Have you ever cam across a file with an extension called .dat; and failed to open  that file… but are curious what that file type is and the data it contains.

So first of all let you know dat file type is nor associated with any particular program it is just an extension which a program creates while at the run time… and it is just like a database file. In earlier days of computing it was one the most used file extension to save data files but after the evolution of VCD disk that extension was then used to save the video files which then; at  the time was not associated with any program but windows media player was well able to open them.

But now what if you still have any file but not a video file and want to open that file… then the best way to check the location where you have found the file on your computer, it’s found location may give you a clue as to which program created it, which in turn may provide a clue as to which program can open it. Also, the date and time that the .dat file was created/last modified can sometimes help if you know what software you were using at that point.

If it does not help then use any text editor like notepad which can open any extension; and if there will be any data as if you are looking for then it will be displayed… if else the file can not be decoded.. and …(forget it)

So in summary, there’s no way of knowing which program can open a .dat file, as the .dat extension simply means data if it is other than the video cd disk format.

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