What are these file types? (clearing hard drive, needs help)

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Elheru Aran
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What are these file types? (clearing hard drive, needs help)

Post by Elheru Aran »

Okay, I'm cleanin' up the old drive. I do a search for anything changed/modified in the past week or so upon a suggestion from Rax, and I come across an shitload of files... .bak, .met, PF, etc.

Here are all of them, as far as I can tell...

.met
.dat (the icon is a Windows Media Player file? i don't know what's up with that)
.bak
.part
A whole host of '.dll' files followed by different three-digit numbers like 023, 030, 068
(edit) By the above, I mean something like, "system.dll.030" or some such...

Oh yes, and I've got something called 'MyWay" that's got something called "MyBar" inside it... but I don't have a search bar or anything installed... and I can't delete it!!! Adware? :x

Thanks...
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Terr Fangbite
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Post by Terr Fangbite »

myway and mybar are spyware or adware whatever you want to call it. Have fun removing them.
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General Zod
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Post by General Zod »

.dat are data files, usually made when windows does scandisk and defrags.

.part are files made when downloading a file with a download manager of some sort, or with firefox, and they don't finish downloading completely for whatever reason.

not sure on the other two.
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Elheru Aran
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Post by Elheru Aran »

So what should I keep and what should I terminate with extreme prejudice?
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Mad
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Re: What are these file types? (clearing hard drive, needs h

Post by Mad »

.met

Dunno.

.dat

Generic extention for data files. This could be anything. If stored in the root directory, they are usually Scandisk recoveries that can usually be safely deleted. Elsewhere, they are probably data files used by the program in the folder they are located in.

.bak

Typically a backup file. Usually auto-generated by a program when it makes a change to something. May be a document or configuration file. It's usually safe to delete them, though depending on the program that generated them, they may reappear pretty quickly.

.part

Partially downloaded file, used by Firefox and probably other browsers/download managers. Either finish downloading the item, or you can safely delete it.
A whole host of '.dll' files followed by different three-digit numbers like 023, 030, 068
(edit) By the above, I mean something like, "system.dll.030" or some such...
Dunno.
Later...
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