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General discussion

I just bought a Mac and I need your help

Sep 21, 2006 9:52AM PDT

I am not sure what to do with a file (frontrow update) left on my desktop after it was installed.


There is on icon that looks like a portable disk-drive and the other looks like a regular file with the folloinwg name: Frontrowupdate1.3.Dmg

Is it safe to delete it or should I leave it on my desktop?

Discussion is locked

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Safe to delete
Sep 21, 2006 9:53PM PDT

The .dmg file is the form in which your application, in this case FrontRow, travels around the internet. It is a compressed version of a Disk Image. A Disk Image is exactly what it sounds like and allows everyone to see exactly the same files and folders, right down to the placement of icons, as were on the original.
Once the .dmg file arrives at your machine, it is processed and the result is the Portable disk-drive you mentioned. This is the actual disk image. You obviously have discovered that by opening the disk image you have access to the installer or the files as required.
Once the installation is complete, you can safely delete the two files.

Enjoy your Mac

P

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Yes
Sep 21, 2006 11:32PM PDT

it is safe to delete affter it has been installed

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(NT) (NT) .dmg is the same as .exe
Sep 23, 2006 12:02AM PDT
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Uninstalling programs
Sep 23, 2006 3:09AM PDT

How would I uninstall a program on a Mac?

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Uninstall programs
Sep 23, 2006 4:18AM PDT

Drag the folder into the trash and you are about done.

Some programs have an uninstaller but there are not that common. If the program comes with an uninstaller, use it. Otherwise, chunk the folder.

You can also remove the preference files from the Preferences folder but they are so small, usually, that they are not worth bothering with.


P

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.dmg is NOT the same as .exe
Sep 23, 2006 4:15AM PDT

A DMG file is Macintosh OS X Disk Copy Disk Image File which, when double clicked is used by an app called Disk Utility to create an image of the original disk and mount it on the desktop.

An exe file is executable file that is basically an application. Virtually all programs that run under Windows or DOS are in the .EXE format.

Please do not confuse a DMG, a file that contains information that is used by another application, with an EXE file, a program in its own right.

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Oooooops!
Sep 24, 2006 3:26PM PDT
An exe file is executable file that is basically an application. Virtually all programs that run under Windows or DOS are in the .EXE format.

That was probably mostly true in DOS, but Windows is not DOS. Most Windows programs these days are DLLs. The few EXE files that remain are usually the start up file for the application, but not the entire application by a long shot. There are still some EXE files that are complete applications.
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DLL and EXE
Sep 24, 2006 10:01PM PDT

Perhaps you should change the entry in Wikipedia for both exe and dll.

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Windows XP SP2
Sep 24, 2006 11:41PM PDT

On the image we use to install XP SP2 on our machines there are 1550 files with the extension of .exe. That image has no other applications installed, only those which came on the XP disk.
A search of our image shows ALL progams to have an exe extension.
From Microsoft Agent Server (agentsvr.exe) to Windows Media Player (wmplayer.exe)

Granted there are many more .dll (Dynamic Link Library) files.

I was under the impression, possibly mistaken, that the .dll files, although in the same format as an exe file, contained information used by an application (or more than one) but did not run in and of themselves. Instead they were used to provide added functionality to an application (exe). For example, MSGR3EN.DLL is the English Grammer checker in Word and is shared by a number of MS programs. Using dll files makes it easier to upgrade the program, or OS, without having to rewrite the entire program. Rather like the extensions that were present in OS 9 and below.

Without the exe, the dll is does nothing and without the dll, the exe is looses its added functionality.


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I certainly do not know what you load on Windows machines.
Sep 25, 2006 3:26PM PDT

However, as I said, the exe file is basically the root of the application. It calls DLLs as needed to get the work done. Thus, Photoshop CS2, for example, has two exe files in its program directory and thirty five DLLs. Only one of the exe files is Photoshop. It is roughly 19 megabytes in size, and, obviously, is far from the entire application. Additional files exist elsewhere within the Windows directories. These are also usually DLLs although several other types of files exist.

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You might want to check with MS again
Sep 25, 2006 3:40PM PDT

regarding this

1500 exe files is hardly "a few" files.

The fact remains that a DLL is not an application and your statement about Photoshop only proves my point.
The actual application, Photoshop, is an exe file which draws its added functionality from the DLL files.

Therefore the comment, almost all applications in Windows are .exe files, is correct.

BTW, I told you exactly what files were loaded on our Windows machine.

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Ummmmm, it depends on how many apps are on the
Sep 27, 2006 12:06AM PDT

machine. 1500 apps? The point remains. The exe file is NOT THE APPLICATION. Not even close. It is simply the root, or calling module, of the app. The DLLs do add functionality. Functionality is what makes an app a app. Perhaps you hadn't noticed? The Photoshop exe that you point to is DECIDEDLY NOT the application. There is ONE relatively small exe. The functionality lives in the DLLs.

I would be happy to check with MS (actually I already have), but you didn't supply any link to where you thought MS might be correcting what I'm saying.

Moral of the story. One is unlikely to find much accurate information about Windows in the Mac forum.

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Nor, apparently, from anyone who post in them.
Sep 27, 2006 6:13AM PDT

I gather from your tone that you do not believe the 1500 number.
Do a full Search for *.exe and see how many turn up

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I didn't say that at all. The 1500 number merely means that
Sep 27, 2006 3:42PM PDT

there are 1500 application level programs running on your machines. Unless you are running a LOT of DOS programs, which would be unusual in a Windows shop these days, you have FAR MORE DLLs than the 1500 exe files. I already gave you an example using Photoshop to illustrate the overwhelming use of DLLs to complete an application. That, BTW, is good programming practice, but it sounds like you install disk images on new machines which would mean you wouldn't be terribly familiar with the programming aspects.

Here is a link to an MS Knowledge Base article that describes DLLs. As you can see and as I have said, the DLLs give the application its functionality. They are also part of the modern programming practice which stresses good programming practices through modularization.

For the Microsoft Windows operating systems that are listed in the ''Applies to'' section, much of the functionality of the operating system is provided by dynamic link libraries (DLL). Additionally, when you run a program on one of these Windows operating systems, much of the functionality of the program may be provided by DLLs. For example, some programs may contain many different modules, and each module of the program is contained and distributed in DLLs.

The use of DLLs helps promote modularization of code, code reuse, efficient memory usage, and reduced disk space. Therefore, the operating system and the programs load faster, run faster, and take less disk space on the computer.


The use of DLLs is how MS has replaced the old DOS process of putting all of the code in one, fairly inflexible, exe file which the article goes on to describe.

BTW, if you are still running a large number of DOS programs, that could be at the root of problems you experience with the Windows machines. Although MS, unlike Apple, does provide the ability to run older code, extensive use of DOS at this stage of the game is not a wise decision.

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Hmmmm. I don't look to Wikipedia to tell me about Windows.
Sep 25, 2006 3:13PM PDT

I can look at my own machine, at the Microsoft site, and various other places. Who knows who wrote what is on Wikipedia?