I've been creating registry entries for unknown file types on my computer. I've been having a hard time figuring out what some of these are, I've spent hours googling them but the sites I've found seem to be talking about different files than the ones in system32. Does anybody know what kind of file spcinstrumentation.man is? I'm pretty sure it's not a Unix Manual.
I use the TrID program to learn what a file really is, regardless of its extension. It'll tell a file type based on its contents rather on its name.
Regardless, I also have this same file, and it seems to be standard. Opening it in simple notepad will show it's actually an XML file describing an "instrumentation manifest" (which justifies the file name). No idea what it really does, but most likely it's part of Windows, so I would say to leave it alone.
It's definitely not a man page, as the extension would imply, but a deviation from the convention regarding file extensions. Just an example that shows that file extensions are 100% meaningless to what a file really is.
Hi PDXmatt,
That file is part of the updating process - usually seen in the CBS log
Allthough if you google it there are reports its a virus
Roy
It seems like every time I google a file from the Windows or System32 folder I find reports of them being a possible virus. It's so hard to figure out what some of these files actually do. Does anyone know what ativcaxx.vp or iglhxa64.vp are? They appear to be some kind of driver file, but I'm really curious what exactly they're for so I can give .vp an accurate name in the registry
You're doing this backwards and making extra work for yourself. You don't have to know the purpose of every system32 file, of which I have 16,685. Windows has a total of 120,000. Your system knows what to do with them. Wait till you come upon an unknown file while working, and then see if any of your programs open it. You'll find there are very few anyway.
Some sites tell you every file is a virus to get you to download a phony A-V program. There's a reliable list at bleepingcomputer.com.
I know I don't have to, it's just something I've been doing for the hell of it. I'm only interested in what kind of driver it is so I can give it a accurate name in the registry. It's just annoying googling these files, but not one of the results actually say what it is. I've been creating a key for the extensions in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, then making a (EXT)_auto_file key that I point it to. I've probably identified over a hundred file types like this.
You won't find the purpose of most of them because you won't be using them.They're used by the system under the hood, and you won't be aware of most of them working. You'll never have the need to start up most of them manually. I occasionally read .dat files, Readme.txt and .ini files in Notepad, and that's about it.
Not sure how deep you want to take this, it can be quite a rabbit hole
This is a section from MSDN that gives advice and suggestions ...
File Types and File Associations (Windows)
Yeah, I know I don't need to open them. It's just so it shows what kind of file it is in details, tiles and content view. There's no need for me to do it, I'm just curious about what they are.
Thanks, I've done most of the file types I was curious about, so I'm pretty much done for now. I know I'll never be able to identify every file type, it was just for fun.Not sure how deep you want to take this, it can be quite a rabbit hole
This is a section from MSDN that gives advice and suggestions ...
File Types and File Associations (Windows)
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