trying to get programs to work from previous OS

[dragnandy]

im not exactly sure how to say it but ill make it as clear as possible. Before i had XP sp2 on one partition. decided to try out vista so i made another partition and installed vista. The thing is that i dont want to reinstall all those programs and games, so i was wondering if there was a way to add the registries in vista to allow the programs to work without installing them.

For example, i have Windows XP on C: and Vista on E: and have crysis in a folder, say C:/Program Files/Crysis. If i were to install it in vista, it would be E:/Program Files/Crysis and i would be wasting space. i think i have to change registries or something, but im not sure how they work. this is also all in one hard drive. Im not sure if im making myself clear, but i hope you guys can help me.

[dbwillis]

You can reinstall your apps and point them to the C instead of E, but you could end up breaking the XP install.
Most of the time, 2 OS installs = 2 apps installs, very few apps run just by running an EXE from another OS folder

[dragnandy]

i was hoping there would be a way to work with the registries or something. because i have this freeware game and you dont need to install it, just run this registry file in the program directory and itll add it to your OS. well, something like that.

[Torquemada XP]

Don't try and jerry-rig the system, just install the stuff again under Vista. It will eliminate another post in which you'll ask why nothing works anymore.

[DeaconFrost]

When you dual boot a system (which isn't necessary anymore, thanks to VirtualBox), the entire purpose is for testing. Because of this, you want everything separated, including applications. Vista doesn't really need to be tested anymore, so my suggestion is to choose one, install it natively, and through the other OS in a VM, if you still need it for some reason.

[MrF]

Before i had XP sp2 on one partition. decided to try out vista so i made another partition and installed vista. The thing is that i dont want to reinstall all those programs and games,


It depends on what the program is. Most games work just fine.

In Vista, open windows explorer and navigate to the Crysis exe file on the XP partition (Program Files\Electronic Arts\Crytek\Crysis\Bin32\Crysis.exe). So, this hierarchy is there because you have already installed Crysis in XP.
Make a shortcut in your Vista start menu (right click Crysis.exe and drag to the start menu and select "Create shortcuts here").

Start Crysis in Vista.
It should run just fine. If you have not set up DirectX yet, you may need to update it.
Google for directxwebsetup. It is a small download from Microsoft.

Start a new game in Vista and leave the (saved) games you have played in XP untouched.
You are using the same program install files. But, you have a dedicated set of saved games in each OS.



If you want to play the same set of saved files from either OS and go back and forth between XP and Vista and always play the same flow, you can do it by creating a junction point.

[dragnandy]

we'll to my surprise many of the games did work without having to reinstall it.

as for virtualbox, has anybody tried it out? does it seem completely stable? because that seems kind of interesting and i may like to test it out.

[DeaconFrost]

has anybody tried it out?
Really? It's been out for years, and has been stable for years as well! I would think for many, myself included, it is part of the normal software that gets installed on all of our systems. We even have an entire sub-forum devoted to virtualization, because it's become so commonplace. VirtualBox is a great product, and free as well.

[dragnandy]

oh, well ill be sure to try it out.

well so far everything has been perfect, and now i have to transfer my saved games over. does anybody know how to do that? i thought i wouldnt have to since im running the game from my XP partition drive, but it doesnt.

[MrF]

and now i have to transfer my saved games over. does anybody know how to do that?
It depends on the game.

Crysis saved games are in "My Documents" folder under "My Games".
You are not using your XP "My Documents" folder on Vista, are you?

Just copy the XP saved game files to Vista.

[dragnandy]

ohh, ive been trying to copy them to the saved games folder. well, i got some games like crysis, farcry 2,fallout3, bioshock, ect. to work. i couldnt figure out how to transfer games like world of goo or battlefront II, but those i think i can manage. thanks Mr. F

[MrF]

World of Goo
According to this link:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/puzzle/worldofgoo/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-46020411&pid=954312

XP saves it at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\2DBoy\WorldOfGoo
Vista saves it at C:\ProgramData\2DBoy\WorldOfGoo

I will get back for the other game you asked later if I can find it on line.

[MrF]

Battlefront II game may be a problem!
There are tons of posts about problems running the game on Vista.
I found no solution for transferring the saved games.
It seems those are at:
C:/Program Files/LucusArts/Battlefront II/GameData/SaveGames

Backup the saved games.
Re-install the game on Vista.
Then, see if you can restore the saved games and load?