What is a .PARTIAL file?
A .PARTIAL file is a type of file that you might see if you're downloading something using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 9 or any version after that. Imagine you're downloading a big video or a program, but the download stops halfway through because your internet connection drops or you have to shut down your computer. Instead of starting the download all over again from the beginning, Internet Explorer saves what it has already downloaded as a .PARTIAL file. This means the download is not finished yet, and the file can't be used as it is.
To open a .PARTIAL file, you would usually just use Internet Explorer, the web browser from Microsoft. However, it's important to know that Microsoft has discontinued Internet Explorer, so this information is more useful for older computers or systems that still have it. When you double-click on a .PARTIAL file, Internet Explorer will show you a list of downloads, both those that are complete and those that are not finished. If you find your .PARTIAL file in the list, you can click a "Resume" button to continue downloading it from where it left off.
Internet Explorer adds a special code to the original file name when it creates a .PARTIAL file. For example, if you were downloading a file named "myfile.zip," Internet Explorer might rename it to something like "myfile.zip.owxpco0.partial" while it's still downloading. Once the download is finally complete, Internet Explorer will remove the extra code and ".partial" from the file's name, making it just "myfile.zip" again.
It's worth noting that you can't really do much with a .PARTIAL file until the download is fully completed. However, there are some exceptions, like with video or music files, where you might be able to play the partially downloaded file and see or hear at least some part of it.
In summary, .PARTIAL files are created by Internet Explorer when a download hasn't finished. You can resume these downloads through Internet Explorer, but until the download is complete, these files are generally not usable.
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