Files in Windows that are saved to large installation CD-ROM drives are compressed with the “EX_” nomenclature extension. The file indicates a compressed file that can be expanded using the “expand.exe” command in the DOS command prompt. The files are compressed to fit on a CD-ROM and expanded during installation. However, you can manually unzip these files through the DOS console.
Instructions
1
Click the Windows “Start” button and select “Run”. Type “cmd” in the text box and press the “Enter” key.
2
type “cd “to navigate to the location of the compressed file. For example, if you want to navigate to a file named MYEXE.EXE in the” C: \\ dir “directory, type” cd mydir “and press” Enter “.
3
Type “expand “in the command prompt. The expand.exe is a command internal to the Windows operating system that expands compressed files. For example, if you have a file named” myfile.ex_ “and want to decompress the file into a directory of name “c: \\ myexpandedfile” enter this command: expand myfile.ex_ c: \\ myexpandedfile \\ MyFile.exe
4
Type “cd ..”. You go back to the “c: \\” directory. Type “cd myexpandedfile” to change to the directory that contains the file you just unzipped.
5
type “dir” in the command prompt. You should see the file in the directory listing.
