.dmg files - can I throw them to garbage ?

Provided that you've actually installed the application (either by running the enclosed installer, or just dragging it to the Applications folder), yes, you can throw away the .dmg file.

Personally, I like to keep a folder of .dmgs on a separate drive so I can quickly reinstall an application if I need to.

Matt

When you say "keep a folder of .dmgs on a seperate drive", what exactly do you mean?

Sorry, recently switched to macs, and trying to adjust my thinking! I would've thought that on windows, you'd simply create a folder in the program files, name it, say, '.dmgs' and throw all the files in there.

Now you're saying you'd create a 'drive'? What drive?

Also, when I download an application, say Firefox, after I install it and throw the .dmg file in the trash, when I start the application a drive icon with the firefox logo on it appears on the desktop, and then I have to double click it to open Firefox. I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what this 'drive icon' (or whatever you call it) means and I would greatly appreciate some assistance.

Thank you.

You can certainly create a folder into which you place all .dmg files.

Regarding the download issue (e.g. firefox), where did you intall the downloaded software. If you didn't actually install it but merely downloaded it, by double clicking on it you are mounting a drive. I suspect you may have done that. So, once you have the drive icon, open it and see if the application is in that drive. If so, install it where you want. I don't know if firefox is a .app package or uses an intaller script. If it is a .app package, just drag it to you applications folder. Then, delete the original download and drag the mounted drive icon to the trash. If it isn't a .app package, it will usually have an installer icon. Double click that and follow the instructions. Then proceed as above to delete the download and drive icon.

Thank you for the lengthy reply. Let me give you a step by step description.

1.Go to mozilla website, click on download firefox
2.A dmg file shows up on my desktop
3.Double click the dmg file, asks me to confirm legals etc, then installs the application without asking me where i want it installed.
4.Firefox opens, and a drive is mounted on the desktop.
5.I delete the dmg file, drag the icon of firefox to the dock, close firefox, eject the drive
6.Click on the firefox icon to open the application, voila... there's that drive mounted on the desktop again, and firefox opens.

I don't understand what that drive means, this is completely alien to me coming from a lifetime of Windows. What is this drive? Does it have to show there when I use the application?

Many thanks for reading this.

OK managed to solve the problem. When I double clicked on that drive, it would show an icon of firefox that needed to be dragged into the applications. Once I did that, the drive does not longer mount on to the desktop. Problem solved.

The trouble with dragging the icon from the disk image to the dock is that the dock isn't really a storage area - it's a collection of shortcuts. So when you add applications to the dock, you're really only adding a shortcut to the original location.

What you should do instead is drag the Firefox application from the disk image to the Applications folder (it can actually live anywhere, but Applications is most convenient so that you know where everything is). Once it's there, drag it from the Applications folder to the dock to create a shortcut.

Once you have it stored in Applications, you're all set, and you can absolutely unmount (eject) the mounted Firefox image, and throw away the original disk image file.

Matt

Yes, it works fine now, thanks Matt.