Hi, can anyone tell me what a "BAK File" is, and if I wanted to open it, what would program would i use?

Answer 1

It is a backup file and can be any type of file. The original file may be called abcd.wgt for the widget program and the backup would be abcd.wgt. Just removing the BAK serves no purpose unless you know the original extension.

Answer 2

In DOS systems, a file with a.BAK extension, indicating that the file is a backup. Many applications produce BAK files as part of their autosave procedure.

The .BAK extension is typically used for backups of various things. You'd have to find out which program created the backup and then know if that program typically creates regular backups or of these are some sort of special backup. If you're lucky that program will have captured the extension but if it just shows up as a generic icon in Windows then you might try the TrID system (http://marcopon.trustedwebhost.com/onlinetrid/trid.aspx) to identify it; but that would be a longshot. Sometimes the directory it's in will give you some indication. The problem is that the extension is so very generic that it could be just about anything and, as such, there is no way to give you a yes or no answer to your question.

Answer 3

It's a backup file. But there are loads of programs that use this extention - you'll need to know which program made it in order to read it



http://www.filext.com/ - is a great site to find out what programs read specific files;


Extract from'
http://www.filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=bak
"Various programs use this extension; too many to list individually. Take clues from the location of the file as a possible pointer to exactly which program is producing the file. The file's date and time can also help if you know which programs you were running when the file was written. "

Answer 4

In MS-DOS systems, it is a file with a.BAK extension, indicating that the file is a backup. Many applications produce BAK files as part of their autosave procedure. Periodically, you may want to search for BAK files and delete old ones.

You could try to open it with Notepad

Answer 5

BAK is short for backup. Its used to indicate the file is a backup. For example, myofficeletter.txt.bak indicates that it is a backup of myofficeletter.txt

Before you get confused, understand that the only difference is the name. The difference between myofficeletter.txt and txt.bak is the name. If you wanted to open the program, first check if it looks something like aname.ext.bak. ext can be something like txt, doc, xls, jpg, or some three letters. If so, remove bak, and open the document.

Otherwise, you'll have to determine if the file is a binary file or not. If it is a text file, you can open it up in a text editor. If it is a binary file, you'll have to look at it in a binary viewer like a hex editor, look for clues to indicate what kind of file it is, like magic bytes, and then either use the appropriate program or continue looking at it in a binary viewer.

Answer 6

A .bak file is a backup file created by some program. You cannot just open the file...the program can restore the file if need be.

Answer 7

In DOS systems, a file with a.BAK extension, indicating that the file is a backup. Many applications produce BAK files as part of their autosave procedure. Periodically, you may want to search for BAK files and delete old ones.

Answer 8

BAK file is usually a backup file containing the previous version of a file you have changed.

For instance you create a text file and save as text.txt, you then change the file and save you get a backup file called text.bak that is the original version. Each time you save the file the BAK file contains the previous version.

The program used to open it would depend on what type of file it is a backup of

Answer 9

Sometimes when you save a file, it will create a BAK file to back up the old file.

Answer 10

a bak file is usually a BAcKup file and it's well, for backup, and if you wanted to use it you'd take the .bak off the end and then open it. Usually.