How to open file with INI extension?

A detailed description
The INI is a file format which stands for windows Initialization file. This file format contains configuration information. This information is entered in a format that is not only predefined but also very simple. This format is usually employed by applications based on Windows and Windows operation system so that the information can be stored about the operating environment and preferences of a user. These files have a simple format with plain text files which include the fundamental structure of various sections and properties. Unicode is never supported by INI files and the security of INI files is not at key level that means the administrators can modify it.

The INI file extension belongs to the category Settings Files. The extended name of this file format is Windows Initialization File. Below is a list of programs that support files with this extension. Just download one of them, then double click on the INI file, which did not want to open and manually select the program installed by default. The INI file should open now without any problem.

It can also happen that, despite the installation of one of the following programs, your INI file will still return an error when you try to run it. In such a case, refer to the next part of our article, where we present solutions to most problems that may occur when you try to work with the new file extension, which is the INI.

The contents covered by the rest of the article:

• Association of the INI file with the installed software
• Possible problems with the INI file
• Manually adding an entry with information about the INI file to the Windows Registry

INI file extension

Associating the INI file with the installed software

At the first start of the INI file, after installing a new application from the list above, the operating system should automatically associate our INI file with the installed program. However, if that did not happen, we can do this step ourselves. Therefore, it is necessary to:

• Right-click the INI file that we want to open, then clicking the option "Open with"
• Then go to the "Choose default program" and we look for the path where our new application has been installed (in most cases it is the "Program Files" directory on drive C: at our computer and then the folder with the name of the installed program)
• Confirm by pressing the OK button

When you do this, the operating system should automatically associate our INI extension with the new application. If for some reason this operation could not be performed in the manner indicated, see how to add association manually in the Windows Registry

Possible problems with the INI file

Typical error of the INI extension is shown by an error message when you try to open or read a file with extension that is not compatible with the programs installed on your computer. If while trying to open a INI file Windows will not be able to locate a particular program, the following errors may be displayed "No script engine for INI file extension", "Invalid file extension: undefined", "Incompatible file extension and file table", "Invalid file extension". It is important to react quickly and fix errors that may be caused by the following problems:

The file may be corrupt
In this case, the solution may be to find another copy of the INI file, to ask for another copy of it (if you got it from another person), or to try to download it again from the internet.
Entries of associations of the INI file in the Windows Registry may be incorrect
In this case, you can try to delete the file for the extension of the INI file and create it again. The information about how to find the registry entry can be found in the further part of the article
The entry containing the file associations in the Registry may have been deleted.
In this case, you must associate the INI file with the application either by selecting the application (information here) or manually (information here).
The application for supporting the INI file has not been entirely installed.
Check if the application opens up properly. If there is a problem, you can try to install it again.
The file has been infected by viruses or spyware.
Install any antivirus program, specializing in the removal of Malware and Spyware types of viruses, scan your computer and try again.
Your computer does not have sufficient resources to the currently open the INI file.
To open some files, the program needs now a large amount of CPU resources. If you are using many applications at the moment, try closing unnecessary ones and try again.
We do not have updated drivers for the application to open the file.
We install all the drivers that are needed to run the application that supports the INI file.

Manual entry of the file type to the Windows Registry

Very important!
Before you make any manual changes to the Windows Registry, make its copy earlier. With manual operations it is not difficult to make a mistake, and the changes are irreversible. Therefore, it is good to have a backup. Remember that the website is not liable for any damages that may arise during the use of the information given. If you are not sure that you can do these things, ask an expert for help.

How to do this?
Most of the items on the registry concerning the INI file are added automatically during installation of the program/application. In some situations, the user himself has to create a new registry entry, and type in the appropriate value. This method can be used to associate a file type with an existing application. Then locate the ProgID of the application in the registry. To access the Windows registry editor - click "Start", type "regedit", and then press ENTER.

To associate the INI file type with the new application, you must define the ProgID for a particular application and if you want to get information on defining a new ProgID, you should see the program identifiers. For information about file extensions and its associations with applications look in the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT .

To make it easier, here is an example:
We assume that we want a file type with a short extension .INI and a long extension .INI-file was opened using MyApplication. You should therefore use the syntax (creating in the registry a short extension .INI and a subkey for the long extension .INI-file) in the following way:

Have you ever got a file that you could not open? Probably the situation was that it had an extension not used before on your computer, e.g. INI. Such a situation could also take place with other extensions, but it always ended the same - giving you a headache when determining which program should be used to properly open the file.

Typically, Windows has the appropriate software to open the INI file or just preview its contents. Often, however, there is no such software, and then we need to identify what kind of file it is, and download the appropriate software to support it.

Many people have no idea where to start. The simplest solution is to visit our website and search for the appropriate extensions in our database.