CompTIA A+® Certification All-In-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

2.1. Installing and Removing Applications

Before you can work with applications on your computer, you need to install them. With the rate at which the computer industry changes, you cannot avoid the need to upgrade or remove applications on your computer as they become obsolete.

The terms application and program are synonymous; they are both programming code that performs a function. In this chapter, though, I use the two terms to mean slightly different things. I use the term application to describe the programming code that represents the functions you want installed on your computer — like a word processing application or a game. I use the term program to describe the programming code that allows you to install the application.

2.1.1. Installing an application

Most applications come with an installation program that must be run to install the application. Some applications (say, Kaufman Mail Warrior) are actually standalone applications that do not require extra files and settings to be created on your computer, but these are rare. Most applications require several files to be installed and often require Registry entries to be created to hold the settings for the application. Because of the complexity involved in copying the files and creating the settings, you use the installation program to ensure that the application is installed properly. The application's developer decides ...