (provided your sources are legal, that is) through OOo itself.

If you are planning on editing existing pdfs, then sorry, simply no free lunch here. Maybe instead of the expensive bloated Acrobat, you could try cheaper third party pdf editors.

[kuma]

OpenOffice already has a legal built in pdf exporter, one really useful function which MS Office does not have. So you can already produce pdf files without straying off the righteous path.

MS actually does offer a PDF plugin for their Office 2007 Here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=f1fc413c-6d89-4f15-991b-63b07ba5f2e5&displaylang=en)

One advantage when using a PDF software like PDF995 or CutePDF is that you can save and print in PDF anything....like a website you like, etc.

[FineTuned]

MS actually does offer a PDF plugin for their Office 2007
kuma, thanks for pointing that out. However, it is an add-on (the original planned `save as PDF' function had to be removed from MS Office 2007 due to the threatened lawsuit from Adobe), similar to the `print to PDF' plug-ins such as CutePDF etc, and not native as in OOo. The difference (in function), I concede, is zilch.

[currymee]

Is there any good alternative to Adobe Acrobat for manipulation /editing of pdf docs then? :confused:

[FineTuned]

...any good alternative to Adobe Acrobat
currymee...plenty of choices.
You can try Foxit. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/
I even use their free reader instead of Adobe Reader.