BackupAnswers.com

An executable file or a file using the file extension .exe is a program created by computer programmers to install applications, games and other utilities in the personal computer. It is the most common computer file and is also always a medium to infect computers with viruses. Thus, it is of the utmost importance to know how they work to avoid future problems.

The two most common .exe files are setup.exe and install.exe. One can find these in most installation folders of almost all computer program. These two contain files with images, commands, etc. These files are self-extracting once the .exe file is opened or run, usually by double-clicking on these files.

Below are steps to successfully install an .exe file on your computer.

1. For .exe files that must be downloaded from the Internet, the computer will prompt the user to run the installation or save the .exe file for installation after downloading it. Save must be chosen then one should remember where the file will be saved in order to find and install it later. The default location for Internet downloads on MS Windows-based machines is usually in the My Documents folder in the system partition like C:\My Documents\filename.exe. Search this folder afterwards to find the .exe file and install it.
2. After the .exe file has been downloaded, the next thing to do is double-click it to start the installation process. The computer will then prompt the user to create a new folder where it should install the files. You should click yes to this for the installation to proceed.
3. Follow the instructions of the installation and afterwards click finish to exit the installation process.
4. After the installation has been completed, you can now double-click on the program icon to run or open it.

The steps listed above are applicable on almost all .exe program installation files. The problem for the user now is to recognize if the .exe file contains a virus and to choose not to install this program. Most viruses are sent through email so it is important to scan the .exe file before downloading them. An updated antivirus program will best catch viruses but one should keep in mind to scan .exe files even if they come from known sources. Deleting emails with attachments from unknown senders is the best preventive measure to ensure privacy security and system stability.

The installer or .exe file can sometimes be corrupted or damaged after an installation because of a virus or malware program that infected the computer before. In this case, the file will not open or function properly.

After getting rid of these problems from your computer and the program still does not launch, it would be best to install a registry cleaner. These programs are applications that scan the registry to find bad or junk entries. It lines these files up for deletion while also fixing files that are unresponsive because of file dissociations brought about by a prior virus or malware program infection. A file with the extension .exe may once again run properly after the registry cleaner finishes its task. It can even load and open faster than before using the registry cleaner to scan and optimize the registry.

Tags: exe, executable file

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under File Extensions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.