How do I change a file's file type (not only file association)?


  1. awd
    Posts : 3
    windows 7
       New #1

    How do I change a file's file type (not only file association)?


    I need to change a zip file to an epub file. I have heard this can be done, but when I add the .epub after the file name, I notice the file is still actually zip type file when I right click properties. This is causing a problem when I try to open it in in different ebook reader programs.

    I know there is a way to change a file's actual file type, but I don't know how. Perhaps there is a software or I need to go into the registry?

    I can do this either with windows 7 or XP home, because I have two computers. So help on either operating system would be great?

    As a related question, I am wondering does changing a file's icon type actually change the file type or just the icon?
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  3. kado897
    Posts : 10,455
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
       New #2

    Hi awd and welcome to Seven Forums.

    I take it that your zip file is an e-book. Changing the extension does nothing to change the format of the data. If you have need to convert an e-book from one format to another try Calibre. In addition to managing e-books it allows you to convert from one form to another. calibre - E-book management
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  4. awd
    Posts : 3
    windows 7
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    kado897 said:
    Hi awd and welcome to Seven Forums.

    I take it that your zip file is an e-book. Changing the extension does nothing to change the format of the data. If you have need to convert an e-book from one format to another try Calibre. In addition to managing e-books it allows you to convert from one form to another. calibre - E-book management
    Thanks for the response. I already tried calibre because it DOES have a built in converter from zip to epub. However, it is not working very well with large files and that is what I need it for.

    I got the idea of building my own epubs from the tutorial for making epub files by hand at .epub eBooks Tutorial - Part 3: Turning Your Content into an eBook . There is PART 1 PART 2 AND PART 3. Specifically PART 3 talks about changing the file extension from .zip to .epub. But as I said, it still remains a zip file and doesn't seem to open in some ebook readers, even after I follow his exact steps.

    Therefore, I thought maybe there was a way to actually change the file type to a TRUE epub because all of the files contained in the ZIP file are the same ones contained in an epub file.
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  6. kado897
    Posts : 10,455
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
       New #4

    awd said:
    kado897 said:
    Hi awd and welcome to Seven Forums.

    I take it that your zip file is an e-book. Changing the extension does nothing to change the format of the data. If you have need to convert an e-book from one format to another try Calibre. In addition to managing e-books it allows you to convert from one form to another. calibre - E-book management
    Thanks for the response. I already tried calibre because it DOES have a built in converter from zip to epub. However, it is not working very well with large files and that is what I need it for.

    I got the idea of building my own epubs from the tutorial for making epub files by hand at .epub eBooks Tutorial - Part 3: Turning Your Content into an eBook . There is PART 1 PART 2 AND PART 3. Specifically PART 3 talks about changing the file extension from .zip to .epub. But as I said, it still remains a zip file and doesn't seem to open in some ebook readers, even after I follow his exact steps.

    Therefore, I thought maybe there was a way to actually change the file type to a TRUE epub because all of the files contained in the ZIP file are the same ones contained in an epub file.
    That's interesting. I didn't know that. I wonder if Calibre would recognize your renamed file as e-pub. If it does you could convert from e-pub to e-pub to get a more robust format. Be careful as it will overwrite the original.
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  7. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       New #5

    It works for certain filetypes. I have done that eg. for videos. It is very easy. Just do it with a rename in Explorer.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails How do I change a file's file type (not only file association)?-2011-10-15_1937.png  
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  8. kado897
    Posts : 10,455
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
       New #6

    Yes I have seen that before. I just didn't know that the internal structure of a zip file was similar to epub. I've just checked and 7zip can explore an epub file.
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  10. awd
    Posts : 3
    windows 7
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    kado897 said:
    Yes I have seen that before. I just didn't know that the internal structure of a zip file was similar to epub. I've just checked and 7zip can explore an epub file.
    Are you saying that 7ZIP offers something unique in handling EPUB files that WINZIP does not?

    From what I have tried, you can open an epub file with a zip or .rar program (such as WINZIP AND WINRAR) and it will show all of the files that make up the epub file. You can then make edits and then zip it up again.

    However, when you zip it up again, it is NOT an epub anymore but a ZIP or RAR file. THUS...THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM LIES. If I want to make changes to my epub files, THEN HOW DO I REBUILD THE EPUB FILE WITH THE NEW CHANGES?

    WHAT I HAVE TRIED SO FAR: Re-ZIPPING and then changing the zip extension to epub does not seem to really work. It still truly remains a ZIP filetype.
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  11. kado897
    Posts : 10,455
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
       New #8

    EPUB - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    awd said:
    kado897 said:
    Yes I have seen that before. I just didn't know that the internal structure of a zip file was similar to epub. I've just checked and 7zip can explore an epub file.
    Are you saying that 7ZIP offers something unique in handling EPUB files that WINZIP does not?

    From what I have tried, you can open an epub file with a zip or .rar program (such as WINZIP AND WINRAR) and it will show all of the files that make up the epub file. You can then make edits and then zip it up again.

    However, when you zip it up again, it is NOT an epub anymore but a ZIP or RAR file. THUS...THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM LIES. If I want to make changes to my epub files, THEN HOW DO I REBUILD THE EPUB FILE WITH THE NEW CHANGES?

    WHAT I HAVE TRIED SO FAR: Re-ZIPPING and then changing the zip extension to epub does not seem to really work. It still truly remains a ZIP filetype.
    No I just used 7zip to explore the container of an epub file. It can't save them. There is an interesting article in Wikipedia about the structure of an epub file.EPUB - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  12. Corazon
    Posts : 1,781
    Windows 7 Professional SP1 32-bit
       New #9

    There's an option in Control Panel -> Folder Options named Hide extensions for known file types. I'm pretty sure if you uncheck that, you can change any file's actual extension (instead of simply turning abc.zip into abc.epub.zip). I've always kept this setting off and never had an issue changing file extensions.
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