HowToDisplay

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How to view, play, or display the contents of a computer file

Suppose you receive a computer file and virus-scan it. Suppose you find that the file is not malware (such as a virus or worm).

How do you see, hear, or experience what is inside that computer file properly?

• Overview
• Details for some types of files

• Overview

  1. Find out the type of the file that you have received. How:
     • Look at explicitly provided information.
       • Information at a World Wide Web site might state the type of file.
       • The person or group who provided the file might tell you the file type.
     • Use the complete name of the file to help you guess the file type. How:
       1. Make sure that you are viewing the entire name of the file. How:
          • Look for a period (.) that might appear somewhere in the middle of the file name.
            • Microsoft Windows users

              Microsoft Windows might have hidden that period. If so, use these instructions to reveal the period and the entire name of the file. (Adjust these instructions to match the Windows version that you are using).

              1. Click on the "Start" button.
              2. Point to "Settings".
              3. Click on "Folder Options...".
              4. In the "Folder Options" dialog box, click on the "View" tab.
              5. In the "Advanced settings:" area, find the "Files and Folders" section.
              6. In that section, click on the check-box labeled "Hide file extensions for known file types". Make sure that the check-mark in that check-box has disappeared.
              7. Click on the "Apply" button.
              8. Click on the "OK" button.
       2. Look at the characters to the right of the period (.) in the file name. Those characters are called the file name's extension. Often, the extension might tell you the type of the file.
          • Example
            • Suppose the name of a file is
              guide.pdf
            • The extension for that file name is
              pdf
            • In general, a pdf (or ".pdf") file is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.
            • The guide.pdf file is probably a Portable Document Format (or PDF) file (if the person who named the guide.pdf file also used these conventions).
  2. Use an approach or a combination of approaches appropriate for that type of file or situation.
     • Use of reader / viewer / player software
       • Use reader, viewer, or player software for the kind of file that you have received. Use that software to display the file.
       • How do you get a copy of that software? You might be able to download that software for free.
       • Example
         1. Suppose you have been unable to display properly a file called
            lesson1.mov
         2. The lesson1.mov file is a QuickTime movie (.mov) file.
         3. You download (and install) the QuickTime Movie Player software.
         4. You use that player software to play the lesson1.mov file.
     • File conversion
       • A computer system might already be able to handle several types of files. You might use appropriate software to try to convert the file into one of those types.
       • Example
         1. Suppose you cannot view the PDF file
            guide.pdf
            via a computer system at a public library.
         2. Suppose you are not allowed to install reader software on that computer system.
         3. You use an online conversion system at the Adobe Web site. That system tries to convert the PDF file, guide.pdf, into HTML (HyperText Markup Language) format.
         4. You use the Web browser software on that computer system to display the HTML version. Parts of the original PDF file are missing from the HTML version.
     • File extraction (or decompression)
       • A file ("archive") might contain a smaller-size ("compressed") copy of several other files. You might use appropriate software to extract a copy of a file from that archive.
       • Example
         1. Suppose you have been unable to use properly a file called
            book.zip
         2. In general, a .zip file might be an archive containing a compressed copy of other files.
         3. You download and install the software called EnZip.
         4. You use EnZip to extract from book.zip a copy of a file called
            chapter8.txt

• Details for some types of files

  • .doc files - Microsoft Word document files
  • .pdf files - Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files
  • .ppt files - Microsoft PowerPoint presentation files
  • .wmv files - Microsoft Windows Media Video files
  • .xls files - Microsoft Excel spreadsheet files

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This page was updated on March 6, 2005.

Copyright © 1998-2005 by Barry G. Wong. All rights reserved.