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Manually installing MaxCut from one machine to another

Updated

In some rare cases, the MaxCut installer does not work on a specific machine, and after trying all the usual troubleshooting steps, it still fails to complete. When this happens, a reliable workaround is to install MaxCut on different Windows machine where the installer works, and then manually copy the installed program files to the machine where the installation is failing. 

 

⚠️ Important Note - This article is technical

The steps below are quite technical in nature and require familiarity with file system paths, copying program files, and using system tools like the Command Prompt. If you are not experienced with doing this on Windows computers, we recommend you ask your IT technician or a trusted tech-savvy contact to help you complete these steps.

 

1. Explanation of some concepts and terms

Before we give you the steps to get MaxCut to work, we first need to explain the different the file sets. MaxCut relies on two distinct sets of files to run smoothly:

Runtime vs Configuration Files

Runtime Files
These are the core program components - executables, libraries (DLLs), and other binary files that MaxCut needs to launch. The MaxCut installer places them in your system’s standard “Program Files (x86)” folder so that Windows can manage permissions and updates consistently.

Configuration Files
When you open MaxCut, it uses configuration files to know your MaxCut preferences. These settings are stored as configuration files in a separate “ProgramData” folder, keeping your user-specific data isolated from the protected runtime files. This separation makes it safe to update or replace the program itself without overwriting your custom setup.

  • Runtime files
    Installed by the installer under:
    C:\Program Files (x86)\MaxCut Software
  • Configuration files
    Created at first run under:
    C:\ProgramData\MaxCut Software

Target and Source Machine

Throughout this article, you’ll see two key terms:

  • Source machine: The computer where MaxCut is already installed and working correctly.

  • Target machine: The computer where the installer won’t run properly, and to which you’re copying the files.

We’ll use “source” and “target” consistently so it’s always clear which PC you’re working on.

 

1. Ensure the .NET Framework 4.8 is installed on the target machine.

MaxCut depends on the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 runtime, so you must have .NET 4.8 (or later) installed before MaxCut will launch.

The .NET Framework is a software development platform created and maintained by Microsoft. It provides a managed execution environment, libraries for common tasks (UI, data access, cryptography, etc.), and automatic memory management—so applications like MaxCut can run reliably across different Windows versions.

How to verify .NET 4.8 is installed:

  1. Open an elevated Command Prompt (right-click Start → “Windows Terminal (Admin)” or “Command Prompt (Admin)”).
  2. Run: 
    reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full" /v Release
  3. If the returned Release DWORD is 528040 or higher, you have .NET Framework 4.8 (or a later in-place update) installed; any lower value indicates an earlier 4.x version.

2. Copy the MaxCut runtime files from the source machine:

On the source machine (where MaxCut is installed successfully and is running), do the following:

  1. Open MaxCut and go to Settings → General Settings → Data Settings.

  2. Find Application Path and click the “…” button.



  3. This will open up Windows Explorer in the folder containing the runtime files (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\MaxCut Software\MaxCut).

  4. Navigate up two levels to the root MaxCut Software folder. (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\)

  5. Copy the entire MaxCut Software folder.

  6. Paste the entire MaxCut Software folder into your chosen transfer location—for example, a USB flash drive, external hard drive, or a shared network folder. This will package up all of the runtime files so you can move them easily onto the target PC.

3. Paste the MaxCut runtime files on the target machine:

On the target machine (where MaxCut is NOT running), do the following:

  1. Paste the copied MaxCut Software folder from the source machine (and all it's contents into) C:\Program Files (x86)\ on the target machine.
  2. In the pasted folder, locate the MaxCut.exe (should be C:\Program Files (x86)\MaxCut Software\MaxCut\MaxCut.exe) , right-click it, and choose Create shortcut (e.g. on your Desktop).

4. Register the Required COM DLLs on the target machine:

MaxCut depends on a COM component. The MaxCut installer would automatically register this with Windows when you run the installer. Because you are bypassing the installer you need to manually register this component with Windows. To do this:

  1. Open an elevated Command Prompt (Run as Administrator).
  2. Run: 
    regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\MaxCut Software\MaxCut\MaxPattern.dll"
  3. You should see a dialogue saying "DLLRegisterServer in C:\Program Files (x86)\MaxCut Software\MaxCut\MaxPattern.dll succeeded.

5. Run MaxCut on the target machine:

Now that you have copied and registered the necessary components, MaxCut should run on the target machine.

Because you only copied across the runtime files, MaxCut starts as if it is a new installation.

If you want MaxCut to run on the target machine with the same settings as the source machine  copy the Configuration files from the source machine to the target machine. Make sure they are pasted on the target machine at:

C:\ProgramData\MaxCut Software

 

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