Re: What are Device files on my desktop?

PedroS <peteshomebase@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Thanks that helps a bit Im still trying to wrap my head around it :)

just now I was trying to delete a downloaded app from the downloads
folder, but it wouldnt let me and gave an error saying app is in use.

That probably means you had the disk image mounted.

so i went to Finder
I just noticed that when i went to view the contents of an app in the
applications place it created a device for that app on my desktop.

That probably means you had dragged the ".dmg" file into your
Applications folder.

Once you've got it into that state, you want to drag the actual
application out of the mounted disk image and into your Applications
folder, then eject the mounted disk image (you might need to quit the
application first if you had run it from the disk image), and move the
..dmg file somewhere other than your Applications folder.

See detailed instructions below.

Did I install the app in the downloads folder or any idea why it would
be in use I thought it was just the downloaded install file.

If you are downloading an application which comes as a ".dmg" file, the
steps are:

1. Download the file.

2. If your web browser doesn't open it automatically, then double-click
on the .dmg file. This will make a new icon appear on your desktop,
which is the mounted disk image. Think of this process like the action
of double-clicking the .dmg is equivalent to inserting a CD. The new
icon represents the contents of the disk image.

3. The mounted disk image window will normally open automatically. If
not, double-click on the icon of the mounted disk image (which looks
like a little white floppy disk drive) and its window should open.

The next step varies depending on how the application has been packaged
for distribution.

(a) Installer package (".pkg" or ".mpkg" file). This looks like an
orange cardboard box. Run it by double-clicking the icon, then follow
the instructions.

(b) Installer application. This also need to be run directly from the
disk image, and follow instructions as above.

(c) Simple application which can be run directly, or dragged out of the
disk image. In this case, you should drag the application from the
mounted disk image window into your Applications folder.

If you can't see the Applications folder in the sidebar on the left of
the window, a useful trick is to click on the small oval button at the
top right corner of the window, which will reveal the sidebar (or hide
it if it was previously revealed, in which case you click it again). You
can then drag the icon to Applications in the sidebar.

Some applications of type (c) actually give you an alias/link to the
Applications folder and a picture and/or text on the background of the
disk image window telling you that you should drag the application over
to the Applcations folder. DragThing is one example of this.

Some applications of type (c) try to do the same thing but confuse
everyone by only having a picture of the application folder instead of
an alias/link to it, so it is left as an exercise for the user to locate
their Applications folder and drag the file across. Firefox and Skype
are two examples of this.

After you have installed the application (or just dragged it over to
your Applications folder), you can eject the mounted disk image. As
you've already discovered, you can do this by Ctrl-clcking on the icon
of the mounted disk image and choosing Eject. You can also drag it to
the Trash, which will change to an Eject symbol.

The .dmg file you originally downloaded is then surplus to requirements.
You can delete if you don't think you'll ever need to reinstall the
application, or will do this by downloading it again. I prefer to hang
on to these files, so I can install them on other computers and keep
archive copies on DVD, just in case I want a particular version some
time in the future.

In any case, you shouldn't leave the .dmg file in your Applications
folder. It isn't an application, just an image file which contains the
application (or its installer). If you want to keep it, I suggest
creating another folder called "Previous Downloads", or "To Archive" or
similar, unless you just want to leave it in your Downloads folder.

--
David Empson
dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
.

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