Palm Pilot Install tool-anything more than Copy?

I got to thinking the other day-My Palm Pilot has a memory card which I
use to store applications that I'm not currently using. I install the
applications using the Palm Pilot Install tool on my PC.

I got a memory card reader for my PC for Christmas. It can read the
memory card from my Palm so is it possible to install programs now,
assuming they are in the correct .prc/.pdb format, by simply copying
them to the memory card and then, when I want to use them, loading them
from the memory card into the Palm's main memory? Or does the Palm Pilot
Install tool do something other than copy the program files to the Palm?

Calvin Crumrine