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What Is That File?

whatisthatfile.com — A simple help tool for you to identify any unknown files on your computer. You can enter a filename and see if this file is a dangerous trojan, malware, or simply a standard Windows file.

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Pharoah6905 2 years 123 days ago, made popular 2 years 123 days ago

1909 diggs
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serra, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19Oooh, I love this! Sometimes you look in the Processes and say "What the hell?", and this is a great place to go when that happens!
- MonkeyFit, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3It couldn't identify some of the processes running on my comp such as PC-Cillin.
- LatvianHedgehog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+29when i see unknown process, i search for it in google, no tools needed.
- RezSav, on 10/12/2007, -14/+8Why wasn't this on the front page two days ago?!
- JustMatt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@LatvianHedgehog
  I usually do the same, and it works just fine, but this really is a cool site. I like that most of the explanations are very good and to the point, and many will tell you whether or not the process can be terminated. Also the quick look at the green/red/orangish yellow is great, even just as a peripheral look. I just did a rundown of my processes and did notice a couple that I had no purpose for. Dugg it. Saved deep in my bookmarks in case I ever have the need for it again.
bizarretist, on 10/12/2007, -82/+7This webpage assumes, without question, that the user is running Windows.

Lame.
- blhack, on 10/12/2007, -7/+45how insane of them, i mean, only 95% of the world does!
  idiot
- extreme101, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21and what is wrong with that.
  i though mac doesnt have virusus (so i hear all the mac fanboys say)
  and i doubt linux has many problems.
- danl_4, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12It's not lame, people running Windows are the ones most likely to need something like this. First of all, they are less likely to be able to figure this information out by other means, most of them being fairly computer illiterate (present company excluded, of course). Secondly, windows is the operating system most likely to be running trojans/spyware. Lastly, Windows is pretty much the only operating system that doesn't have pretty good utilities already in place to figure this kind of thing out.
- SuperSloth, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5Wait... you mean... you *don't* know what everything in 'top' or 'ps' is? It's freakin' Linux! Nothing runs that you don't go out of your way to tell to run!
- strcmp, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5It's fine that the article assumes Windows, but it should at least state that explicitly.
- binarymelon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I agree with most that yes for trojan/spy-ware issues this is pretty much only useful for Windows users. But if something like this was extended to *nix systems it would be extremely useful as a learning tool. For example someone tells you to edit /etc/fstab and you can go look up what that file actually is before you go making any changes.
- f0urtyfive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5How do you figure? Just because the majority of the users has added windows files... Click the "Add a File" button, and add your Linux files.
- djctown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2a mac works pretty good for this reason.
jpt62089, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9hmm.... Doesnt find half of the processes on my PC, they are probably still adding a lot though
- serra, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4What kind of crap do you have running? I just have basic stuff, pretty much, and it has found everything that I have looked for. I'm sure that it doesn't find every single program out there yet, but it seems to cover the basics, the things that you wonder about that are always running.
- KCorax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4half ? how about not recognizing hal.dll or ntldr ?
  I suppose I getting too spoiled from google΄s betas and have come to expect that all beta products work well...
- voltagex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Here's a Top Gear top tip. When a community project is incomplete, *help out*!
  
  http://www.whatisthatfile.com/index.php?nav=todo
- BlindIrishman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This has been around for quite a while, I added a load of stuff when it was just starting and I still have 2nd most submissions...
coding, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I'll digg because it seems easier than doing a google search and finding it at that lilutilities site which I am sure you all know what I'm talking about.
- priegog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Agreed. Great idea, great site!
robusteza, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4could i set it to delete it if it ever finds a standard windows file? now THAT would be useful.
- Ashex, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Do you really want to give a webpage access to your computer to it can delete a file?
zacharychaos, on 10/12/2007, -22/+2yeah, that already exists... isn't it called Google?
still.... this needs to be common for soccer moms and porn-downloading computer illiterate businessmen. Digg.
- magebomb11, on 10/12/2007, -20/+1qft
- serra, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7You can find them all at this one place, instead of having to do all of the Google work. I think that this is very nice, and way better than using Google to find everything.
- Mazz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You should at try things before you comment. Google has not been very useful for this lately. Some file names still pull up good results but about half pull up ads for sites that would love to tell you what the file is and if it is safe if you sign up.
  
  whats wrong with having a one stop link where we can get a clean interface and not worry about junk.
  
  I remember a lot of people saying awhile ago "why go to digg when I can just go to Slashdot"
  
  A lot of us geeks are just jerks
- zacharychaos, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0well whatever. I've never found google to be inadequate for that purpose.
Dash-2, on 10/12/2007, -12/+5Disappointed at first, but glad to see it's web 2.0 and user ran.

Plus Digg
blhack, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11i've got something similar to this on my computer. its called file, watch this:

john@secret:/media/hda3/home/john$ file Margot & The Nuclear So & So's-The Dust Of Retreat-06 - Barfight Revolution, Power Violence.m4a
Margot & The Nuclear So & So's-The Dust Of Retreat-06 - Barfight Revolution, Power Violence.m4a: ISO Media, MPEG v4 system, iTunes AAC-LC

john@secret:/media/hda3/home/john$ ls -gh Mar*
-rw-r--r-- 1 users 3.4M 2006-03-09 23:53 Margot & The Nuclear So & So's-The Dust Of Retreat-06 - Barfight Revolution, Power Violence.m4a
john@secret:/media/hda3/home/john$

magic, i know.
- rideagain, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5true, but file just tells you about the type of the file. Then you need to remember other commands that will tell you which package the file belongs to, and whether it has been modified since it was installed (I know the rpm tools can do that, I'm sure the debian/ubuntu toolset can as well. If anyone remembers how, please reply).
- prockcore, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I don't know the ubuntu/debian ones (wish I did)
  
  but for rpm:
  
  rpm -qf /path/to/file will tell you which package owns that file
  
  rpm -qVf /path/to/file will tell you if that file has changed
  rpm -qV packagename will check all the files of the specified package
  rpm -qVa will check every rpm installed
Thorandor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Very nice and promising program, found 20 out of 20 filenames I entered to test it. Digg!
golddigga, on 10/12/2007, -14/+3dupe.

it was dugg like 3 months ago
- lobbster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7yes it was but it had like 3 users and was pointless. if it grows it may be good
- FaerieFire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The domain was sold in the last few months, I believe, so they're just getting set up again...
- Unitarder, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yeah, someone needed to tell the other 635 people that they've already seen this before so they can undigg.
UberGeekGamer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This really helps out with my IT work
It's better then trying to find the answer on Google
Spoonicus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Quite a good tool that can be used as a backup for deficient anti-virus programs.. i run Norton and half the time when it finds a suspicious file it merely gives me the file name and nothing else.
brandonb, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Hasn't this been on here before?
yensed, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3More like "Whats That File Extension".. It would rock if you could enter in a full file "miscfile.exe" and it would tell you what program(s) that file is usually associated with.
- serra, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Um... what? That's what you do, you enter "miscfile.exe" and that's what it tells you. -raises eyebrow-
gb007, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0This looks cool
EvilZoo42, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Tried adding information about SETI@Home (setiathome_4.18_windows_intelx86.exe) and it responded with "Please stop adding fake data. We have logged your IP and will contact you in case of more abnormal behaviour.". Sounds like a false positive for their spam/junk block. Lame.
lobbster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1i added block checker
- voltagex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Block checker is pure evil. It kills puppies and eats kittens for breakfast.
CaughtThinking, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1awesome if they fix it.
antdude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I also like http://www.filext.com/ for file extensions.
- kamizu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yea, i like the way this website works, but where information is concerned, filext.com beats the rest. not only does it say what type it is, but what the file extension means, what applications work with it, etc etc.
  
  then again, this website is only beta...
Rggoalie3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I found this tool to be severely lacking. It was unable to identify these commonly used file extensions .js .dbx .pst .wab .tax .qdb .ost .eml and the list goes on and on... Additionally, I found that most file exts say "This file is usually safe." even on questionable extensions like .vbs

I also tried looking up many windows files and found that many were marked "Known to be a target for infections" I mean, explorer.exe, lsass.exe, boot.ini and regedit.exe are marked as targets...If you delete those files your in for a world of hurt. BTW, what virus/malware infects boot.ini???

Overall, I think this is a good effort, but can not stack up to a good google search. There simply is not enough context to judge if the file you are inputting is bad or not.
- Ashex, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Easy, it deletes it or modifies it so you can't boot.
- Rggoalie3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Right...but what virus/malware INFECTS boot.ini so that I would want to delete/recreate it? I understand that some viruses try to delete this file, but the indication I get from this site is that boot.ini maybe infected by malware. Like I said, there isn't enough context in this site.
bryan986, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This is entirely useless for checking if something is a virus. Most viruses use a name that is the same as a critical system component, so you cannot tell if it is a virus just by the file name.
- Quactaur, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Actually, they usually use a name that is a letter off, so it looks similar; and the find as you type on this site is great for that as it will show you the virus-named processes while you type.
AnotherIdiot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2If that site had a Firefox search plug-in I would use it a lot more.
CrookedAsterisk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Yes, this is good, but this is a duplicate.

Did you seriously not search at all before sumbitting? This was even on the frontpage:
http://digg.com/technology/WhatIsThatFile.com_-_Simple_yet_promising_Web_2.0_Ajax_beta_
TheShrike, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Command-i on a Mac. ;]

And in case someone thinks to mention files with custom icons, stuff like trojans disguised as mp3 files...
It says, in clear text what type of file it is, regardless of icon.
diggm0nkey, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Interesting tool, however how people have said in the past if you dont know about a file its much easier just to google it. At least that way you can see different opinions on files rather than just relaying on false positives off one site.

Reporting as Lame
Deusiah, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I find the best tool for this is Linux.
- afrazkhan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Are you crazy? It's far too complicated;
  
  file FILENAME
  
  See, just like everything else in Linux, too complex. I should be able to sit somewhere _near_ my computer and think about maybe wanting to know what the file is, and have the answer e-mailed directly TO MY BRAIN!
  
  N.B. Stupid digg won't let me use tag brackets. Stupid digg.
- technique, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Email directly to your brain? Wow, talk about a spam honey pot there. No thanks.
samKreuzer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1iso, nrg, nfo...
Sorry. No results found for .iso...

Endungen.de is relative complete. http://www.endungen.de/index.php/en
zouhair, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Nice idea
digg
simpletim, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0ech. windows only, and it didn't find anything I put into it. needs work
Jams, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I find this website invaluable: http://virusscan.jotti.org/

Upload any suspicious file and get it virus scanned by 15 different AVs.
marcopon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Very nice!

You may like this also: http://mark0.net/onlinetrid.aspx
You upload / submit any kind of file, and it will try to guess the filetype irregardless of his name and extension.
MikeZ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Cool, but if you have a mac with os 10.4 on it you just use spotlight
betona, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I use http://www.processlibrary.com myself; and have it in my Firefox search engine box.
Deviant_Tech, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yeah... it's called google.

Try again.
Progression, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Bookmarked!
wstrinz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://www.whatisthatfile.com/?f=290

Go and to that link and raise digg's rank on their search page.
Patrick_, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1digg++

However, this is flawed. For example, what if a virus renames itself to a valid name? Or what if there is a program out there called "worm.exe" that isn't malware? IMO, there should be a few MD5 hashes (or something like that) to compare against.
joeybenavides, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Very handy.
OregonTrail, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Type 'far', LOL!
kramer3d, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this is excellent! At first I thought it would be something like filext.com and I got ready to bury it, but thank god I clicked on the link :P
dognose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hmm.. explore.exe is either good, bad or ugly. Unfortunately, most of the worst spyware and stuff these days run w/ completely random names. Also, just plain removing the file will not solve the problem.
kkalyan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1very useful.But I i didnt want incremental search feature.simple submit button would have been enough.
hardwarehank, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Typed libGL.so.1....it didn't know what that was. Maybe they should pay attention to users of REAL operating systems.
truebullfan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1nice concept but seems pretty new. 90% files i tryed to find out it couldnt find. Here are some examples windows nt, xerox,Microsoft ActiveSync,netmeeting. None of these showed up.
- f0urtyfive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Those arent file names...
truebullfan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1oh i was just looking at fil names on my program files folder oops
yahoofrom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1lsass.exe
toddv, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3incomplete...I typed "a.out", and it found no information!!!! Doesn't bide well for thoroughness....
mortrek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1sorta useful I guess...
DIGGADEEP, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0google.com works pretty good too
quadvods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I did a couple of searches and even basic ones (qxd, eps..) are missing.. needless to say I added them! What a good way to improve a service like this.. get it visited by 1000's of digg visitors. Brilliant.
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What Is That File?

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