ms info files???

[bowen]

Anyone know what ms info documents are and how they are opened - every time I click them I get the "Microsoft System Information cannot open this file. The file is corrupted" message.

I'd be grateful for an explanation.

Cheers guys,

Bowen.

[GaryRouth]

Hi bowen

The files that you see with the .inf file extension help the Win9x OSs work with various parts of your computer (such as modems, printers, scanners...etc). These files contain "information" letting Windows know what the device is capable of.

To open them, you can right-click on the .inf file, select "Open With"... and choose something like NotePad to view it (if you have Quick View or Quick View Plus, those will do nicely too).

Be careful not to move or delete them (unless you're sure of what you're doing). Because some of those are absolutely necessary for your hardware to work.

If this is too unclear or confusing, post back & I'll try again.
...Gary

(or I'll get corrected by those smarter than I am)

[bowen]

Thanks for the feedback,

The thing is, the files I am curious about have a different extension to the ones you are describing - they are .nfo. It's not possible to open them with anything because the message: "Microsoft System Information cannot open this file. The file is corrupted" appears every time with this file type (regardless of source).


Cheers,

Bowen.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again Bowen

Well, you've come up with an extension I haven't paid much attention to previously, but got my curiosity going... Seems like the .nfo file extension is used by quite a few different programs, though the main one in Windows 98 is the msinfo32, the System Information tool... That is probably how that file type is registered in your system, and that is why SysInfo tried to open it.

Just to see, I searched one of my Win98 machines for files with the .nfo extension, and they're weren't any. I suppose it's possible that they are temporary? Or perhaps created when you ask for the information to be exported? Unfortunately, my Win98 Resource Kit hasn't shed any light on this for me just yet....

Some of the other associations for that extension seem to be "NetWare Folio Help format", "FilioView database", ...and a sort of generic "info" file format - possibly used by some sort of compression utility, and possibly used on some Linux systems, and possibly used by Norton Commander...

So my guess is that these files are not actually msinfo32 files, but are from a different source: which is why it can't open them.

They could have come as part of a download (if they are zipped files), or they could have originated from one of the programs in the list above.

I don't think the files are actually "corrupted". They just aren't what msinfo32 expects.
...Gary

Forum Browsers:
Anyone else out there in the "audience" tonight, who has some more info on this file extension?

[bowen]

Thanks very much for investigating,

I was going to say that I will report back if I can shed further light on them, but then I thought I would try sending it directly to notepad (after seeing what you said about generic info format).

It opened just like a .txt file.

The mystery is solved,

Thanks again gary.

[jon12345678]

I think the majority of .nfo files are used in newsgroups. It usually contains information about the post. Things like reposting policies, size of the post, etc. Or illegal stuff like serial #s, software cracks, mp3 stuff.