12-29-2011, 06:24 AM

Demapples:

Once again I refer you to see post # 10 above. Until you turn off show hidden files, yep, half of them are going to look just like that.

12-31-2011, 06:43 AM

Originally Posted by bobtomay

Demapples: Once again I refer you to see post # 10 above. Until you turn off show hidden files, yep, half of them are going to look just like that.

Got it. Did not tumble to me that you were answering my post. Thanks.

12-31-2011, 06:53 AM

This a great little tutorial, bobtomay. Should hopefully shine a light on the process for new users.

12-31-2011, 07:00 AM

I paraphrased the OP post for my notes. Is this summary correct? (recommend reading the OP post for details).

For apps downloaded from the web:
Installing and uninstalling applications

Installation:

Open dmg file. Mounts a drive. Either:
1. Drag and drop the icon to Applications from the open dmg window. Eject the mounted dmg file or drag it to trash. Most work this way.
2. Some apps like Office use a custom Installer. Open the dmg file, but inside find a pkg file. Double click on it to install the app. Then before ejecting this type of dmg, note carefully how that app will deal with uninstallation in future.

Uninstallation:

1. Drag and drop apps: Drop the app's icon to the trash.
2. Apps with their own custom installer: will need to find and use their uninstaller. If the app created a folder for itself during installation, you might find it there.
3. Some apps install themselves as Preferences in OSX, like Perian. Open its preference pane in Apple Preferences and uninstall from there.
4. Some apps put an uninstall pkg in the dmg file. Drag that to a place where it will be available in future if you need to uninstall the app.
5. Some apps have a custom uninstall routine that will need to be looked for with Google.

01-03-2012, 01:43 AM

Originally Posted by Demapples

I paraphrased the OP post for my notes. Is this summary correct? (recommend reading the OP post for details).

For apps downloaded from the web:
Installing and uninstalling applications

Installation:

Open dmg file. Mounts a drive. Either:
1. Drag and drop the icon to Applications from the open dmg window. Eject the mounted dmg file or drag it to trash. Most work this way.
2. Some apps like Office use a custom Installer. Open the dmg file, but inside find a pkg file. Double click on it to install the app. Then before ejecting this type of dmg, note carefully how that app will deal with uninstallation in future.

Uninstallation:

1. Drag and drop apps: Drop the app's icon to the trash.
2. Apps with their own custom installer: will need to find and use their uninstaller. If the app created a folder for itself during installation, you might find it there.
3. Some apps install themselves as Preferences in OSX, like Perian. Open its preference pane in Apple Preferences and uninstall from there.
4. Some apps put an uninstall pkg in the dmg file. Drag that to a place where it will be available in future if you need to uninstall the app.
5. Some apps have a custom uninstall routine that will need to be looked for with Google.

In a nut shell. Yes it is correct.
With the Apps that have a uninstaller, when for the first time its installed, and into the Applications folder, usually the whole App will have its own folder within the Applications Folder and within this is the uninstaller. Once there leave it there then you will always forever know what App will have a uninstaller.
Do it they way OS X wants to do it and you will never go wrong.

Cheers

02-01-2012, 10:39 AM

I too was also a puzzled windows person. I also found app zapper to be what i think is pretty helpful as I just drag the app on to app zapper icon and it does everything automatically.

Is this app really doing what I hope its doing?

02-01-2012, 02:59 PM

Is this app really doing what I hope its doing?

The answer to that is "sometimes". The reason is AppZapper and other utilities which claim to be able to remove or uninstall an application only work well on those apps which are easily removed. Most OS X applications fall into that category, however, there are apps which use an uninstaller or come with uninstall instructions. Always use those first.

02-01-2012, 03:01 PM

<removed, see post above>

I tested it once, and I liked it but couldn't make myself pony up the $ to get it.
Now I use TrashMe, and it's "- Automatically detect an application moved to the Trash, and remove it's associated files" feature.
However, I see he too wants money now, so I'll just stick to the old version

02-05-2012, 10:33 AM

You can also use app cleaner AppCleaner for Mac - Download.com you can also select the mounted image and command+E and it will eject the image.

03-08-2012, 01:14 PM

love this post....very informative. i actually went through some youtube tutorials when i first did my switch over

03-15-2012, 05:13 PM

I appreciate this post, but have some confusion about installing a pkg on my mac. I go through all of the steps listed and give it my master password, and then it tells me my package is installed, but it does not show up anywhere in my apps or my downloads. Where is it going? i try to find it doing a search and it doesn't show up. is there another step that I need to take/

Originally Posted by bobtomay

Installation Method Two - Installer

Some applications are not simple drag and drop. Fortunately, these are pretty limited to some major applications such as MS Office, a few of the System tweaking type applications and a few of the apps that pretty much everyone here would recommend never touch your Mac such as MacKeeper. They'll download the same and the dmg file will open up the same. But, in the window will be a .pkg file instead of the app itself. This is a package file and it is similar to the .exe installation files in Windows. They'll typically look like this one:



With these pkg files, you'll double click on them and it will open up and run through an installer program similar to what you're use to in Windows.
Most of these are going to ask you for your master password. If you've purposely downloaded a specific app that you know what it is, then you're safe giving it your password. NOTE: If you ever have something open up on your dekstop and you are not sure what it is - do not give it your password.

Once you have it installed, sadly, you are not done yet.
Before you eject the dmg and delete the download you really need to find out, how do you uninstall this app.
Please read on in the Now for those apps that had their own installer, section below.

03-15-2012, 08:49 PM

How about telling what it is you're trying to install? Also, which Mac do you have and what version of OS X is it running?

03-15-2012, 11:03 PM

Im trying to install an app called "Lightscribe" which is a disc labeling program that I want to run through an external burner. I am using a MacBook Pro and am running Lion 10.7.2

04-04-2012, 11:49 AM

wow good good good

04-13-2012, 06:11 AM

Hi, I am a new to mac too, (got it two days ago) so exuse my ingorance

I have this game called Urban Terror that basically needs no install. So I downloaded the game, unzipped it and now I have a folder on my Desktop containing several files, including the main executable. When I click the main executable, the game runs, everything is fine. But now my question:

Where do I put this folder? I don't want to leave it on my desktop forever. On Windows I'd just put it under C: \ Program Files. So is there a recommended location for my game folder?