what is i386 folder in my computer and why don't i reconize any of the files in it. where did this come from?

Question

is this a virus? if i erase it will i damage my computer? someone please help!!

Answer 1

IA-32, sometimes generically called x86-32, is the instruction set architecture of Intel's most successful microprocessors. Within various programming language directives it is also referred to as "i386". The term may be used to refer to the 32-bit extensions to the original x86 architecture, or to the architecture as a whole.

This architecture defines the instruction set for the family of microprocessors installed in the vast majority of personal computers in the world.

The term means Intel Architecture, 32-bit, which distinguishes it from the 16-bit versions of the architecture that preceded it, and the 64-bit architecture IA-64 (which is very different, although it has an IA-32 compatibility mode). The more generic name for all 16 and 32-bit versions of this architecture is x86.

Intel was the inventor and is the biggest supplier of processors compatible with this instruction set, but it is not the only supplier of such processors. The second biggest supplier is AMD. And then there are numerous even smaller more specialized suppliers of these processors.

This instruction set was introduced in the Intel 80386 microprocessor in 1985. This instruction set is still the basis of most PC microprocessors twenty years later in 2005. Even though the instruction set has remained intact, the successive generations of microprocessors that run it have become much faster at running it.

The IA-32 instruction set is usually described as a CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer) architecture, though such classifications have become less meaningful with advances in microprocessor design.

[It helps you run your computer. DON'T mess with it.]

Answer 2

i386 is part of the Windows XP install. You should leave the folder alone as it is part of the Window program. It is NOT a virus and will not harm your PC.

Answer 3

It is where the KERNEL drivers and Dynamic Link Libraries stored.