X86 File Extension
Have a problem opening a .X86 file? We collect information about file formats and can explain what X86 files are. Additionally we recommend software suitable for opening or converting such files.
Have a problem opening a .X86 file? We collect information about file formats and can explain what X86 files are. Additionally we recommend software suitable for opening or converting such files.
The .x86 filename extension is related to the x86 CPU (Central Processor Unit) architecture by Intel. x86 has been a mainstream 32-bit PC architecture for more than a decade, having started from Intel 80386 (i386), the first 32-bit CPU. All later Intel, AMD and other Intel-compatible CPU's support x86 instructions.
The .x86 extension is used by Microsoft and other software vendors in their software installation packages to distinguish x86 runtime files from the x86-64, amd64 and ia64 versions of the same, if a software package contains runtimes for several supported CPU architectures.
An .x86 file is a binary file with executable machine code compiled specifically for x86-compatible CPU's. In Windows, .x86 files are basically EXE files in the PE (Portable Executable) format. An .x86 file can be either statically or dynamically linked to DLL libraries that it depends on to run.
None of actual applications would have the .x86 extension, and this extension has no default association in Windows. An .x86 binary cannot be directly run, unless the extension is changed to .exe.
In GNU/Linux, the .x86 extension is normally assigned to kernel-level plaintext shell (sh) scripts that are run to configure support of Intel-compatible CPU's by the kernel and its modules. Occasionally, an .x86 file in GNU/Linux can be an ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) binary executable file compiled for the x86 CPU architecture. The 'file' command can be used to determine the actual file format basing on its contents.