Difference between Install and copying files.?

Question

hi ,im new to computer field.But i have some basic knowledge in computer.Most of the time,i just wondered,sometimes we install Softwares and other times we just copy the related files(.exe). For ex,when we want to work in Acrobat Reader,We install them.But when we want to work Java or C/C++ ,We just copy the required files and set the path.What is the difference between these two.Moreover,How do we we know which one need to be installed and which one just needs copying files.please explain with example.thanks.

Answer 1

When you install any software it gets listed in the WQindows Components list ( Registry) and When you copy the files , it is not inserted in the Registry. Registry is a windows utility that shows keeps record of all the programs installed. The installing of a file is that computer itself copies necessary files to definite location and you have to do nothing. That is when you install it the software files are well distributed as per requirement while some software do not require that too many files to be distributed to different location ie folders. For E.g-If you want to install MS Office you cannot copy the files as it distributes some files in the WIndows Folder also ,Therefore if you copy the Office Files from the Program Files Folder ,it will not work. And as you say of C they are small softwares in easy wayso they do not require any kind of file distribution but if you know where to place which file then you can even copy those files in respective folders and software will start working but the number of files to be copied are in large numbers.

Answer 2

A program nowadays is almost NEVER a single .EXE file, except very small ones. Usually it's an EXE, a whole bunch of DLL (dynamic link libraries), a ton of proprietary data files, and a lot of registry settings that the installer puts into the PC to uniquely identify the program to the system as well as setup file type associations and other internal settings. And finally, to get a Windows compliant logo, the program must also setup the uninstaller: so that it can uninstall itself.

Next time, before you install a program, explore the CD a little bit. You'll see a SETUP.EXE, and often a SETUP.LST and that sort of file. The LST file is a "script" that tells the SETUP.EXE what to do. Basically, what files to put where, what registry entries to write, and so on and so forth. It may not always exist, as different installers have different approaches to the program, but if it's there, you can get valuable insight into what goes into installing a program.

A "simple" program that doesn't need any settings or support libraries or registration or such won't need all this stuff, thus it can just be copied.

Answer 3

Sometimes softwares have to copy some files in the system folders and that's why the wont work if you just copy the software folder, because it needs more files it doesnt have... For example there are some games like AOE II that only needs to copy the folder, another game is Empire Earth 1...