File with extension .dat

[Guest]

I have a file with an extension of .dat. I was able to open it with notepad but it is just full of characters. What program should I use to be able to open it and read the contents. This file is and index in my computer's cookies file. I also tried using other extension but this is about the only extension that would open it. I've read on some message with the same problem that if you deleted it, a program in the computer re-generate it again. This is exactly what is happening with this file. Even the contents of the file itself cannot be deleted; (it can be deleted but it regenerates itself). Can someone out there knows what is happening and could tell me the best way of solving this problem

Thanks in advance

Frank C.

 

[BrianB]

These files are written by various applications to contain customisabl
and other setup information rather like a .ini file. If you do a fil
search for *.dat you will probably get hundreds. These will tend to b
in binary/hex code rather than text.

I guess you will need to discover which application is using it.
would close everything down, then keep an eye on the file date/time a
I open them one by one