Computers now occupy a serious part of our lives. That is why, everyone now needs to know at least the most basic concepts and terms. One of the most basic concepts that every user should know is a file.
What are files? Any information that is stored on a computer is stored in the form of files. A file is the smallest unit of information, roughly speaking, a digital “subject”. Each time, saving a picture, song, film, text, you create a file. Each computer contains a huge number of files. Even on a new computer, where the operating system has just been installed, there are about one hundred thousand of them.
How to understand so many files? Firstly, each file has an individual name, and, in addition, an extension. The extension indicates what type of file this is for. Secondly, the files are not piled up in one heap, but laid out in special places called folders. Each group of files, united by a common function, theme or something else, lies in its own folder. Thus, thanks to the individual name, extension and the fact that each file lies in a strictly defined place, the whole variety of files on your computer can be easily understood.
How to decrypt files? What does this or that extension mean? Conventionally, all files can be divided into several groups:
- documents - files containing mainly textual information; these files are created by users themselves in programs specially created for this purpose;
- library files - these files contain various algorithms that programs use;
- executable files - files whose launch causes a particular program to work.
In order to immediately understand which of these groups a particular file belongs to, you need to know the most common extensions, file types. Then at a glance at the file its purpose becomes obvious. The extension refers to the three or four last letters in the file name, there is always a dot before the extension. Unlike a file name, which can contain both Russian and English letters, the extension is always written only in Latin letters.
- exe - colloquially, these files are often called executables. What are executable files? They belong to the group of executable files. When they start, the program starts, for example, a game or a text editor.
- com - today these files are not used, they can be found only in very old programs. In fact, these are analogues of executable files for the MS DOS operating system.
- bat - files with this extension launch several other files at once in the given sequence. The most commonly used file of this type is autoexec.bat, which runs at boot time and starts all the programs that are needed immediately after the download is complete.
- cfg - these files contain the parameters of a specific program.
- dll - library files.
- hlp - files with this extension contain help for programs.
- dat - files containing data on the operation of programs.
All of the following extensions are specific to executable files. They themselves are not part of a program, unlike the first three extensions, but they are each tied to their program, in which the opened files are launched. For example, opening a text file, you automatically start a text editor, and the player starts with an audio or video file. Therefore, in order to run such files, it is necessary that the necessary programs are installed on your computer.
- txt, doc, docx are text file extensions used by various text editors.
- htm, html - documents with hyperlinks. What are hyperlink files? They differ from the rest in that they are navigated using special cross-references.
- mp3, mid, wav - common audio formats.
- avi, mpeg4, dvix, mkv, mov - videos are hidden under such extensions.
- jpg, bmp, png, gif - the most commonly used extensions for pictures, photos and other images.
- rar, zip - archive files. What are archive files? Such files are created using archiver programs. Archive files so that they take up less space on your hard drive.
Another concept is inextricably linked with the concept of a file - the file system. For a flash drive and hard drive, it is imperative to choose the appropriate file system.