steve_b_wales Posted August 18, 2019 Report Share Posted August 18, 2019 I have a few issues with my desktop computer and would like to reset it to factory settings. However, there's quite a few programs on there that once deleted, I won't be able to re-install. Is there a way of saving these programs onto a seperate drive and then re-installing them at a later date? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted August 18, 2019 Report Share Posted August 18, 2019 (edited) You can do a complete copy/clone of your hard drive and run your software from it, but unless you have the install program for the deleted software I don’t think its possible. One of the reasons is to stop anyone from cloning individual software programs and giving/selling copies of the software. Also the program has registry entries and other files spread across Windows so it's not possible to copy/clone an individual program as such. Possible solution. If you are having problems with the OS on your existing hard drive (C) you could put a new drive in your computer and just install the OS on it, once done set the bios to boot from this new drive (now C), you can then run your old programs from the old drive (now D) by clicking the relevant .exe file. Edited August 18, 2019 by old'un Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockySpears Posted August 18, 2019 Report Share Posted August 18, 2019 Steve, Tell us the issues you are having and we might be able to sort those out for you. Factory reset would mean a lot of updates to be down loaded and, depending on you Broad band, may be a right pain in the bum, tell us which Windows, your Ram and CPU might help, you can find all this under "pc info" (press the windows key and just type "pc info", don't look for a box to do this in, just type it (without the quotes), RS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted August 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2019 One of the problems is that I can't save any passwords etc. Everytime I log onto something, apart from here, I have to re-enter my password. When I click on 'save' it doesn't do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonepark Posted August 24, 2019 Report Share Posted August 24, 2019 1 hour ago, steve_b_wales said: One of the problems is that I can't save any passwords etc. Everytime I log onto something, apart from here, I have to re-enter my password. When I click on 'save' it doesn't do this. What browser are you using as both Chrome and Firefox both have decent password managers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted August 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2019 47 minutes ago, Stonepark said: What browser are you using as both Chrome and Firefox both have decent password managers? Using Firefox at the moment, as Chrome was causing me even more problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozer Posted August 24, 2019 Report Share Posted August 24, 2019 (edited) Firefox. Top right hand side 3 white bars click on them and scroll down to "Logins and Passwords" and make sure Autofill Logins and Passwords Box is checked. The box that comes up when you Click on "Logins and Passwords" should contain the stored sites and logins. I had an issue earlier this year with FF and reinstalled it to good effect as it cured my issue, Might be worth a try before a complete install. Edited August 24, 2019 by Snoozer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted August 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2019 2 hours ago, Snoozer said: Firefox. Top right hand side 3 white bars click on them and scroll down to "Logins and Passwords" and make sure Autofill Logins and Passwords Box is checked. The box that comes up when you Click on "Logins and Passwords" should contain the stored sites and logins. I had an issue earlier this year with FF and reinstalled it to good effect as it cured my issue, Might be worth a try before a complete install. Just had a look and it's 'checked'. This problem came all of a sudden quite a few weeks ago for some unknown reason. This is just one of many niggling little things. Today, my external drive that's plugged into one of the USB ports at the back of my computer, failed to open when clicked on, on my desktop. I plugged it into a different USB port and it's now okay again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedge Posted August 25, 2019 Report Share Posted August 25, 2019 How old is the computer? What version of Windows do you have? What software do you not want to lose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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