|
|
A Handy Guide to Using the Files You've Downloaded
Hey guys, here's some info about common files that you can download from the internet,
and a little bit about using these files for their intended purposes. If you're stuck
on what exactly a file is or how to open it maybe your answer lies ahead. If you dont'
find your answer here, then please post in the "Forum". So without further adieu lets
get the show on the road!
|
|
Compression Files
.rar .zip .ace .r01 .001
These extensions are quite common and mean that your file(s) are compressed into an "archive".
This is just a way of making the files more compact and easier to download.
To open any of those archives listed above you can use WinRAR (Make sure you have the latest version) or PowerArchiver.
If those progams aren't working for you and you have a .zip file you can try
WinZip (Trial version).
If the two first mentioned programs aren't working for you and you have a .ace or .001
file you can try Winace (Trial version).
.cbr .cbz
These are usually comic books in an archive format. a .cbr file is actually the same
thing as a .rar file and a .cbz file is the same as a .zip file. However, often when
opening them with WinRAR or WinZip it will disorder your pages. To display these
archives properly it's often best to use
CDisplay.
|
|
Multimedia Files
.avi .mpg. .mpeg .divx .xvid .wmv
These files are usually movies or TVshows, or a host of other types of media. They can
be viewed using various media players, but I suggest using
Zoomplayer,
BSPlayer, VLC media player
or Windows Media Player. Also, you'll need to make sure you have
the right codecs to play each individual file. Codecs are a tricky business sometimes so to help
you out with your file and what exact codecs it needs try using GSpot. It tells you what codecs you need. Then just look on the net to find
them, below are some common codecs and their download links for quick reference:
• ffdshow (Recommended! (plays many formats: XviD, DivX, 3ivX, mpeg-4))
• XviD codec
• DivX codec
• ac3filter (for AC3 soundtracks, aka "5.1")
• Ogg media codec (for .OGM files)
Can't find what you're looking for? Check out these sites...
• DivX-Digest
• Digital-Digest
• Doom9
• DVD-R Help
.mov
These are QuickTime files. Hopefully you
won't have to open these as I hate quicktime, but if you do you can
get it here.
There are however alternatives to the original program,
Check out QuickTime Alternative.
.ra .rm .ram
These are RealPlayer files. RealPlayer IMO is the
devils work. It installs lord knows what on your system and never really goes away when
you want to uninstall it. Still if you insists you can get the player
here.
There are however alternatives to the original program,
check out Real Alternative.
vcd/svcd
These can be a pain on some peoples setups, but more so, on your stand-alone DVD player.
For all your vcd needs check out www.dvdrhelp.com.
These guys know their stuff, and can help you with all kinds of media related questions.
.mp3 .mp2
Usually music files. Play them with WinAmp.
.ogm .ogg
Ogg Vorbis media files. You can find out more about them and download applications
here.
This filetype is another music file format, but can be used for various media. You will
probably want to download the
DirectShow Ogg filter to play back OGM files. Any new version of
WinAmp will also do.
|
|
CD Image Files
.bin and .cue
These are your standard images of a CD, and are used quite alot these days. To open them
you have a couple options. You can burn them using Nero
(Trial Version) or Alcohol 120%,
but this proves to be soooooooo problematic for a lot of people. You should also consult
this tutorial for burning images with various software programs You can also use
Daemon Tools, which lets you
mount the image to a "virtual cd-rom", so basically it tricks your computer into thinking
that you have another cd-rom and that you're putting a cd with your image file on it into
this virtual cd-rom, it's great cuz you'll never make a bad cd again, Alcohol 120% also
sports a virtual cd-rom feature. Finally, if you're still struggling to access the files
contained within any given image file you can use CDMage
to extract the files and then burn them, or just access them from your hard drive. You can
also use VCDGear to extract the mpeg contents of a
SVCD or VCD image file such as bin/cue.
.iso
Another type of image file that follows similar rules as .bin and .cue, only you extract
or create them using WinISO or
ISOBuster. Sometimes converting a
problematic .bin and .cue file to an .iso can help you burn it to a cd.
.ccd .img .sub
All these files go together and are in the CloneCD format. CloneCD is like most other CD-Burning programs,
see the .bin and .cue section if you're having problems with these files.
|
|
Other Files
.txt .doc
These are text files. .txt files can be opened with notepad or watever you default text
editor happens to be, and .doc are opened with Microsoft Word.
.nfo
These contain information about the file you just downloaded, and it's HIGHLY recommended
that you read these! They are plain text files, often with ascii-art. You can open them
with Notepad, Wordpad, DAMN NFO Viewer
or UltraEdit.
.pdf
Opened with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
.jpg .gif .tga .psd
Basic image files. These files generally contain pictures, and can be opened with Adobe
Photoshop or whatever your default image viewer is.
.sfv
Checks to make sure that your multi-volume archives are complete. This just lets you know
if you've downloaded something complete or not. (This is not really an issue when DL:ing
via torrent.) You can open/activate these files with
SFVChecker (Trial version) or hkSFV for example.
.par
This is a parity file, and is often used when downloading from newsgroups. These files can
fill in gaps when you're downloading a multi-volume archive and get corrupted or missing parts.
Open them with QuickPar.
|
|
If you have any suggestion/changes PM one of the Admins/SysOp!
This file was originally written by hussdiesel at filesoup, then edited by Rhomboid and re-edited by us.
|
|
|
