What is INI? INI, short name for Initialization, is used as the file extension for Windows Initialization files. .INI files are text files that can be opened by Notepad or any text editors. See the sample .INI file included below.

File Extension: .INI

MIME Type: text/plain

File Content: Windows Initialization

.INI files are Windows Initialization files, which are text files with Windows system initialization settings. Here is a sample .INI Windows Initialization file, system.ini, containing some settings to be initialized when starting Windows:

; for 16-bit app support
[386Enh]
woafont=dosapp.fon
EGA80WOA.FON=EGA80WOA.FON
EGA40WOA.FON=EGA40WOA.FON
CGA80WOA.FON=CGA80WOA.FON
CGA40WOA.FON=CGA40WOA.FON

[drivers]
wave=mmdrv.dll
timer=timer.drv

[mci]

.INI Windows Initialization file sample: Click sample.ini to download.

Since .INI text files are in text format, you can use Notepad or any text editor to create or modify them. No special software is needed.

For for information on how to use .INI Windows Initialization files, see links below:

• Initialization Files and the Registry, by Microsoft.