Always be careful when opening unknown exe file as this can infect or alter the settings of your system. Warning: Executables are also used to spread trojans and other malicious programs. For example self-extracting archives (such as RAR), use exe file extension for the first part, because it also contains the executable code. Uninstalling this variant: In case of any problems with downloader.exe, you can do the following. The application listens for or sends data on open ports to a LAN or the Internet. exe files can also contain various other data, such as program icons. The downloader.exe file is not a Windows system file. Pretty much every program has one or more executables to start it, as such it is probably one of the most used file formats. These files can be found in 16-bit, 32-bit as well as 64-bit versions. There are several versions of this file format, but all serve the same purpose - to start a program.ĮXE format was, and still is utilized in many operating system, including MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2, OpenVMS and others. The exe file extension is traditionally used for program executable file since the time of first DOS. Executables are files that launch programs. It was adopted for executables in Windows as well. Did your computer fail to open exe file? We explain what exe files are and recommend software that we know can open your exe files.Īn exe file extension is traditionally used for main executable files since the times of MS-DOS.