07-16-2005, 02:05 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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What Do You Do With Installers?
Sitting on my desktop right now are several Pocket PC and Smartphone install files. These installers will be carefully moved to a special folder I have labled "Mobile Device Apps" and kept for most likely eternity. When a new version comes out, I'll end up copying the new installer into the folder, and unless the name of the installer is the same, I'll now have an old and new copy. The folder gets bigger.
And when I get a new device, the lunacy continues: I don't go splunking through my folder to find the newest installer for each app - I go download each one again (In case there have been minor revisions or bug fixes). Now I add another batch of installers to the folder.
Why do I do this? I'm not quite sure. I think it's the thought "What if I need to setup my device again and I don't have access to the internet". This scenario is pretty unlikely. Maybe it's just a throwback from the days of dialup where I held the motto "If I took the time to download this thing, I might as well keep it so I don't have to redownload it".
And the folder grows. Installers, sprite backup files, themes, SDKs (Man they take up space) and more. At current count it's up to around 3 GB all by itself 8O
So my poll question, dear readers, is what do you do with installers? Do you just delete them and redownload later? Do you keep them forever? Do you actually have a filing system for them? Vote and post your experiences, and if any of you have any suggestions for me - let me know!
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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07-16-2005, 02:11 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 127
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I used to do exactly what you described above. Then I came to the same realization that you did. Why? Now I just delete them soon after installing. If I need to reinstall I just download the latest version. Handango rocks!
It's a good thing Dell comes out with new ROMs every once in a while. Otherwise I'd never update my apps.
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07-16-2005, 02:13 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 598
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Now I have broadband (happy days) I just junk them as soon as I have installed...unless I know for a fact that it is a special full, registered version of something that is going to be needed to later perform an upgrade to a newer version etc...
When I was on dialup I would save those files like they were made of gold, because it was such a pain to redownload everything.
Most of my software comes from Handango, so I can always redownload something in the event.
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07-16-2005, 02:21 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 147
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I save them on cd-roms, along with the serial numbers, etc.
It's good to know that if at any time in the future I need to break out the TextMaker, MP3 player, image visualisers and plug-ins and anything else for a brand new PDA, or because I screw up the present one and need to reinstall favourite items, there they are.
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07-16-2005, 02:31 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Wow Jon, I thought it was just me. 8O
Although I have a broadband connection, I still tend to download most reasonably-sized installers and move them from my laptop to the server, regardless of whether or not I've saved them in the past. I guess I still have a bit of dial-up thinking in me. Somewhere hidden in that half a terabyte of system files, program files and personal documents and media, is a disorganised mess of rotten installers dating back to 2000. Deary, me. 
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07-16-2005, 02:38 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 455
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I do some of both... if I can run the install from their site, I'll do that. If not, I tend to throw my installs in an "APPS" file, too. I do try to go through and throw out old versions of the same SW (like a Netscape 6.2 install I discovered not long ago), so I keep the file size down (only about 300MB right now).
My problem is, sometimes the file name doesn't immediately suggest the SW being installed, so I'm not sure what it is unless I actually restart the install! (Everybody say "duh"...)
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Steven Lyle Jordan: Original SF so good, Fox would never put in on the air. |
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07-16-2005, 02:59 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 165
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They just go into the "My Downloads" folder along with everything else I download from the 'net. My unlock codes are sitting in my Inbox in the messages I receive from either Handango or the vendor. This system has worked fine for me thus far, and I'm not worried about space anymore since hard drives are so cheap, so I just leave the files there, even multiple versions of the same.
Before my hard drive can fill up, I will most certainly be in the market for a new 'puter. I will then archive my emails (into a .pst folder) and "My Documents" folder to an external drive to refer back to them any time I need them, and start from scratch on the "My Documents" folder of the new 'puter.
Lather, rinse and repeat. :mrgreen:
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07-16-2005, 03:02 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 72
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All but a handful of apps I copy out of the PPC Program Files directory into a Stand-Alone directory on my device or Storage Card.
The Today plug-ins, special drivers and SIP's that I cannot copy to the Stand-Alone directory, I find the CAB file and place it into a special CABs directory located in my Stand-Alone folder.
When upgrading to a new device, I simply copy the Stand-Alone directory to the new device and all my programs are there!
At this point, I really don't need to save the installs at all so...I recycle 'em.
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07-16-2005, 03:13 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,389
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i do the exact same thing. everything i download gets dropped into a folder for ppc apps. i also have a folder on my storage card called backup apps. it contains cabs and exes of programs i use or freeware apps that i like to share with new ppc users to make their lives better.
i do most of my downloading at work and bring the files home as i am still on dialup.
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07-16-2005, 03:23 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 96
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Like the author of this thread I use a special folder for my install files, but this goes beyond the Pocket PC. Everything I download is saved and later archived. The main folder is broken down into OS (Win, OS X, PPC, etc.), and then again into Freeware, Shareware, Licensed Apps, etc.
Every version of every download is saved. If a file that I download does not have its version in the filename, I put it there. This ensures that I don't overwrite older versions during future downloads (and it's a practice that has saved my hide on more than one occasion). Once the main directory hits about 4.5 GB (usually 3 or 4 times per year) the whole thing is burned to DVD.
I know this is a bit obsessive, but the system works well and I�ve been able to downgrade to versions that are no longer available when needed.
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