Firstly, the question: I have some files that I can’t work out how to open. I e-mailed the guy who wrote and sent them and his answer was to either open them in Notepad or change the file extension.
Notepad – all I get from Win98 when I click on any file is “Microsoft System Information cannot open this file. The file is corrupted”.
I have a Win OS handbook but still can’t work out how to change file extensions. The files have an .NFO extension. I’m kind of interested to know what’s in the files so ……any ideas ?
Also this. Say your computer at home is offline but you want to access it remotely and you don’t have any kind of server installed. Can’t be done, right ? How about this – it just seems nuts !
I haven’t tried this programme yet and I wondered if there might be security issues (particularly in relation to the programme developers themselves) being able to access my computer despite me having Zone Alarm installed ?
IIRC I think these are just ASCII text files. Use your word processor to open them. If using MS word make sure listed file extensions are not limited to *.doc but are set to . in MS Word file window.
If you don’t have a “full fledged” word processor the MS “Wordpad” program will also work. It’s under “accessories” on the “programs” bar.
In Explorer…
Right click on the file…
Choose properties…
On the 3rd tab you will see file associations…
Look for the Open command…
Make a new one if there is none…
Choose the program you want the open command to use (notepad)
Close out…
Double click on file…
Say “hey presto”…
Mail a $5 dollar postal order to me…
As to the Get 'em Online bit you betcha this can be considered a security risk. Frankly it seems that this is simply doing what PC Anywhere has done for a long time but maybe I missed something.
Still, most Admins will have a conniption fit if they see that on your PC and care one jot for network security. If remote access is important for the users at your company then there are a variety of options available that are secure (at least more secure than this) for dial-up access.
Ususaly, .nfo files are plain ASCII text file that are distributed with cracked or pirated software. The file often have instructions on how to install or use the crack and contain bragging statements from the cracker of their “31337 h4x0r” skills.
Notepad should open the files. Just start Notepad from the start menu, select file/open and change the file type to “All Files (.)” If windows is complaining that the file is corrupt, perhaps it is, but then when you’re stealing software, you get what you pay for.
(If this isn’t what you are trying to do, accept my appoligies, perhaps some other program produces .nfo (‘Info?’) files, in that case, you need to find that program.)
DOS Edit would be my first try, and if even that didn’t work, I’d use OD (Octal Dump), but that isn’t typically found in Microsquish computers. OD will read absolutely anything, no matter the file type or corruption. Mind you, if it’s not ASCII, you probably won’t get any useful information out of it, no matter what you do.
Normally, you should be able to use notepad to open anything that isn’t too huge, including executables. Non-printable characters just turn up as garbage. Sometimes useful to see text buried in the middle of binary files and so on.
Od comes with the MKS toolkit, which is something I don’t live without on a windows machine. There’s a couple pretty decent byte level editing tools out there, too.
LOL…I actually have no idea what’s in these files. It’s a ‘surprise’. I know the guy knows what he’s doing in many area’s and, frankly, anything is possible. MinkMan, err…you seem to know rather a lot about that kind of thing !
handy – Yep, I’m just going to run a standard virus check. I think it should be fine, though.
Jeff – That’s kind of what I thought but it’s the first time I’ve come across this type of programme. Don’t know of PC Anywhere so I guess more research is on the agenda. Thanks.
To everyone else – I’m still pretty hopeless still with some aspects (even DOS holds some terrors for me) but I’ll digest your advice and (maybe) come back for more. Just really pushed for time at the moment, I’ll be able to have a fiddle later tonight. Maybe it’s time I grasped a nettle or two. Thanks for all your help, guys !
London_Calling, if you do not know the basics of getting around Windows the only advice I can give you is <B>learn</B> because trying to do things when you do not know what you are doing is just too troublesome and risky.
An observation other posters may appreciate: I have several shortcuts on the windows\send to folder. When I right-click on a file I can SEND it to Notepad, PAint, or any number of other programs. This is very useful for this kind of thing. Right click on the file and send to Notepad.
sailor - that does sound genuinely useful <…rummaging through books…Thanks.
Also, I do understand it’s time to learn more. You’re absolutely right that it is frustrating and extremely limiting not having a more grounded knowledge.
Well, it does seem MinkMan may not have been entirely wrong…but lets move along swiftly.
I’m presented with a whole lot of gobbldy gook. When this has happened before I’ve just given up but, irrespective of what’s in these files, I’d like to be able to deal with this stuff better. I’m sure this is straight forward but can someone please tell me what the heck I’m looking at here. In the past (usually when the 'puter’s had a funny five minutes) I’ve ended up with all kinds of stuff looking loke this …what can I do to make 'em comprehendible ?
London, you need to lok at the first few lines of code, can you post them? Those lines usually give the info on what type of file it is. You may just have a file that needs to be decoded. Maybe you could email it to someone on the board to decode for you?
