PCK File Extension

What is the .PCK file type?

As a short for 'Package,' the .pck extension is most frequently encountered denoting resource package files (.pck) in various games, mainly of the MMORPG genre. Each game uses its own, most often highly proprietary, format for packaging its resources, using the .pck extension merely as a generic file-type flag. A .pck file is generally a large binary container archive with core game resources (images, sounds, music, control scripts, etc.). Such .pck resource archives are always a target for modders who seek ways of extracting and re-packaging the contents after modification.

Examples of MMORPG's using .pck package files include Perfect World, Giant Bomb, SwordsMan Online, and many others. For each title, there are fan communities that may have an assortment of unofficial tools to deal with the game's PCK file format.

Another occurrence of the .pck extension relates to package files (.pck) created and maintained by Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 or System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007. A .pck file is a compressed version of a software package distributed through an SMS/SCCM site. PCK files are known to pile up fast (e.g., in the "SMSPKG" folder) and consume vast amounts of disk space, but they cannot simply be deleted without breaking the package distribution system. Detailed PCK-related how-to's are available on the Internet.

Quite specifically, the .pck extension has also been chosen by Intellect-Service (IS), a major Ukrainian software developer and provider of cryptographic solutions, for their proprietary public key certificate (.pck) file format. In pair with the secret key certificate (.sk), the .pck file serves as a digital signature. The .pck/.sk format is supported by IS software, e.g. MeDoc, IS-PRO, etc.

With GNU Mailman, an open-source mailing list management software from the Free Software Foundation, the .pck extension is used to designate queued messages temporarily saved as pre-processed, serialized Python objects. PCK files only exist for the messages currently queued for processing.

Software to open or convert PCK files

PassportPhoto by DigitalAlbum, Inc.

 

FunBook by DigitalPro

 

CamToPrint by DigitalAlbum, Inc.

 

Notepad++ by Notepad++ Team

 

Microsoft WTT Atlas - Studio by Microsoft

 

Free File Viewer Pro

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