Windows 7 - Downloading Photoshop from folder

My wife has Photoshop 7.0 and I want to have it on my laptop. We don't have the install CD. I copied the folder with all the files in it to my computer but don't know what to do actually install it. Any help would be appreciated.

I doubt that Photoshop will run without having been installed. (If Adobe allowed it to be copied like that, that would make casual piracy too easy.)

I'm also doubtful that Photoshop 7 would be compatible with Windows 7. Photoshop CS2 (also known as Photoshop 9) wasn't fully compatible with Vista. I'd be less hopeful about an older version. The Windows 7 compatibility list:

Windows 7 Compatibility Center home

only includes CS3 and CS4. (Both are supposed to be compatible.)

Are you referring to Photoshop or Photoshop Elements? If it's Elements, version 7 isn't that old, but it's not supposed to be compatible with Windows 7. Version 8 is the latest, and that is supposed to be OK.

If you copy all files from the install directory, this is useless. You need to have the CD, or you need to pirate it. No other way.

Hi superman7400 & welcome to sevenforums
As bobkn and Coolness said, Photoshop needs to be installed because it puts required files in other system folders during the installation process.
If you are unable to find the installation disc that your wife used, and are unwilling to purchase a new version, you might find the GIMP a reasonable, free alternative