WinWorld Archive Format Information
All software in our collection is archived in the 7z format using 7-Zip 9 for optimal compression. 7-Zip is a free, open-source archival utility, and we recommend using it for extracting any files downloaded from our software library.
The Winworld archives contain a number of different media types. This is necessary because vendors provided computer software on a wide variety of different media and formats.
Note: You may convert between many of the different floppy disk image types below using the HxC Disk Tools.
You will find the following media types inside the Winworld archives:
IMG/IMA/DSK/IMZ
.IMG/.IMA/.DSK files are "raw sector" images of standard DOS and Windows 360K, 720K, 1.2mb, 1.44mb, and DMF 1.7MB format floppy disks. You may mount them directly in an emulator or write them to a floppy disk using one of the following tools:
There are many other tools that support raw sector images.
.IMZ files are compressed WinImage files. Most emulators or disk tools don't support these. WinImage will open and convert them. These are technically just "Zip" files, a Zip utility will also extract the stored "IMA" image.
Please note that USB floppy drives will only write 720K and 1.44MB floppy disk images. Some USB floppy drives fail to support 720k like they are supposed to. When purchasing a USB floppy drive, make sure it supports 720k low density.
You can write Macintosh 1.44mb floppy disk images using a normal PC or USB floppy drive. 400K/800k images, however require special hardware.
Macintosh 400K/800k images on WinWorld are in .IMG/.IMA/.DSK raw sector format. These are primarily intended for use with emulators. A normal PC floppy controller can not write these. It is possible to write these to a floppy disk using a Kryoflux device. For more information, see the Kryoflux forum post on How to Write a Mac 400/800K sector image using a Kryoflux
Do not attempt to open IMG/IMA/DSK files directly with archive utilities like WinRAR, WinZip, or 7-Zip. This will often give incorrect results.
IMD
IMD files are ImageDisk floppy disk images. Use the ImageDisk utility to write these. ImageDisk requires an IBM PC compatible running DOS or Win9x.
On Winworld, ImageDisk files are used for non-DOS disks and MS/PC-DOS 1.x formatted disks. It also duplicates some primitive copy protection schemes.
It is possible to convert standard IBM PC .IMG/.IMA raw sector images to ImageDisk format. See this forum post on How to Convert RAW images to ImageDisk
The HxC disk tool can convert ImageDisk files for writing using a Kryoflux or SuperCard Pro.
TD0
TD0 files are Teledisk floppy disk images. Use Teledisk to write these. Teledisk requires an IBM PC compatible running DOS or Win9x. This format is similar to ImageDisk, but is older and less open. ImageDisk can convert most TD0 files to IMD format.
Teledisk is sometimes used for non-DOS disks and MS/PC-DOS 1.x formatted disks. It also duplicates some primitive copy protection schemes.
The HxC Disk tool can convert Teledisk files for writing using a Kryoflux or SuperCard Pro.
Kryoflux/RAW
Copy protected floppy disk images are usually archived with a Kryoflux. You must write these to a floppy disk using the Kryoflux hardware, or convert them to another format with the HxC disk tools.
SCP
Copy protected floppy disk images are also archived with the SuperCard Pro. You must write these to a floppy disk using the SuperCard Pro hardware, or convert them to another format with the HxC disk tools.
TC
Copy protected floppy disk images are sometimes also archived with a Central Point Deluxe Option Board AKA a TransCopy card. This is a very old, but once popular device. You must write these to a floppy disk using a TransCopy card. Note that the Transcopy software expects "IMG" extensions, but to avoid conflicts we must use the ".TC" file name extension.
Some emulators directly support the TC image format. It is possible to convert TC to other formats.
CP2
Some copy protected disks are archived with the Copy II PC software. These must be written with the Copy II PC program in conjunction with the Snatchit tool. This does not require special hardware, it only requires an IBM PC compatible and a standard (not USB) floppy drive. Not all copy protected disks can be successfully archived in this format, but many can.
ISO/BIN-CUE
CD-ROM disk images are archived as ISO or BIN-CUE files. These may be written with many different CD-ROM burner programs or mounted in emulators. We recommend ImgBurn. Files for most PC titles can be extracted from ISO images using WinImage, and some OSes support mounting ISO files as simulated CD drives.
SIT/HQX/BIN
Winworld prefers disk images, however some Apple Macintosh files may be in Stuffit Expander format. Since it is no longer practical to connect vintage Macintosh computers to the internet, these must be injected in to a Macintosh disk image using a tool such as HFVExplorer, and then extracted on the Macintosh.
ZIP
Some archives may contain ZIP files within the 7z file. You can open these with WinZip, or 7zip. Zips are usually used to preserve exact timestamps. Generic platform CP/M software is also distributed in a ZIP due to the lack of standard CP/M disk formats.
PDF/TXT
Most documentation on this site is either in plain text or Adobe PDF format. Adobe PDF files are opened using Adobe Acrobat Reader, or a similar tool.