Program File (x86) to Program File (x86)

thegamersite1

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Feb 14, 2013
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Well, I reinstalled W7 and it backup the Program File (x86), Program File, and the User File so when it finish reinstalling, it will create a folder called Windows.old. I can find those old files there so I want to know if is ok to copy/transfer the programs files x86 that is located there to the original Program File? Also, can I delete them after I do that?
 
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For many programs it's fine if you copy the files from the .Old directory back into Program Files. However, this is almost always not necessary. Copying those files will not properly restore the programs to working order. You need to reinstall them. Afterwards, you can copy those files over but its not necessary as all the files required to make the programs...
No copying program files will not work. BUT you can move all personal files over so when you re install the programs you can put the personal files back in the program to keep your user info. You can transfer all user folders music and what not just not programs. they need to be re installed every time.

Yes after you transfer all the info you want over you can delete all of the windows.old file.
 

thegamersite1

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Feb 14, 2013
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The problem is that it also saved my user Appdata with Roaming and it has a lot of files. I want to know if is ok to delete then because Photoshop was saved on the old Program File folder and I think that these programs saved files on the Roaming like minecraft. It is also taking a lot of space on my SDD since I have two programs file and two users file.
 

AGx-07_162

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Sep 16, 2013
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For many programs it's fine if you copy the files from the .Old directory back into Program Files. However, this is almost always not necessary. Copying those files will not properly restore the programs to working order. You need to reinstall them. Afterwards, you can copy those files over but its not necessary as all the files required to make the programs operational would have been created during the install process.

There are a few programs out there that store important files in Program Files and sub-directories. For example Microsoft SQL Server 2014, by default, will store your your databases and any backups in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\<database>\MSSQL\DATA and \Backup. I also worked for a small company whose owners didn't really know what they were doing and would tell the developers to store files that would normally go into AppData or elsewhere into the Program Files folders, move them in later versions, and move them back even later.

That said, depending on what programs you have and how well you know them you might need to determine what you need to keep. In the case of SQL Server, I would have made backups and moved them to an external drive before re-installing Win7 for restoration later. If you didn't know that, when you finally found out where your precious databases were, you'd then need to go about restoring them.

I'd hang onto that .OLD directory until you're absoloutly certain nothing you need is in there. Most games and programs don't do this though.
 
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