File extension CAB
| File type | Windows Cabinet Compressed Archive |
| Developer | Microsoft |
| Ads |
What is a CAB file?
Files with the .CAB extension contain compressed data used in Windows software installations – namely system files, network components, and device drivers. This format is native to Microsoft Windows and supports ZIP, Quantum, and LZX compression.
CAB files are read by the Microsoft System Configuration Utility software, or msconfig.exe for short, which is launched from the system command line. Installers provided by Microsoft, such as the Setup API, Device Installer and AdvPack, usually use CAB file data for installation purposes.
Program(s) that can open the .CAB file
Windows
Mac OS
Linux
How to open CAB files
If you cannot open the CAB file on your computer - there may be several reasons. The first and most important reason (the most common) is the lack of a suitable software that supports CAB among those that are installed on your device.
A very simple way to solve this problem is to find and download the appropriate application. The first part of the task has already been done – the software supporting the CAB file can be found in the table. Now just download and install the appropriate application.
Possible problems with the CAB format files
The inability to open and operate the CAB file does not necessarily mean that you do not have an appropriate software installed on your computer. There may be other problems that also block our ability to operate the Windows Cabinet Compressed Archive file. Below is a list of possible problems.
- Corruption of a CAB file which is being opened
- Incorrect links to the CAB file in registry entries.
- Accidental deletion of the description of the CAB from the Windows registry
- Incomplete installation of an application that supports the CAB format
- The CAB file which is being opened is infected with an undesirable malware.
- The computer does not have enough hardware resources to cope with the opening of the CAB file.
- Drivers of equipment used by the computer to open a CAB file are out of date.
If you are sure that all of these reasons do not exist in your case (or have already been eliminated), the CAB file should operate with your programs without any problem. If the problem with the CAB file has not been solved, it may be due to the fact that in this case there is also another rare problem with the CAB file. In this case, the only you can do is to ask for assistance of a professional staff.
Similar extensions
| .adm | Administrator Policy Template Format |
| .adml | Microsoft Administrative Language-specific XML Template Format |
| .admx | Microsoft Administrative XML Template Format |
| .aml | Microsoft Assistance Markup Language |
| .ani | Animated Cursor |
| .ann | Microsoft Windows Help Annotation Format |
| .aos | Archos Signed Encrypted Data Format |
| .asec | Google Android Encrypted Application Package Format |
This extension
can be converted to:
How to associate the file with an installed software?
If you want to associate a file with a new program (e.g. my-file.CAB) you have two ways to do it. The first and the easiest one is to right-click on the selected CAB file. From the drop-down menu select "Choose default program", then click "Browse" and find the desired program. The whole operation must be confirmed by clicking OK. The second and more difficult to do is associate the CAB file extension to the corresponding software in the Windows Registry.
Is there one way to open unknown files?
Many files contain only simple text data. It is possible that while opening unknown files (e.g. CAB) with a simple text editor like Windows Notepad will allow us to see some of the data encoded in the file. This method allows you to preview the contents of many files, but probably not in such a structure as a program dedicated to support them.