NFO is an abbreviation of "info", which is shorthand for information. It is used as a three-letter filename extension in 8.3 file systems. In Microsoft Windows, a file with an NFO filename extension is handled with a Microsoft software tool called System Information by default. Files with the NFO filename extension more commonly appear as generic ASCII text files designed to be viewed with a text editor or specially designed NFO viewers.The purpose of an NFO file is relative to that of the FILE_ID.DIZ which can be found in many ZIP archives today and during the era of the BBS. NFO files usually contain release information about a software program and are commonly associated with software piracy groups responsible for warez who include them to declare credit of and "bragging rights" over said release. A typical warez NFO file is highly decorated, donning a large ASCII art logo at the top with various software release and warez group information below. The designers of these NFO files frequently incorporate non-ASCII compliant characters in the file, primarily those found in Codepage 437 -- this can result in some interesting results on screen if the viewer is using an editor which does not support the standard. While there are specific viewers intended for opening NFO files, simply using Windows Notepad and selecting the Terminal font is generally sufficient, the only difference being that text will be black on a white background in Windows Notepad rather than white on a black background as seen when viewing in MS-DOS, making some of the ASCII art appear to be "inverse" like that of a film negative.
NFO files were first introduced by the PC software piracy organization The Humble Guys , or THG. Such organizations were also known as "warez groups". Early examples of this adoption were first seen in the early 1990s by THG in lieu of the more common " README.TXTA readme (or read me file contains information about other files in a directory and is very commonly distributed with computer software. Such a file is virtually always an ASCII text file, called "README. TXT" or "READ. ME" (or simply README). The content" or "README.1ST" file names. The perpetuation of this file extension legacy was carried on by "warez groups" which followed after THG and is still in use to this day, hence its strong presence on UsenetUsenet or Unix User Network is a communications medium in which users read and post textual messages (called "articles") to a number of distributed newsgroups (incorrectly called bulletin boards because of their similarity for the unaware observer). The m newsgroups which carry binaries and on other P2P file trading networks.
1 External Links
- NFO files by THG Evidence of the very first NFO files by The Humble Guys.
- DAMN NFO Viewer A viewer by ivanopulo created for the sole purpose of displaying NFO files.
2 See Also
- NFO is an acronymAcronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter or letters of words, such as NATO and HTML. Of the two words, acronym is the much more frequently used and known, and many speakers and writers refer to all abbreviations formed fro for "Naval Flight Officer" in the United States NavyThe United States Navy USN is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. Navy consists of slightly fewer than 300 ships and over 4,000 operational aircraft. It has over a half million men and women on active or ready re.
ASCII art
