Database files are used to store different information about what files or information are you using on your computer. Most of them are hidden files, so you do not even see them when you browse through your directories with Windows Explorer, because they are hidden and not showed by Windows by default. You can change these settings in Windows Explorer under Tools – Folder options – View – Show hidden files and folders. Now you can see all the hidden files and with that all the database files. The most common database files that are going to be described in this article are the .db

The .db files, are also called Paradox database file or Progress database file. These files are used to store information, that the system is going to use later and it could acquire it later, but it is faster if the information is stored in it. The most common .db file is thumbs.db, a file where the windows store information about the pictures that are in each folder. As said, the information can be gathered at any time, and that means that you can delete this file if you wish. But it will be later created again, when you access the pictures that you have in a folder.

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Popularity: 85% [?]

The PIF extension shows to a file, that means a “program information file”. A system file, that windows uses since it was created. It was meant to to store information on how to run programs. They are still used in the Windows that we use now, but the file is one of those witch you do not really need to know. If you try to run it, you will not get anything from it, but the file helps other programs to run.

If you receive a PIF file in an email it is probably a virus. You should check who has send you the email, and if you are not sure who is it from just delete it. Even if you know who the sender of the email is, but you do not know what to do with the file, then delete it also. It is very probable that the person who the email is from, does not know that he or she has a virus that is sending the emails by itself. If you are really sure, that you know why this file is in your email and you know what to do with it then it is safe for you to open the file. Your anti virus program should protect you even if the file is infected. But be careful anyway.

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Popularity: 72% [?]

Private information, private photos, or just a present for your loved one in a word files, all these are files, that you need to protect on your computer, so that other people can not access them, or even see them.

The first problem here is that the operating system Windows XP does not have encryption software, when you install it. The best way to do the job is to get third party software that you can use to hide and encrypt your files and folders. There are many different programs that you can use, such as WinCry, a free program, or a commercial version, called Folder Guard. These programs will give you the biggest security that you can expect from a program on Windows XP.

You need to know, that there is no 100% security, and if someone really wants to get to the file, he will. But, for the normal user, you can use any of these programs.

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Popularity: 77% [?]

Have you ever been looking around on your Windows XP computer and have found a mysterious little file called Thumbs.db? Chances are, you have. And there is an even larger chance that you do not know what this file
does, if you need it or not, and how to remove it.

The purpose of this file is actually quite simple. Every time you have some type of media file in a folder, Windows automatically creates this file. This file is created so you can view thumbnails of pictures and movies without opening the whole file. You know how every time you open your pictures folder, you see a little preview image of each picture? Thumbs.db creates those!

Do you need these files? This is something you need to decide yourself. The Thumbs.db file is not essential for your systems operation, but it really is useful. If you do a lot of media editing, or just have a lot of personal pictures, it would be a good idea to keep these files. If you don't have a lot of media files on your computer, or if you use very descriptive titles for your files so you know exactly what the file looks like without seeing it, then you probably don't need it. This is a personal decision you have to make.

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Popularity: 77% [?]

If you would like to change the default program, that starts when you double click a file, you need to change the file associations.

The first step is to make Windows Explorer show you the extensions of files. The default setting in Windows is not showing the extensions, so you need to change that. Open the Windows explorer and click the "Tools" menu and "Folder options". In the "View" tab band scroll down until you see the "Hide extensions for known file types". This option needs to be unclicked (no tick there). Now, after you click ok, you will be able to see the extensions for all the files.

Now you need to find a file that has the extension that you would like to change the association for. Right click on any file with that extension and choose the "Open with" option. If you see a warning window, then click "open with" again. A window will open with a list of all available programs. Optionally you will see a window saying "Windows cannot open this file". If this happens, click "Select the program from the list" and OK.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

Renaming a batch of files can be done using a program that is specialised for that or you can just use a short command in DOS mode of your Windows. The code is not problematic, and you will be able to use it even if you are not familiar with the DOS environment.

You can get into the DOS command prompt if you go to Start -> Run. Now you need to run the "cmd" program. So just type cmd and click OK. A new window will open, that will show you in what directory you are in. You need to navigate to the directory where you have the files that you would like to rename. Use the "cd.." and "cd target-directory" commands. "cd.." will get you to a directory lower, and "cd target-directory" will get you one directory up, into the target-directory that you specify. You can always go only one directory up, so if you would like to go to c:\program files\windows, you need to do "cd program files" and then "cd windows".

Now that you are in the target directory, use the command "ren *.txt *.doc". "Ren" gives the computer the command to rename files. The second part of the command (*.txt) tells the shell to take all the files with the extension .txt and the third part (*.doc) tells it to rename all the files into the .doc extension.

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Popularity: 42% [?]

The win386.swp file is a system file that is used by the Windows environment for the virtual memory. This means, that it uses your hard drive as if it would be another memory in your system. Using this means, that your computer will run faster and better. Windows will write into this file data, that it uses while running programs and other software on your computer. Normally, this is a very useful thing that you would like to have on your computer. If you try to delete it, you will see a warning window that will not allow you to delete it. And even if you do, Windows will create a new file.

The size of the file varies, but it can get really big, and with that use too much space on your disk. There are several ways how to deal with that. First one is that you go and limit the swap file (a swap file is how the win386.swp file is also called). This can mean that your computer will run a bit slower, but you will get some more free space on your disk.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

In the field of computer networks, there are lots of advancements that are happening every day. Lots of network protocols have been proposed for various applications. One such protocol is the file transfer protocol.

A protocol is nothing but a set of rules which will define how a file is transferred through the computer networks from one source computer to another destination computer. Today file transfer has been the base for most of the protocols. File transfer protocol commonly known as FTP, is used in web applications to transfer data in the form of files from one machine to another. 

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Located in the folder C:\Windows\System32 the ‘rundll’ file makes possible to run a DLL file as an application placing its libraries in the memory for better performance.

A few examples the rundll32.exe file can do to execute some commands in command prompt:

- creating shortcut
– locking Windows workstation
– log off, restart or/and shutdown the computer
– start screensaver
– run copy disk

The rundll32.exe file can also be found in the Task Manager in the Processes list or sometimes appears as an error message when shutting down the PC.

Here is the sample of the syntax for the rundll32.exe file:
rundll32.exe <dllname>,<entrypoint> <optional arguments>

To understand better, here is an example how to open the Control Panel:
rundll32.exe SHELL32.DLL,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,0 

Popularity: 10% [?]

Also known as Generic Host Process for Win32 Services the svchost.exe file is used by the Windows OS to load ‘DLL’ files needed to run the Operating System on your computer.

It can handle 32-bit DLLs and checks the services from the registry making a list of all the services which are needed to be loaded at startup. There can be more svchost.exe running at the same time as you might have noticed whenever checking Task Manager and each of them contains a group of services for better performances and easier debugging.

The svchost.exe file’s location is dependent on the operating system but can be found under the /system32/ directory or sometimes in the /dllcache/ directory.

The registry identifies the svchost.exe file at the following address:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Svchost

To view the service list run in Svchost you can write the following command in DOS PROMPT: Tasklist /SVC then hit Enter.

Caution!
The svchost.exe file is vulnerable and can be infected by viruses or Trojans that’s why it’s highly recommended to have antivirus software installed on your PC.

Do not attempt deleting the svchost.exe file as it is used by Windows and most probably the OS won’t function properly or won’t start any more.

Checking out what are in the svchost.exe file

Depending on the operating System, you can use either tlist.exe or tasklist.exe or by using Windows defender.

Running these applications you can type “tasklist /svc” or “tlist -s” (without quotation marks) in DOS Prompt.

Popularity: 7% [?]