Hey I have a bunch of software (applications) on my macbook that I'd like to put onto an external hard drive. If possible, how do I do this?
To clarify, I'd like to be able to take the programs and use them on another mac by transferring them onto an external hard drive.
Thanks!
Many Mac software packages are self-contained in a .app file. These would be programs where installation involved dragging and dropping the icon into the Applications folder. In cases where that's true, you could just drag and drop the icon from the Applications folder right onto the external hard drive.
Other programs - particularly those that had an installation wizard - are not that simple. They'll need to have their installers run again in order for them to work - mostly because they modify the OS directories or place files in areas other than the Applications directory and/or the user's home folder.
More complex products like Microsoft Office, Adobe CSx, etc typically work this way. In this case, you'll need the original installation media to reinstall the product, directing it to the external (if it allows you to). And even then, you'll not be able to port the product between more than one machine as it will only have the needed support files on the machine with which it was installed.
