Solved Application exe Files Question ???

[BuckSkin]

I hope I can word this so that it makes sense...

When looking at any particular installed program in it's folder in Program Files, there is always a file "Application" that is a .exe file.

Is this file the same configuration/file as the downloaded installation file ?

In other words, if I were to copy that file to another machine, could I then right-click it and it install just the same as the original download ?

Thanks for reading and all help is appreciated.

 

[samuria]

No .exe is short for executable is the file to run the program normally the install is called setup.exe

 

[BuckSkin]

No .exe is short for executable is the file to run the program normally the install is called setup.exe

Thanks for shedding light on another mystery.

 

[townsbg]

An exe file is just a way for files to be packaged. It could be for installers, it could be for actual programs that you run, it could be compressed files, or it can be for Windows components. But samuria is correct. You have to have the files designed by the developer to install the programs and not just the programs themselves. Unfortunately though they aren't necessarily called setup.exe.

.exe - Wikipedia

 

[Alejandro85]

More often than not, no, it's not the same executable.

The one you download is called an installer that is, a program whose sole purpose in life is to install other programs and nothing else. It often contains the rest of the program bundled in a single file (pretty much like a zip file) and presents a nice screen to extract and install it, analogous to what Linux calls "packages" (a file containing other files). But the core program isn't implemented in it.
Those come in different formats, like .exe, .msi or others. Some of them are tiny "web installers" that even don't pack anything, but when ran download the bunch from internet.
In any case, the program you run normally is a different one that you downloaded originally.

if I were to copy that file to another machine, could I then right-click it and it install just the same as the original download ?

No, that won't install it, but instead try to run the original program!
To install it in another computer what you should share is the original download (ie, the installer), and not the result of the installation. This is why it's of importance to backup the installers of all software you use.

Copying the whole folder to another computer may or may not work, depending on the program. Most work just OK, but generally speaking, the proper way is to perform a reinstall of the software.

When looking at any particular installed program in it's folder in Program Files, there is always a file "Application" that is a .exe file.

Not necesarily always, but the vast majority of times the main program is a .exe file. There could be other kind of files that start a program.