Q:

Re-register programs from old disk when installing OS on new drive

I got a new SSD disk on which I did a clean installation of windows. At the same time I still have the old HDD installed, and on it there are a lot of programs that I still want to use and run from the same location.
Is there a way to "re-install" the programs without really reinstalling, just let my current Windows know where they are and act as if I had installed them again?

A:

Some programs will work just fine.  They will either have no significant dependencies or see that components need registered or default settings are missing and take care of that themselves.
Other programs will fail badly and require reinstallation.
Other programs may appear to work correctly but have subtle bugs or missing/broken functionality that you won't notice until you trip over it.
There's no universal answer.

