How to use the Filever.exe tool to obtain specific information about a file in Windows (913111)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
  • 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
  • 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
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

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:

drive:\Support\Tools

Note drive 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] [[drive:][path][file_name]]

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.
AttributesHeaderTypeLanguageVersionShipping
type		SizeDateLocation
-rashW32i64DLL-5.2.3790.0shp9,728 03-25-2003c:\windows\kbdhept.dll
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 "i."
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • DOS
      This header represents an MS-DOS file.
  • Type
    The third section in the output contains the file type, such as dynamic link library (DLL).
  • Language
    The fourth section of the output contains the language. For example, for an English language file, ENU appears in this section.
  • Version
    The fifth section in the output contains the file version.
  • 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.
  • Size
    The seventh section of the output contains the size of the file.
  • Date
    The eighth section of the output contains the file date.
  • Location
    The ninth section of the output contains the path of the file.

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:

--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:

--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: 

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: 

-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:

-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:

--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:

--a-- DOS  -	- 		-    -    39,274  8/23/2001 c:\windows\system32\mem.exe

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:1/19/2006
Keywords:kbhowto kbinfo KB913111 kbAudDeveloper kbAudEndUser kbAudITPRO
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