An .exe file is a program, an executable file. If you double-click on it, it will go through some actions, which might be anything.
Sometimes that might be the running of a complete program; or
sometimes that might be only a portion of a full program, and it requires other support files (like .ini or .dll, or anything else) that typically are kept in the same location (but does not have to be!); or
sometimes it might just be a compressed set of files that when you open that .exe will extract the files into some location (a "self-extracting" archive).
It really can be just about anything, including a virus or bugged program! so it is important that after you download any .exe file, that you then scan it with a good virus checking program.
By the way, many times compressed set of files in a self-extracting archive, that .exe file, you can alternately open it with some unzipping program (like WinZip - but there are others). BUT you need to NOT just double-click on such a .exe!
Instead you can Shift+right-click the .exe and select "Open With" and then select your unzipping program to say you want to open that .exe with the unzipping program. (You could also open your unzipping program and browse to where you have the .exe and click on it that way.)
Sometimes when I download something I end up getting an .exe icon on my desktop. I searched for .exe files in Search and found a multitude of them. A number of them relate to Norton which I no longer have, and there are others that seem to relate to things I no longer have. When I click on the entries on the Search page, I usually get a message which enables me to download something or other.
I find myself wondering what purpose these .exe files serve other than to enable me to download something I already have or something that I no longer want.
Perhaps someone could help me understand better. I guess one thing I am wondering is, should I do something in order to clean out the .exe files that are of no use to me?
grandpaw

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