You can just toss the application in the trash and it's deleted like any other folder.
Some applications that store things in multiple places will provide an uninstall option as part of the installer application, but generally speaking, the apps can be trashed so long as you are an administrative user (or the only user on the computer).
If you really want to berneat and clean, a few applications place a support folder in your Home Library folder, and they have a very small preference file (usually about 4k) in that respective folder as well.
Specifically, the places to go looking for auxilliary files are:
~/Library/Application Support
~/Library/<the name of the application>
~/Library/Preferences/<preferences file>
(~ is a shortcut for your Home directory in Unix systems, you'll see it a lot on these boards and elsewhere.)
The first is where apps are *supposed* to put their support files, but many don't, and instead put them in a folder with the app's name.
The preferences filename can be tricky to find... for some Carbon or Classic apps, it's usually the name of the app or some variant on it.
The new approach is to make it look like a URL, sort of. The prefs file for the Finder, for instance is 'com.apple.finder.plist'.
It's the company name as a URL, followed by the app name, followed by the .plist extension to show it is a prefs file. Finding an app's preferences file is helped if you know the name of the company that made it, so you can just scan the list quickly in alphabetical order.
that is what i was gonna ask next b/c i like to go into program files (windows) and delete the folder there too...thanks rottoo and kick
off topic question: 1) i just installed m$n messenger 3.5.1 and it placed a disk drive looking icon on my desk top which i hate. now when i take it to the trash it deletes the app but if i move it to some other area (ex application folder) it creates a shortcut to it. how do i get it off my desktop?
2) i had messenger 3.0 and it prompted me that there is a new update and i must download it, if i hit no it closed the app. this really bothered me but i had to upgrade to 3.5.1 to log in...basically the new version has more ads and i want to keep 3.0 so anyway around this?
that is what i was gonna ask next b/c i like to go into program files (windows) and delete the folder there too...thanks rottoo and kick
off topic question: 1) i just installed m$n messenger 3.5.1 and it placed a disk drive looking icon on my desk top which i hate. now when i take it to the trash it deletes the app but if i move it to some other area (ex application folder) it creates a shortcut to it. how do i get it off my desktop?
2) i had messenger 3.0 and it prompted me that there is a new update and i must download it, if i hit no it closed the app. this really bothered me but i had to upgrade to 3.5.1 to log in...basically the new version has more ads and i want to keep 3.0 so anyway around this?
1) Go the Finder menu, then Preferences, and uncheck 'Show these items on desktop: Hard Disks'. You'll never have another disk on your desktop again. I keep all three off (I'm with ya, hate stuff on the Desktop)
When he talks about a disk appearing on his desktop, is he referring to a mounted .dmg? The MSN app should be copied from within the .dmg to the hard drive (shouldn't make a shortcut if he drags the app over) Then he can trash the "disk" and the .dmg file
I believe you need 3.5 to interact with MSN. There's also another client called Mac Messenger which supposedly works- I haven't tried it.
When he talks about a disk appearing on his desktop, is he referring to a mounted .dmg? The MSN app should be copied from within the .dmg to the hard drive (shouldn't make a shortcut if he drags the app over) Then he can trash the "disk" and the .dmg file
Thats what it sounds like. I just mounted a disk image and tried dragging the disk to another location, and it made an alias.
You might want to try Proteus or Fire. Both of these are multi-service clients(like Trillian), and neither have ads.
edit: Just remembered that MS closed off the service to third-party apps.
When he talks about a disk appearing on his desktop, is he referring to a mounted .dmg?
Yes, I assumed that is what it was as well... I just answered how to keep it from showing up on the Desktop.
plasma, they're right, you also need to copy the app from within that disk image to where ever your applications live, then you can eject that disk image. (All disk images, CDs, drives, etc show up at the top level of your computer directories - click on the 'Computer' item in the Finder toolbar for quick access.)
Yes, I assumed that is what it was as well... I just answered how to keep it from showing up on the Desktop.
plasma, they're right, you also need to copy the app from within that disk image to where ever your applications live, then you can eject that disk image. (All disk images, CDs, drives, etc show up at the top level of your computer directories - click on the 'Computer' item in the Finder toolbar for quick access.)
Sorry if that was unclear.
i want the macintosh HD icon to be on my desk top so can't uncheck hardisk preference...the msn messenger app lives on the desktop location and i cant move it to the app folder cause it creates a shorcut to it instead. how do i take it off my destop and move it? if i drag it to trash the msn app gets deleted
BTW how do i toggle between mulitle apps, like if i have safari, iTunes and msn messenger open...any quick commands? and is there a command for "delete" liket the one on windows. which deletes forward
If you got a Disk Image file (.dmg), you need to follow these steps:
1. If the white hard drive-looking icon isn't on your desktop, double click the .dmg file to mount it.
2. Open the white hard drive thing.
3. Take the application and drag it to your applications folder (or your hard disk, or your desktop).
4. Unmount the disk image by dragging the white disk to the trash.
5. Delete the .dmg file by dragging it to the trash.
Now that the application has been copied to your hard disk, you can move it to your applications folder. If you've been dragging it to the DOCK instead of the DESKTOP, it will not work right because the dock is only for holding shortcuts. If you drag the file to your desktop, it will COPY it to your hard drive, not make a shortcut. You must be doing one of those things wrong because that's just how it works.
Anyway, this is revisiting a very old discussion but this is why disk images are NOT the best way of distributing files! .pkg installers, or even disk images that automatically copy their contents to your desktop and then unmount and delete the image, are far superior because they make more sense. Maybe it's second nature to Mac users, but it's not that easy for people who don't know much about Macs.
As for your other questions:
1. To toggle between applications, press command-Tab (the command key is the one with an apple on it). Command-shift-tab goes the opposite direction.
2. To move items to the trash, select the item and press command-delete. To empty the trash, press command-shift-delete.
3. To do a forward delete, press the delete key that is located to the left of the End key and below the Help key.
Manual deletion is just that simple until you hit things like Norton's various utility/anti-virus offering. These have a habit of placing various sym* files in the various directories. Given their short hand cryptic names, one is often unsure if it's a system file or disposable.
Comments
Some applications that store things in multiple places will provide an uninstall option as part of the installer application, but generally speaking, the apps can be trashed so long as you are an administrative user (or the only user on the computer).
If you really want to berneat and clean, a few applications place a support folder in your Home Library folder, and they have a very small preference file (usually about 4k) in that respective folder as well.
Specifically, the places to go looking for auxilliary files are:
~/Library/Application Support
~/Library/<the name of the application>
~/Library/Preferences/<preferences file>
(~ is a shortcut for your Home directory in Unix systems, you'll see it a lot on these boards and elsewhere.)
The first is where apps are *supposed* to put their support files, but many don't, and instead put them in a folder with the app's name.
The preferences filename can be tricky to find... for some Carbon or Classic apps, it's usually the name of the app or some variant on it.
The new approach is to make it look like a URL, sort of. The prefs file for the Finder, for instance is 'com.apple.finder.plist'.
It's the company name as a URL, followed by the app name, followed by the .plist extension to show it is a prefs file. Finding an app's preferences file is helped if you know the name of the company that made it, so you can just scan the list quickly in alphabetical order.
off topic question: 1) i just installed m$n messenger 3.5.1 and it placed a disk drive looking icon on my desk top which i hate. now when i take it to the trash it deletes the app but if i move it to some other area (ex application folder) it creates a shortcut to it. how do i get it off my desktop?
2) i had messenger 3.0 and it prompted me that there is a new update and i must download it, if i hit no it closed the app. this really bothered me but i had to upgrade to 3.5.1 to log in...basically the new version has more ads and i want to keep 3.0 so anyway around this?
It's that easy on a Mac.
Originally posted by plasma
that is what i was gonna ask next b/c i like to go into program files (windows) and delete the folder there too...thanks rottoo and kick
off topic question: 1) i just installed m$n messenger 3.5.1 and it placed a disk drive looking icon on my desk top which i hate. now when i take it to the trash it deletes the app but if i move it to some other area (ex application folder) it creates a shortcut to it. how do i get it off my desktop?
2) i had messenger 3.0 and it prompted me that there is a new update and i must download it, if i hit no it closed the app. this really bothered me but i had to upgrade to 3.5.1 to log in...basically the new version has more ads and i want to keep 3.0 so anyway around this?
1) Go the Finder menu, then Preferences, and uncheck 'Show these items on desktop: Hard Disks'. You'll never have another disk on your desktop again.
2) Sorry, I'm an iChat man...
I believe you need 3.5 to interact with MSN. There's also another client called Mac Messenger which supposedly works- I haven't tried it.
Originally posted by dfryer
When he talks about a disk appearing on his desktop, is he referring to a mounted .dmg? The MSN app should be copied from within the .dmg to the hard drive (shouldn't make a shortcut if he drags the app over) Then he can trash the "disk" and the .dmg file
Thats what it sounds like. I just mounted a disk image and tried dragging the disk to another location, and it made an alias.
You might want to try Proteus or Fire. Both of these are multi-service clients(like Trillian), and neither have ads.
edit: Just remembered that MS closed off the service to third-party apps.
Originally posted by dfryer
When he talks about a disk appearing on his desktop, is he referring to a mounted .dmg?
Yes, I assumed that is what it was as well... I just answered how to keep it from showing up on the Desktop.
plasma, they're right, you also need to copy the app from within that disk image to where ever your applications live, then you can eject that disk image. (All disk images, CDs, drives, etc show up at the top level of your computer directories - click on the 'Computer' item in the Finder toolbar for quick access.)
Sorry if that was unclear.
Originally posted by Kickaha
Yes, I assumed that is what it was as well... I just answered how to keep it from showing up on the Desktop.
plasma, they're right, you also need to copy the app from within that disk image to where ever your applications live, then you can eject that disk image. (All disk images, CDs, drives, etc show up at the top level of your computer directories - click on the 'Computer' item in the Finder toolbar for quick access.)
Sorry if that was unclear.
i want the macintosh HD icon to be on my desk top so can't uncheck hardisk preference...the msn messenger app lives on the desktop location and i cant move it to the app folder cause it creates a shorcut to it instead. how do i take it off my destop and move it? if i drag it to trash the msn app gets deleted
BTW how do i toggle between mulitle apps, like if i have safari, iTunes and msn messenger open...any quick commands? and is there a command for "delete" liket the one on windows. which deletes forward
1. If the white hard drive-looking icon isn't on your desktop, double click the .dmg file to mount it.
2. Open the white hard drive thing.
3. Take the application and drag it to your applications folder (or your hard disk, or your desktop).
4. Unmount the disk image by dragging the white disk to the trash.
5. Delete the .dmg file by dragging it to the trash.
Now that the application has been copied to your hard disk, you can move it to your applications folder. If you've been dragging it to the DOCK instead of the DESKTOP, it will not work right because the dock is only for holding shortcuts. If you drag the file to your desktop, it will COPY it to your hard drive, not make a shortcut. You must be doing one of those things wrong because that's just how it works.
Anyway, this is revisiting a very old discussion but this is why disk images are NOT the best way of distributing files! .pkg installers, or even disk images that automatically copy their contents to your desktop and then unmount and delete the image, are far superior because they make more sense. Maybe it's second nature to Mac users, but it's not that easy for people who don't know much about Macs.
As for your other questions:
1. To toggle between applications, press command-Tab (the command key is the one with an apple on it). Command-shift-tab goes the opposite direction.
2. To move items to the trash, select the item and press command-delete. To empty the trash, press command-shift-delete.
3. To do a forward delete, press the delete key that is located to the left of the End key and below the Help key.
sorry forgot to mention i got the powebook so i dont any keys after the end key..does that mean no forward delete for me?
Originally posted by plasma
thanks luc, that worked and now no white drive on destop....
sorry forgot to mention i got the powebook so i dont any keys after the end key..does that mean no forward delete for me?
function-delete should forward-delete in most apps.
function is the "fn" key in the lower left-hand corner.
Bad job Symantec!