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OS X Noobie Questions

J

jnyepu

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 5, 2007
95
0
Dallas, TX
Please be kind. New to OS X from years in Windows X-ile. Two stupid questions.

1. What is the best way to back up my computer (system files, applications, docs, pics, movies and all) at one time, e.g. make a carbon copy of the entire HD that could be restored after some misadventure -- is there a function within OS X or a 3rd party app that would do the trick?

2. I've installed Firefox and ClamXav and am left with .dmg files on my desktop that I don't know what to do with. I know these are disk image files, but where is the best place to put them (to get them off the desktop)?
 
jnyepu said:
Please be kind. New to OS X from years in Windows X-ile. Two stupid questions.

1. What is the best way to back up my computer (system files, applications, docs, pics, movies and all) at one time, e.g. make a carbon copy of the entire HD that could be restored after some misadventure -- is there a function within OS X or a 3rd party app that would do the trick?

2. I've installed Firefox and ClamXav and am left with .dmg files on my desktop that I don't know what to do with. I know these are disk image files, but where is the best place to put them (to get them off the desktop)?
Click to expand...

1. I use Apple's 'Backup'. It's easy and you can have it do everything or just certain directories as often as you like.

2. I delete them. Once I've installed the app I get rid of it. No sense in keeping it around.
 
I tried that but if I delete the Firefox .dmg, Firefox no longer exists on my system, and for ClavXav, it won't let me empty the trash when the ClavXav .dmg is in the trash, saying the file is in use (when it's not). What gives?
 
jnyepu said:
I tried that but if I delete the Firefox .dmg, Firefox no longer exists on my system, and for ClavXav, it won't let me empty the trash when the ClavXav .dmg is in the trash, saying the file is in use (when it's not). What gives?
Click to expand...

a dmg is kinda like a cd...not really but ill just use that annalogy.. if u run firefox from the dmg, and try to eject the cd it will stop the program running. you must drag the program to your dekstop/applications/whereva u want to copy it to your computer. once that is done you will be able to eject the dmg and delete it. i personally have all my dmg's archived on an external.. just incase they get deleted somehow.
 
On a slightly related note.....

If I drag an item and try to place it into another folder or on the desktop and it poofs up into smoke, what happened to the item -- it's not in the trash.
 
jnyepu said:
On a slightly related note.....

If I drag an item and try to place it into another folder or on the desktop and it poofs up into smoke, what happened to the item -- it's not in the trash.
Click to expand...

Drag an item from where?? The dock? Yeah, that'll poof up in smoke, those are just shortcuts. Once you drag them off the dock, it deletes the shortcut.

As for your original question about the DMG files, you're misunderstanding how to install and run apps. Someone asks this question about 5 times a week here. The idea is that the DMG file is a "disk image" -- just like a CD-ROM. So once you double-click on that DMG image, it's like inserting a CD into your computer -- you get the mounted disk appearing on your desktop. You look inside the mounted disk and drag the application -- in this case, FireFox -- to the Applications folder on your hard drive. Then you grab both the mounted disk image AND the .dmg file and drag them to the trash (unless you really want to keep the .dmg file for some reason, then just stash it somewhere). From then on, you run the app from your Applications folder. You should not be running your apps from the .dmg files, or from the mounted disks they create. That is solely for installation.
 
im taking it tht the 'item' was on the side of the window thingo?? (see attached) or possibly in the dock.

if you drag it from there it will simply get rid of that icon from that sidebar. say if i dragged the top image "DoFoT9's HD" it would make the poof, but would not erase the harddrive... it would still b on the desktop.
 

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Yes, off the dock or from the side of the window "thingo". Bottom line -- these icons are basically shortcuts, and the app they represent is not affected, if I understand correctly.
 
So once you double-click on that DMG image, it's like inserting a CD into your computer -- you get the mounted disk appearing on your desktop. You look inside the mounted disk and drag the application -- in this case, FireFox -- to the Applications folder on your hard drive. Then you grab both the mounted disk image AND the .dmg file and drag them to the trash (unless you really want to keep the .dmg file for some reason, then just stash it somewhere).
Click to expand...

So when I double-click on the Firefox .dmg, a small window with the Firefox icon pops open, then I double click on that icon and Firefox opens. No mounted disk image pops up on the desktop. In any event, when I try to drag the .dmg to trash and then empty the trash, same problem. Why is it running off the .dmg?
 
because u opened firefox thru the dmg... its liek putting in a cd and opening something in that cd then trying to eject it while its still running....if that makes sense
 
jnyepu said:
So when I double-click on the Firefox .dmg, a small window with the Firefox icon pops open, then I double click on that icon and Firefox opens. No mounted disk image pops up on the desktop. In any event, when I try to drag the .dmg to trash and then empty the trash, same problem. Why is it running off the .dmg?
Click to expand...

Because YOU are making it run off the .dmg! Double-clicking the FireFox icon from the window that pops up from the .dmg is just like running an application directly off a CD-ROM in Windows...of course you can't eject the CD. You need to copy the application off of the installation media -- in this case, the .dmg file. When you double click on the .dmg, you're getting a window because that .dmg (and most of them) has an auto-open feature that opens that window you're seeing with the FireFox icon. It's just like the autorun feature on CD-ROMs. I guarantee you it's also mounting the disk image on the desktop. It's just auto-opening it as well. Did you read my previous post at all? Drag the application's icon from there to the Applications folder. It's so easy. DON'T OPEN IT from the .dmg file. Read the link about installing things on OS X that the last person posted.
 
mrogers said:
You look inside the mounted disk and drag the application -- in this case, FireFox -- to the Applications folder on your hard drive. Then you grab both the mounted disk image AND the .dmg file and drag them to the trash (unless you really want to keep the .dmg file for some reason, then just stash it somewhere). From then on, you run the app from your Applications folder. You should not be running your apps from the .dmg files, or from the mounted disks they create. That is solely for installation.
Click to expand...

So this is from your previous post (which I did in fact read). As an OS X novice, I interpreted "look inside the mounted disk" to mean OPEN the .dmg to find the application icon. I did find what I thought was the application icon using this method. However, when I tried to paste the Firefox icon from the pop-up window that opened after double-clicking the .dmg to the Applications folder, it pasted as a shortcut, not as the underlying application.

What I DID do was open the Macintosh HD and look to see if anything had been mounted, as you described. I found the mounted application there. Opening from there allowed me to find the application icon and move it to the Applications folder.

Your instructions worked verbatim when I downloaded Skype just a second ago.

I appreciate your help, and the suggestions/tips from everyone who posted here. Thanks for your patience.
 
jnyepu said:
However, when I tried to paste the Firefox icon from the pop-up window that opened after double-clicking the .dmg to the Applications folder, it pasted as a shortcut, not as the underlying application.
Click to expand...

Ah, I suspect that may have been your problem. Finder sometimes behaves a little weird if you're trying to "copy/paste" from CDs or DMGs -- I think because the icon you're seeing in the DMG's "home window" is actually a shortcut. So if you issue a copy-paste command, it copies a shortcut referencing the app inside the DMG. If you drag it however, it always copies it correctly.
 
@jnyepu

For backup, I'll cast a second vote for SuperDuper, If you have a firewire drive it will back it up as a fully bootable clone. To boot from the clone just start you mac with the Option key held down and you will get a screen where you can choose which drive you want to boot from.

SuperDuper is free but for the small license fee it will unlock 'smart update' so that when you select 'backup all files' it only backs up the bits that have changed, so your external will always mirror you internal drive.

"Backup all files" is what you want, not the "Sandbox" feature. So if you ever have a complete disaster on your mac you can just boot from the external clone, use "backup all files" again but this time you go from the clone back to your HD.
 
I put all my .dmg files on my external in a folder called software - ingenious name I know, I spent days thinking about it:)

It's a pain to have to download that stuff all over again, for whatever reason -- not every program installs right the first time around or updates are bad or inside the .dmg there might be an uninstall option that cleans everything up a little nicer than just deleting it from the applications folder.
 
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