something that will backup programs

crazyman143

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hey guys,

I'm fixing somebody's computer for them. It has become totally cluttered, had tons of spyware, and I don't think they've ever really defraged it either. I've been trying to save windows but at this point I'm starting to believe that the best thing to do is just format and start over, only problem is they have a a crap load of programs on there that I don't have discs for or anything. So I'm wondering if anybody knows of some hopefully freeware app that will back these up and restore them after a reinstall. All I could find were things that back up files and settings but nothing for programs. If anyone knows anything I appreciate any help, Thanks!

-crazyman
 
programs are hard to do with all the .dll's that they put everwhere and the registry entry's they make. most programs will not work when you copy them. about the only way to get them is a disk image and that will bring the nasties with. i guess i would say they should have kept the damn disks, but thats just me.
 
sadly.. no there is no such thing as an app resucuer... mostly because of the fact that many apps relly on shared libraries, registry settings, unique machine codes, DLLs to be registered, (as in the file not only has to be on the machine but also entered in the registry apropriatly...

The best thing to do is...
check to see if the apps are available as download that are unlocked with a key... try to get the key from the program...
(a lot of programs you can find the key by clicking help -> about, or help -> license).
write down the key and re-install the programs from downloads, unlocking the full products with the keys...

Failing this... just keep perseveering with fixing windows...
Ideally the best way to d othis would be with a decent virus scanner, a decent spyware scanner/remover and a program like Hijack this.
as well as a pretty carnal knowledge of what sort of files should or shouldn't be there at any given time...
 
thanks for the info guys, I went decided to continue with the current installation, which seems to be working pretty well, although it still has some glitches, apparently it was running an older version of windows in 2000 and then was never formatted but was only upgraded to xp in 2002.
 
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