Understanding Basic File Name Extensions

There are many files on the your computer, and the extentions are sometimes hidden. Want to know what these file extentions stand for? First, turn on the file extentions from windows so you can see them. From Windows Explorer, click on the "Tools" menu, and select "File Options." Second, click on the "View" tab and then uncheck the box next to "Hide file extensions for known file types." Now, Click "OK" and you'll notice that the files in Windows Explorer show a dot and group of three letters after their names. This dot and group of three letters is known as an "extension. An extension explains what kind of file it is.

A file could be a plain text file, an image, a sound, a video, or program. You can find out what sort of file it is by seeing the extention on the file. The following is a list that defines some of the most common extensions of files.

.au - This extension indicates a sound file. Most sound players will load up and play this kind of file.

.avi - This extension indicates a video file playable by most multimedia viewers including Microsoft's Media Player. This is also an useful web video format.

.bmp - This extension indicates another image file that might have originated from Windows Paint program. This is a common image format. This is also known as the bitmap file. The Bmp file are created of pixels.

.dll - This extension indicates a Dynamic Link Library which may contain additional programming code for software. Many different programs often share Dynamic Link Libraries and you'll find a bunch of them in the widows\sytem directory (but don't ever delete them)!

.exe - This extension indicates a program or an application like Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, or Outlook Express. Use extreme caution when downloading .exe files from the Internet since malicious programmers like to hide viruses in these types of files.

.gif - This extension indicates another image file and it stands for "Graphics Interchange Format." .Gif files are often smaller than .bmp files (described earlier) and they're commonly found on Internet web pages. Gif file format uses 256 colors.This file format is useful for loading the text, cartoons, illustrations, drawing and map from the internet at a fast rate.

.jpg - This extension indicates yet another image file and it stands for "Joint Photographers Experts Group." This file format is useful for photo images.Like the .gif file, it's commonly found on Internet web pages, however it's much smaller than both the .gif image and the .bmp image. Due to its small size it loads faster.

.mid - This extension indicates a sound file created with a Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Windows Media Player will open and run these files, however, they don't sound like normal .wav or .mp3 files (described later). .Mid files are designed to produce synthetic sounds using a computer's sound card.

.mp3 - This extension indicates a sound file that authentically reproduces voice and/or music. Windows Media Player will open and run this kind of file.

.scr - This extension indicates a screen saver file. A Screen saver program automatically starts when you are not working on the computer.

.ttf - This extension indicates a font especially designed for use on a Windows system. It stands for "True Type Font."

.txt - This extension indicates a plain text file that can be opened with Notepad. This file is encoded with the AScII character codes.

.wav - This extension indicates a sound file that like the .mp3 file, can be opened with Windows Media Player or Windows Sound Recorder. .Wav files are much larger than .mp3 files.

.zip - This extension indicates a Windows archive WinZip file. They will not open on a Macintosh system without a special utility.

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