Microsoft KB Archive/913111

= How to use the Filever.exe tool to obtain specific information about a file in Windows =

Article ID: 913111

Article Last Modified on 10/11/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
 * Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
 * Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows XP Professional
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

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SUMMARY
''Microsoft includes the Filever.exe tool in the Support\Tools\Support.cab file on the Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows XP, and Microsoft Windows 2000 CDs. You can use this tool to obtain specific information about a file. This information includes version information and platform information. The Filever.exe tool is available in a 32-bit version and in a 64-bit version. You can run the 32-bit version of the tool on an x64-based computer. However, you cannot run the 64-bit version of the tool on a 32-bit computer.''



INTRODUCTION
This article describes how to use the Filever.exe tool to return detailed information about a file. This information includes the following:
 * The platform on which the file runs
 * The version of the file
 * The attributes of the file
 * The file type
 * The language of the file
 * Whether the file is a shipping type or a debug type
 * The file size
 * The date that the file was created
 * The path of the file



MORE INFORMATION
The Filever.exe tool is included in the Support.cab file on Microsoft Windows operating system CDs. This .cab file is located in the following folder on these CDs:



Note  is the letter of the CD drive.

To extract the Filever.exe tool, locate the Support.cab file by using Windows Explorer, right-click Filever.exe, and then click Extract. The copy of the Filever.exe tool that is included with 32-bit versions of Windows is a 32-bit program. The copy of the Filever.exe tool that is included with x64-based versions of Windows is a 64-bit program. The 32-bit version of the Filever.exe tool runs on an x64-based version of Windows. However, the 64-bit version of the Filever.exe tool does not run on a 32-bit version of Windows.

To download the Filever.exe tool, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=49AE8576-9BB9-4126-9761-BA8011FABF38&displaylang=en

Command-line switches
The Filever.exe tool uses the following syntax:

filever [/S] [/V] [/E] [/X] [/B] [/A] [/D] :][ ][ 

This tool supports the following command-line switches:
 * /S Displays files in the specified directory and all subdirectories.
 * /V Lists verbose version information if available.
 * /E Lists only executable files.
 * /X Displays short names that are generated for non-8dot3 file names.
 * /B Uses bare format (no directory listing).
 * /A Prevents the Filever.exe tool from displaying file attributes.
 * /D Prevents the Filever.exe tool from displaying the file date and time.

You can direct the output of the Filever.exe tool to a file by using the right angle bracket character (>). For example, to direct output to a file that is named Filelist.txt, type a command that is similar to the following:

filever.exe *.* /B >filelist.txt

Output
The following example shows the output that is generated when you type filever *.* /B in a folder that contains the Kbdhept.dll file:

-rash W32i64 DLL  -      5.2.3790.0 shp      9,728 03-25-2003 c:\windows\kbdhept.dll

This output is generated in sections. The following table shows these sections together with the sample Filever.exe output.

The following list describes the sections that appear in the Filever.exe tool output:  Attributes

The first section of the output displays the file attributes. In this example, -rash appears. Five positions are available for the following five attributes:

Directory

Read-only

Archive

System

Hidden

These attributes always appear in the same position. Multiple attributes may appear in the output. Header

The second section of the output contains the file header information. However, because the 32-bit version of the Filever.exe tool does not recognize x64-based files, the header information may appear differently when you run the 32-bit version of the Filever.exe tool against a 64-bit file. The following header information may appear in the second section of the output:  W32i64

This header represents a file from an Itanium-based system. This file type appears the same way in the output of the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Filever.exe tool. Wx64

This header represents an x64-based file type. The 64-bit version of the Filever.exe tool generates this header for an x64-based file. W32

This header represents an x64-based file type. The 32-bit version of the Filever.exe tool generates this header for an x64-based file.

Note This header differs from the 32-bit file header because the header does not include the letter &quot;i.&quot; W32i

This header represents an x86-based (32-bit) file. This file type appears the same way in the output of the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Filever.exe tool.</li> W16

This header represents a 16-bit file. This file type appears the same way in the output of the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Filever.exe tool.</li> DOS

This header represents an MS-DOS file.</li></ul> </li> Type

The third section in the output contains the file type, such as dynamic link library (DLL).</li> Language

The fourth section of the output contains the language. For example, for an English language file, ENU appears in this section.</li> Version

The fifth section in the output contains the file version.</li> Shipping type

The sixth section of the output contains the shipping type of the file. For a shipping version of the file, shp appears in this section. For a debug version of the file, dbg appears in this section. This section is blank for files or folders for which the shipping type does not apply. For example, this section is blank for text files or for folders.</li> Size

The seventh section of the output contains the size of the file.</li> Date

The eighth section of the output contains the file date.</li> Location

The ninth section of the output contains the path of the file.</li></ul>

Examples
The following examples show the Filever.exe tool output for Windows files on various hardware platforms.

The following output is generated from the 32-bit version of the Filever.exe tool for an x64-based file:

<pre class="fixed_text">--a-- W32   APP ENU   5.2.3790.1830 shp     88,064 03-24-2005 c:\windows\notepad.exe

The following output is generated from the 64-bit version of the Filever.exe tool for an x64 file:

<pre class="fixed_text">--a-- Wx64 APP ENU  5.2.3790.1830 shp     22,016 03-24-2005   C:\windows\rsdiag.exe

The following output is generated for a folder:

<pre class="fixed_text">d   -   -   -               -   -          0 08-31-2005 [c:\Windows\inf]

Note A folder is platform-independent. Therefore, the same output is generated from each version of the Filever.exe tool.

The following output is generated for a text-based file:

<pre class="fixed_text">-ra--   -   -   -               -   -      7,895 08-23-2001 c:\Windows\inf\1394.inf

Note A text-based file is platform-independent. Therefore, the same output is generated from each version of the Filever.exe tool. Additionally, this particular file has the read-only attribute and the archive attribute set.

The following output is generated for a file from an Itanium-based system:

<pre class="fixed_text">-rash W32i64 DLL  -      5.2.3790.0 shp      9,728 03-25-2003 c:\x64ver\kbdhept.dll

Note This particular file has the read-only, archive, system, and hidden attributes set.

The following output is generated for a 16-bit Windows file:

<pre class="fixed_text">--a-- W16   DLL ENU         1.7.0.0 shp     94,784 03-24-2005 c:\x64ver\twain.dll

The following output is generated for an MS-DOS file:

<pre class="fixed_text">--a-- DOS -   -       -    -    39,274  8/23/2001 c:\windows\system32\mem.exe

Additional query words: Content Maintenance 44967

Keywords: kbhowto kbinfo KB913111

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