move a program from xp (computer wont boot) harddrive?

[steveokinevo]

hey all!

got a older computer with a really important program on it that i need. problem is computer wont boot and its very important not to lose it. how can i retrieve this without losing it? is is possible to pull it from the harddrive and run on another computer? thanks for the help in advance!

 

[EarthDog]

Hook the hdd up to another pc and get it...

That said, if it has registry hooks, copying it over wont work because it isnt 'installed' on the pc.

 

[demien88]

Every file is still on it, unless HDD itself got corrupted somehow then you would need recovery tools. Just plug it into another machine as secondary drive and it will work. Dont forget not to mess boot order

 

[petteyg359]

Hook the hdd up to another pc and get it...

That said, if it has registry hooks, copying it over wont work because it isnt 'installed' on the pc.

Very few programs actually depend on the registry to execute, because very few programmers fail to recognize the Windows registry is prone to corruption and generally much slower to access than dedicated files. You may lose some configuration preferences, but the last time I encountered an application that actually stopped working after deleting registry entries was in Windows ME. So it may not show up in add/remove programs (or "Programs and Features" now), but that won't stop it from running if you just click on the exe file.