What is file 000?

A file with the 000 extension is most likely an Indexing Service data file used to store locations where the Windows operating system can perform file searches.

This article describes several file formats that use the 000 file extension, including how to open each one.

What is file 000?

A file with the 000 extension is most likely an Indexing Service data file used to store locations so that the Windows operating system can perform file searches.

Another file type that uses the 000 file extension is the Virtual CD ISO format. You will almost always see these files alongside VC4 files.

Trend Micro antivirus also uses this extension for the storage format of samples that help the program identify new malware threats.

Instead, the 000 file may be a DoubleSpace compressed file. Microsoft DoubleSpace (later renamed DriveSpace) was a compression utility used in the old MS-DOS operating system. The 000 file extension was also used by the data format used as part of the Windows CE installation process.

However, other applications may add the .000 extension to files for various purposes such as backing up data or storing "partial" files.

What is file 000? Picture 1 What is file 000? Picture 1

How to open file 000

File 000 cannot be opened as an Indexing Data file or compressed file directly, but instead Windows will use it when needed.

If the 000 file is in Virtual CD ISO format, you can open it with H+H Software's Virtual CD program or any other program that recognizes the proprietary disc format such as EZB Systems' UltraISO or Smart Projects' IsoBuster.

Windows CE installation data files are used by the program's installer to explain which CAB files in the installation package should be installed. There is no good reason to open these 000 type files.

Although Trend Micro software also uses 000 files, you cannot open them manually with the program. The software will automatically use these files when they are placed in a specific folder in the program's installation directory.

Any 000 files you find as part of a backup set or archive, especially when they are saved with other numbered extensions like 001, 002, ., are meant to be used together and combined (possibly uncompressed) with whatever backup software or archive utility created them.

If none of the above programs work with the 000 file you have, try opening the file in Notepad++ or some other text editor to see if there is any readable text that can point you to the program that created the file. This can be an especially useful trick if the 000 file is just part of a split archive or backup, such as a multi-part RAR archive.

How to convert file 000

While 000 files have many uses, there aren't many situations where you'll need to convert a file to another format. However, if you do need to, you'll likely be doing so through the same program that opened the 000 file. This is usually done through some sort of Save As or Export menu option .

If you know that the file 000 (or 001, 002, etc.) you own might be part of a video or some other large file, then you'll need to gather all those numbered extensions together, combine/uncompress them with any split/compressed parts, then you'll have access to the actual total file.

Still can't open the file?

People can easily get confused by file extensions. But similarly spelled file extensions are not always related, meaning they cannot always be opened with the same program.

00 is a typical example in the case of 000 files. It is missing a zero and at first glance seems to be related to one of the formats described above. But in fact, 00 files are saved game files used by Ur-Quan Master, so they will not open with the programs mentioned above, and the game will not be able to view 000 files either.

There are also a number of other similar file extensions - 001, 002, 003, etc. - most of which are partial files, but some are completely unrelated to anything we've talked about so far. For example, some 001 files are fax images used by eFax.com.