What Is a FAT File?
A file with the FAT file extension is a theme used by the Zinf audio player. Inside the file is a collection of images and an XML file that describes how the program should look. FAT files are really just renamed .ZIP files. You can download Zinf themes from their website.
How to Open a FAT File
Zinf (it stands for “Zinf Is Not FreeA*p”) is the program used to open a FAT file. To do this, go to Options > Themes > Add Theme, choose a theme, and then select Apply. Given that .FAT files are simply .ZIP files, you could also open one by renaming it to .ZIP. This will show you the XML file and images that it contains, but the theme as a whole won’t be applied to Zinf—you have to follow the steps above to do that. Another option for opening a FAT file as an archive to see the files inside is to install a free file extractor like 7-Zip, and then right-click the file and choose to open it with the file decompressor.
How to Convert a FAT File
A Zinf theme needs to exist with the FAT file extension for it to open properly and apply the theme, so we see no reason to want to convert this file to any other format. However, since the FAT file is really a ZIP archive, you could convert it to another archive format, but again, saving the FAT file as a 7Z or RAR file will do you no good but to open the file as an archive since the file extension needs to be .FAT if you want it to be usable within the context of Zinf. Remember what we said about changing the .FAT extension to .ZIP. Doing that doesn’t convert the file because it’s already a renamed ZIP file. All renaming the extension does is associate the file with a different program (like a file extractor tool). A file converter tool is what’s used to actually convert one file format to another instead of just rename the file extension.
Still Can’t Open It?
The FAT file extension is similar to the extensions used for FAX and FFA (Find Fast Status) files. If your file doesn’t open with Zinf, it’s possible you’re misreading what extension is affixed to the end of the file. Other examples could be given as well, such as AFT and ATF, which are used for Ancestry.com Family Tree database files and Photoshop transfer function files, respectively. Zinf won’t open either format, even though all the same file extensions are used. If it’s not already obvious, you need to double-check the file extension if it doesn’t work with Zinf. Do some more research to learn which programs are able to open or convert the file you have.
