.dmg files

J

jaamin

Registered
i am a new mac user and when i was using my pc i would save some of the .exe files that i would download. i know that the .pkg is the equivalent, but is it wise to save the .dmg files in a folder on my harddrive or is it not worth the time and space? thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to the forum jaamin.
The pkg-files are not really equivalent to pcs exe files. I would rather say: pkg files are similar to setup.exe files. Anyway, the dmgs' are some kind of compressed exe files. To be more precise: they are compressed images of the program files required for the current application.
If you want to store your applications, saving the dmg files would be the best idea.
 
The best way to describe .dmg is to show you how to make one. Follow these directions: Open Applications->Utilities->Disk Utility. Then click on "New Image" and make a desired size and see how it works. The white disk uncompressed image can hold a program application, file, etc. Now drag that white disk image to the trash (make sure nothing you want to loose is in it). watch the trash can display an eject icon. Now, the compressed image is still there. This means you double click the compressed image again and see a new temporary uncompressed image appear.
 
.dmg is a virtual disk, or a disk image. You do not need to keep them once you have retrieved everything you need from them. .app is the equivalent of .exe on Windows; you should keep these. (They won't always be labelled as such, but applications almost always end in .app.)
 
Here's something I just started noticing the last day or two.

Any file I download that should have and extension of ".dmg" comes down as a ".dms". It's the damnedest thing…

Hrm. I wonder if Speed Download may have anything to with this, even though I didn't install the plugin.
 
I save everything I download. If something should happen to a program, then I still have the original. I was saving it all in a folder till it got to about 650MB, then burn to a CD. Have a DVD burner now, so I'll save until it's about 4GB then burn.
 
cybergoober said:
Here's something I just started noticing the last day or two.

Any file I download that should have and extension of ".dmg" comes down as a ".dms". It's the damnedest thing…

Hrm. I wonder if Speed Download may have anything to with this, even though I didn't install the plugin.
Click to expand...
If you rename the extension, it should work fine, even though it may give you a notice (which you can ignore). This works in Path Finder, it should work in the Finder.
 
Yeah, I can rename the extension with no problem. Doesn't even ask if I'm sure I really want to use .dmg

Just odd because Safari's Download window will show the file as .dmg, but my Desktop shows a .dms

o_O
 
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