File Extension DLL

Everything You Need To Know About File Extensions
Descriptions. Workarounds. Issues

File Extension DLL

In this article I'd like to cover file extensions used to store executable code. More specifically we will discuss EXE, SYS, COM, LNK and DLL file extensions.

Have you ever wondered what happens when you select certain application in the Windows operating system and start it? When you click on an application icon in the start menu Windows looks for an EXE file associated with this application and starts executing it.

File extension EXE stands for executable. Files with EXE extension contain commands coded in machine language which computer executes and as a result you see functional application.

But not all executable code could fit in a single EXE file. Plus some code may need to be shared between applications. This is why DLL files were introduced.

File extension DLL stands for Dynamic Link Library. DLL file contains helper system code which is used by applications for certain features. Operating system opens DLL file which are required by application when it is loading application executable.

During MS-DOS era COM file extension was very popular. It stands for command file and was used by MS-DOS for application files.

File extenson SYS stands for system file. It is very frequently used by operating system to store parts of executable code. An example of SYS files is config.sys which is used to store system configuration. Another example is pagefile.sys which stores windows paging file (disk dump of system memory).

LNK is a file extension which stands for LINK. This file links an item in windows start menu with an executable file (EXE or COM file).

Every executable file contains low level assembly commands which only computer processor (CPU) could understand. You can decode these files using disassembler. But it is not recommended for an average computer user to perform this operation. Usually executable files are very hard to view and only could be edited and viewed by professional software engineers.

If you cannot open executable file something may be broken in windows operating system. To check for problems you may have to read through windows documentation. One more possibility is windows registry error. To check for registry errors you could download registry cleaner.

Read in German.

There are many ways to open file with specific file extension. There could be also multiple applications which you can use to open DLL file. Learn more how to open APK file. Also you can try using hex or text editors like HexView or Notepad++ to open dll files.

We hope you found this description of File Extension DLL useful.

    • We also created an article for you which step by step describes how to open any file extension on your computer.

      This article will teach you several simple methods which will allow you to figure out what is stored inside the file.

      Read an article on how to open any file extension

    • Find more information about file extension and other file problems in File Extension Knowledge Base

    • Also if you find an application on the web which claims to open your file make sure to scan it for viruses

      It is a very popular trick for an application to claim something it cannot do and instead install malware on your computer

      Read an article on Viruses, Trojans and Adware

File Extension Library
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
0...9

Extensions covered by File Extension Guru at this moment:

  pdf    rar    3gp    pps    dat    xls    flv    dll    torrent    bin    unknown    vob    kmz    doc    ppt    exe    sys    mov    mp4    m4a    zip    wpd    dmg    ica    thm    tmp    odt    xpi    bup    wmv    mkv    part    dwg    db    3g2    kml    mdf    bak    sav    r00    tar    jar    lzh    temp    daa    iso    cue    uif    r01    r02    r03    r04    r05    r06    r07    r08    r09    ifo    lha    7z    gz  

(C) 2005-2008 FileExtensionGuru.com - All Rights Reserved Worldwide.