Program Harddrive icons on desktop

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Level 1

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Program Harddrive icons on desktop

I am a new mac user and when I downloaded a couple of new programs to my new mac (skype, fire fox ect.) they have left hard drive icons on my desktop I can't move or delete. Does anyone know how I can get rid of them?? Or at least move them off of my desktop?

13" Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Nov 5, 2009 4:14 PM

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Answer 1

Leet Sher

Level 2

180 points

Nov 5, 2009 4:16 PM in response to Sarah_vee

If it is an alias, with a small arrow in the corner, then right click and select move to trash. If it is the actual Application, without the arrow, then open a Finder window and go to applications, then drag the app from the desktop into the window.

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Answer 2

Leet Sher

Level 2

180 points

Nov 5, 2009 4:24 PM in response to Igor_G5

Igor_G5 wrote:
These icons are mounted disc images. To get rid of them you control click on them and choose eject from the menu that pops up.

To add to that, after you unmount them, make sure you delete the downloaded .dmg of it from your downloads folder, because they are not needed anymore.

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Answer 3

Leet Sher

Level 2

180 points

Nov 5, 2009 4:53 PM in response to Sarah_vee

Sarah_vee wrote:
The disk “Skype” couldn’t be ejected because “Skype” is using it. I just tried to reboot my computer and the icons were not there when it restarted but they came back when I started the applications.

Reboot again and delete the .dmg files from your Downloads folder BEFORE you start the applications, they will still work.

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Answer 4

Leet Sher

Level 2

180 points

Nov 5, 2009 5:30 PM in response to Sarah_vee

Sarah_vee wrote:
How do I do that...I am trying to drop and drag and all I am doing is creating alias's

Okay, so you open the item on your desktop, also called a Disk Image, then you also open a Finder window and go to the apps folder. Then you copy the app from the disk image to the finder window. After that, make sure the program is closed all the way, then eject and delete the .dmg.

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Answer 5

Nov 5, 2009 6:48 PM in response to Leet Sher

Right.
It's ironic - the simple mechanism for installing 'installer-less' programs on OS X is actually pretty hard to explain to ex-Windows users, and this is compounded by the fact that some programs do, in fact, use an installer.

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Answer 6

Igor_G5

Level 2

323 points

Nov 5, 2009 4:19 PM in response to Sarah_vee

These icons are mounted disc images. To get rid of them you control click on them and choose eject from the menu that pops up.

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Answer 7

Sarah_vee Author

Level 1

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Nov 5, 2009 4:28 PM in response to Igor_G5

it tells me that they are in use by the program and can not be ejected. and they do not have arrows in the corner.

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Answer 8

Sarah_vee Author

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Nov 5, 2009 4:30 PM in response to Sarah_vee

and I have tried ejecting them with the program in question turned off but it still will not eject.

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Answer 9

Sarah_vee Author

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Nov 5, 2009 4:35 PM in response to Leet Sher

it isn't letting me move it anywhere.

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Answer 10

Leet Sher

Level 2

180 points

Nov 5, 2009 4:37 PM in response to Sarah_vee

Sarah_vee wrote:
and I have tried ejecting them with the program in question turned off but it still will not eject.

What does it say when you click eject?

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Answer 11

Sarah_vee Author

Level 1

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Nov 5, 2009 4:51 PM in response to Leet Sher

The disk “Skype” couldn’t be ejected because “Skype” is using it. I just tried to reboot my computer and the icons were not there when it restarted but they came back when I started the applications.

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