How do I open a .dat file from Windows XP? Can I download software to do this?

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Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 02 Oct 2006 10:08 PDT

Howdy jjdon-ga,

A .dat file is a "data" file and can be one of several formats.

Do you know what program was used to make these .dat files, or the basic
content of them?

You can try this as well, to get an idea of the format of your .dat files.

- Go to Start, Programs, Accessories and then click on Notepad
- In Notepad, go to File then click on Open
- In the "Files of type:" menu, select "All Files"
- Go to where you saved the .dat file in question and click it open

At this point, you might be able to see the format of the file, that is,
if it is a text file, perhaps fields (first name, last name) separated
by commas or tabs, etc.

If you can figure out the format of your .dat file, or even "cut and
paste" a part of it to here (no personal information, please) then I can
better advise you what program you would need to properly view or work
with the file.  Thanks!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

.DAT files are used by serveral programs to store data.
There isn't really any point on opening them.

You may want to try opening the file in Windows Media Player,
sometimes videos are stored as .dat and windows media can open them
for you.

usrhlp