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Thread ID: 58623 2005-06-06 14:57:00 What program made .dat file? Vince (406) Press F1
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361734 2005-06-06 14:57:00 I have a couple of .dat files that I keep sensitive information in. I only use them on rare ocasions, but they are nessicary. The last time I accessed them was in February. Now I cant remember which program I used to create them. Clicking on them brings up a dialogue that says they are not Windows files and cant be opened.

Any Ideas how I can identify the program?
Vince (406)
361735 2005-06-06 17:38:00 .DAT files open in M$ WORD for me, and they are accessable in OpenOffice, WordPerfect and some other word processors too. SurferJoe46 (51)
361736 2005-06-06 19:54:00 right click on those files and choose "open with" find wordpad or notepad highlight by clicking once on the program of choice then click on ok beama (111)
361737 2005-06-06 21:36:00 Grab wholockme from here .
This will tell you what program uses the file.
www.dr-hoiby.com
hth
johnboy (217)
361738 2005-06-07 06:19:00 Grab wholockme from here .
This will tell you what program uses the file.
www.dr-hoiby.com
hth

Thanks johnboy, WhoLockMe will come in handy sometime, but not in this case. It doesn't work 'unless' the file is locked.

I forgot to say, in my post, that the files in question are encripted, so word processors are usless.
(mea culpa)!

Any other Ideas?
Vince (406)
361739 2005-06-07 13:38:00 Any other Ideas? Please Vince (406)
361740 2005-06-07 14:12:00 Many programs use .dat files, the most infamous is index.dat created by Internet Explorer. Further information regarding index.dat and its removal can be found here (forums.pcworld.co.nz ) .

.dat files don't really have a common program associated with them, not like .doc with word or .zip with winzip for instance. Programmers often use .dat files for storing data required by their programs, this data could be just about anything - text, graphic, or general binary data.
b1naryb0y (3)
361741 2005-06-07 14:27:00 .dat files don't really have a common program associated with them, not like .doc with word or .zip with winzip for instance. Programmers often use .dat files for storing data required by their programs, this data could be just about anything - text, graphic, or general binary data.[/QUOTE]

The .dat files in question were created by me to keep sensitive information private. I have forgotten which program I used when I did so. Yes I know, DUMB! However I do need to open them. Help :horrified
Vince (406)
361742 2005-06-07 14:43:00 It wasn't some type of encryption program was it?

Have a look through Add/Remove programs, it may still be installed. Sometimes programs can lose/forget their file associations.
b1naryb0y (3)
361743 2005-06-07 17:09:00 Maybe . . . I had a file that would not open, and I used WINRAR to compress it, sent it to my inbox and unzipped it there and . . voila! it opened! Don't know if this'll work for you .

I have also found that if I have a file in an encrypted (green colored) folder via the XP-PRO utility, I can just send it to myself thru the internet, and it arrives unencrypted .

Some encryption, huh? :confused:
SurferJoe46 (51)
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